Making sense of data is essential to formulating coherent business or public policies in a nation of more than 300 million people and a world with over 6 billion inhabitants.

FORBES: A Guide to Thinking In the Era of Big Data: Nate Silver's "The Signal & The Noise"

But the mechanics of the new acquisition techniques are a doddle compared with the challenge of making sense of the vast amount of data produced.

ECONOMIST: Inside story

Today, the relevance of design is expanding far beyond visual aesthetics -- to everything from tackling global issues such as climate change, to making sense of the overwhelming amount of data that surrounds us.

CNN: How to design a better world