BIS

Business Information Systems

Business Information Systems (BIS) was first introduced by the J.E. Cairnes School of Business & Economics (formerly Faculty of Commerce) in 1979 and since then has become recognised nationally and internationally for excellence in research and teaching through scholarly contribution to academia, industry and contributing to the wider society.  The BIS Discipline consistently ranks in the top 150 universities in the world in Information Systems, according to the QS World University Rankings by Subject (Computer Science and Information Systems).

 BIS Faculty distinguish themselves by publishing research in numerous national and international high-quality peer-reviewed conferences and journals, receiving significant internal and external awards and assuming important roles to academic and industry forums.  BIS researchers frequently publish in the AIS Senior Scholars basket of journals, including recent contributions to Information Systems Research, European Journal of Information Systems, Information Systems Journal, Journal of the Association of Information Systems and Journal of Strategic Information Systems.  The Discipline has hosted several leading IS conferences including, IFIP WG8.6 Conference, International Conference on Information Systems Development and the European Conference on Information Systems.

 The BIS Discipline has significant experience in securing national and international research funding, totalling over €6m in the last 3 years.  Recent awarding bodies include the Irish Research Council, Enterprise Ireland, Science Foundation Ireland (SFI), the Royal Irish Academy and the European Union, under schemes such as Horizon 2020 amongst others.  An area of speciality in the discipline is the study of Agile and Lean IS Development where a major project developed with SFI has involved key industry partners such as Cisco, Dell and Ericsson.  This is the largest national SFI-funded project located in any business school in Ireland.

 The BIS Discipline offers numerous undergraduate, postgraduate, taught and research degrees.  The range of courses is continuously modified in line with our areas of research expertise and cognisant of industry changes to ensure graduates have the best possible start to a successful career.

 The Discipline delivers a four-year B.Sc. BIS degree that was awarded the prestigious EPAS accreditation in 2011 by the European Foundation of Management Development.  Only one other undergraduate programme in Ireland has received EPAS accreditation. This flagship programme within the School has a strong tradition of innovation and dynamic response to changes in the IS sector.  It benefits from the BIS Discipline’s international reputation and the School’s central importance in the West of Ireland region and in particular, the concentration of World-renowned technology and technology-related companies that have established bases in the region. 

 Postgraduate degrees offered by the Discipline are driven by core research competencies developed by BIS faculty and are routinely reviewed in conjunction with the BIS Expert External Advisory Board to ensure they remain relevant to the current needs of the industry.  A new M.Sc in Business Analytics blends the key analytical skills and business knowledge needed to use and manage big data in modern knowledge-intensive organisations.  The Discipline offers research degrees at Masters and Ph.D level, including for example the M.Sc in Cloud Computing Research developed in conjunction with Hewlett Packard and which build on the recognised research strengths of the Discipline and our extensive engagement with industry.