Data Governance

1 DATA COLLECTION THROUGH THE AGES

Alison Holt

For thousands of years humans have collected, stored, reported on, made decisions with, distributed and disposed of data. Amazingly, some of these data sets are still accessible today. They reveal information about ancient civilisations that would otherwise remain a mystery. Their original purpose, however, was not to provide a journal entry or historical record, but to inform the decision makers of the day.

CENSUS DATA

The Babylonians were collecting census data over 4000 years ago to work out how much food was needed to feed the population. Their census records took the form of clay tiles, and several of these tiles are held in the British Museum. Around 1500 years later, the Egyptians and ...