1. A method for using a computing environment for algorithmically determining proximity among elements of underlying functional systems represented in n-dimensional space, the method comprising: electronically representing a set of data entities in a database system, the data entities representing elements of the underlying functional system, and the database system comprising a logical data model for structuring data sets from which functional information can be derived; wherein the logical data model comprises at least two fields ordered by a set of interrelationships among at least two elements in the underlying functional system; and the interrelationships correspond to the functional properties of a process converting a set of input elements to a set of output elements; electronically assigning tags to the data entities, the tags representing functional properties of the elements represented by the data entities in a functional information system, wherein the functional information system defines reference points in an n-dimensional space for the data entities according to the set of interrelationships among the elements of the underlying functional system; selecting a type of functional proximity and an algorithm based on the type, wherein functional proximity measures correspondence among a set of reference points, and a functional proximity algorithm defines executable steps for computation of the correspondence based on the magnitude and category of relationships among a plurality of the data entities; executing the functional proximity algorithm on a data set comprising a subset of the data entities in the database to generate a set of functional proximity results; and storing the result of the selected functional proximity algorithm.