This collection represents the full spectrum of data-related content we’ve published on O’Reilly Radar over the last year. Mike Loukides kicked things off in June 2010 with “What is data science?” and from there we’ve pursued the various threads and themes that naturally emerged. Now, roughly a year later, we can look back over all we’ve covered and identify a number of core data areas:

Data issues -- The opportunities and ambiguities of the data space are evident in discussions around privacy, the implications of data-centric industries, and the debate about the phrase “data science” itself.

The application of data: products and processes – A “data product” can emerge from virtually any domain, including everything from data startups to established enterprises to media/journalism to education and research.

Data science and data tools -- The tools and technologies that drive data science are of course essential to this space, but the varied techniques being applied are also key to understanding the big data arena.

The business of data – Take a closer look at the actions connected to data -- the finding, organizing, and analyzing that provide organizations of all sizes with the information they need to compete.

The book is used in the core MBA program at MIT's Sloan School of Management for the class titled: "Data, Models and Decisions". It is used in over ten universities in both core and elective classes, including Stanford University, Chicago's graduate school of Business, Babson College, among several others.

The book contains many real business cases from the authors' consulting experience. Instructor resources are available for faculty who have adopted the book for their course by contacting the authors directly @ dbertsim@mit.edu, rfreund@mit.edu )