From data storage to information retrieval Security, data and privacy Subject areas Publishing and editorial

Tony Rose, vice-chair of the BCS Information Retrieval Specialist Group, looks at the management problems associated with the huge volumes of data that society produces. It has often been said that we are currently living through an information revolution. The internet age has undoubtedly brought with it a massive increase in the volume of data being produced and stored worldwide, driven by an ever-increasing demand for communication networks and online information access. For example Computing magazine reports that global information storage grew by about 30 per cent between 1999 and 2003, and that during 2002 about five exabytes of new, unique data was stored on print, film magnetic and optical storage (a volume roughly equivalent to 37,000 times the size of the book collection in the Library of Congress). Moreover when we examine the implications of this for individuals across the globe, the consequence is that almost 800Mb of recorded information is produced for each person on earth in a single year.