'सूचना'(Information) पद का अर्थ किसी को कोई जरूरी बात बताना, कहना, समाचार सुनाना, किसी को या आपको बताई गई बात आदि सब सूचना कहलाती है। 'सूचना' अंग्रेजी में (इनफार्मेशन) शब्द फॉर्मेटिया अथवा फोरम शब्द से बना है। ये दोनों ही शब्द वस्तु के आकार व् स्वरूप प्रदान करने के अभिप्राय को व्यक्त करते हैं।

Information is an abstract concept that refers to something which has the power to inform. At the most fundamental level, it pertains to the interpretation of that which may be sensed, or their abstractions. Any natural process that is not completely random and any observable pattern in any medium can be said to convey some amount of information. Whereas digital signals and other data use discrete signs to convey information, other phenomena and artifacts such as analogue signals, poems, pictures, music or other sounds, and currents convey information in a more continuous form. Information is not knowledge itself, but the meaning that may be derived from a representation through interpretation.