industry has been estimated to be $600 billion. According to a report released by Gartner in 2009, the average organization loses $8.2 million annually because of poor data quality. This problem has been well documented by many researchers, notably by Larry English in his book Information Quality Applied. The problem with poor data quality is that it leads to poor decisions. This post describes the work we're doing with the Office of Acquisition, Technology and Logistics (AT&L)-a division of the Department of Defense (DoD) that oversees acquisition programs and is charged with, among other things, ensuring that the data reported to Congress is reliable. This definition implies that data quality is both a subjective perception of individuals involved with the data, as well as the quality associated with the objective measurements based on the data set in question. Data are generally considered high quality if they are fit for their intended uses in operations, decision making, and planning. Data comes in many forms, both structured (tables of numbers and text) and unstructured (emails, images, sound, etc.). They use it to manage programs, select products to fund or develop, make decisions, and guide improvement.

What is anomaly in database