Data, Information, Knowledge, Wisdom: A Doubly

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Syed Ahsan Abad Shah
ahsansyedmuhammad@yahoo.com ababshah@uet.edu.pk

Research and Development Center of Computer Science

University of Engineering and Technology, Lahore

Abstract information and knowledge and the very

In knowledge management literature it is often understanding of its nature is therefore a
pointed out that it is important to distinguish very important issue [1]. Social, economical,
between data, information and knowledge. The political and technological developments
generally accepted view sees data as simple facts have changed the way people look at events
that become information as data is combined and facts and manipulate them [7]. Data is
into meaningful structures, which subsequently increasingly being seen from the perspective
become knowledge as meaningful information is of the user and the application as it now it is
put into a context and when it can be used to
possible to analyze large amounts of data in
make predictions. This view sees data as a
prerequisite for information, and information as a meaningful way to generate information
a prerequisite for knowledge. In this paper, we through ever increasing computational
give a detailed review of various definitions and power of computers [3] . Data and
explanations of DIKW (Data , Information, information can be integrated to generate
Knowledge, Wisdom) hierarchy. We will try to knowledge. The user perspective and
emphasize that the DIKW hierarchy needs to be increasingly complex applications, for
explored further as its definition and example Bioinformatics and Semantic Web,
understanding depends upon te context and are changing the ways of defining and
domain of application . We will also discuss the looking at Data , Information. Knowledge
inverted hierarchy that shows that data emerges
and even Wisdom.
only after we have information, and that
information emerges only after we already have
knowledge. The Changing Perspective
Key Words: DIKW, understanding, patterns, We are led to think about Data, Information,
relationships, domain of application, Ackoff Knowledge, and Wisdom as we explore the
capabilities and limitations of our mind and
Introduction the tools we have to process the stimuli we
We, as intelligent beings, are in need and receive from our environment [8]. The ever
pursuit of knowledge. This is achieved by increasing power of computers has made it
observing, perceiving and experiencing possible to define Data, Information, and
different phenomenon. This Knowledge at a higher level of abstraction.
information/knowledge must be recorded In the early history of using computers to do
and represented for usage and possible business data processing, computers were
communication with contemporaries and data processing machines[3]. There were
future generations. The representation of lots of workshops and courses on data
processing. "Raw data" was processed to T.S.Eliot could not have anticipated the
produce reports that were then analyzed by discussion tat has continued from his poetic
management to make management lines.
decisions. Hourly time sheets of workers Yet in the above lines, he linked wisdom to
were processed to produce payroll checks knowledge and knowledge to information,
and summary reports on employee costs. suggesting that they are interlinked and
Later came the idea of computers processing interdependent. Yet even after 76 years, the
data to produce information. Payroll data very definitions of these terms and the
can be put together with other cost data, relationships between them are not clear.
sales data, and so on to produce information In knowledge management literature it has
about which products are most profitable. often been pointed out that the relation
The huge collection of raw data can be between knowledge, information and data is
processed into reports that facilitate high important, and often misunderstood. For
level management decisions. Computer example, Davenport and Prusak[5] state
Science Departments became Computer and that:
Information Science Departments. Terms “Knowledge is neither data nor information,
such as Information Technology (IT) and though it is related to both, and the
Information and Communication differences between these terms are often a
Technology (ICT) arose because they better matter of degree…Confusion about what
described the computer field. In more recent data, information, and knowledge are—how
years, businesses and others have worked to they differ, what those words mean—has
use computers to process information so that resulted in enormous expenditures on
it becomes or is closely similar to technology initiatives that rarely deliver
knowledge [6] . Knowledge in a person's what the firms spending the money needed
head is used for posing and solving or thought they were getting.”[5].
problems, posing and answering questions, Sometimes it is argued that the problems
