Data organization is an important thing if local government want to improve public services. Development of computer technology enables local government to collect and manage a big amount of data.

The meaning of data is basic material in fact about real world that could be record and save in computer to be process into information. Data could be form:

·        Formatting data, data with a certain format, as example: data stating date or time, or data stating currency.

·        Text, a line of word, number, and special symbol (example: + and $) which the combination don’t depend on each item individually.

·         Image, data in picture, graphic, photo, signature, or any kinds of images.

·         Audio, data in voice, musical instrument, person’s voice, heart beat.

·         Video, data in moving picture and completed with voice. Could be used to record activities.

Data only useful if connected with certain context. Mechanism to provide that context called meta data, data explaining other data. The explaining could be in data definition, data structure, rule, and boundary. In data base context, meta data allows data base architect and user know all things about data: kind, meaning, and characteristic. Meta data is very important make the data didn’t mean in wrong way, ambiguous, and confusing.

Traditionally, data have organized into a hierarchy contains data field, record and file. Data field is the smallest data unit, as example: officer number. Record is a collection of connected data field, like a record of officer. File is a collection of connected record, like file of officer.

A file could be a spreadsheet, document, or other individual fact collection. These files could be collect into one group in a folder which is collection of connected files, and conceptually like branches of a tree. Several folders could be collect into a bigger folder, like several branches could be collect into a bigger branch.

Spreadsheet 

Table in lines and columns in a spreadsheet could be considered as a simple data base structure. Spreadsheet columns have title that described the columns content, as example: table of officer data containing name, officer number, address, education, position, etc. Table concept is important because the famous data base structure for an organization is relational database structure which conceptually as like as collection of connected tables. Terms in spreadsheet basically same as terms in data structure, table is identical with file, column is identical with field, and row is identical with record.