Foundations of Big Data Technologies

Curious about how businesses turn massive amounts of data into meaningful insights?

This essential micro-course introduces you to the foundational tools, platforms, and techniques that power big data systems. You’ll learn how organizations collect, store, and process enormous datasets—and how they use that data to drive smarter decisions.

While you're exploring these technologies, you’ll also gain practical skills in working with both structured and unstructured data, and learn how to assess the scalability and efficiency of big data solutions in real-world applications.

You'll gain a solid understanding of:

• Advanced big data tools and platforms used across industries.
• The differences between structured and unstructured data—and how each can be leveraged for business and operational insights.
• How to evaluate the performance and impact of big data and AI systems at scale.

By the end of this micro-course, you won’t just understand big data—you’ll be ready to analyze it, apply it, and assess its strategic value across domains.

Competency:
Evaluate big data tools and platforms and analyze structured and unstructured data to generate business insights, and assess the scalability and impact of big data and AI solutions.

Learning Objectives:

1. Describe advanced big data tools and platforms for collecting, storing, and processing massive datasets.
2. Differentiate between structured and unstructured data at scale to generate actionable business and operational insights.
3. Critically assess the scalability, efficiency, and impact of big data and AI solutions across various domains.

New to big data? You’re in the right place. This “fundamentals first” course includes an AI coach built into your experience, so you can learn while doing—and start making data work for you.