PASSIONATE GRAMMARIANS have long quarrelled over whether data should be singular or plural (contrary to common usage, this newspaper is sticking with the latter, for now). A better question is why are data so singularly plural? That is, why do they have so many different faces? For an answer, start with the many metaphors used to describe flows of data. Originally they were likened to oil, suggesting that data are the fuel of the future. More recently, the comparison has been with sunlight because soon, like solar rays, they will be everywhere and underlie everything. There is also talk of data as infrastructure: they should be seen as a kind of digital twin of roads or railways, requiring public investment and new institutions to manage them.
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