Applications of Data Mining

While information extraction has been around for many years, the concept of data mining is only a recent invention. In this form of information extraction, computers are used to separate patterns from large amounts of raw data. Although the new field is in its infancy, data mining has already found a wide audience with companies and institutions that are using the methods in different ways. In the scientific sector, this new computing ability is speeding up difficult processes that previously took many years to complete. However, science and engineering groups are not the only ones interested in data mining.

The main use of data mining outside of science and engineering is in corporate situations that intend to use the information to make a profit or maximize current profits. This increases business intelligence and allows a company to be more accurate with their marketing and advertising efforts. By using data mining, a company can go through a listing of buying habits of current customers and tailor their advertisements so that they will produce an individual offer that caters to the taste of specific customers. The number of predictive models can be quite large, so effective database management must be in place to utilize the data mining returns.

In contrast, the science and engineering use of data mining is not intended to directly make a profit. One of the most common applications is towards the study of genetics. Data mining can be used to assess how various DNA sequences can affect the rate at which a person gains wait or other issues. It is thought that the future of data mining and the development of database management techniques will eventually lead to a fuller understanding of the human genome and how individual chromosomes and DNA sequences can be changed to improve the human condition.