A fifth of all Dutch companies with at least 10 employees used big data techniques in 2015, according to a survey by the state statistics bureau CBS. Big data use is most common in the ICT sector, at almost a third of companies, and increases to as many as 44 percent of telecom providers. Insurers also use big data techniques often, usually on their own internal data, as do travel agencies, who turn to social media data, and transport companies, which use geographic data.
Large companies, with over 500 staff, were more likely to use big data analysis, at 42 percent of those surveyed, compared to only 15 percent of businesses with 10-20 employees. Half the companies cooperate with an external partner on at least part of the big data analysis.