Information vision A written expression of the desired future
for information use and management in an organization.
Inheritance A principle of object-oriented approaches in
which subclasses inherit all of the properties and methods of the
class to which they belong.
Instant messaging (IM) A synchronous communication
system (a variant of electronic mail) that enables the user to
establish a private “chat room” with another individual to carry
out text-based communication in real time over the Internet.
Typically, the IM system signals the user when someone on his or
her private list is online, and then the user can initiate a chat
session with that individual.
Instruction An individual step or operation in a program,
particularly in a machine language program. See alsoMachine
language, Program.
Integrated-CASE (I-CASE) A set of full-cycle, integrated
CASE tools, in which system specifications supported by the
front-end tools can be converted into computer code by the back-
end tools included in the system. See alsoComputer-aided soft-
ware engineering.
Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) A set of
international standards by which the public telephone network
offers additional telecommunications capabilities—including
simultaneous transmission of both voice and data over the same
line—to telephone users worldwide.
Integrity rules A type of data standard that ensures that a specif-
ic range or set of values are captured and stored for a specific data
element in an organizational database. The rules might also specify
circumstances under which deviations from the rules can occur.
Intellectual property Any product of the human mind, such as
an idea, an invention, a literary creation, a work of art, a business
method, an industrial process, a chemical formula, a computer
program, or a presentation.
Interactive system A computer system in which the user
directly interacts with the computer. In such a system, the user
would enter data into the computer via some type of input device
and the computer would provide a response almost immediately,
as in an airline reservation system. An interactive system is an
online system in which the computer provides an immediate
response to the user.
Interface The point of contact where the environment meets a
system or where two subsystems meet. Special functions such as
filtering, coding/decoding, error detection and correction, buf-
fering, security, and summarizing occur at an interface, which
allows compatibility between the environment and system or two
subsystems.See alsoGraphical user interface.
Internet A network of networks that use the TCP/IP protocol,
with gateways (connections) to even more networks that do not
use the TCP/IP protocol. Two of the primary applications on the
Internet are electronic mail and the World Wide Web. See also
B2B, B2C, Electronic commerce, Electronic mail, Extranet,
Intranet, Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol, World
Wide Web.
Internet2 A not-for-profit consortium of more than 200
universities, working in partnership with 70 leading technology
companies and the U.S. government, to develop and deploy
advanced network applications and technologies. Internet2 operates
a very high-performance network as the backbone network for the
Internet2 universities; the initial version of this network was named
Abilene, and the present even higher-speed network has the
confusing name Internet2.
Internet telephony Also called Voice over Internet Protocol
(VoIP) or IP telephony, this approach to telephony allows the user
to make voice calls using a broadband Internet connection instead
of a regular (analog) telephone line. Internet telephony requires
an analog telephone adapter for a standard telephone, an IP
(digital) phone, or an appropriately equipped computer, as well as
a broadband Internet connection.
Interpreter A software program that translates a third genera-
tion or fourth generation language program into an equivalent
machine language program, executing each source program
statement as soon as that single statement is translated.
Intranet A private network operating within an organization
that employs the TCP/IP protocol; an intranet is used by emp-
loyees for information sharing, collaboration, and other appli-
cations. A firewall typically is used to separate the intranet from
the public Internet.
IP telephony SeeInternet telephony.
IS SeeInformation system.
IS governance An organization’s formal design for IS-related
responsibilities and accountabilities. Common designs today
include highly centralized, highly decentralized, and federal IS
organizations. Under a typical federal IS governance design, com-
puter and network operations are highly centralized, but software
application development and maintenance are highly decentralized.
IS mission The reason(s) for the existence of the IS organi-
zation.See alsoIS vision.
IS operational plan SeeOperational IS plan
ISDN SeeIntegrated Services Digital Network.
IT SeeInformation technology.
IT application portfolio The set of software applications in an
organization that are installed and being utilized, currently under
development, and/or on a list of approved IS projects not yet
underway. See alsoIT portfolio management.
IT architecture An IT architecture is an organization-specific
set of requirements for current and future hardware, software,
network, and data assets, as well as the human resources needed
to acquire, deploy, and maintain them, to meet the organization’s
information vision.
IT outsourcing Contracting with an outside organization to
perform one or more IS functions or activities. For example,
outsourcing might involve a multiyear contract with a vendor to
operate an organization’s computers and networks, or shorter
contracts for application development and maintenance. See also
Offshore IT outsourcing.678 Glossary