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Summary Information collection and knowledge synthesis are central to the practice of cancer medicine. The expert cancer clinician has been trained in these concepts and merges them with delivery of care to build hypotheses that ultimately lead to evidence and a change in practice. The volume and diversity of patient‐derived data, the complexity of modern cancer treatments and the development of information technology over the past two decades require the adoption of informatics strategies if the process of delivering care is to substantially contribute to improving outcomes. In this chapter, we have endeavoured to assemble a cross‐section of important elements of a cancer informatics strategy, ranging from the technology, to data models, to critical operational issues that need to be considered in designing an effective cancer informatics strategy. Finally, a section highlighting the rapidly changing frontier of cancer informatics is provided to stimulate further reading.