Use of Big Data for problem analysis and decision-making

Abstract

In the field of defense, Big Data is used to monitor borders and critical infrastructures, to counter organized crime, to identify strategic trends on the future battlefield, and for military planning at various levels, among others. Specifically, it favours analysis aimed at prevention and defense projection, allowing addressing problems of various kinds in this area, especially those that, due to their composition or structure (actors, means, forms, capabilities, or new scenarios, some more ambiguous than others), are more complex to approach or predict.
But this analysis is not sufficient if the work of the analyst is not considered, since the human factor in the search for the optimal solution for the problem or hypothesis posed, and its ability to integrate the information (quantitative and qualitative) is so far irreplaceable. Therefore, this article proposes a series of steps that can be useful for the defense analyst to facilitate predictive work and subsequent decision-making.