Indiana University: information-technology services built on a solid foundation of excellence.

IN 1996, INDIANA UNIversity announced the goal of becoming a national leader in absolute terms in the creative use and application of information technology. Through much perseverance, innovation, and tremendous support from both the State of Indiana and its private sector partners, this goal has been attained.

This goal has been achieved through IT leadership in telecommunications and advanced networking, research computing, cyber-security as well as through strategic initiatives such as:

I-light, a fiber optic network connecting Indiana University Bloomington, IUPUI, and Purdue University's West Lafayette campus to each other and to the national Internet2 infrastructure. The first fully operational network of its type, the I-light network supports highly advanced research applications and makes possible virtual, real-time collaborative workspaces for scientists and technologists. In addition, I-Light has made possible greater independence in telecommunications through decreased dependence on telecommunication providers, increasing networking capacity by many orders of magnitude and providing more than enough capacity to meet demand over the next 10 to 20 years.

The Indiana Genomics Initiative (INGEN), funded by IU's largest-ever grant of $105M from the Lilly Endowment, is building upon IU's research capabilities to establish a major, national center in the life sciences. In collaboration with Indiana University's School of Medicine, the University's IT researchers and scientists have recently developed several new software applications, including software to study fetal alcohol syndrome, analyze genetic diseases in human family trees, and advance cancer treatment.

Pervasive Technology Labs, established in partnership with the Lilly Endowment, was established to research the fundamental aspects of pervasive computing that are helping to drive the 21st century information economy and to foster the growth of information technology in Indiana. Through technology transfer, commercialization of innovations produced in the labs, and joint research and development partnerships with government and industry, Pervasive Technology Labs is helping to create the high-wage information technology opportunities needed to retain our highly trained Indiana graduates and to attract new scientific talent to the State.

The School of Informatics, the most recent school to be established at Indiana University, responds to the world's changing needs by exploring the impact of technology on society, developing new uses for technology, and seeking to understand the application of information technology in areas ranging from the arts and humanities to business to the life sciences. The School of Informatics, whose enrollment has steadily increased each year since its inception in 2000, offers five master's degree programs in health informatics, bioinformatics, chemical informatics, human computer interaction, and media arts and science.

Like Indiana University itself, its information technology services, initiatives, and infrastructure are built on a solid foundation of excellence and go well beyond the principle goals of enabling inquiry and discovery. A comprehensive foundation of continually updated hardware, software and network connectivity serves the IU campuses. Teaching and learning centers support faculty instruction. A world-class research infrastructure supports inquiry and discovery. Enterprise information systems support academic and administrative applications. Indiana University's information technology resources and initiatives are helping to create in central Indiana a high-tech corridor linking Bloomington to Indianapolis and West Lafayette that will attract additional expertise and opportunity. With their investment in these initiatives, the University and its partners are helping to secure the economic future of the State, and positioning its citizens to fully participate in the emerging information economy.