Businesses, governments and individuals create massive collections of data as a result of their activity. Decision-makers and systems rely on intelligent technology to analyze data systematically to improve decision-making. This course examines how data analysis technologies can be used to improve decision-making and discusses the fundamental principles and techniques of data mining. By examining real-world examples and working hands-on with data-mining software, students learn to place data-mining techniques in context and develop data-driven analytic thinking.