Information Sciences and Technology
Encyclopedia : I : IN : INF : Information Sciences and Technology
Introduction
Ever wonder what the Information Technology (IT) guy does, why he is so valuable to the company, and why he makes so much money? Information Sciences and Technology (IST) has become a very important part of our economy and everyday lives. Every large corporation or small business has an IT department that helps to increase communication, efficiency and profitability. The definition and examples to follow provide a brief overview of what exactly an IST professional has to contribute.
Definition
In order to define IST, first you need a breakdown of the term. Information science is known as the study of information. Information is all around us; on our televisions, computers, cell phones, books, and on the World Wide Web. Information science is needed in order to understand how to effectively store, organize, communicate, and manipulate information. Similarly, information technology is the use of computers and computer software to convert, store, protect, process, transmit, and retrieve information. To utilize information sciences and technology one must have an understanding of how to effectively communicate the correct information by utilizing the correct technology available for its purpose. So all together information science and technology is a combination of gathering information, organizing it, then using it to benefit a company.
Recently IST has come to play a pivotal role in the digital global economy. It reaches past the narrow aspects of computer science, programming and building, and demands more organizational skills and leadership. IST seeks to find solutions to problems across all aspects of the economy. Information is seen as a commodity, IST improves access to information that is vital to an organization. Technology is seen as a tool to be utilized for the benefit of the economy and improvement of the business landscape. Companies are now realizing that they need to gather as much information as they can, about their customers, suppliers, employees, and work processes to name a few. By understanding all of the aspects of their organization and carefully studying all of the pertinent information pertaining to their company they can become more efficient.
Possible Careers
If you are considering IST as a profession, then you should have an interest in computers, technology, and business. To show the unique responsibilities of an IST professional we can compare and contrast them with those of a computer scientist or engineer. An employee in the IT Department at, for example, a construction company would develop a web page to gather information from and relay information to potential customers. Or, the IT employee would attempt to integrate the employee payroll system (containing information about employees and their pay rates and hours worked) and the database that contains information about the current construction jobs (containing information such as location, equipment and needed materials). An information scientist could productively map out the connections between the two systems and create a more efficient program where users could find out who is working at what site, how many hours at different sites, how much total money was spent on one particular job, and possibly link this to a network so that it could be accessible through the internet at job sites. The IT employee would meet with various workers within the company to find out as much as possible about company operations to make the system design as customized as possible. After mapping out all of the attributes, possible queries, and elements for the system, a computer programmer would actually create this program. A computer engineer would design and build a system to hold all of the information. A management information scientist would ultimately be the educated and informed user of the system. The information scientist would be responsible for maintaining the functionality of the program, but the combined knowledge and skills of everyone would be required to complete the technical design of the solution, to implement the solution, and to assess the effectiveness of the solution. Basically, The IT and IS people gather information about the company and make a plan for what can be done to make the business more efficient. A programmer is responsible for actually writing a program and developing software to fit the needs of the organization once those specifications have been passed to them. A computer engineer takes care of the hardware for the project, using the proposed information to find the best solutions for the company. IST can be seen as a gateway between the actual users and the architects of a computer system.
Why IST is important
Information Sciences and Technology is important because it affects our daily lives. Signing onto a computer at work and locating a shared file on the office network, online shopping and searching for the best price for a product online, signing onto your bank account to look at your statement, these processes are all made possible by IST. IST is using technology to solve problems and to make our lives easier, often you don’t even know that it has. IST is the way that our society will move into a more technologically advanced world.
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