In some complex domains, certain problem-specific decompositions can provide advantages over monolithic designs by enabling comprehension and specification of the design. In this paper we present an intuitive and tractable approach to reasoning over large and complex data sets. Our approach is based on Active Data, i.e., data as atomic objects that actively interact with environments. We describe our intuition about how this bottom-up approach improves designs confronting computational and conceptual complexity. We describe an implementation of the base Active Data concepts within the air traffic flow management domain and discuss performance for this implementation.