Comparing Data Governance to Information Governance

First let’s ask what’s the difference between data and information? Information is data in context so it can have meaning. The context may be a business process or sales opportunity but information implies an agent that is getting informed. Data doesn’t need context to exist. Data may be at rest in a data store. Information carries the notion of flow or movement. Information is derived from data. Information is data in motion.

 

About Joe D

Joe Danielewicz spent 28 years at various business units of Motorola in data architecture, enterprise architecture and systems development. More recently Mr. Danielewicz was a Senior Data Architect at General Motors, Chandler, AZ. Joe Danielewicz is a past president of Phoenix chapter of DAMA.
This entry was posted in Uncategorized. Bookmark the permalink.

2 Responses to Comparing Data Governance to Information Governance

  1. Tim T says:

    Common sense says data and information are the same, and the differences you point out seem trivial. Information is data with context doesn’t tell me anything.

    • Joe D says:

      Common sense is wrong to equate data with information. Data without context does not inform. The corollary that data defined in some context does produce information.

      Displaying undefined data like the following does not inform.
      6 Kathy Pepe 8
      10 Jessie Martyn 13
      13 Al Harley 11

      But when you add the context of column headings it becomes information.
      Empl Id Empl Name Shoe Size
      6 Kathy Pepe 8
      10 Jessie Martyn 13
      13 Al Harley 11

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *