We are living in the information age; in the 21st century, information is one of the world's most abundant commodities. And in many ways, it is also one of the worlds most precious, elusive and most fiercely protected.

The technological revolution has allowed global access to a vast bank of information via the internet, whilst recent global events have highlighted the true significance of detailed intelligence, reliable or otherwise. In the business world too, the need for the accurate recording and the efficient use of data is paramount. Developments in marketing methods as well as communication technologies mean that the range and amount of data available to businesses is increasing dramatically. Tomorrow's winners in the business world will be those best equipped with the organisation models and systems, which interprets these data to use it to make informed decisions.

Informatics is the study of information science, technology and systems. It is a cross-disciplinary activity aimed at developing powerful computational resources and specialist expertise to enable sophisticated computational modelling and visualisation as well as to aid the management and interpretation of large volumes of data generated within the organisation. It is necessary to understand and extend the theory of data capture, data storage and extraction of information; which is the initial requirement for designing/developing a organisational model and system.

Fresh research is needed for effective improvements in modelling and visualisation using new computational systems and tools to turn this vision into practical results. This, essentially, is what informatics is all about. Informatics seeks to develop and implement techniques to extract information, knowledge and wisdom from raw data. Today there is simply so much data available that the task of managing, sharing, analysing and then transforming it into useful knowledge has become, in many instances, an overwhelming challenge. For today's scientist, data can be as much a hindrance as it is a help. The value of data is evident; you can never have too much high quality data to help you reach your research goals. However, the extraction of meaningful