The article is devoted to consideration of the importance of such components of the information economy as big data and data lakes. It is shown that in the process of unfolding the modern information technology revolution, information and information technologies are gaining increasing importance in the economy and social life. This is especially important in the context of the formation and development of the information economy. It is noted that the characteristic features of the information economy are its virtualization, the processing of large volumes of information based on the digitization of data, the use of quantum and neurotechnologies, artificial intelligence, wireless communication, the industrial Internet, sensors and robotics, digital platforms, etc., and the key technologies of the digital transformation of the economy and society are the Internet of Things, processing of structured and unstructured data of huge volumes, artificial intelligence and blockchain. Key commonalities and differences in big data and data lakes are shown, as well as their role in storing, processing and using large amounts of information. In particular, it states that "Big Data" has become shorthand for the technologies and analytical tools that help manage and query "big data" and represent three steps to a new way of analyzing information that will transform how we think about society and its organization: the first step - rejection of the sampling method; the second is the rejection of precision, and, finally, the third step is the rejection of centuries-old traditions of the search for causality. It is shown that along with big data, which stores processable and structured information, there are also data lakes, which are a system or centralized data repository where all structured, semi-structured, unstructured and binary data are stored in their natural, i.e., their own raw format. The further development of the information economy and the growth of the role and importance of information will lead to new requirements for the technologies of processing, storage and use of information resources.