[liberationtech] Fwd: [ciresearchers] Why (Community) Informatics?

[Hasib Ahsan]

Interesting Article regarding Informatics and Computing.

Hasib

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Aldo de Moor <ademoor at communitysense.nl>
Date: Tue, Mar 12, 2013 at 6:06 PM
Subject: [ciresearchers] Why (Community) Informatics?
To: Ciresearchers <ciresearchers at vancouvercommunity.net>


Many of you must have (been) asked why we call our field "Community
_Informatics". In Europe, it's a more commonly used term, but, for
instance, in the US, it's often taken to be a synonym for computing
science.

I just came across this very insightful 2010 article "Why an Informatics
Degree?" by Dennis Groth and Jeffrey Mackie-Mason. It  explains very
clearly why the term "informatics" is an appropriate one. Combined with
"community", it is a really powerful combination, as we all know...

http://bit.ly/14RzuIJ

Some excerpts which to me capture the gist of (Community) Informatics:

- "We must embrace the  diversity of ways in which problems are solved
through the effective use of  computing, and we must better understand the
diverse problem domains themselves."

- "This, then, provides a definition for informatics: informatics is a
discipline that solves problems through the application of computing or
computation, in  the context of the domain of the problem."

- "Computer science is focused on the  design of hardware and software
technology that provides computation. Informatics, in general, studies the
intersection of people, information, and technology systems."

- "Informatics is fundamentally an interdisciplinary approach to domain
problems,"

Aldo

==========================================================================
Aldo de Moor, PhD
CommunitySense - for working communities
Cavaleriestraat 2, 5017 ET Tilburg, the Netherlands
e-mail: ademoor at communitysense.nl
mob: +31-6-47011400, tel/fax: +31-13-4564126
site: www.communitysense.nl             KvK: 18088302
blog: communitysense.wordpress.com   ___twitter: ademoor___
==========================================================================



-- 
Hasib Ahsan
Research and Development Coordinator,
 Livelihood, Health, Agriculture and Education Unit
mPower Social Enterprises Ltd &

 Program Manager
e-Health Project with Rockefeller Foundation
 iStrategy Ltd.
Dhaka

 Cell: +8801711076753
Web: http://www.mpower-social.com
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