As our technology improves, it becomes more reliant on powerful mathematics, while simultaneously driving mathematics forward. Modern algebra is closely connected to theoretical physics; number theory is increasingly applied to computer and communications security; geometry and analysis are applied to many problems of science and engineering; and ordinary, partial, and stochastic differential equations are central to many branches of engineering research. 

Contemporary applications of sophisticated mathematics include aircraft design, properties of materials, weather prediction, understanding the spread of disease, oil well simulation, image processing, communication, economics, genomics and many others. In addition, mathematics is increasingly applied in other fields such as biology, medicine, ecology, and sociology.

The last decade has seen an explosion in the quantity and variety of data available about virtually everything including pictures, stock prices, purchase patterns, medical information, and voting behavior. However, many agree with the characterization of our time as drowning in information and starving for knowledge.