ABSTRACT
In this overview chapter, we first discuss the importance and growth of data, in many application domains. Data as used in modeling, that is, analytics are considered from multiple perspectives; these (multiple) data views apply equally to traditional data and alternative data. Alternative data in some sense has emerged out of big data and in many contexts, and these can manifest as large unstructured datasets. In this Handbook, we focus mainly on financial applications; indeed many financial (expert) practitioners have been using alternative data to create trading strategies, investment strategies and risk management applications. Acquiring or having access to alternative data has emerged as an important issue. A new genre of market participants has appeared in the financial scene, namely, alternative data brokers/vendors. These alternative data vendors aggregate data from diverse sources; for analysts who wish to use these alternative data, they provide (i) legal framework for access and (ii) if required some exemplar models to use such datasets.
