If I had to make an early prediction about a hot trend for 2012, I'd point to "data." It's an easy pick: big data is poised to be a big deal regardless of industry in the coming year. Thanks to the data from sensors, cell phones, Web browsing, social media updates, photo and video uploads, credit card transactions, online purchases, e-book readings -- you name it -- we are producing a mind-boggling amount of data. One of the big opportunities in the coming years will be to make meaning out of all the data that we create and store. That's true in banking. It's true in commerce. It's true in healthcare. It's true in education.

Read the rest of the story, along with news about the latest company to enter the "data space" on Inside Higher Ed.