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Discussion of the use of data, information, knowledge and wisdom in an organisational context
It is often said that we are entering a new ¡°information age¡± as the rapid development of ICTs---information and communication technologies. Data, information, knowledge and wisdom are often talked at the same time, particularly in relation to ICTs. It is said that for an 21st century organization success is dependant upon linking ICTs with organizational thinking about the use of data, information, knowledge and wisdom. ... Use of data, information, knowledge and wisdom in an organisational context will be discussed as well as the limits to the use of ICTs in relation to these.
The terms data, information, knowledge and wisdom are sometimes presented in a form of a pyramid. Data is at the bottom of the pyramid, transiting into wisdom with a narrative of each layer of understanding. The following is quoted from Jacques Steyns Website: Information consists of data, but data is not necessarily information. Also, wisdom is knowledge, which in turn is information, which in turn is data, but, for example, knowledge is not necessarily wisdom. So wisdom is a subset of knowledge, which is a subset of information, which is a subset of data.
Data
There are quite a lot of definitions of ¡®data¡¯ in information systems text-books. Generally speaking , data is any symbol , sign or measure which is in a form which can be directly captured by a person or a machine. Computers, are often called data processing machines or information processing machines though the access of data not only depends on the capabilities of computer , but also on the organization¡¯s ability to manage data as an important resource. People work in the organizations understand and accept the fact ,so they use computers to store , organize and access data. Organizations need information in order to take decisions. The decisions they take can only be effective if they are based on data that meets certain quality criteria. Mostly, organizations are using computers to access data , such as historical data which including operating systems(to receive and output data) , the data itself , file or table information to structure the data and programs to manipulate the data. The organization that can leverage ICTs to exploit their data will realize the benefits by creating a competitive advantage which are in the form of identifying trends, unusual patterns and hidden relationships that a competitor may not realize.
Approximate Word count = 1906
Approximate Pages = 7.6
(250 words per page double spaced)
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