Data, Information or Knowledge?

During a discussion last week, people across our business were debating the need to  simplify our message for the market. It was agreed that whilst working with manufacturing and infrastructure companies, we create data and protect data. 

But is this really data? Or is it information? Or even knowledge? This is clearly an emotional issue and something we need to get right

This led me to do some research; and the following schools of thought:

•       The first, where data is viewed as a fact which cannot be changed or lost and information is the mechanism by which the data is captured and knowledge is a personal or collective map / model of the world

•      The second, in which data is viewed as a raw fact with no context and information is data in context e.g. averaged, put in charts and knowledge is where the information is tied to outcome, viewed within patterns

So when relating back to the manufacturing and infrastructure markets, does this help us? 

 1. Capturing raw data in a historian – is this just data, well yes - but it does have a related time stamp to put it in context

2. Displaying the data in a chart or a plant mimic certainly puts the data in context and renders it suitable to be called information

3. Capturing acknowledged practice in a series of steps in a workflow would certainly qualify to be defined as knowledge

Phil Gillard, General Manager, SolutionsPT