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Data

Short Description​

Data something (tangible) that can be used to communicate a meaning (which is intangible/information). Examples include words, bit(string)s, pictures, sounds, smells, tastes, etc. We use the term digital data to refer to data that consists of bits.

Purpose​

The purpose of Data is that it provides a means to communicate meaning. Also, it allows for (tangible) ways of processing, e.g. reasoning in more or less formal ways (as opposed to associating).

Criteria​

Data is something (tangible) that can be used to communicate a meaning (which is intangible/information).

  • The concept we call Data is closely relatd to the word Sign in semiotics.
  • Semantics is the mapping between (tangible) data and (intangible) meaning/information (see also wikipedia for the various flavours). Semantics are scoped, and every party has - and maintains - its own (subjective) semantics, i.e. the mapping between its knowledge and the data he uses to express that knowledge, as well as the mapping between data that the party receives and the concepts in its knowledge that are associated with that.