The challenge with Big Data is that it includes everything from hardware, through operating system, databases, analytics and business intelligence technologies, visualization software, post-graduate levelmathematics and statistics, and innovative approaches to business and social problems.
The authors say that rather than making the qualification compulsory the challenge is to provide a "clear and attractive alternative" for students who achieve good grades in GCSE maths but do not currently go on to study AS or A-level mathematics.