Information Systems (IS) Programme
The four-year IS programme provides a stimulating education that equips students with the ability to integrate infocomm technology fundamentals with domain expertise to develop innovative solutions for organisations. Through projects and case studies that are aligned with industry best practices, students will develop an in-depth understanding of the strategic exploitation of infocomm technology in emerging organisational forms. Students become proficient in the design and development of infocomm solutions and the management of infocomm projects. Such skills are vital in helping students develop careers that are being emphasised in the iN2015 plan, such as techno-strategist, solution architect, and infocomm project manager.
Curriculum
The reports by the iN2015 Info-Comm Competency Council have highlighted three important implications for infocomm technology (ICT) manpower development in Singapore:
- The need to enhance national capacity to harness infocomm for economic competitiveness,
- The need to develop highly valued infocomm professionals, namely the techno-strategists and the technologists, and
- The need to ensure a critical pool of infocomm talent.
According to the iN2015 Master Plan, the nature of new jobs would shift from the traditional focus on low value-added activities (e.g., programming for automation of manual processes) to high value-added activities (e.g., using emerging ICT solutions to innovate business processes and generate business value). There will be strong demand for infocomm professionals who have a breadth of technology know-how and a good understanding of business.
The curriculum of our Information Systems programmes at NUS will:
- Equip students with ICT and organizational fundamentals
- Empower students with an in-depth understanding about strategic exploitation of ICT in emerging organizational forms, through projects and case studies that are aligned with industry best practices
- Enable students to be proficient in the design and development of ICT solutions and the management of infocomm projects through participation in projects and internships in reputable companies
- Expose students to more innovative ways of learning such as case competitions, case studies, and overseas internships
- Immerse students in global education through global virtual practical team-based projects, with the aim of developing students with a global perspective
In line with this vision, our new IS curriculum is structured and built based on the following technical skills and knowledge areas:
Area 1: ICT Solutions Development, Integration and Testing Skills
Studies into companies hiring behavior have found that both IT service providers and their client firms will need IS managers with solid technical foundations. In preparing our students for this requirement, the revamped IS curriculum will provide students with the following proficiencies:
- Code from design and re-engineer design from code
- Conversant in more than one programming language
- Use system tools for testing and integrating
- Understand data conversion and database population issues
- Develop middleware to integrate heterogeneous application platforms
Area 2: ICT Solutions Architecture and Design Skills
Students will possess the following proficiencies:
- Elicit functional requirements and translate them into functional design models using tested design principles (e.g. component and layering approach)
- Identify non-functional requirements (e.g. security and system performance considerations) on top of functional requirements to produce a (distributed) system architecture
- Justify design choices and trade-offs in functional and system architecture design
Area 3: Enabling Technology Building Blocks
Students will possess the following proficiencies:
- Key characteristics and effectiveness of different application packages or technology building blocks (e.g. Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Knowledge Management System (KMS), Supply Chain Management (SCM), Web 2.0 technologies, security tools)
- Costs, benefits, and risks of deploying these technologies in organizations or using them in implementing enterprise solutions
Area 4: ICT Project Management and Change Management Skills
Students will possess the following proficiencies:
- Scope and size an ICT project with proper management of trade-offs (speed to market/cost/quality)
- Identify, document, mitigate, and monitor project risks
- Apply project planning methods and tools (Microsoft project, Gantt Chart, PERT, CPM) to develop and execute a project plan
- Practice configuration management and change control processes
- Apply quality assurance and control metrics
- Manage customer expectations and develop service level agreement
- Communicate need for change, implement and sustain change over time
Area 5: Business-ICT Value Linkage
Students will possess the following proficiencies:
- Understand and analyze the linkages between business strategy, business processes, and value creation
- Develop information and technology infrastructure strategy to support business strategy and transform business processes to realize value creation and innovation
- Apply planning methodologies to develop an Information Systems plan to execute the information strategy and business strategy
- Appreciate the management of Information Systems as a business (not a cost center)
Area 6: Strong Ethics, Soft Skills and Analytical Skills
Foundational modules offered by the Department will develop strong ethics, as well as soft and analytical skills.
In addition, the department conducts a number of extra-curricular activities to assist students, which include case competitions, Information Systems employability workshops and seminars.
These competencies will equip our graduates with the relevant knowledge to target for short to medium term positions as techno-strategists, ICT solutions architects, systems integrators, business process consultants/analysts, and Info-Comm project managers.
Programme Structure
The IS programme is structured in the following manner:
| Modules | Modular Credits | Remarks |
| University Level Requirements | 20 | - |
Programme Requirements, consisting of:
|
120 | Students can replace B.Comp. Dissertation with 3 IS4xxx modules. Further details of these programme requirements are available here. |
| Unrestricted Electives | 20 | - |
| GRAND TOTAL | 160 | - |
Specializations
The Department offers students in the IS programme the opportunity to pursue two specializations:
1. Services Science, Management and Engineering (SSME)
Students who want to pursue careers that have a service orientation to develop an in-depth understanding in service innovations and service systems creation, operation and delivery can pursue a Specialization in Services Science, Management and Engineering (SSME).
To be awarded this specialization, students have to satisfy the following requirements:
Compulsory modules:
Choose four from the following list of modules:
More information on this specialization can be found here.
2. Information Security
The Information Security specialization will enable students to pursue careers that are related to the prevention, detection and management of security threats.
To be awarded this specialization, students have to complete six modules from the following list of modules:
More information on this specialization can be found here.
1. Services Science, Management and Engineering (SSME)
Students who want to pursue careers that have a service orientation to develop an in-depth understanding in service innovations and service systems creation, operation and delivery can pursue a Specialization in Services Science, Management and Engineering (SSME).
To be awarded this specialization, students have to satisfy the following requirements:
Compulsory modules:
- IS3220 Service Science
- IS4224 Service Systems
Choose four from the following list of modules:
- IS3221 Enterprise Resource Planning Systems
- IS3222 IT and Customer Relationship Management
- IS3223 IT and Supply Chain Management
- IS4225 Strategic IS Planning
- IS4226 IT Outsourcing and Offshoring Management
- IS4227 Enterprise Service-Oriented Architecture
More information on this specialization can be found here.
2. Information Security
The Information Security specialization will enable students to pursue careers that are related to the prevention, detection and management of security threats.
To be awarded this specialization, students have to complete six modules from the following list of modules:
- IS3230 Principles of Information Security
- CS3235 Introduction to Computer Security
- IS3242 Software Quality Management
- IS4231 Information Security Management
- IS4232 Topics in Information Security Management
- IS4233 Legal Aspects of Information Technology
- IS4234 Control and Audit of Information Systems
More information on this specialization can be found here.
Enquiries
Enquiries regarding the IS programme can be directed to our Undergraduate Office at isec@comp.nus.edu.sg.