MaCuDE IS Task Force: Final Report and Recommendations

Abstract

This Phase III report of the Management Curriculum for the Digital Era (MaCuDE) disciplinary task force on information systems (IS) synthesizes the main findings of the project’s two earlier phases. Based on the synthesis, this report formulates the task force’s recommendations (Phase III) for future IS curricula and graduate competencies associated with Big Data Analytics (BDA) and Artificial Intelligence (AI). During the MaCuDE project, the task force—collaborating with the Association for Information Systems leadership on education—first (Phase I) surveyed a sample of representative universities to examine the status of IS education in the digital era. During the next phase (Phase II), the task force interviewed industry leaders regarding their information systems education needs with a focus on emerging BDA and AI needs. This report builds on Phase I and Phase II results and associated feedback from project stakeholders and outlines an IS curriculum framework that identifies projected competency levels for key IS competency areas (both new and changing) within the main IS program types related to BDA and AI education (undergraduate and graduate programs; IS programs, other business programs, and non-business programs) in the coming decade. The report also highlights critical policy issues that need to be resolved to successfully implement the proposed IS curricula changes addressing BDA and AI needs