From Computing to Computational Thinking

Chapter 9

Data everywhere

The world runs on data. This was true long before the introduction of modern computers. The very first programmable digital computer, the ENIAC (Electronic Numerical Integrator And Computer, 1946), was designed to do fast number crunching to solve numerical problems, such as projectile trajectory in ballistics. Later, in 1951, the first UNIVAC I (UNIVersal Automatic Computer I) was accepted by the United States Census Bureau to process census data.

We now live in an interconnected world of information technology (IT), where all sorts of data are created, stored, processed, analyzed, and applied to great benefits. Data is everywhere: contact lists on our smartphones, events on calendars, academic records in schools, ...