Difference Between Data and Information

At a glance, it may seem like the words “data” and “information” mean the same. In actuality, they have different applications in various fields. Here’s how the two words are different from each other.

Data

Data is a piece of text, letters, numbers, and many other facts that are yet to be processed or organized. Unless organized, they may seem to be random and meaningless. Data requires to be put together or placed in a systematic order in order to mean something. Without context or analysis, data is virtually unusable.

Information

Information is the result of putting together data into something that is meaningful and usable. It is processed data. Unlike data, information derives a response from people. Information is what people require to create a conclusion or execute a decision.

	Data	Information
Etymology	From the Latin word “datum”, meaning “something given”	From the Latin word “informare”, developed into the word “information”; the process of informing
Definition	Raw facts that are yet to be organized and do not hold meaning on their own	Processed data that holds relevance and is used to make decisions and conclusions
Example	“Hasting, 98, 86, 73, Greene, Oakley...”	When put together, the data from the left is derived to be the final grade for each name/student. The average of the three numbers is the average performance of the group.
Meaning in information technology	Raw entities without context, ranging from letters, numbers and special characters, to pictures, videos and sounds	Processed and assembled data that mean something, like a combination of pictures and text that present information

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