Objectives
Information systems (IS) increase productivity, improve decision making and lead to competitive advantage. The MSc programme in Information Systems will equip you with skills and methods to manage information technology within business organisations. This programme blends recent advances in IT - the Internet, web technologies - with business applications. The programme aims to develop IS professionals who will gain knowledge of information systems design techniques, strategic business disciplines, web technologies and e-business, and who will be equipped with up-to-date techniques for developing IT infrastructure for organisations. The programme consists of a number of modules, each focusing on an aspect of the planning or design of information systems. Compulsory modules cover the systems development life cycle, security and other web-based formats, and management. There is a rich variety of optional modules from intelligent computing to internationalising software and human computer interaction.
Course description
MSc in Information Systems Module overview
Autumn Semester
Compulsory Modules
Information Systems Development
This module provides an introduction to a set of practical techniques to aid the development of information systems. The module provides students with a sense of the diversity of computing systems in today's world; more importantly, it gives an appreciation of the wide range of issues that are related to the development of information systems. Though the emphasis is on analysis and design skills, students will become familiar with the whole software life cycle, from user requirements through to implementation and testing.
Challenges for Computing Professionals
IT professionals need to appreciate that technologies do not exist in isolation; they require a broad understanding of law and ethics that will enable them to assess the potential risks of, rather than to, a project, from a variety of perspectives, in any technology-related undertaking.
Security and Cryptography
This module acts as an introduction to security and cryptography. It teaches the basics of historical and modern cryptography, and then considers the application of cryptography to two key areas: security protocols and electronic voting.
Introduction to Multimedia Security
With the tremendous growth of the Internet and computer technologies, and the wide usage of multimedia content such as audio, image and video data, the protection and authentication of multimedia content is becoming increasingly important to industry and government sectors, as well as for individual personal usage. Moreover, recent terrorist events such as 9/11 and the London bombings further highlight the necessity of information security technologies that can be applied to detect covert communication, such as steganography (data hiding) and cryptography, as well as deploying multimodal biometric techniques that can be used to accurately identify faked passports at airports and border checkpoints. Protection of ownership and authentication of multimedia contents and documents have also attracted significant attention in the digital arena through the application of digital watermarking and digital rights management technologies.
Spring Semester
Compulsory Module
-Management and Business Strategy
-Management is a pervasive, but frequently misunderstood, concept concerned with achieving satisfactory results in continually changing circumstances, particularly within organisations and involving people. Strategy is an important, but not always obvious, element in this activity. Students are better equipped for their life's work, both in IT and beyond, if they have a basic understanding of the multi-dimensional nature of good management, together with the strengths and limitations of the strategic planning and implementation process.
Optional modules include:
-Web Publishing
-Globalisation and Computer Systems
-Bioinformatics
-Intelligent Information Systems
-Secure Information Hiding
Typical entry requirements
The candidate should have a first degree in a relevant discipline from a UK university or the international equivalent. They should have obtained the degree at Lower Second or higher level. In exceptional circumstances work experience may also be considered, if the candidate has achieved less than Lower Second in their first degree.
Programme length
12 months full-time
