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ISO 9001 · Lecture 04 of 30

Data, Information, Knowledge, Wisdom — The DIKW Hierarchy

Concept map
graph TD A["📊 Data - Raw Facts"] --> B["📈 Information"] B --> C["🧠 Knowledge"] C --> D["🦉 Wisdom"] A --> A1["📝 Complaint Log Entries"] B --> B1["📉 Trend Analysis"] C --> C1["💡 Why Customers Complain"] D --> D1["🎯 Decide to Redesign"] C --> E["🔑 Requires Interpretation"] D --> F["⚠️ Storing Files Is Not Knowledge"] style A fill:#50E3C2,color:#000 style B fill:#F5A623,color:#000,stroke:#333 style C fill:#4A90E2,color:#fff,stroke:#333,stroke-width:2px style D fill:#7ED321,color:#000,stroke:#333,stroke-width:2px style F fill:#FF6B6B,color:#fff
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Key takeaways

  • The DIKW hierarchy distinguishes data, information, knowledge, and wisdom by increasing context and judgment.
  • Data becomes information through context, information becomes knowledge through experience, and knowledge becomes wisdom through judgment.
  • Concrete quality examples show how a complaint log climbs the hierarchy to a redesign decision.
  • The hierarchy clarifies what Clause 7.1.6 actually requires you to manage.
  • Simply storing documents on a shared drive does not constitute knowledge management in the ISO sense.

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