This is the first in a series of companion pieces that offer insights from a synthesis report evaluating the opportunities, challenges and required steps for leveraging the new ecosystem of Big Data and its potential applications and implications for climate change and disaster resilience, published by Data-Pop Alliance, with funding from the UK’s Department for International Development (DfID). The authors of the series attempt to go “beyond the buzz” to lay out what we actually know about Big Data’s existing utility for disaster science and for building practical resilience.