economist In 2005 mankind created 150 exabytes (billion gigabytes) of data.  It is expected that we will create 1,200 exabytes of data in 2010.  In 2008, researchers at the University of California in San Diego found that the average American was bombarded by 34 gigabytes of information every single day.

There can be no question that the sheer volume of information is increasingly exponentially, and will continue to do so every year.  Separating the wheat from the chafe, the knowledge from the noise, will become an equally increasing challenge and necessity.  How do we first cope, than manage, organize, store, retrieve and use this ever vaster flow of information?

The Economist takes on these questions and more in a ten article series on the “data deluge.”  Read this eye-popping and thought-provoking series here.  Be sure to find and click the “next article” tag at the bottom left of each article.