defining decision making situations and originate from our insufficient realization
making decisions, posing tasks to be that there, indeed, exist considerable
accomplished and accomplishing the tasks, differences between data, information, and
and so on. Nowadays, computers make lots knowledge. For example, Sveiby maintains
of decisions without human intervention. that: “Some of the present confusion
That is, they receive data as input and they concerning how to do business in the
process it in a manner that produces knowledge era would probably be
decisions and actions as output. When a eliminated if we had a better understanding
human does this, we talk about the level of of the ways in which information and
knowledge, skill, and intelligence that the knowledge are both similar and different
person has. [7,4]. The widespread but largely
We can argue that Data, Information and unconscious assumption that information is
knowledge are relative concepts and what is equal to knowledge and that the relationship
called knowledge can be considered as between a computer and information is
information (data) on a higher, more abstract equivalent to the relationship between a
domain-of-application level[6]. human brain and human knowledge can lead
to dangerous and costly mistakes.” [7,4] . In
The DIKW Hierarchy this paper, we will present a model that
"Wisdom is not a product of schooling but explicates the relationship between data,
of the lifelong attempt to acquire it." information, and knowledge. I will also
Albert Einstein show that the conventional view on this
Where is the Life we have lost in living? relationship requires rethinking, and that the
Where is the wisdom we have lost in traditional hierarchy of data, information,
knowledge? and knowledge needs to be reconsidered
Where is the knowledge we have lost in the First, we will discuss the conventional view
information? on the hierarchical relationship between
T.S.Eliot. “ The Rock,” Faber & Faber 1934 data, information, and knowledge.
The hierarchy of knowledge
Data has commonly been seen as simple
facts that can be structured to become
information. Information, in turn, becomes
knowledge when it is interpreted, put into
context, or when meaning is added to it.
There are several variations of this widely
adopted theme. The common idea is that
data is something less than information, and
information is less than knowledge.
Moreover, it is assumed that we first need to
have data before information can be created,
and only when we have information,
knowledge can emerge[2].
A representation of this view is shown in
Figure 1. This figure adds wisdom as
another type of knowledge.
In Figure 1, data are assumed to be simple Figure 1: Building on data in the Wisdom
isolated facts. When such facts are put into a Hierarchy.
According to these definitions, “data” is the
context, and combined within a structure,
basic unit of “information,” which in turn is
information emerges. When information is
given meaning by interpreting it, the basic unit of “knowledge,” which itself
information becomes knowledge. At this is the basic unit of “wisdom.” So, we have
point, facts exist within a mental structure four levels in our understanding and
that consciousness can process, for example, decision-making hierarchy. The whole
purpose in collecting data, information, and
to predict future consequences, or to make
knowledge is to be able to make wise
inferences. As the human mind uses this
knowledge to decisions. However, if the data sources are
choose between alternatives, behavior flawed, then in most cases the decisions will
becomes intelligent. Finally, when values also be flawed.
As illustrated, “packages” are passed from
and commitment guide intelligent behavior,
one level to next. The “wisdom” level has
behavior may be said to be based on
wisdom. all the required components—data,
information, and knowledge—to make wise
Data
1: factual information (as measurements or decisions. Of course, decisions can be made
at all levels, depending on the outcome and
statistics) used as a basis for reasoning,
conditions that exist.
discussion, or calculation <the data is
plentiful and easily available.> According to Russell Ackoff[7], a systems
2: information output by a sensing device or theorist and professor of organizational
organ that includes both useful and change, the content of the human mind can
irrelevant or redundant information and be classified into five categories: Data,
Information, Knowledge, Understanding and
must be processed to be meaningful.
Wisdom. Ackoff adds another level i.e.,
Information
(1): knowledge obtained from investigation, understanding between knowledge and
study, or instruction (2) : intelligence, news wisdom. He indicates that the first four
(3) : facts, data. categories relate to the past; they deal with
what has been or what is known. Only the
Knowledge
fifth category, wisdom, deals with the future
: the range of one's information.
because it incorporates vision and design.
