“Information is only useful when it can be understood.”-Muriel Cooper

Information has an immense potential to empower us, provided that it is presented in the right form. Muriel Cooper explained it in a very short and crisp manner. Information architecture (IA) is a practice of structuring and arranging the information such that people can easily find, understand and utilize it.

The Information Architecture Institute (IAI) is a non-profit organization of volunteers dedicated to implement, promote and teach IA. A network of global, regional, and local volunteers come together to celebrate World Information Architecture Day, an annual event hosted by IAI. Since last 6 years, it has been a global event for sharing experiences and exchanging ideas about IA.

This year the event will take place on 18 Feb 2017. This ever-growing celebration will span 58 Locations, 24 Countries and 5 Continents this year. People from diverse backgrounds, working with IA in different ways will participate in the event. It is an open environment to learn and teach IA. If you want to learn more about IA or wish to share your ideas, thoughts or work on IA, you are welcomed with open arms at the World Information Architecture Day 2017.

Your organization may have abundant information but it needs to be taken out of the silos and collaborated, to make the most out of it. All major business decisions as well as day to day choices are made on the basis of information. Thus, you need an information strategy and a well-defined structure to make information more accessible and easily interpreted by all. This helps all the teams get a clear picture about the business and its goals.

The well thought-out theme for this year is “Information Strategy and Structure”. A global team of 14 experienced members is working hard to make the event bigger, better and successful. Join the event at one of the locations near you. In India, you can attend it at Mumbai, Hyderabad and Bangalore. If you too wish to contribute as a volunteer, you can write to volunteer@worldiaday.org.

Each location has a custom-made schedule and content according to the audience. Bangalore location will cover: How Do You Deal with Information Everywhere?, User Experience and Predictive Analysis and Information Design & Data Visualization. Among the presenters will be Natacha Hennocq-Design Strategist, Orange France and Vikram Rao-UX Practice Head, Emid Technologies. Similarly, other locations like London, Zurich, Boston, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco etc. will have their own tailor-made schedule and content.

You can join the event to put across your views and get yourself recognized among your peers and leaders. Listen to the speakers and panelists to gain from their knowledge and expertise. You can also attend workshops to sharpen your skills. By the end of the event you will have made some good connections in the Information Architecture community. Rest assured that you will learn a lot of new stuff, meet like-minded people and have a good time at the event.