Data is everywhere around us, and most of it is simply noise.
The purpose of information is to inform, to help us change our minds. Information has a point of view, it’s useful. It turns data into actionable truth.
Getting more data isn’t the hard part. Turning it into information is.
About a year ago, 300 volunteers came together to create The Carbon Almanac. Yesterday, we won Book of the Year at the Data Literacy Awards.
Some of the charts and graphs in the book went through thirty or more iterations. Every one was fact-checked, footnoted and shared with dozens of reviewers before it was included.
There are countless ways to present data, but very few of them turn it into information.
I’m lucky to have stood next to the insightful, skilled and focused experts who put so much into explaining what’s happening all around us. I hope you can check out the work. And share a copy.
Here’s to a new year filled with peace of mind and possibility.