Wisdom
1 accumulated philosophic or scientific With wisdom, people can create the future
learning: Knowledge. rather than just grasp the present and past.
2. wise attitude or course of action. But achieving wisdom isn't easy; people
must move successively through the other or in some cases, at least new information,
categories.A further elaboration of from what is previously known (and
Ackoff's[7]definitions follows: understood). That is, understanding can
build upon currently held information,
Data is raw. It simply exists and has no knowledge and understanding itself. In
significance beyond its existence (in and of computer parlance, AI systems possess
itself). It can exist in any form, usable or understanding in the sense that they are able
not. It does not have meaning of itself. In to synthesize new knowledge from
computer parlance, a spreadsheet generally previously stored information and
starts out by holding data. knowledge.
Wisdom is an extrapolative and non-
Information is data that has been given deterministic, non-probabilistic process. It
meaning by way of relational connection. calls upon all the previous levels of
This "meaning" can be useful, but does not consciousness, and specifically upon special
have to be. In computer parlance, a types of human programming (moral, ethical
relational database makes information from codes, etc.). It beckons to give us
the data stored within it. understanding about which there has
previously been no understanding, and in
Knowledge is the appropriate collection of doing so, goes far beyond understanding
information, such that it's intent is to be itself. It is the essence of philosophical
useful. Knowledge is a deterministic probing. Unlike the previous four levels, it
process. When someone "memorizes" asks questions to which there is no (easily-
information (as less-aspiring test-bound achievable) answer, and in some cases, to
students often do), then they have amassed which there can be no humanly-known
knowledge. This knowledge has useful answer period. Wisdom is therefore, the
meaning to them, but it does not provide for, process by which we also discern, or judge,
in and of itself, an integration such as would between right and wrong, good and bad. I
infer further knowledge. For example, personally believe that computers do not
elementary school children memorize, or have, and will never have the ability to
amass knowledge of, the "times table". They posses wisdom. Wisdom is a uniquely
can tell you that "2 x 2 = 4" because they human state, or as I see it, wisdom requires
have amassed that knowledge (it being one to have a soul, for it resides as much in
included in the times table). But when asked the heart as in the mind. And a soul is
what is "1267 x 300", they can not respond something machines will never possess (or
correctly because that entry is not in their perhaps I should reword that to say, a soul is
times table. To correctly answer such a something that, in general, will never
question requires a true cognitive and possess a machine).
analytical ability that is only encompassed in It has been contended that the sequence is a
the next level... understanding. In computer bit less involved than described by Ackoff
parlance, most of the applications we use [7]. Figure 2 represents the transitions from
(modeling, simulation, etc.) exercise some data, to information, to knowledge, and
type of stored knowledge. finally to wisdom, and it is understanding
Understanding is an interpolative and that support the transition from each stage to
probabilistic process. It is cognitive and the next. Understanding is not a separate
analytical. It is the process by which I can level of its own.
take knowledge and synthesize new
knowledge from the previously held Other Definitions and Views
knowledge. The difference between
understanding and knowledge is the Various people have thought carefully about
difference between "learning" and varying definitions of these four terms and
"memorizing". People who have produced their own analysis of the four
understanding can undertake useful actions terms.:
because they can synthesize new knowledge,
Information consists of data, but data is not that computers can be used for the input,
necessarily information. Also, wisdom is storage, processing, and output of data [2].
knowledge, which in turn is information, But, there is considerable disagreement
which in turn is data, but, for example, about whether a computer can have
knowledge is not necessarily wisdom. So knowledge or be knowledgeable--or have
wisdom is a subset of knowledge, which is a wisdom and be wise.
subset of information, which is a subset of The following summary and chart are
data [1]. quoted from Designing Knowledge
Ecosystems for Communities of Practice.
The graph below reflects the learning
journey whereby we progressively transform
the raw, unfiltered facts and symbols into
information, knowledge, and eventually into
intelligence and wisdom.

