In today’s digital world, the sheer volume of data has changed the way businesses work and make decisions. Structured data from internal systems used to be the foundation of Business Intelligence (BI). But with the coming of new data sources, the range and depth of insights has grown exponentially. These new data sources come with their own challenges and opportunities.

Data science is helping to bring all this different, unstructured data together into business intelligence.

The Evolution of Data in Business

Historically, business intelligence has relied heavily on unstructured data derived from internal databases, such as sales records and financial transactions, as well as operational metrics. These data sets, which are often relational databases, provided insights into historical performance and operational trends, as well as customer behavior.

With the rise of the digital age, however, there has been an explosion of unstructured and semi-structured data sources.

Unconventional Data Sources

If you want to stay ahead of the competition and make smart decisions, you need to know about unconventional data sources. These are data sources that aren't usually found in your company's databases or data repositories, and they can provide you with valuable insights.

Here are some of the key unconventional data sources you should be aware of:

1. Social Media Data

Social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, as well as other platforms such as LinkedIn, generate a vast amount of content that is created by users. This content includes text, pictures, videos and interactions that offer insights into customer sentiment, preferences and trends. Social media data can be used to gain insight into consumer behavior, market sentiment and brand perception.

2. IoT (Internet of Things) Devices

The Internet of Things (IoT) encompasses a broad array of sensors, intelligent devices, and machinery that generate and disseminate information. IoT devices provide data on operational performance, environmental parameters, usage trends, and more, which can be used to optimize processes, anticipate maintenance requirements, and enhance product performance.

3. Web Scraping and Web Data

Web scraping involves extracting data from websites, forums, and online platforms. This data can provide market trends, competitor analysis, product reviews, and other valuable information for businesses.

4. Textual and Multimedia Data

Unstructured data like emails, documents, photos, videos, and audio recordings can hold a lot of information. NLP (Natural Language Processing) can help you figure out what customers are saying, what's going on in the market, and how to spot trends in unstructured info.

5. Sensor Data and Machine Logs

Data generated by sensors, machines, and industrial equipment. This data can reveal patterns, anomalies, and predictive maintenance needs in manufacturing, logistics, and other industries.

Figuring out these "unconventional" data sources means understanding the different formats they come in, dealing with data that's either structured or unstructured, and using cutting-edge tools and methods to get useful insights.

Analysts and data scientists use a variety of techniques to work with these data sources, from data wrangling to natural language processing to machine learning and statistical analysis. By understanding and taking advantage of these different data sources, companies can get more out of their data, make better decisions, and stay ahead of the competition in today's data-driven world.

Incorporating these different data sources into business intelligence practices is what drives innovation and helps companies stay up-to-date with changing market trends and customer needs.

Roles of Data Science in Harnessing Unconventional Data for Business Intelligence

Data science helps bridge the gap between non-conventional data and actionable business insights. Here's how:

Data Collection and Preprocessing

Data scientists use a variety of methods to gather, analyze, and prepare unusual data. This includes data sorting, cleaning out noise, and organizing unstructured information for analysis. Plus, advanced tools like NLP and machine learning algorithms help make sense of text, images, and sensor data.

Advanced Analytics and Modeling

Using data science methodologies, you can use advanced analytics to discover hidden patterns, correlations and trends within unusual data sources. Machine learning, predictive modeling and sentiment analysis can help you extract actionable insights from a wide range of data sources.

Visualization and Interpretation

Visualization tools help explain complicated information from unusual data in a way that's easy to understand. Data visualization software and dashboards make it easier for people to understand what data means and how to use it to make better decisions.

AI and Automation

Data science makes it easy to use AI and automation in business intelligence. AI systems can constantly collect, analyze, and process unusual data, giving you up-to-date insights so you can make fast decisions.

Business Impact and Future Prospects

The integration of non-conventional data with established business intelligence techniques, facilitated by the use of data science, can lead to a variety of significant results which include,

1.    Enhanced Decision-Making: With more information from different sources, you'll be able to make better, more strategic decisions.

2.    Competitive Advantage: Unconventional data can give you a competitive advantage through market research, customer sentiment research, and product development.

3.    Operational Efficiency: IoT and sensor data can help make processes more efficient, cut down on downtime, and make better use of resources.

Future Trends

Looking ahead, the future of data science in the integration of non-traditional data into business intelligence will include:

1.    Ethical and responsible AI: Emphasizing ethical data use, transparency and responsible AI applications.

2.    Integration of real-time data: Emphasizing real-time data in the context of instant decision-making.

3.    Unification of structured and unstructured data: Advances in technology facilitate the integration of diverse data sources for comprehensive insights.

Conclusion

Unconventional data is becoming an integral part of business intelligence, and data science is changing the way we make decisions. As companies embrace more and more data sources, data science is becoming more and more important in getting useful insights and helping organizations stay ahead of the curve and stay agile in today's ever-changing world.

This "unconventional-data-data-science" relationship is at the heart of innovation, and it's changing the way we think about data, analyze it, and use it to drive strategic growth and operational excellence.