COVID-19 has upended businesses and traditional scopes of work across the world. On the flip side, the pandemic has also created new job prospects and lucrative opportunities in the face of digital change.

With the rise in technological advancements further triggered by the pandemic, industry leaders are now seeking updated information technology competencies to fuel development and raise productivity.

The Singapore Management University‘s (SMU) Master of IT in Business (MITB) programme opens up diverse opportunities for students looking to make an impact in a post-COVID economy.

With four specialisation tracks namely Financial Technology & Analytics, Analytics, Artificial Intelligence and Digital Transformation, the curriculum is designed to equip graduates with the relevant know-how and exposure to different disciplines to broaden career prospects and stand out in an increasingly competitive job market.

In an era of disruption where technology has levelled the playing field in some areas and created unfair advantages in others, there is pressure on businesses to capitalise on new opportunities while mitigating emerging threats.

Launched in 2007, the postgraduate professional degree programme was introduced by SMU to cater to the growing demand for professionals equipped with the domain knowledge to steer their organisations towards success in this newly transformed landscape.

It was the first-of-its-kind then, and it continues to innovate to stand out over the years, with the curriculum updated on a regular basis to stay aligned with what the industry needs.

The flexibility to self-select courses from different tracks depending on their business domains, career goals and interests is what sets this programme apart.

This postgraduate degree entails intensive classroom teaching through a collaborative and project-based approach that involves students from different academic and professional backgrounds coming together to work on real-life business problems.

It also features workshops led by industry practitioners and participation in simulations to broaden strategic perspectives across sectors. This allows students to gain insights into best practices of digital transformation, and be immersed in the growing sphere of data science and technology for business growth.

Elevating prospects for the long term

While there are numerous short courses that provide a cursory overview of the latest advancements in technology, such short courses lack the holistic structure and credentials that a formal postgraduate programme would provide.

To be truly immersed into learning and gain hands-on experience by working on real-life problems, one needs to commit the time and effort to an IT postgraduate degree, which commands a well-structured curriculum delivered by experienced professors, over a substantial period.

The SMU MITB programme is dynamic and continually updated in response to new technologies and market demands, to remain highly relevant to the industry.

It aims to impart the most relevant foundational and advanced knowledge to students and the “learn-to-learn” mindset, where students are required to be agile in picking up new technologies, to discover problems and ask the right questions.

These are important, timeless competencies that empower graduates to navigate and tackle problems in an ever-changing business landscape.

One attractive component of the SMU MITB programme is an optional internship opportunity open to full-time students.

Thanks to the efforts of the programme’s four Practicum Managers, who are each dedicated to a specialisation track to oversee students’ internships and capstone projects, the students are well served by the high volume of MITB internship opportunities.

This increases the probability of students securing internships of their choice, with many of whom parlaying the internship placements into full-time job positions.

This is an investment on the part of the programme in addition to the University’s Postgraduate Career Services Office (PGCS) which also serves SMU MITB students in internships and employment.

In the QS Masters in Business Analytics Rankings 2022, SMU MITB was ranked 12th worldwide for employability, and 26th worldwide for alumni outcomes.

Its scores (out of 100) were above the global average for employability 75.9 (global average 46.7) and alumni outcomes 73.5 (global average 54.2).

As a result, SMU MITB features high graduate employability — 90 percent of students are hired within six months of graduation.

Hands-on project for real-world experience

Often conducted in collaboration with multinational companies, the SMU MITB capstone project is available on a competitive basis and has become an integral part of the curriculum.

The project can take many forms, but its purpose remains constant: students are given a unique opportunity to develop innovative solutions for real-world problems.

Students usually work individually to apply what they have learned in class, and get hands-on experience in understanding the business domain, problem definition and even in gaining access to information systems, documents and resources available within the company.

For part-time students, the projects can be proposed by their own companies, while for full-time students, the projects can be either proposed by the SCIS faculty members or sponsored by an external company.

Such projects will entail complex, real-life problems that require the collection of data and requirements, analysis, building prototype systems to obtain intended outcomes or a practice research output.

Often, the tangible outputs can be a working prototype system or an important piece of analysis, and such results can sometimes serve as industry breakthroughs, and prepare SMU MITB graduates for the real world.

Primed for revolutionary change at every stage

The SMU MITB programme has four specialisation tracks in Financial Technology & Analytics, Analytics, Artificial Intelligence, and Digital Transformation.

Depending on professional interests and career goals, students may choose the track that best suits their objectives.

Candidates in the programme range from fresh Bachelor degree graduates who tend to gravitate towards Financial Technology & Analytics, Analytics or Artificial Intelligence tracks, to more experienced professionals who tend to enrol in the Digital Transformation track.

Overall, the programme sees a good mix of students from different age groups, industries and educational backgrounds distributed over the four tracks.

Best of all, prospective students need not possess vast experience in business or IT sectors, but are required to have a strong foundation in mathematics, an aptitude in IT and a positive learning attitude.

However, for those interested in the Digital Transformation track, a minimum of three years of work experience in either business or IT is preferred.

These applicants should possess the relevant background to better appreciate business problems, ask the right questions, and identify ways in which IT can be used to transform the organisation. For those interested in the Artificial Intelligence track, good programming skill is a prerequisite.

Consistently ranked as one of the best Analytics Masters programmes in Asia in the QS Masters in Business Analytics Rankings, the SMU MITB equips a new generation of leaders in careers that bridge technology and business.

This is the programme to embark upon to become future-ready for one’s career in a digital economy, by gaining an unparalleled edge in Financial Technology, Analytics, Artificial Intelligence or Digital Transformation planning and strategy to address major challenges affecting society and industry.

More information on the SMU MITB programme can be found here.