Differences
Data implies raw facts that are organized for machines in files, databases and data structures. Information implies data that has been processed by a machine to be understood by people. Information created by humans for humans is generally considered knowledge.Example
Market data might include the details of 1.2 billion trades that occurred over a ten year period for a large company's stock. Such data is summarized in an informative graph that shows the price over time. People can instantly understand information in a graph of the historical price of a stock. The raw data used to create such graphs is prohibitively large to be useful to a person.| Data vs Information | ||
Data | Information | |
Definition | Facts in formats that are useful to machines. | Data that has been processed and structured to be of use to people. |
Example | A weather database that captures millions of atmospheric observations a day from weather stations and satellites. | A weather report. |
