This document provides an introduction to data mining and big data. It defines data mining as the process of analyzing data from different perspectives to discover useful patterns and relationships. The document lists some common applications of data mining in industries like finance, insurance, and telecommunications. It also outlines the typical steps involved in data mining, including data integration, cleaning, transformation, and knowledge presentation. Big data is defined as extremely large data sets that are difficult to process using traditional tools. The rapid growth of data from sources like social media and mobile devices is driving the need for tools to handle big data's volume, velocity, and variety of data types.