Blog: Dan E. Linstedt

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So you think Nanotech is too far out for you?

Think again. Nanotech is here today, and here to stay. There are viable companies producing viable products, furthermore there are already commercial applications for nanotech that are embedded in our clothing, and our operations. In this blog I list a few different links and other resources where you can find out about Nanotech.

The world of Nanotech is already huge and growing fast. The application of Nanotech to Business Intelligence may be a bit off, but not as far off as you think. We are already discussing topics like Nanohousing, dynamic data warehousing, extreme data warehousing, super data warehousing and other things to name a few.

Let's dive in and see where we can find out about Nanotechnology in the real world. For one, let's chat about RFID, RFIDS are radio frequency identifier tags, built from nanotechnology, are self-powered devices that when "pinged" from a remote detector can return a unique signal. Slightly larger cargo boxes are tagged with RTLS (real-time locator systems), also built from nanotech, but are housed with battery supplies and are much larger. These guys are capable of communicating with GPS and satellites.

But how does this tie to BI/EDW?
Alas, it's just another data source, but an important one. You can read more about RFIDS with the links below:
Technology Evaluation
Teradata Magazine (my article)
Forrester Research: RFID & BI
CMP Media, Information Week - RFID and BI Teams

Ok, so what does this have to do with Nanotechnology?
In BI/EDW we see nanotechnology first, as sources for data sets that we will utilize in our world. Then we move into the alteration or write-back capabilities of nanotech devices. In other words, changing data through our SOA and BI initiatives and targeting the nano devices. The next step will be putting data storage on nanotech devices, followed by application programming - this is where it begins to get interesting. When applications (like database engines and the like) are encoded on to Nanotech, the existing data models and information modeling schemes won't fit. They'll require a paradigm shift. This is where we'll really need expertise in understanding how to apply information to such a tiny world.

There will be tools that help us along the way. Here are some interesting nanotech modeling tools that I've found so far:
NBC reporting on Teranode visual language"
Teranode Home - BioInformatics
Read the piece: Beyond Buckyballs

Even Rational software is getting into the game, with their own version of Bio-Informatics modeling. There are all sorts of projects ranging from Human Genome mapping, to new chemical models and atomic layer represenations which are significantly advanced and built to model 3D worlds and chemical reactions. These programs today may be too scientifically based for work with current BI/EDW utilizations, but as we all converge on the use of Nanotech, the devices, and application of the devices - our tools, our methods, and even our paradigms MUST change. Nanotech modeling tools make our current data modeling tools look like the first computers, compared with today's technology.

We must be prepared for the paradigm shift, we must get ready to learn new things - nanotech will affect how we do business. Let's talk about this for a second: Chemists and Biologists do their own modeling, and their own business intelligence reports, they are empowered beyond todays' traditional commercial business users. Todays business users have little to no control over how they model the data in a back-end database, nor is there a 3D model of the information without a topographical map of some-sort (usually used only in geospacial BI worlds). Nanotechnology will change all that within the next 5 years.

To finish off this blog, let's take a look at several favorite Nanotech sites out there:
NanoInvestor - search for Data Warehousing & Storage
Nanotech and MEMS
Thermodynamics and Nanotech Data
Nanotech Now - Gateway
Physics Discussion Forum
Nanotech - Forbes/Wolfe report

These are just a few of the places that Nanotech and data/information realms can be seen working together. There are hundreds of stories about nanotech innovation every day, there are many more stories about commercial successes ranging from Non-stain Dockers pants to computational ability of DNA. All of these have value in the nanotech world. Be prepared, because our BI/EDW computing paradigm is changing right now.

Love to hear your thoughts,
Dan L

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