Addis Ababa University
College of Technology and Built Environment
Pre-Engineering 2025/26 (2018) – Year I Semester II
Introduction to Emerging Technologies (EmTe 1012)
Chapter Two
Data Science
8 April 2026
4/7/2026
2 Data Science
After this lecture, you will:
Describe what data science is and the role of data scientists.
Differentiate data and information.
Describe data processing life cycle.
Understand different data types from diverse perspectives.
Describe data value chain in emerging era of big data.
Understand the basics of big data.
Describe the purpose of the Hadoop ecosystem
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4 Chapter Outline:
Overview of Data Science
Data and Information
Data Processing Cycle
Data Types and their Representation
Data Value Chain
Basic Concepts of Big Data
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5 Overview of Data Science
Data science (or data-driven science) is an interdisciplinary
field that uses statistics, programming, and domain knowledge
to extract meaningful insights and support decisions from
data.
It uses scientific methods, processes, algorithms, and systems
to extract knowledge and insights from structured, semi-
structured and unstructured data.
Data science is a multidisciplinary process that combines tools,
algorithms, and machine learning to transform raw data into
insights, predictions, and data products, going beyond mere
analysis through diverse roles and skill sets.
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Overview of Data Science
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Data and Information
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What are data and information?
Data:
The singular form of data is datum, which refers to a single piece or
item.
Data are raw facts, numbers, or symbols that represent
observations or measurements and can be processed to produce
information and support decisions.
Data refers to unprocessed facts, concepts, or instructions
formalized using characters like alphabets (A-Z, a-z), digits (0-9), or
symbols (+, -, /,), suitable for human or machine processing.
Data and Information
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What are data and information?
Information:
Information is an uncountable (mass) noun, so it is treated
as grammatically singular in English. To refer to a single item
- a piece of information or a bit of information.
Information is processed, meaningful knowledge derived
from data that helps people understand, communicate, and
make decisions.
Information is processed data rendered meaningful and
valuable for decision-making or action in a specific context.
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Data and Information
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Data Processing Cycle
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Data Processing
Data processing involves people or machines restructuring or
reordering raw data fed into computer systems to make it more
useful, add value for specific purposes, and generate information
presented as diagrams, charts, graphs, or similar forms.
Data processing cycle consists of three basic steps: input,
processing, and output.
In the data processing cycle, input prepares data in a machine-
friendly form (e.g. on hard disks, CDs, or flash drives for computers),
processing transforms it into a more useful form, and output
collects the resulting information.
Data Processing Cycle
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Data Types and Their Representation
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Data types can be described from different perspectives.
Data Types from Computer Programming Perspective
In computer science and programming, a data type is an
attribute that informs the compiler or interpreter of the
programmer's intended use for the data, specifying possible
values for expressions like variables or functions, the allowable
operations, the data's meaning, and its storage method.
Integers (int) store whole numbers; booleans (bool) represent true
or false values; characters (char) hold a single character; floating-
point numbers (float) store real numbers; and alphanumeric strings
(string) contain combinations of characters and numbers.
Data Types and Their Representation
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Data Types and Their Representation
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Data types from Data Analytics perspective
From data analytics perspective, there are three
common data types or structures:
Structured
Semi-structured
Unstructured
Data Types and Their Representation
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Structured Data
Structured data, which conform to a tabular format with defined
relationships between rows and columns (e.g., Excel files or SQL
databases), can be easily organized, stored, transferred using a predefined
data model, searched with simple algorithms like spreadsheets, and
processed by computers.
ID Name Age Department CGPA
1212/13 Yohannes 20 Accounting 2.8
1213/13 Aster 21 Economics 3.3
1414/13 Tolossa 22 Sociology 3.1
1415/13 Fatuma 20 Management 2.7
Data Types and Their Representation
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Semi-structured Data
Semi-structured data features irregular, implicit, flexible, and often
hierarchically nested structures that deviate from formal relational
database models but include organizational tags and markers to
separate semantic elements for easier analysis, making it self-
describing (e.g. JSON).
JSON stands for JavaScript Object
Notation and is a lightweight, text-based
format for storing and exchanging data
using human-readable structures such as
name-value pairs and arrays, commonly
used in web APIs and databases to pass
information between servers and
applications.
Data Types and Their Representation
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Unstructured Data
Unstructured data lacks a predefined model or structure,
complicating analysis due to text-heavy content with
embedded irregularities, unlike structured databases;
examples include text, audio, video, and PDFs.
