Big Data and Biodefense: Prospects and Pitfalls

This chapter will provide an overview of how “big data” and “big data” analytics can be brought to bear on the pressing biodefense challenges of: (1) threat awareness; and (2) surveillance and detection. The chapter will also discuss potential problems that can arise by relying exclusively on “big data” approaches, which have properties and limitations inherent in their composition that may not be initially recognized but which may lead to erroneous results. The chapter will conclude by discussing how multi-disciplinary teams of researchers using hybrid systems, involving “big data” and “small data,” could more effectively and accurately contribute to understanding biodefense problems.