Little Rock is not only fortunate to have an internationally known information quality (IQ) university program, but also to have businesses, organizations and entire industries that can utilize the insight that an information quality graduate can provide.

The importance of this IQ hub was raised to a higher level this week as local data professionals and businesses, University of Arkansas at Little Rock students, and visitors from 25 countries came to campus to learn from some of the world’s most respected data professionals during back-to-back conferences.

The 2013 Information and Data Quality Conference, one of the leading annual gatherings of the worldwide information quality and data governance community, convened Monday through Thursday, while the 2013International Conference on Information Quality, which began Thursday, runs through Saturday.

UALR’s Donaghey College of Engineering and Information Technology is hosting more than 80 sessions during the overlapping conferences. The first keynote speaker was Dr. Phil Mui, chief product and engineering officer and executive vice president at Acxiom. Throughout both conferences, UALR’s George W. Donaghey Emerging Analytics Center staff presented advanced 3-D data demonstrations.

The focus on Little Rock that comes from the conferences is significant, bringing the brightest minds in the IQ industry together with Arkansas business leaders.

Just as important, students networked with top data scientists from Acxiom, IBM, Target, Wal-Mart, CitiBank, Oracle, Prudential, and other Fortune 500 companies, as well as Arkansas-based companies and agencies such as Black Oak Partners, Arkansas Blue Cross Blue Shield, Windstream, Validus, and the Arkansas Department of Information Systems.

Why information quality and why now? Information quality improves an organization’s ability to harness the power of information to use it strategically. That’s important in a world immersed in a sea of data devices and touchpoints. The life cycle of most businesses begins with the collection of data.

That’s where UALR’s IQ program comes in. Established in collaboration with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Information Quality Program in 2006, the program is the only one in the U.S. to offer graduate degrees in information quality.

The challenge today is to prepare the 21st Century student to be a steward of data and its evolution, and to help a business extract the most value possible from the data.

When data is modeled, measured and analyzed, it provides the structure to enable sound business decisions.

UALR offers a full range of degrees for students interested in studying information quality and engaging in data research, often collaborating with industries to find unique and sustainable solutions to the incomprehensible amount of business data.

With many UALR graduates landing high-profile positions at Acxiom, Citi, FedEx, IBM, Wal-Mart, Target and other data-rich industries, a degree that prepares them to be not only useful as a graduate but also invaluable provides a promising start to their post-college career. Graduates of the Information Quality program are thriving in a pioneer degree and a field that will only expand.

UALR’s partnership with local industry leaders places Little Rock at the forefront through the IQ program. Together, we are preparing graduates to help organizations and businesses improve their information so they can use it to meet tomorrow’s challenges strategically.

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John Talburt, Ph.D., is director of the Information Quality graduate program at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock.

Editorial, Pages 17 on 11/08/2013