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Data (/ˈdeɪtə/ DAY-tə, US also /ˈdætə/ DAT-ə) are a collection of discrete or continuous values that convey information, describing the quantity, quality, fact, statistics, other basic units of meaning, or simply sequences of symbols that may be further interpreted formally. A datum is an individual value in a collection of data. Data are usually organized into structures such as tables that provide additional context and meaning, and may themselves be used as data in larger structures. Data may be used as variables in a computational process.[1][2] Data may represent abstract ideas or concrete measurements.[3] Data are commonly used in scientific research, economics, and virtually every other form of human organizational activity. Examples of data sets include price indices (such as the consumer price index), unemployment rates, literacy rates, and census data. In this context, data represent the raw facts and figures from which useful information can be extracted.
Data are collected using techniques such as measurement, observation, query, or analysis, and are typically represented as numbers or characters that may be further processed. Field data are data that are collected in an uncontrolled, in-situ environment. Experimental data are data that are generated in the course of a controlled scientific experiment. Data are analyzed using techniques such as calculation, reasoning, discussion, presentation, visualization, or other forms of post-analysis. Prior to analysis, raw data (or unprocessed data) is typically cleaned: Outliers are removed, and obvious instrument or data entry errors are corrected.
Data can be seen as the smallest units of factual information that can be used as a basis for calculation, reasoning, or discussion. Data can range from abstract ideas to concrete measurements, including, but not limited to, statistics. Thematically connected data presented in some relevant context can be viewed as information. Contextually connected pieces of information can then be described as data insights or intelligence. The stock of insights and intelligence that accumulate over time resulting from the synthesis of data into information, can then be described as knowledge. Data has been described as "the new oil of the digital economy".[4][5] Data, as a general concept, refers to the fact that some existing information or knowledge is represented or coded in some form suitable for better usage or processing.
Advances in computing technologies have led to the advent of big data, which usually refers to very large quantities of data, usually at the petabyte scale. Using traditional data analysis methods and computing, working with such large (and growing) datasets is difficult, even impossible. (Theoretically speaking, infinite data would yield infinite information, which would render extracting insights or intelligence impossible.) In response, the relatively new field of data science uses machine learning (and other artificial intelligence) methods that allow for efficient applications of analytic methods to big data.
The London Borough of Croydon (audio speaker iconpronunciation (help·info)) is a London borough in south London, part of Outer London. It covers an area of 87 km2 (33.6 sq mi). It is the southernmost borough of London.[2] At its centre is the historic town of Croydon from which the borough takes its name; while other urban centres include Coulsdon, Purley, South Norwood, Norbury, New Addington and Thornton Heath. Croydon is mentioned in Domesday Book, and from a small market town has expanded into one of the most populous areas on the fringe of London. The borough is now one of London's leading business, financial and cultural centres, and its influence in entertainment and the arts contribute to its status as a major metropolitan centre. Its population is 386,710, making it the second largest London borough and fifteenth largest English district.
The borough was formed in 1965 from the merger of the County Borough of Croydon with Coulsdon and Purley Urban District, both of which had been within Surrey. The local authority, Croydon London Borough Council, is now part of London Councils, the local government association for Greater London.[3] The economic strength of Croydon dates back mainly to Croydon Airport which was a major factor in the development of Croydon as a business centre. Once London's main airport for all international flights to and from the capital, it was closed on 30 September 1959 due to the lack of expansion space needed for an airport to serve the growing city. It is now a Grade II listed building and tourist attraction.[4][5] Croydon Council and its predecessor Croydon Corporation unsuccessfully applied for city status in 1954, 2000, 2002 and 2012. The area is currently going through a large regeneration project called Croydon Vision 2020 which is predicted to attract more businesses and tourists to the area as well as backing Croydon's bid to become "London's Third City" (after the City of London and Westminster).[6] Croydon is mostly urban, though there are large suburban and rural uplands towards the south of the borough. Since 2003, Croydon has been certified as a Fairtrade borough by the Fairtrade Foundation. It was the first London borough to have Fairtrade status which is awarded on certain criteria.[7][8]
The area is one of the hearts of culture in London and the South East of England. Institutions such as the major arts and entertainment centre Fairfield Halls add to the vibrancy of the borough. However, its famous fringe theatre, the Warehouse Theatre, went into administration in 2012 when the council withdrew funding, and the building itself was demolished in 2013. The Croydon Clocktower was opened by Queen Elizabeth II in 1994 as an arts venue featuring a library, the independent David Lean Cinema (closed by the council in 2011 after sixteen years of operating, but now partially reopened on a part-time and volunteer basis) and museum.[9] From 2000 to 2010, Croydon staged an annual summer festival celebrating the area's black and Indian cultural diversity, with audiences reaching over 50,000 people.[10]
Premier League football club Crystal Palace F.C. play at Selhurst Park in Selhurst, a stadium they have been based in since 1924. Other landmarks in the borough include Addington Palace, an eighteenth-century mansion which became the official second residence of six Archbishops of Canterbury,[11] Shirley Windmill, one of the few surviving large windmills in Greater London built in the 1850s, and the BRIT School, a creative arts institute run by the BRIT Trust which has produced artists such as Adele, Amy Winehouse and Leona Lewis.[12]
