Page 136 - Big Data Analytics for Connected Vehicles and Smart Cities

6

What Are Analytics?

6.1 Informational Objectives

This chapter answers the following questions:

• What are analytics?
• Why are analytics valuable?
• What’s the difference between analytics reporting and key performance
indicators (KPIs)?
• What are some examples of analytics?

• What are some examples of analytics applied to transportation?
• What’s the best way to use analytics?
• How do analytics and data lakes fit together?
• How do we identify data needs associated with analytics?

6.2 Introduction

The application of analytics to transportation within a smart city is a new sub-
ject. Consequently, reference material and literature available on the subject is
scarce. This chapter addresses the need for more information by defining and
describing analytics from a smart city transportation perspective. The effective

117