Original Meaning of ‘Intelligence’ in ‘Business Intelligence’ (BI)
<p>What does the term ‘Intelligence’ originally stand for in <em>Business Intelligence.</em> Does it mean as used in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artificial_intelligence" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank"><em>Artificial Intelligence</em></a> or as used in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intelligence_agency" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank"><em>Intelligence Agency</em></a>?</p>
<p>In other words, does <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Business_intelligence" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank"><strong>‘Business Intelligence’</strong></a> mean: <em>Acting smart & intelligently in business</em> or <em>Gathering data and information about the business</em>?</p>
<p>This question was the topic of a debate among some fellows in our data-science team, so I thought to ask about it from other experts. One might say that both meanings are applicable, but I’m asking for the original intended meaning of the word as proposed in the 1980s.</p>
<h2><strong>Response</strong>:</h2>
<p>Howard Dresner, in 1989, is believed to have coined the term ‘business intelligence’, to describe <em>concepts and methods to improve business decision making by using fact-based support systems</em>. When he was at Gartner Group. This is a common mantra, spread over the Web. I have not been able to trace the exact source for this origin yet. Many insist on he was not at Gartner group in 1989, which is confirmed in the <a href="https://www.infoworld.com/article/2661157/the-maturing-of-bi.html" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">following interview</a>. In his 2008 book, Performance Management Revolution: Improving Results Through Visibility and Actionable Insight, the termed is defined as:</p>
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