IT is a more applied computing discipline rather than being strictly theoretical in nature. Specifically, IT focuses on meeting the needs of users within an organizational and societal context performing the following for computing technologies

  • selection
  • creation
  • application
  • integration
  • administration

Taken from Computing Curricula 2005 (see link below):

  • information technology professionals should be able to work effectively at planning, implementation, configuration, and maintenance of an organization’s computing infrastructure
  • computer scientists should be prepared to work in a broad range of positions involving tasks from theoretical work to software development
  • computer engineers should be able to design and implement systems that involve the integration of software and hardware devices
  • information systems specialists should be able to analyze information requirements and business processes and be able specify and design systems that are aligned with organizational goals

Much of the work of SIGITE distinguishes IT as a distinct computing discipline.

There are two ACM published reports that help define IT referenced against other computing disciplines and lay out the details of the IT model curriculum:

IT 2008: Curriculum Guidelines for Undergraduate Degree Programs in Information Technology. (Nov. 2008). Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) and IEEE Computer Society.

Computing Curricula 2005 Overview Report. (Sep. 2005). Association for Computing Machinery (ACM), Association for Information Systems (AIS), Computer Society (IEEE-CS).

SIGITE has compiled a summary of these documents that can be downloaded here.