The Singapore Management University (SMU)
is purposely created to be a premier university
internationally recognised for research and education
centred on “The World of Business, Organisations and
Markets”. The SMU School of Information Systems
(SIS) was created within this context to be similarly
recognised internationally for its innovative research
and education focused on Information Systems
Technology, Information Systems Management, as
well as problems and issues at the intersection of IS
related technology and management.
SIS is distinct from the other five schools at SMU
in that we are the only academic unit within the
university classified as under Singapore’s Science & Technology cluster of academic units as defined
by the Ministry of Education. SIS is eligible for
Singapore government funding schemes targeted for
Science & Technology based university programmes
and research institutes.
We possess deep technology-based research
and creation capability in strategically selected areas
of information technology, systems and applications.
We also actively investigate a range of issues related to the managerial and business impacts of IT within
firms, across collaboration networks and value chains,
as well as across markets and industries.
 Hence, we are an “iSchool”. In fact, we were the first iSchool outside of North America accepted into the iSchools caucus. The iSchools are interested in the relationship between information, technology and people. We are an iSchool with deep strength in information technology, systems and applications, and we concentrate on the uses, users and impacts of information and IT in the context of The World of Business. Information on iSchool is found here.
SMU’s university-wide focus on The World of
Business provides the School of Information Systems
with significant advantages in both our research
and education. We have practically unrestricted
access to companies and organisations at all levels,
from working level experts and professionals, all the
way up to the senior executives. For our research,
this access enables us to easily communicate with
people who can provide us with insights into current
and future real-world problems and who can also
facilitate the process of gaining access to data. For
our educational programmes, this access enables us
to bring many aspects of The World of Business into
the classroom and also to bring the classroom out
into The World of Business.
Singapore’s global market orientation and compact
size also facilitates this interaction with the external
world. There are around 7000 multinational firms
with a presence in Singapore. In addition, there
are also the numerous local and regional firms, as
well as the public and non-profit organisations. Due
to Singapore’s size and excellent transportation
infrastructure, as well as SMU’s location right in the
heart of the city, it is quite convenient to meet with
external parties.
RESEARCH
Research in SIS centers around five strategically
selected areas:
- Information Security & Trust
- Data
Management & Analytics
- Software Systems
- Intelligent
Systems & Decisions Analytics
- Information Systems &
Management.
Faculty members and researchers in
SIS are actively engaged in cross-cutting collaborative
projects at the intersection of two or more of
these areas.
Through our research efforts, we produce analysis,
methods, and experimental systems and solutions
which are published in leading international academic
publication outlets. We simultaneously aim to produce
research outputs that actually or potentially have
practical impact on the Business IT sphere. Our close
working relationships with private industry and the
public sector, as well as our strong collaborations
with universities and research institutes around the
world, enhance our ability to do first-rate scholarship
and research that is also applicable to current and
future real-world needs.
More information on our research programme is found here.
EDUCATION
BSc (IS Management) Programme
The SIS undergraduate programme emphasizes the following learning outcomes:
- Integration of business & technology in a sector context
- IT architecture, design and development skills
- Project management skills
- Learning-to-learn skills
- Collaboration (or teams) skills
- Change management skills for enterprise systems
- Skills for working across countries, cultures and borders
- Communication skills
A distinctive feature of the SIS Undergraduate programme is the dual emphasis on the technical skills for the design and deployment of business information systems and on the business skills for analysing value, costs and risks of design and deployment alternatives. The programme also has a strong emphasis on IT project management and will provide students with in-depth experiences with the end-to-end process of defining, designing, and deploying solutions.
We interact with business, industry and government partners on an ongoing basis to deliver our vision of highly integrated and relevant learning experiences. Our external partners work with us to provide internships, to provide expertise to co-design our curriculum, and to provide student scholarships.
Details on our BSc (IS Management) programme is found here.
Master of IT in Business (MITB) Programme
Distinguishing features of the MITB curriculum and
learning model are as follows:
-
An integrated Technology & Operations focus in
specific service industry sectors
-
A data centric perspective for understanding
service delivery in selected service industries
-
Emphasis on linkages across Service Delivery
Process, Data, Operations, Data Analytics, IT
Solutions, and Enterprise IT Architecture
-
Emphasis on emerging “next-practices” of real
time, adaptive data analytics and information
management with massive amounts and multiple
types of data
-
The use of real-world scenarios and examples
from selected service industry segments of
strategic interest to Singapore and the region
-
Emphasis on interactive pedagogy, learning-bydoing,
and learning-to-learn
SIS launched the MITB (Financial Services) track in 2007 to address the need for attracting and developing the next generation of Technology & Operations leaders, as well as CIOs, in banking and related financial services. Details about this programme is found here.
The new MITB (Service Sector) track will be launched in January 2011.
PhD in Information Systems (IS) Programme The SIS PhD programme is distinctive due to its
emphasis on:
-
Inter-disciplinary work: Our PhD students are
trained to work across research areas. The
curriculum covers the five strategic SIS research
areas – Information Security & Trust, Data
Management & Analytics, Intelligent Systems &
Interaction, Software Systems, and Information
Systems & Management – which are areas with
high market demand.
-
Applied research: The programme provides
opportunities for students to work with industry
datasets and scenarios and also to gain some
exposure to commercial platforms and tools
where appropriate. Students will learn how
to conduct research in the context of real
information systems and business goals.
-
Industry-relevant training: Our students acquire
professional skills that are important in industrial
R&D, such as competitive intelligence and
intellectual property management. They also
have opportunities to network with academic
researchers and industry practitioners.
Our PhD graduates are trained to be capable of
collaborating with faculty members from different
research areas and to design technology solutions or IS & Management related methods and tools for
real-world problems and applications, while still
producing top-rate academic publications. They
have many opportunities to establish their network
of contacts and have good employment prospects
in R&D units, academic institutions and private and
public sector organisations.
Full Scholarships are available for all Full-Time PhD students on a competitive basis. Subject to satisfactory progress, a scholarship holder will receive waiver of registration fees and tuition fees in addition to a monthly living stipend. Students may also receive additional funding through research assistantship (RA), teaching assistantship (TA) or industry grants.
Details on the PhD in IS programme is found here.
MSc in Information Systems (IS) Programme
Our MSc (Information Systems) makes use of the
Ph.D. programme courses. Students also have to
do a research thesis appropriate for master’s level
work. Students entering directly into the MSc (IS)
programme either need to be funded by ongoing
externally funded research projects, or be self-funded. Details on our MSc in IS programme is found here.
Professional Programmes
Based on the content of these existing post-graduate
and undergraduate courses, SIS also offers short
professional courses to meet the special requests of
our external partners.
Information on our professional programmes is found here.
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