This document discusses big data and its applications. It begins with an abstract that introduces big data and how extracting valuable information from large amounts of structured and unstructured data can help governments and organizations develop policies. It then discusses key aspects of big data including volume, velocity, and variety. Current big data technologies are outlined such as Hadoop, HBase, and Hive. Some big data problems and applications are also mentioned like using big data in commerce, business, and scientific research to improve forecasting, policies, productivity, and research.