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Informatics

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  • First Online:
Encyclopedia of Big Data

Synonyms

Information Engineering; Information Science; Information Systems; Information Studies; Information Theory; Informatique

Definition

Informatics is the science of information, the practice of information processing, and the engineering of information systems. Informatics studies the structure, algorithms, behavior, and interactions of natural and artificial systems that store, process, access, and communicate information (Xinformatics Concept 2012).

The advent of “big data” has brought many opportunities for people and organizations to leverage large amounts of data to answer previously unanswered questions, but along with these opportunities come problems of storing and processing these data. Expertise in the field of Informatics becomes essential to build new information systems or adapt existing information systems to address “big data.”

History

The French term “Informatique” was coined in March 1962 by Phillipe Dreyfus – along with translations in various other languages....

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Tetherless World Constellation, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY, USA

    Anirudh Prabhu

Authors
  1. Anirudh Prabhu
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Correspondence to Anirudh Prabhu .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. School of Policy, Government and International Affairs, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA, USA

    Laurie A. Schintler

  2. School of Policy, Government and International Affairs, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA, USA

    Connie L. McNeely

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© 2019 Springer Nature Switzerland AG

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Prabhu, A. (2019). Informatics. In: Schintler, L., McNeely, C. (eds) Encyclopedia of Big Data. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-32001-4_372-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-32001-4_372-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-32001-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-32001-4

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Business and ManagementReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences

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