Abstract: Many articles have reported that there are serious implications for the skill requirements of future IS professionals as a result of a new “IS Paradigm”. In order to assess the extent of such changes and relate these to IS curriculum development a long term research study has been funded in Hong Kong. The objectives of the study are to evaluate the effectiveness of the IS curriculum by relating this to the career development requirements of IS professionals who graduated from these IS programs. This report covers a period up to five years after graduation.

The study asks respondents to identify the most important IS skills required now and in five years time; the perceived emphasis of IS skills which were imparted through the IS curriculum and; the perceived relevance of these skills to the requirements of their jobs now and in the future.

The results suggest that while there is a close match between the needs of today the training received there will be an ever widening gap with the needs of the future. Where serious discrepancies currently exist these relate to interpersonal and business skills. The methodology used allows curriculum designers to clearly identify directions for improvement and to re-engineer the curriculum accordingly. This has the advantage of being related specifically to the cultural environment in which the course operates and so the IS program can more closely meet the needs of the local IS community.

Keywords: IS curriculum, Career, IS professionals, Reengineering, Culture

Download this article: JISEv7n4p154.pdf

Recommended Citation: Tye, E. M. W. N., Burn, J. M., Ma, L. C. K., & Poon, R. S. K. (1995). Re-Engineering the IS Curriculum for the IS Professional of the Future. Journal of Information Systems Education, 7(4), 156-160.