Wherever practicable, the NIF would collect data at the most granular level. Aggregation is a one-way street: granular data can be aggregated, but the original detail ordinarily cannot be recovered from aggregated data. Collection of granular data is recognized as a best practice, and it governs data collection strategies at most financial, commercial and telecommunication companies today. It is facilitated by advances in data storage and data access software. Once collected, however, the same data might be used in aggregated form for any number of purposes, such as calculating regional summary statistics, or peer group benchmarks for industry subgroups. “Tick” (or trade-level) data is a good example: data on each trade enables analysis at the most granular level (trade detail), as well as at aggregated levels (end-of-day, quarter by quarter, year over year, etc.).