A broader interpretation is that data is relevant and therefore of value, if, depending on whether or not it is available to the decision-maker, it could make a difference to the decision. This approach can also lead to difficulties. In addition to decision-making, there are other circumstances in which data can be interesting or valuable. When we read the newspaper, listen to the news on the radio, or watch 'infotainment' programs on television, we are seldom making decisions, and yet we perceive informational value in some of the data presented to us. Sometimes it is merely humorous.
Informational value depends upon context.
Until it is placed in an appropriate context, data is not information, and once it ceases to be in that context it ceases to be information. Some people feel very uncomfortable with this definition. It forces us to confront the fluidity of the situation. Finally, we must again acknowledge that the term 'information' is frequently used, even in the information systems discipline, in senses different from the somewhat formal definition proposed above. The most common manner in which data can have value, and thereby become information, is by making a difference to a decision.