Dr. Mary L. Good, Dean of UALR’s Donaghey College of Information Science and Systems Engineering, delivered the keynote address in early November at the 11th Annual International Conference on Information Quality at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Mass.
In her speech, A Vision for Information Quality Education and Research at UALR, Good gave a progress report on the master of science degree in information quality at UALR, a program developed in collaboration with MIT’s information quality program and with sponsorship from Acxiom Corp. of Arkansas.
UALR began last year offering the world’s first master’s degree in information quality - something industry advisory groups have been requesting. The program was developed jointly by personnel from UALR and MIT, but is offered entirely through the College.
The program trains information scientists to improve the accuracy of computer-driven information that permeates all aspects of business.
“Poor quality information cause consumers to lose $1 billion to $2.5 billion a year because of scanner pricing errors,” Good said. “Poor quality information can also be deadly.”
More accurate and up-to-date information about the elevation of levees in New Orleans prior to Hurricane Katrina could have made the doomed city better able to protect itself.
“Industry is demanding this specialty, and our college’s program at UALR program is uniquely poised to provide it,” Good said.
Expansion of the program will include piloting some new technology to deliver the program’s content over the Internet to students located throughout the globe.