Master of IT in Business - School of Information Systems - Singapore ...

Contents
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Dean’s Message
Programme Overview
Board of advisors
Programme Structure
Course Description
Learning Experience
Application
Scholarships & Awards
Our Distinguished Faculty Members
Frequently Asked Questions
SMUMASTERS
Master of
IT in Business
(Financial Services)
Dean’s Message
Modern Banking is digital. The creation, fulfilment and
management of banking products and services depend on
managing digital data. Professionals who manage the
information, systems and software applications, together
with the closely coupled operations and business processes,
are as crucial to banking and financial markets as the
professionals with expertise in economics, finance and
financial product sales.
Banking and Financial Services sector organisations recognise
that the ability to continuously enhance the unification
of the business with the enabling technology, systems and
operational processes is an essential prerequisite for
adaptability, sustainability and growth.
Responding to the market and business environment, most
major global and regional banks have already unified their
various Technology Groups and Operations Groups under a
common senior executive. This head of Technology and
Operations is responsible for a significant share of the
bank’s employment, capital investment and overall
business performance.
Responding to the industry’s need, SMU’s School of
Information Systems launched the world’s first
Masters degree totally focused on developing
and expanding a pool of qualified professionals
for Technology and Operations (T&O) organisations
within the Banking and broader Financial
Service sector. Our Master of IT in Business (Financial
Services), or MITB (FS), programme, admitted its pioneer
intake in 2007. 1
The T&O organisations of the global and regional banks
in Asia have responded very positively to our programme.
They hire our students, and use our programme to develop
their own people. These organisations also participate in
our course design, provide and co-supervise our capstone
projects, and provide experts and executives who serve as
adjunct faculty. Prominent people from Banking T&O groups
and from the supporting technology vendor community
frequently visit us and provide guest lecturers who present
current real-world examples.
Our deep working relationships with the industry go beyond
our linkages with the T&O groups of the leading banking
and financial markets organisations. We also have strong
relationships with government agencies that regulate the
industry, and with technology and consultancy providers
who enable and support industry innovation initiatives.
Our MITB (FS) network of alumni, professional colleagues
and friends is strong, vibrant, and rapidly expanding. Our
specific MITB (FS) networks, combined with SMU’s existing
and exceptionally strong career services networks across the
financial service sector, greatly enhance the career
opportunities of our graduates.
In recent intakes, more than half of our students have
come from countries outside Singapore, adding to the
international perspective of our student body. Our strong
partnerships with The Asian Banker and with the
Financial InnovationTechnology Events Club (FITE Club)
further enhance the opportunities for our students to gain
cutting edge experience and to expand professional networks
across the region. For example, MITB (FS) faculty and
students are integrally involved in the evaluation and judging
of The Asian Banker’s Technology Implementation Awards
presented at the yearly Asian Banker Summit. And FITE
Club regularly holds its Singapore gatherings at the SMU
School of Information Systems.
The MITB (FS) is distinctive, value enhancing, intimate
in scale, intellectually rigorous, innovative in terms of
teaching and learning, globally oriented, culturally diverse,
and exceptionally well connected. Together, these elements
provide the foundation for a superior learning and
professional development experience that provides the
knowledge, problem solving skills, mindset and professional
networking necessary to achieve success as a T&O
professional and senior manager in the global financial
services marketplace.
I invite you to explore the exciting environment of our SMU
Master of IT in Business (Financial Services) programme.
We will change the way you learn, think, communicate and
collaborate. For those already in T&O-related professional
careers in the industry, we will prepare you to assume more
responsibility and to take on more new leadership
challenges. For those working in other industries looking to
transition into the sector, this is the best way you can
find to make that transition.
Best regards,
Steven MILLER
Dean, School of Information Systems,
Professor of Information Systems (Practice)
1 T & O leaders from all of the global and regional banks we have worked with tell us that
they have never seen a full Masters programme with the same focus and depth as our MITB
(Financial Services) programme. Also, in our efforts to scan the global landscape of related
programmes, we have not come across the same type of programme. We welcome any references
to similar types of Masters programmes anywhere in the world.
Master of IT in Business (financial services) 1