If no one sees a piece of data, does it exist? Andrew Walkingshaw asks in his post “Data as process.”
Data only exists inasmuch as it supports either communication or decision-making. When it’s not being looked at, whether by a person or a process, it’s as if it had never been at all.
Instead, he writes, data is really about processes.
How do people make decisions? How do they communicate and support their viewpoints? These processes are supported by technology, but they’re rooted in psychology and economics.
He goes further.