DIKW

DIKW means Data, Information, Knowledge and Wisdom. This 4 concepts are also known as the pyramid of Knowledge. Data is any observation related to a patient or a population; that is indispensable to understand what happens from a medical, biological and social perspective. It gains context by human interaction to become information.

Information is the sum of the most significant data, it provides a framework for understanding what the data represents. But information only creates value when it interacts with information produced by others. Information that is held by an individual, which is never revealed or acted upon, has no value.

The synthesis of data and information is known as knowledge. Knowledge is the ability of taking an action. A single individual cannot create knowledge “from scratch”. It must interact with information created by others to arrive at an action, a decision. Often, this course of action is to generate more data, resulting in a new DIK cycle.

Wisdom encompasses the best, most appropriate action. It usually arises from multiple rounds of the DIK cycle and requires experience. Wisdom requires synthesis, often bringing together a wide range of knowledge created from a huge amount of information representing a tremendous mound of data. All of this is done to allow an individual to understand how to apply and transfer the knowledge to new situations and problems.

The faster information flows to individuals, the faster the process of knowledge creation and the easier it is to make appropriate decisions based on wisdom.

Bibliography

Bellinger, G., Castro, D., & Mills, A. (s.f.). Systems Thinking. Obtained from http://www.systems-thinking.org/dikw/dikw.htm

Sánchez, M., & Martínez, A. (2014). Informática Biomédica. México: ELSEVIER MASSON DOYMA MÉXICO.

Spreading Science. (s.f.). Obtained from http://www.spreadingscience.com/our-approach/diffusion-of-innovations-in-a-community/1-the-dikw-model-of-innovation/