There has to be a science in Informatics to feed the engineers with basic knowledge. But today all too often workers in our field work like engineers but consider themselves scientists and then apply neither the quality criteria of engineering ("Is it really useful?") nor those of science ("Do we understand more?"). Why does this happen? Probably because our technology is so exciting and evolves so fast. I have lost who was the author, but somebody once wrote in CACM: "The dustclouds raised by a galloping technology are so thick that little visibility remains for the science to truly evolve."
So I would like to make the following point: It is paramount for fostering our field that everyone working in Informatics gets it clear for himself or herself, whether s/he is an engineer or a scientist, and then works accordingly. There is a science part of Informatics, but mix it up with the engineering part and you will not produce any unterstanding.
An interesting position, if not one i'm completely on board with (yet, anyway).
