Big Data is a concept of major relevance in today’s world, sometimes highlighted as a key asset for productivity growth, innovation, and customer relationship, whose popularity has increased considerably during the last years. Areas like smart cities, manufacturing, retail, finance, software development, environment, digital media, among others, can benefit from the collection, storage, processing, and analysis of Big Data, leveraging unprecedented data-driven workflows and considerably improved decision-making processes. This new type of data is being defined not only by its characteristics (e.g., volume, variety, and velocity), but also by the limitations it imposes on traditional storage and processing technologies. Organizations seeking Big Data initiatives face several challenges, such as the lack of consensus in definitions, models, and architectures, as well as difficulties concerning the Big Data life cycle design and implementation.
