A Message from the Dean

Welcome to the College of Informatics website.

By your presence here I can only assume that you have an interest and, as likely, a facility for digital technology. You've come to the right place.

Futurist Alvin Toffler wrote: "The illiterate of the 21st Century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn and relearn."

Toffler got a lot of things right, and some things wrong. But nothing he prophesied is more apt to today's digital technology revolution than the words above.

The College of Informatics at Northern Kentucky University — its staff, faculty and administrators — celebrates and embraces this revolution.

I have to ask: Are you sincere in learning more about this revolution?

And, in Toffler's parlance: Are you an individual who can learn? Unlearn? Relearn?

If you answered ‘yes' to those four questions, then we invite you to explore the opportunity to become a Renaissance Person for the Information Age.

There is no aspect of human endeavor in the arts, sciences and professions that is not touched by digital technology. Today's (and tomorrow's) doctors, lawyers, scientists, musicians, artists, architects, inventors, entrepreneurs, engineers, writers, government and civic leaders and myriad other workers — all must recognize the imperative nature of digital technology if their professions, and our society as a whole, are to advance.

Informatics is an animal that will feed and be fed by the 21st Century literate. It has a life of its own that is turning the world upside down. For example, it is not simply that scientific research can no longer be done without digital tools; rather, informatics has changed what the scientific questions are, not simply how they are answered.

Or take social interaction: The way we now connect with others has profoundly altered all of our relationships, from the practical and perfunctory to the deepest and most intimate — indeed, digital courtship is now common practice. Or take business: Google, a company whose holdings consist of nothing more than digitally mediated services, has more capital valuation than General Motors and Ford combined. All the more astounding, Google is not even 10 years old!

As one of only a handful of colleges in the country founded exclusively for this emerging field, NKU's College of Informatics offers courses and programs that cover the entire spectrum of informatics, from the bit-level to the conceptual, from the practical to the theoretical, from the basic to the advanced, from the traditional to the cutting edge.

What does this mean for you? Simply stated, a new world of career opportunities.

You have made it this far; thus, I can conclude that you hold more than a cursory interest in the future of digital technology. Good for you. Good for us. And good for society's future.

I leave you with an invitation and a challenge. I invite you to consider joining us on our journey as Renaissance People for the Information Age. And I challenge you to learn, unlearn and relearn.

Best wishes on your newest journey, wherever it may begin…

— Douglas Perry, Ph.D.
Dean, College of Informatics