Data,Information,Knowledge,Insight from I.T. Perspective

Data,Information,Knowledge,Insight from I.T. Perspective:
(As send by my friend and I.T. Expert Dr. Peter):

There are a lot of confusions, contradictions, conflicts, and connotations for everyday words such as data, information, knowledge, and insight (intelligence). I came across such a nice description for all these in a compact and comprehensive fashion. Read on further to obliterate all your doubts instantaneously.

* Data: the atomic bits of fact that constitute the raw material of knowing about our business. The home address of a single person is data. It is atomic (not divisible) because to divide it renders it useless. For example, 123 Main St. is useful as a mailing address but is just "stuff." It is not even a useful address without the other components of the address, like name, city, state, and zip code. More importantly, it tells us nothing useful about our business or its direction

*Information: data in some recognizable form, which shows us one or more patterns that may justify a change in our enterprise. The ability to arrange all of the home addresses of persons in the database and display them on a map can tell us much about this population. For example, this map may help us decide how to route shipping or where to place a new restaurant. The direction or resource allocation of an enterprise can be determined from the patterns found in information.

*Knowledge: information taken to the next level of abstraction, which is revealed in relationships. From the previous example, we have knowledge when many address maps are overlaid to show changes in the customer base over time. The temporal relationship gives the address information direction and movement; we can start to predict the future from trends and base the decision about the restaurant placement not just on where the population is, but where it may be tomorrow. The ability to extrapolate, to make decisions on information that is not yet reality, is found in knowledge.

*Insight: the highest level of abstraction. Having vision means understanding the meaning of knowledge, of seeing the implications of decisions far in advance. It also takes on the dimension of morality or ethical behaviour since larger cultural implications are related to the factual; vision can address the questions of "good" and "bad." It is reflected as much in the questions asked as in the resulting data analysis; these questions elicit analyses that are less "how" than "why." These questions seek to turn up the unexpected, the "far-out" and the unseen.
In summary, We have data when each fact is complete but no patterns are discernible. We have information when useful patterns have emerged from asking questions of the data. Knowledge is created when the relationships among sets of information appear, and predictions can reasonably be made. And insight is created when we perceive the meaning of the relationships with clarity, and when larger questions about organizational direction are answered.