Everywhere
Today's world is dependent on Information Technology and Web Science (ITWS). ITWS is, and will continue to be, the driving force of every industry on the planet. ITWS forms the infrastructure of business and enables the information age. ITWS permeates your everyday life. ITWS brings it all together.

Define ITWS!
Rensselaer's unique multi-disciplinary degrees offered in the Information Technology and Web Science program allow our students to explore the World Wide Web and other IT technologies from the algorithmic, engineering and social perspective. Students in the program learn about the physical science underlying the Web and the social science of its impact, as well as the skills involved in running large-scale information systems, developing Web applications, or dealing with the social and policy implications of IT and Web deployments. Students take a core set of courses on Web and IT development and management, as well as develop an expertise in a concentration involving multiple courses from a section of over twenty options including arts, engineering, management, communications, artificial intelligence, Web systems, and medicine among many others.

Careers
Graduates with Rensselaer’s highly interdisciplinary ITWS degrees are often hired as analysts or consultants as well as frequently placed in leadership-development programs. By graduation, most students have employment offers from top companies, many choosing among multiple offers. The stories of current students and alumni show the wide variety of career options.

ITWS@Rensselaer
The program leads to a Bachelor of Science in Information Technology and Web Science, a Master of Science in Information Technology, or a PhD in multidisciplinary science with a focus on advanced Web and Informatics Technologies. Rensselaer was among the first universities to recognize the creative and distinctive academic nature of the Information Technology field. Now, we are the first to offer an undergraduate degree in Web Science. The Information Technology and Web Science degree enables students to understand the interplay between the social, scientific, and technical issues underlying the World Wide Web and other information technologies. We continue to lead the way with innovative curricula, outstanding faculty and major research breakthroughs.

Demand
Outsourcing of jobs to other countries is not a problem for Rensselaer’s ITWS graduates. It has been called “the largest human resource challenge in the nation.” The US Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts that four of the five job categories with the largest expected percentage growth through 2012 in the US will be in ITWS areas. The Bureau report also places these same ITWS areas in the highest quartile for salaries.

The Big Picture
In the broadest sense, much of today’s news about Rensselaer’s educational and research initiatives falls under the umbrella of Information Technology and Web Science. ITWS is one of Rensselaer’s top two research priorities, along with Biotechnology.