DATA, INFORMATION AND KNOWLEDGE
The three reasons why information has acquired a special importance and significance today are:
i) The realization and recognition that a good mix of Scientific, Technical and Societal Information is vital to socio-economic development.
ii) The demand for information from a lay person or a sophisticated scholar has phenomenally increased today on account of various pressures such as population, social differentiation, technological innovation, education and research, use of leisure, human longevity of life, etc.
iii) Information has become the most crucial weapon for acquisition of economic and political power.
The factor contributing to the enhancement of the value of information are:
i) Research and Development: The output of various research and development activities results in generation of new information and knowledge. It is being increasingly realised that information and knowledge and their application for transformation of non-resources into value-added economic resources are the real driving power for human material progress.
ii) Fusion of Science and Technology: Fusion of science and technology has begun to transform the character of technology itself. technology has become the instrumental mode of rational action and their routine application to many situations is becoming predominant in the management of organisations and enterprises today.
iii) Science and Technology and Societal Information: The increasing emphasis on the application of science and technology to social and economic developments is another factor contributing to the enhancement of the value of information. The organising principle for information systems and services today is a mix of Science, Technology and Societal Information (STSI) for all socio-economic developments.
iv) Information Technology: The rapidly developing Information Technology has revolutionised information processing, storage, dissemination and distribution. It is the chief instrument and a major contributing factor in the enhancement of the value of information.
v) Information Demand: The demand for information from lay persons to specialists and scholars have increased phenomenally in recent decades. Access to and availability of information, therefore, has become very crucial.
vi) Power Shift: Information and knowledge have become a tremendous source of economic and political power as they have become the principal driving force for the acquisition of wealth, political strength and more knowledge for development.
Data and Information
Data is undifferentiated observation of facts in terms of words, numbers, symbols, etc. For example, scientific data collection in a laboratory experiment, social data with reference to population, or trade statistics, price index, etc.
Information is processed data. For example, analysis of population data with reference to scientific and technical personnel in a country, weather forecasting based on the data collected on atmospheric conditions built up on the high seas, inferences obtained on the properties of materials acquired from moon, etc.
Knowledge is consolidated and structured information as in encyclopaedic articles, state-of-the-art reports, textbooks, etc.
