The I-Schools are here
ON THE occasion of InfoVision2005, the University of Mysore laid the foundation for the establishment of a new generation centre called the International School of Information Management (I-SIM), in collaboration with the International Institute of Information Technology (IIIT-B), Bangalore, and the School of Information Sciences, University of Pittsburgh.
The event was marked by the signing of Memorandum of Understanding by J.Shashidhara Prasad, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Mysore, Ronald Larsen, Dean, School of Information Sciences, University of Pittsburgh, S.Sadagopan, Director, International Institute of Information Technology, Bangalore and N.V.Satyanarayana, Chairman and Managing Director, Informatics India Limited. I-SIM was launched by Som Mittal, President and CEO, HP Soft.
The Ford Foundation, New York has provided the seed money through a grant to the Project Director, Shalini Urs. This initiative of the University of Mysore is the first of its kind in the country and also Asia.
Prof. Shalini Urs said: "I-SIM is a strategy and a model to confront the challenges of crossing borders in terms of disciplines, institutional frameworks, sectors, and geo-spaces. I-SIM will produce the new breed of professionals trained in Information Sciences, Technologies and Management."
Critical domain
Prof. Shashidhara Prasad said: "The emergence of industrial society engineered the growth of the field of Management Sciences; the 21st century is witness to the dawn of a new domain — information/knowledge management. Given the transformative impact of ICTs, this domain is going to become critical in the years to come.
"he new breed of information professionals that the knowledge-centric organisations and society would require must have a good foundation in both IT and IM and this centre of learning would address this need."
Prof. Ronald Larsen said "Universities around the world are establishing I-Schools either de novo as in the case of School of Information Management and Systems at the University of California, Berkley, U.S. or deconstructed and reconstructed the existing schools to form the I-Schools such as the I-School at the University of Washington, School of Information at the University of Michigan, and School of Information Sciences, University of Pittsburgh.
"Establishment of I-SIM and joining the International Consortium of I-Schools, is a trailblazing effort of the University of Mysore."
Realising the need for interaction between an Information Technology school and an Information Management school, IIIT-B is partnering with University of Mysore in establishing this I-SIM.
Prof. Sadagopan said "With the emergence of knowledge-based economy and knowledge-centric society, the domain of information and knowledge has occupied centrestage. Knowledge and information have become the key resource of every organisation and society.
"But managing this demands a new breed of professionals with the requisite knowledge and skill-sets drawn from disciplines across the information/knowledge landscape. This new domain is multidisciplinary." These universities have formed a consortium of I-Schools and the first I-Conference of the 15 I-School deans is being organised at the Penn State University from September 28 to 30 this year.
Programmes
I-SIM will offer a Master's Programme in Information Systems Management. The curriculum will be in tune with the one offered at the University of Pittsburgh and University of Michigan, U.S. and progressively move towards joint degree programmes.
I-SIM will join the American I-School consortium and provide international learning experience by having faculty from international partners. Faculty and student exchange between partner institutions will provide international setting for the students of I-SIM.
R. CHANDRAKANTH
Printer friendly
page
Send this article to Friends by
E-Mail
Education Plus
Karnataka
Chennai
Coimbatore
Hyderabad
Madurai
Tiruchirapalli
Vijayawada
Visakhapatnam
