SIS is the first iSchool in Finland

The School of Information Sciences at the University of Tampere is the first approved member in Finland of the iSchools organization, which includes several top universities such as the Carnegie Mellon University and the University of California at Berkeley.

Information and information technology are shrinking and changing the world.  The last decade witnessed the rise of a movement in the USA where the faculties of some universities decided to build their education around this change.  The development was named Information School, abbreviated to iSchool and universities operating according to its principles established an international iSchools organization to promote collaboration in teaching and research.

So far there are 36 iSchools in eleven countries on four continents: six of these in Europe, and in the Nordic countries the University of Tampere is the second approved member.

Everything that goes on at a university is ultimately based on information – its production, analysis or transfer.  What is unique about the iSchools is that they are places where people and technology meet.

It is characteristic to many fields of science that they either produce observations or innovations.  The purpose of observations is to comprehend and describe the world, while innovations endeavour to change the world through design, inventions and implementation.  The iSchools combine these – as equals.

“There is no single model into which the iSchools fit.  They typically have many forms, with teaching and research in the service of the whole,” says Dean Kari-Jouko Räihä of the School of Information Sciences.

“In our School phenomena are understood with the help of research and teaching on human-computer interaction, frequently using statistical methods.  Understanding the need for and means of transfer of information and knowledge is fundamental in information studies and interactive media.”

“The information sciences produce new software and devices based on a profound knowledge of mathematics.  The division is not absolute: the union of the human being and technology plays a part in all the degree and research programmes in the School,” Dean Räihä points out.

“Our membership of the iSchools organization has paved the way for the School of Information Sciences to the inner circle creating a new field of science and for us to benefit from the opportunities for cooperation and the best practices of our fellow iSchools.”

iSchools organization

School of Information Sciences