Davenport's Information Hierarchy (1997)

According to Thomas Davenport’s Information Hierarchy (1997), data, information and knowledge have their own meaning and characteristics.

Define the meaning of the terms data, information and knowledge:

• Data is a simple observation of the state of the world.
• Information is data endowed with relevance and purpose.
• Knowledge is information from the human mind, which includes reflection, synthesis and context.

Characteristics of data:

• Easily structured
• Easily captured on machines
• Often quantified
• Easily transfered
• Mere facts

Characteristics of information:

• Requires unit of analysis
• Data that have been processed
• Human mediation necessary

Characteristics of knowledge:

• Hard to structure
• Difficult to capture on machines
• Often tacit
• Hard to transfer

Examples of...

• Data: Daily inventory report of all inventory items sent to the CEO of a large manufacturing company
• Information: Daily inventory report of items that are below economic order quantity levels sent to inventory manager
• Knowledge: Inventory manager knowing which items need to be reordered in light of daily inventory report, anticipated labour strikes, and a flood in Brazil that affects the supply of a major component

Possibility of a fourth level of Information Hierarchy:
Some people think there is a fourth level in the information hierarchy, wisdom. In this context, wisdom is knowledge, fused with intuition and judgement that facilitiates the ability to make decisions. Wisdom is that level of the information hierarchy used by subject matter experts, gurus, and individuals with a high level of experience who seem to "just know" what to do and how to apply the knowledge they gain. (Pearlson & Saunders, 2006)