April 27, 2023
Despite the long name, the Department of Informatics and Networked Systems (DINS) has a “very interesting name” according to DINS Department Chair Daqing He. “There was a long discussion over what the name should be… so we have “informatics” that covers the information sciences, and “networked Systems”… which includes telecommunications, distributed systems, Internet of Things, and more. We selected a very broad department name to reflect the breadth of our academic programs now and in the future.”
Formed on the basis of three pillars—humans, data, and networks—DINS encompasses the diverse and inclusive studies of information sciences, data science , and networks. The department got its start as early as the 1960s, and has since evolved to expand its research and academic programs into an innovative department that serves the needs of students and the continuously changing technological field.
As department chair (preceded by Martin Weiss and Prashant Krishnamurthy), Dr. He is helping to carry DINS forward: “...When the School of Computing and Information was formed in 2016, we as faculty started to talk about what the mission of our department is, and the signatures that make our department distinct.” From this discussion, the DINS faculty identified the three pillars of humans, data, and networks.
“We believe that you need to study or learn about all three aspects––the people who use the systems, the data sought and produced by users, and the networks that carry the information––in order to be a successful information professional,” explains He.
History
With a history spanning more than 50 years since the creation of the first PhD program in information science, DINS’ current form can be attributed to several developments, including the University of Pittsburgh’s response to the increased emphasis on telecommunications in the 1980s. After the first group of students received their master’s degrees in information sciences in 1974, and Roger and Ida Flynn served as founding members of the information sciences baccalaureate program (BSIS) in 1979, the university expanded its focus to the field of telecommunications in the 1980s, and established the Master of Science in Telecommunication (MST) program.
“A number of the telecommunication faculty actually came from Bell Labs, which was a research arm of a major telecommunication company that existed in the 80s,” said DINS Department Manager Kelly Shaffer. “The mid 1990s were sort of a boom period for telecommunications in the United States… and the university brought on faculty members from Bell Labs. Faculty… came from the real industries that use our students.”
Throughout the 1990s and 2000s, the department continued to evolve to include faculty and research programs in telecommunications including a new doctorate concentration in telecommunications. DINS, then called the Department of Information Science and Telecommunications, eventually dissolved into the School of Information Sciences. Later, in 2016, DINS re-emerged when “the information science and technology and telecommunications and networking graduate programs [came] together with the information science undergraduate major in anticipation of the creation of the new School of Computing and Information (SCI),” according to the “History of DINS.”
Five Years of SCI
The formation of the SCI foregrounded many developments for DINS. In the educational landscape, a smaller and more focused school has allowed for greater access to education for students. One example of this is the change in the information science programs from having a two-year curriculum to a four-year curriculum.
“Before their junior and senior years, students were in the Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences or other places, and had to declare to get into our Bachelor’s of Science in Information Sciences program,” said He. “Then, when SCI became a four-year school, we started to work together… to identify the competitive landscapes, and other BSIS programs offered in similar competitive universities. [DINS] started the process of expanding and redesigning the whole BSIS curriculum to make it four years rather than two years.”
Additionally, with SCI becoming a freshman-admitting school, students interested in pursuing education in information sciences or telecommunications had less time restrictions on their exposure and educational journey.
At the undergraduate level, DINS also offers two joint programs with the Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences (A&S): digital narrative and interactive design and computational social science. At the masters level, DINS offers the MSIS-GSPIA joint degree program. These interdisciplinary programs help to prepare non-SCI students with a foundation in the Information Sciences, which strengthens their job market competitiveness and career progress due to their interdisciplinary training and skills .
To further align with the pillars of the department, DINS has redefined the emphasis of various educational programs. Newly developed curricula at both the undergraduate and graduate levels ensures that all students studying information sciences and telecommunication engage with each pillar in a set of required course classes. Then, in addition to their core foundation, flexibility in electives allows students to optimize their competitiveness when entering the job market by specializing in a specific field.
Additionally, as the department grows and new faculty are recruited, DINS considers the pillars of emphasis and how candidates will implement the signatures of humanity, data, and networks in both research and instruction.
“You can already see some of the faculty recruited in the last five years carrying out those signatures,” said Dr. He.
Moving Forward
A notable goal of the department is to help SCI work towards the interdisciplinary goal of giving all undergraduate students at Pitt access to education in computing and education.
“We have already worked out an Information Sciences minor that will be open to all Pitt students who are interested,” said Dr. He, noting that the minor will be centered around offering the benefits of the three pillars to other students of the university.
For the faculty, the department will continue to foster and support junior faculty to “help make them successful while stressing research in the human, data, and network aspects,” said Dr. He.
For more information about the department, visit the DINS website.
--Emma Bender, SCI writing intern