Singapore, 19 May 2015 (Tuesday) – For the new academic year starting in August 2015, Singapore Management University (SMU) students can look forward to a new elective course Internet of Things (IoT): Technology and Applications, and a new compulsory core module Managing in a VUCA Context.

Internet of Things: Technology and Applications

Conducted by the School of Information Systems (SIS), this new course will expose students to a new wave of technology known as the Internet of Things (IoT).  Imagine an interconnecting network of millions of “things”, physical devices, able to communicate with one another, and able to share information via the internet with the web and with people. The Internet of Things extends the boundaries of the current internet into the realm of the physical world, taking us one step closer to a time when the boundaries between the physical world and the virtual world become seamless.

The knowledge now being created from large numbers of interconnected physical objects which can sense, communicate, collaborate and share information over the internet, is leading to a new wave of innovation and service creation that will lead to many new business opportunities, and also help to improve the delivery of public sector services.  

This new course will equip students with a working knowledge of state-of-the-art IoT technologies, and enable them to conceive practical IoT systems to realise Smart Nation related applications, through examples of real IoT systems. Students will learn, through hands-on experience, to build small-scale IoT systems and applications based on state-of-the-art IoT technologies.

The course will make use of the IDA Labs for students to avail of the lab’s enhanced facilities.

For the inaugural class, about 40 students are expected to enroll. SMU SIS will increase the number of classes as student demand increases.

Professor Steven Miller, SMU's Vice Provost (Research) and Dean (School of Information Systems) said, “Graduates with actual hands-on IoT skills are already in demand, and this demand is only going to grow and grow over the next few years. SMU SIS students will have the advantage of knowing how to use IoT technology in an SMU way, which is to say in ways that are very human user-centered, and in ways where the technology capabilities are thoughtfully integrated with the realities of business costs and benefits, and carefully aligned with business needs and processes.

“This fits in very well with our existing strengths in cybersecurity, and in analytics for business, consumer and social insights. Now our students can gain experience with IoT technology and applications, and also work through the related issues with cybersecurity, as well as with data privacy. Our students can also experiment with using IoT systems to feed into other Big Data streams of information, and use this as an input into various types of analytics, such as consumer analytics, operational analytics, and infrastructure analytics. This is both uber cool, as well as high-valued business and government relevant, and therefore a great thing for our students.

“The IoT is a new, exciting and emerging frontier which holds much promise and possibilities. This course will prepare SMU students to ride on the emerging opportunities, which include Singapore’s efforts to pioneer a new technology industry in Smart Nation capabilities, and nurture creative talents in developing impactful applications based on enabling technologies including IoT.”

Managing in a VUCA Context

This is a brand new course at SMU, designed by Professor Howard Thomas, former Dean of the SMU Lee Kong Chian School of Business (LKCSB). It is one of three that SMU students can take under the ‘Modes of Thinking’ cluster, a new feature in the Academic Year 2015-16 curriculum.

The dynamic and fast changing nature of our world today is best described by VUCA, which stands for Volatile, Uncertain, Complex and Ambiguous. Drawing references from major trends and momentous changes happening in the world today, this course prepares students to better understand the complexity of those changes and how a single phenomenon may have ripple effects on multiple issues.

The Design of Business

In the current academic year, LKCSB has pilot-tested a new Capstone course called The Design of Business. The course prepares students for a complex environment where organisations require integrative and business design skills to ensure that they continue to strive.

The Design of Business capstone course is a new and innovative effort by LKCSB that offers a platform for SMU to partner with the industry, giving undergraduates the invaluable opportunity to work with companies in seeking out opportunities for business enhancement. Students will have to develop inter-disciplinary solutions and apply what they have learnt over four years (thus ‘Capstone’) to real-life projects.  They will apply design and business modelling techniques to develop new products, services and business models, by using qualitative techniques and customer-centric perspectives.

Starting Academic Year 2015, this Capstone course will be a graduate requirement for all LKCSB students.

Professor Gerard George, Dean of SMU Lee Kong Chian School of Business, and Professor of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, said, “The VUCA course is designed to teach students about the nature and complexities of change, and how to analyse problems from multiple dimensions. It better prepares them for the fluid situations that they will encounter in the working world. In recent years, there has been greater awareness of the importance to prepare students for the VUCA environment that demands new thinking and courses of action; we are proud to be one of the first universities to roll out a structured programme to train undergraduates in a systematic manner.

“The course is also an important platform through which we develop and strengthen entrepreneurial thinking among all SMU undergraduates.  I am a firm believer that an entrepreneurial mind-set will give SMU graduates a head-start as they embark on their careers, regardless of disciplines.

“The Design of Business Capstone course, which requires LKCSB students to work ‘hands-on’ with businesses on projects to derive impactful applications, also prepares them to be career-ready.  In the pilot, our business students have worked with companies, such as A*STAR’s Institute for Infocomm Research (I²R), Fonterra and OCBC, and proposed applicable ideas and strategies to help them explore new areas of opportunities and capture new growth.  This exposure will make them more valuable to their future employers, and is testament to our commitment to produce high-calibre, industry-ready graduates with strong business acumen.”

Enclosure:

·       Annex 1 - Course description for Internet of Things: Technology and Applications

·       Annex 2 - Course description for Managing in a VUCA Context

·       Annex 3 - Course description for The Design of Business

·       Annex 4 - Examples of projects students have embarked on under the pilot of ‘The Design of Business’

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For more information, please contact:

Teo Chang Ching (Mr)

Assistant Director, Corporate Communications

Office of Corporate Communications & Marketing

DID: 6828 0451

Email: ccteo [at] smu.edu.sg