Figure 2. Transition through

understanding
The following three definitions are quoted
from Godbout (January 1999)[4].
Arranging the Terms Along a scale
Data constitutes one of the primary forms of
information. It essentially consists of
The terms Data, Information, Knowledge,
recordings of transactions or events which
and Wisdom are sometimes presented in a
will be used for exchange between humans
form that suggests a scale.
or even with machines. As such, data does
not carry meaning unless one understands
the context in which the data was gathered.
A word, a number or a symbol can be used
do describe a business result, inserted in a
marriage contract or a graffiti on the wall. It
is the context which gives it meaning, and
this meaning makes it informative.
Information extends the concept of data in a
However, in no sense do these four terms
broader context. As such it includes data but
define some sort of linear equal-interval
it also includes all the information a person
scale. Data, information, knowledge, and
comes in contact with as a member of a
wisdom form a scale, although a rather
social organization in a given physical
peculiar scale. The points on the scale are
environment. Information like data, is
not closely related even though they are
carried through symbols. These symbols
often talked about at the same time. They
have complex structures and rules.
do, however, help us to discuss the design of
Information therefore comes in a variety of
some particular system , such as educational
forms such as writings, statements, statistics,
system, as well as current and potential uses
diagrams or charts. Some information
of computers. For example, we all accept
theorists insist on the concept of form as the is somewhat similar to using letters as atoms
differentiating factor and the essence of for building words that are subsequently
information. combined to meaningful sentences, that the
Where does knowledge fit in this scenario? value of the various forms of data-
Information becomes individual knowledge information-knowledge increase through
when it is accepted and retained by an learning. In this process data is increasingly
individual as being a proper understanding “refined” [4]. This view is shared by most
of what is true [3] and a valid interpretation authors, although the details differ. For
of the reality. Conversely, organizational or example, Davenport and Prusak[5] state
social knowledge exists when it is accepted that:
by a consensus of a group of people. “Data is a set of discrete, objective facts
Common knowledge does not require about events…Data describes only a part of
necessarily to be shared by all members to what happened; it provides no judgment or
exist, the fact that it is accepted amongst a interpretation and no sustainable basis of
group of informed persons can be action…Data says nothing about its own
considered a sufficient condition. This is importance or relevance.”
also true of «public domain» knowledge. According to Davenport and Prusak,
The fact that it is readily available in writing however, data turns into information as soon
or published material does not entail that as it is given meaning. Information must
everybody should be knowledgeable about it inform: “it’s data that makes a
to meet the condition of being "common difference…Unlike data, information has
knowledge". meaning …Data becomes information when
It appears that one of the issues in defining its creator adds meaning” [5].
the terms data, information, knowledge, and Davenport and Prusak maintain that
wisdom is the role of understanding and “knowledge derives from information as
meaning making. One can memorize data, information derives from data” [5]. They
and parrot it back. One processes data view knowledge as refined information, in
(organizes it into meaningful chunks?) to which human cognition has added value.
produce information. Parroting such chunks Information becomes knowledge through
sounds more like being educated--but this cognitive effort. For example, the human
can be done with little understanding or mind can compare information about a
ability to make use of the information. specific situation with other situations it has
Knowledge is a step further on the scale. It known, anticipate implications for decisions
involves understanding and ability to make and actions, relate one bit of knowledge to
use of the data and information to answer other bits of knowledge, and share
questions, solve problems, make decisions, interpretations with other people [8]. As a
and so on. Wisdom has to do with using result, and unlike data and information,
one's knowledge in a responsible (wise) knowledge contains judgment. According to
manner. Davenport and Prusak, “values and beliefs
We can define wisdom as the application of are integral to knowledge, determining in
intelligence and experience toward the large part what the knower sees, absorbs,
attainment of a common good. This and concludes from his observations“[5].
attainment involves a balance among (a) The Inverted Pyramid
intrapersonal (one's own), (b) interpersonal
(other people's), and (c) extrapersonal (more It is argued that it should not be difficult to
than personal, such as institutional) interests, recognize that the hierarchy of data-
over the short and long terms. Thus, wise information- knowledge should be turned
people look out not just for themselves, but the other way around[4]. Depending upon
for all toward whom they have any the Domain of Application, information can
responsibility[2]. be ‘reversed processed’ or ‘taken apart’, to
Ilkka Tuomi, in his paper suggested that the become data. As Bill Gates put it,’ Every
underlying view in the conventional year, better methods are being devised to
description of the construction of knowledge quantify in formation… in to quadrillions of
atomistic packets of data”. Data emerges traditional hierarchy of data, information,
last—only after there is knowledge and and knowledge needs to be reconsidered if
information available. There are no “isolated we want to develop efficient and cost
pieces of simple facts” unless someone has effective knowledge based systems. For
created them using his or her knowledge. example, Davenport and Prusak state that:
Data can emerge only if a meaning structure, “Knowledge is neither data nor information,
or semantics, is first fixed and then used to though it is related to both, and the
represent information. This happens, for differences between these terms are often a
example, when information is stored in a matter of degree…Confusion about what
semantically well defined computer data, information, and knowledge are—how
database[4]. In that special case, we have to they differ, what those words mean—has
de-contextualize knowledge, and structure it resulted in enormous expenditures on
according to pre-defined semantics into technology initiatives that rarely deliver
“isolated” and independent database entries. what the firms spending the money needed
Ideally, the data so produced can be or thought they were getting.” [5]. The
completely detached from any meaning, so problems sometimes originate from our
that it can be automatically processed using insufficient realization that there, indeed,
a computer program. Data, therefore, exist exist considerable differences between data,
only as a solution to a practical problem: information, and knowledge.
how to dissect information into two forms Information can be created only after there
that can be modeled, represented, and is knowledge, and data emerges as a by-
processed separately[4]. This also explains product of cognitive artifacts that assume the
why database architects have believed that it existence of socially shared practice of using
is extremely important that database these artifacts.
structure has an underlying well-defined
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