In this exclusive conversation, the technical leaders of Cloudera discuss the definition, origins, and future of Big Data and Apache Hadoop — and their value for business and humankind.

Mike Olson, Dr. Amr Awadallah, Jeff Hammerbacher and Doug Cutting speak to the questions:

1. What does the term “Big Data” mean — and where does most Big Data come from? 
2. In what way does tapping into Big Data offer new opportunities for innovation and transformation—not just for business, but also for humankind? 
3. Can you give us some examples of such “bigger questions”? 
4. Having the data is one thing; getting value from it is another. Specifically, how do Apache Hadoop and related technologies make it possible for these bigger questions to be asked? 
5. Does this new approach displace or complement existing ones? 
6. Specifically, how does Cloudera make asking bigger questions not only possible, but also practical? 
7. What’s next? What will Big Data, and Hadoop, look like in the future?