Living with data: Scale, time and space dimensions in a data-driven culture

Data and the processes related to their production, use and leverage are not a technical subject but a combination of science, technology, business and society-driven issues. This short piece argues that data management is a knowledge problem, and that it is the knowledge from researchers, private organisations and end-users which enables best practices in the design, production, combination, aggregation and analysis of data. Using examples of research, it is argued that a knowledge-based approach to data management, which considers the space, time and scale dimensions of the subject, is the key for research to drive necessary changes in behaviours in economies and society.