MISSION:
Our mission, which has evolved over the past 30+ years to reflect changes in the underlying science and the now pervasive impact of online search in our society, is to be one of the world’s leading centers for open research on effective, contextualized, trustworthy, and personalized access to information through natural language dialog and interaction. We continue to emphasize collaborations with the leading scientists from academia and industry nationally and worldwide to achieve our goals.
Our mission aligns with the campus mission “to create positive impact on the commonwealth and the broader society we serve through education and advancing knowledge,” and the campus strategy of being both a “partner of choice” and a “destination of choice”. In the CIIR’s case, we attract top students, research visitors, and faculty to the campus, partner with the leading search companies, and increase the visibility and reputation of the Manning College of Information and Computer Sciences at the state, national, and international levels through presentations and outreach.
The CIIR’s goal of providing effective and trustworthy access to information also strongly aligns with the College mission of “computing for the common good”. The Manning College of Information and Computer Sciences envisions “a world where computing enhances the well-being of our citizenry” and where computing research leads to “developing secure, fair, trustworthy, easy-to-use, and helpful technologies that advance science, improve our quality of life, and contribute to the progress of society.” The CIIR has been doing this for over 30 years by providing and making available research advances in information retrieval techniques to make search simpler: the current research emphasis on fair and trustworthy search provides a new emphasis in this area.
GOALS:
- To democratize information access by developing and sharing technology that empowers users through efficient and effective access to trustworthy information
- To expand research collaborations with leading scientists from academia and industry nationally and worldwide
- To build and maintain our international reputation as a leading research center that makes its results publicly available
- To attract and educate top students who will increase the visibility and reputation of the college and campus at the state, national, and international levels
- To commit to and maintain an environment that values diversity, equity, and inclusivity