Xconomy: Under Seattle’s Cloud, a Big Data Cluster Grows

12/4/12

By Benjamin Romano

It’s a good time to be doing big data in Seattle.

So says Ed Lazowska, the University of Washington computer science professor who played host and tour guide to the region’s big data lineup during the Washington Innovation Summit last week. He points to the region’s strengths in cloud computing, and a steady stream of big data achievers marching forth from the UW.

While Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) may be among the most recognizable of these players, the work being done here now is not just about finding a better way to get you to buy exactly what you didn’t know you always wanted. From startups and investors to giants like Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) and Google (NASDAQ: GOOG), the Seattle-area big data cluster is at work on novel solutions to major problems in healthcare, transportation, energy, communication, and yes, commerce, too. They’re also building tools to democratize big data and improve upon Hadoop, an underlying piece of big data computing infrastructure.

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