This chapter covers:
- How we improve data quality
- The Data-Information-Knowledge-Wisdom hierarchy
- What to expect from the book
Should it be possible to convict you as a criminal because you don’t have enough knowledge? Are you a criminal for making a wrong prediction? Those questions arose in a regional court case in Italy, where science itself was put on trial following a big earthquake that destroyed the city of L’Aquila and killed 309 people in April 2009. The tragedy of those deaths was made even worse in 2012 when six scientists and a government official, all members of the National Commission for the Forecast and Prevention of Major Risks, were accused of giving falsely reassuring statements prior to the quake.
It took the judge only four hours to reach a verdict. All seven individuals were found guilty of multiple manslaughter for inadequately warning residents by giving inaccurate, incomplete, and contradictory information. The convicted individuals were left confused. They didn’t really know what they had been convicted for but they knew they had just been sentenced to six years in prison and barred from ever holding public office again.