Hi, my name is Benjamin Alexander De Mers and I am an Information Scientist. I have earned several degrees at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, one of the top five research universities for Information Studies in the world.  My concentration is Information Science and Technology.  You can read my full bio here.  That means I am deeply familiar with how information is effected/affected by technology, systems analysis, security, ethics, law, privacy, marketing, media, data analytics and more.  I am also deeply familiar with how these sub-categories of information science effect/affect information.  I work with information and how it is acquired, accessed, processed and managed.  I am currently the Editor in Chief of the IAM Blog and the IAM Podcast.

Those who work with information are known as Information Professionals (IP).  IPs commonly work with others and teamwork is essential in good and thorough information acquisition, access, processing and management.  You see, information is so vast (and growing all the time) that there is literally infinite potential for engagement and involvement with others in accessing and managing information.

Information is the infinite product.  It is the only product that when you share it, it becomes even more valuable.  It is no secret that the brick and mortar world is increasingly digitizing.  Each time something from the analog world gets digitized an information object is created.  Yet, the only way the new information object can have any meaning or relevance is for it to be accessible and meaningfully integrated with all other information objects.  This places the freedom of information at odds with human-based systems of processing.

On the other hand, widget-based products are not infinite.  They need to have limits of production and engagement placed upon them in order for them to retain their value.  Traditional widget-based products are susceptible to dilution of value due to supply and demand dynamics which do no apply to information.  There is no wiggle room in this dynamic.

As many historians acknowledge, we are in an Information Age.  This means that traditional commerce/exchange methodologies and economies of scale are transitioning to an increasingly digital world.  From the Semantic Web to the Internet of Things, information and its many systems and technologies are reshaping the very core of our ways of interaction.  Consequently, attempts to create proprietary information systems to replace traditional economic drivers is a difficult equation.  Most Information Professionals are acutely aware of the fact that it is becoming increasingly difficult to market information for profit as information seeks to be free.  This leads to the need for information systems to develop relationships with for-profit technologies and mechanisms for monetizing.  This presents a whole new orientation to information which currently has no definitive or official response.  We humans are working our way through this important phase of the evolution of our civilization.

We humans are by nature a sharing species.  We want to share information with each other.  It is in fact contrary to our nature to not share information.  However, as we are learning, there are instances when sharing information is not in our best interests or in the best interests of our organizations.  In those cases we tend to develop information security practices which compartmentalize information and regulate access.  This provides roadblocks and bottlenecks which further complicate the transition to commerce with information.

So how do we go about maximizing the potential of the infinite product and yet provide an economy which works with value, sharing and its many complexities?  The accomplishment of a solution to this quandary is precisely what the IAM Platform of Products and Services has set as its goal to achieve.  Every day we learn more and apply that knowledge to real products and services which enhance humanity’s ability to find new ways to maximize the potential of information.  As a fellow human, we invite you to engage with us in this endeavor.  You don’t have to be a formally trained Information Professional to benefit from engaging with the IAM Network.  We all produce, acquire, process, access and manage information.  Professionals just know the history and theory of Information Science and Technology and are helpful for providing context and holistic solutions to information acquisition, processing and management.  At the end of the day, the sum of all information has to work together or it is simply meaningless.

The IAM Network is one of the fastest growing Information Professional (IP) networks and it is just one of the Products and Services on our platform.  As we go along we will find more and more ways in which IPs and non-IPs can join and participate in the IAM Network.  From librarians, archivists, and museum curators to semantic modelers, data analysts, software engineers and Web and mobile developers to everyday people who work with information, IPs work from home, some work on the go and some work in organizations and institutions.  Our mission is to provide a place where anyone involved with information can access a hub for all things information.  For now get acquainted with the content on this blog and follow us on , and .

Back to the Blog