Data Types and Their Representation
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Meta Data
Metadata (often described as data about data) serves as
a vital component in Big Data analysis by providing
contextual meaning and additional details about datasets.
Big Data is a vast, complex datasets that exceed the processing
capabilities of traditional tools, enabling advanced analytics for
insights and decisions.
From technical point of view, it is not a separate data
structure, but it is one of the most important elements for
Big Data analysis and big data solutions.
For example, information on the time and location of
photographs.
Data Types and Their Representation
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Meta Data
Data Value Chain
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The Data Value Chain outlines the end-to-end process of
data creation, flow, and utilization in big data systems.
From identifying data needs, through generating value via
sequential steps and combinations of data elements, to
deriving insights, final use, and potential reuse.
Describe the process of data creation and use; from first identifying a
need for data to its final use and possible reuse.
The Data Value Chain is introduced to describe the information flow
within a big data system as a series of steps needed to generate
value and useful insights from data.
Data Chain is any combination of two or more data element/data
item.
Data value is the average of set of data value.
Data Value Chain Activities
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Data Acquisition: Collecting, filtering, and cleaning data for storage and analysis,
addressing how, what kind, and who owns the data.
Data Analysis: Data analysis transforms raw data into decision-ready insights by
exploring, modeling, and extracting valuable business information, linking to data
mining, business intelligence, and machine learning.
Data Analysis: Data curation actively manages data throughout its lifecycle
(content creation, selection, classification, transformation, validation, and
preservation) to ensure quality for effective use and extraction of key information
from scientific tasks like research.
Data Storage: Data storage involves persistently and scalably managing data to
meet applications' needs for fast access.
Data Usage: Data usage is the integration of data access, analysis, and tools into
business activities to drive competitiveness through cost reduction, value addition,
and performance gains.
Data Value Chain
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Basic Concepts of Big Data
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What is Big Data?
Big data refers to vast, complex datasets too large for single
computers or traditional tools to process or store,
characterized by 5Vs and beyond.
Big data refers to extremely large, complex datasets
generated at high speed from diverse sources (such as
sensors, social media, and transactions) that are too
voluminous or fast-moving to be handled by traditional
databases or single machines.
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Basic Concepts of Big Data
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What is Big Data?
Big Data are typically described by the 5Vs. They require
require distributed computing, advanced analytics, and
machine learning to store, process, clean, and turn into
actionable insights for business, science, and policy decisions.
The 5Vs:
Volume
Variety
Veracity
Value
Velocity
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The 5Vs in the context of big data:
Volume: The huge amount of data generated from multiple sources.
Variety: The mix of different data types and formats, such as
structured, semi-structured, and unstructured data.
Veracity: The trustworthiness, accuracy, and reliability of the data,
which affects how much it can be trusted for decisions.
Velocity: The speed at which data is created, collected, and processed
in real time or near-real time.
Value: The useful insights, benefits, or business value that can be extracted from
the data through analysis. Bringing out the correct meaning out of the data.
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Basic Concepts of Big Data
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Clustered Computing and Hadoop Ecosystem
Cluster computing uses groups of connected computers to
handle the high storage and processing demands of big data by
assigning different tasks to different machines.
Big data clustering software integrates the resources of
multiple smaller machines to enable resource pooling, high
availability, and easy scalability.
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Clustered Computing and Hadoop Ecosystem
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Clustered Computing and Hadoop Ecosystem
Hadoop and its Ecosystem
Hadoop is an open-source framework that simplifies working
with big data by enabling distributed processing of large
datasets across networked computers using simple
programming models, and it was inspired by a technical paper
published by Google.
Hadoop is economical, reliable, scalable, and flexible, using
ordinary computers to store redundant data across nodes,
scale easily by adding machines, and handle large volumes of
structured and unstructured data.
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Clustered Computing and Hadoop Ecosystem
Hadoop and its Ecosystem
Hadoop’s ecosystem, built around its four core components -
data management, access, processing, and storage - keeps
expanding to better meet the evolving demands of Big Data.
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Clustered Computing and Hadoop Ecosystem
Big Data Life Cycle with Hadoop
The big data life cycle with Hadoop involves ingesting data into
the system, processing and storing it, computing and analyzing it,
and then visualizing the results.
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Thank You!
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