IS EDUCATIONAchieving excellence through collaboration

THE DIVISION OF THE BROAD FIELD of computing into multiple sub-disciplines has happened naturally and gradually over the relatively short existence of our fi eld. This specialization has a number of advantages, but all computing disciplines (such as computer engineering, computer science, information systems, information technology, software engineering and various forms of informatics) can also benefi t from collaboration between the disciplines. The advantages of specialization and focus are clear: As outlined in the Computing Curricula 2005 Overview Report, the computing disciplines genuinely provide different lenses for studying and teaching the same underlying phenomena. The work that takes place in database management is an excellent example of this: computer science, information systems, and information technology all have a strong interest in databases and database management, but they all approach it from a different perspective. In the same way, questions related to application development are important for all computing disciplines, but multiple disciplinary perspectives provide valuable additional insights, particularly if the perspectives are allowed to infl uence each other. On the other hand, the computing disciplines also have their own unique areas of interest that don’t overlap with the others signifi cantly (although they