Information is data that has been processed so that it becomes useful. Data is the raw symbols, which on its own is quite meaningless – for instance ‘30’. On its own it doesn’t mean anything, until we process it into information – for instance ‘there are 30 students in the class’.
Ackoff presents data and information as being just the first two rungs on a ladder (or pyramid) to wisdom. While data are the raw metrics, information can then be used to answer questions such as “What?” – What time does class start? This information can be further processed to create knowledge. Knowledge helps us to answer questions such as “How?” – How do information systems work? A further stage of processing can transform knowledge into understanding. Understanding offers us an appreciation of “Why?” – Why do certain events happen? This can be further processed, or evaluated to create wisdom. Wisdom, through experience over a period of time, affords us the ability to project understandings into the future and predict outcomes and consequences before they occur.
This progression is often presented as a ladder, and there are alternative perspectives, for instance ‘understanding’ is often removed as a separate level, with the suggestion that understanding is the process by which data is transformed into wisdom.