ReadWriteWeb

Computational engine Wolfram Alpha's Managing Director, Barak Berkovitz, talked about the data layer of the mobile Web at a session this afternoon at the Open Mobile Summit in San Francisco.

Like geo-data has done for location, Wolfram Alpha adds a new layer to the Web: a factual dimension. This will impact the Web's evolution, says Berkovitz.

Journalism has always been about reporting facts and assertions and making sense of world affairs. No news there. But as we move further into the 21st century, we will have to increasingly rely on "data" to feed our stories, to the point that "data-driven reporting" becomes second nature to journalists.

The shift from facts to data is subtle and makes perfect sense. You could that say data are facts, with the difference that they can be computed, analyzed, and made use of in a more abstract way, especially by a computer.