Understanding and Utilizing Data Aggregation

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;"> Data aggregation compiles the information from databases with the intent to prepare combined datasets for data processing, and connecting humans to that data is the mission of today’s guest.  On this episode of The Digital Enterprise Society podcast, Craig Brown and Thom Singer welcome Rob Cooke, CTO and Founder of 3Forge, a lover of computers and computer science.  Rob is constantly thinking about how computers work and has joined the podcast today for a discussion about data aggregation- what it is, what it isn’t, how it can improve data exploration and what the future of data aggregation could really look like. </span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">On today’s podcast, you will learn:</span></p> <p><strong>Understanding data aggregation </strong></p> <ul> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><span style= "font-weight: 400;">The goal of data aggregation is to take disparate sets of data and combine them into the consumable sets of data. </span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><span style= "font-weight: 400;">The result allows humans to make usable meaning out of the data. </span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><span style= "font-weight: 400;">The ability to aggregate data is a key part of data exploration. </span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><span style= "font-weight: 400;">Data aggregation provides increased clarity and minimizes confusion around definitions. </span></li> </ul> <p> </p> <p><strong>The data aggregation elevator pitch </strong></p> <ul> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><span style= "font-weight: 400;">The initial approach to data aggregation is to simply leave the data where it is. </span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><span style= "font-weight: 400;">Transferring data from one location to another is rarely the best solution. </span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><span style= "font-weight: 400;">A willingness to make the neede