Year of Informatics 2006

As part of the initiative „Science in Dialogue“, the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research has since the year 2000 organized various years of science. The seventh year in this series, 2007, was dedicated to Information Technology and was intended to draw the public interest to computer science and the digital development of our society. The Hasso-Plattner-Institute supported the initiative with a series of events titled „Controlling complex systems – thanks to Information Technology.

Informatics is omnipresent. In fact, hardly any other field of science has made its way into so many different areas of our lives. Even when you can´t necessarily see them, computers are everywhere. They are steering, measuring and sending out warnings in switchboards, mobile phones, cars and household appliances among many other things. Informatics is at the very heart of the modern information society, and one of the most fascinating aspects of the discipline is the speed at which technology is advancing and resulting in ever smaller, more intelligent and efficient products. Even though it remains invisible, and although many misjudge it as too technical and abstract a science, it is undeniable that informatics will play a central role in Germany´s ability to compete economically in the future.