India: Science and Technology

IndiIndia Science and Technology Volume 3 (ed: Banerjee, P., Bhattacharya, S., Kumar, V., Mandal, K., Mehra, K., Pohit, S., Raina, R.S., Suman, S.), Cambridge University Press: New Delhi, 2015, 600 pages, ISBN 9789384463045.

According to UNESCO, Data may be defined as ‘facts, concepts or instructions in a formalized manner suitable for communication, interpretation or processing by human or automatic means.’ Also, CODATA (Committee on Data for Science and Technology) defines data as a “crystallized presentation of the essence of scientific knowledge in the most accurate form.” The data analysis process essentially involves inspecting, cleaning, transforming and modelling of data with the goal of discovering useful information, suggesting conclusions, and supporting decision-making. It has multiple facets and approaches, orienting versatile techniques under a variety of names, in different subject areas. An increase in the volume of a subject field escalates various characteristic features of data related to the nature of activity, quantity, quality and impact of the activities of practitioners on society.