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. 2017 Nov 16;4:194. doi: 10.3389/fvets.2017.00194

Table 1.

The Vs of big data.

Volume High-throughput technologies for gathering data and/or continuous gathering of clinical population data
Variety Heterogeneous structured and unstructured data from various sources both qualitative (text mining medical records) and quantitative (medical images, high-throughput omics data, clinical laboratory tests, environmental data from sensors, etc.)
Velocity High-speed processing for fast decision-making in real time or near real time
Variability Consistency or inconsistency of the data over time
Veracity Data with variable quality and data from uncontrolled environments
Value Data relevant to the health of individuals or populations and data from longitudinal studies

Big data is defined in terms of either the first 3, or all 6, Vs.

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