Information Ontology

Exploring the deep questions of information and information processing...


A project of the Information Design Atelier

Questioning the nature of information

Information technology is a major contemporary industry and a growing sector of private and public R&D. Its impact in society and on the future of how we live and work is also of expanding interest. Innovation in information technology, by its very nature, remains opportunistic and entrepreneurial. Yet, there is relatively little scientific or academic consensus on what information is.

Information can be described in any number of ways. The classic trio of data-information-knowledge [to which was recently added wisdom] remains an elusive dimension representing distinctions that are far from clear. The tandem information-communication is likewise problematic in many respects. The relationship of information to matter and energy is a more recent area of interest that promises much.

This situation regarding information constitutes what is called Information Ontology, characterized as a set of questions concerning the nature of information within the realm of things. Some of these are:

Is live information inherently different [e.g. functionally] from stored information [as for instance, a thunderclap versus a biology textbook]?
How does communication as process relate to information as storage [memory], within the larger ontological context of energy-matter [process-substance]?
How does information as pattern or structure relate to algorithm or program?
Because of its intangible aspect, can we envisage information interaction taking place out of the physical realm [that is, without a physical infrastructure]?
What might be the further evolution of information and information processing as information technology continues to expand?

Most of these questions about information need to be considered within the larger ontological context of the universe as a whole, as indeed information is a phenomenon that developed as part of the evolution of the universe.

These, then, are some of the core issues of information ontology, to which others will certainly be added as interest continues to grow in this area of investigation. The project is being pursued through formal papers such as those of the Cyberg conference series [latest Cyberg presentation].

Philip Duchastel via e-mail