What is informatics? | |
| Informatics is a broad new field of study focused on the science of information and information technology (IT). At IU, the curriculum contains both a technical and a human dimension. Students are introduced to technical topics ranging from mathematical foundations of information to distributed information and knowledge systems. Courses that emphasize the human dimension include the study of human-centered software design, and the social and ethical issues arising from the growing impact of technology.
There is an ever-increasing gap between the potential uses and the actual applications of information technology. In short, we are able to gather more data than we can effectively use. Through the study of informatics, people learn how to make use of this avalanche of information and solve new, significant problems. In bioinformatics, for example, researchers are using new database applications to sort vast quantities of genetic data, speeding the identification of proteins. Pharmaceutical companies look to techniques developed by informaticists to speed the development of new drugs. | |
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