Master of Professional Studies in Informatics Northeastern University - Toronto Campus, Canada

The Master of Professional Studies in Informatics prepares you to excel in the fast-growing and dynamic field of informatics. 

In today’s technology-driven information economy, informatics—the analysis and design of how human beings interact with information—has applications across many industries, including healthcare, consulting, education, finance, manufacturing, and communications. From designing human-centered information systems to handling data and information security and creating mobile applications, informatics professionals bring technical expertise to bear on a wide range of challenges involving the usability, reliability, privacy, safety, and security of information.

This program prepares students to be successful for IT applications and management positions through a balanced curriculum that combines information science knowledge and technical skills training with an understanding of business fundamentals and strategic thinking regarding IT innovation. By connecting computing skills and applications to real-world challenges of information strategy, data governance, ethics, and business intelligence, students earn competency in the areas of information technology management, system design and development, information security, human-computer interaction, data analytics, cloud computing and web services, and enterprise architecture.

Program Objectives

• Gain a strategic framework for aligning competitive strategies, core competencies, and information systems
• Examine concepts, architectures, protocols, standards, and security models for digital networks
• Acquire tools and techniques for effectively managing small, medium, and large programming projects
• Learn how to adopt a multidisciplinary approach to research and analysis
• Understand what is required to research, identify, design, implement, secure, and manage technology
• Explore cutting-edge software principles and programming techniques

Concentrations:

• Cloud Computing—Cloud computing is the delivery of computing services—including applications, data storage, databases, servers, software, and intelligence and analytics tools—through the internet or “the cloud.” This concentration prepares future IT professionals equipped with the skills and knowledge to enter careers as cloud engineers, cloud migration specialists, and cloud infrastructure architects.
   
• Information Security Management—Information security management ensures and protects the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of data and information assets from threats and vulnerability. This concentration prepares students for a range of security-related career roles, such as security analysts, audit and compliance specialists, and security managers.
   
• Leading and Managing Technical Projects—Project management is the act of initiating, planning, and monitoring the progress of a project and coordinating all parties involved so it can be completed within the specified time frame, budget, and goals. The Leading and Managing Technical Projects concentration is specifically focused on creating project managers within the IT industry who are skilled at risk management, critical thinking, and leadership.
   
• Human-Centered Informatics—Human-centered informatics is a multidisciplinary field of study focusing on the interaction between humans and technology. It examines various kinds of complex sociotechnical information systems to understand human, technical, social, and institutional strengths and weaknesses. Graduates of this concentration will be well-suited for careers as UI/UX designers, product designers, human behavior researchers, web developers, and more.
   
• Analytics—Data analytics uses computational tools to conduct data analysis in order to improve decision making, customer service, effective marketing, and operations for an organization. This concentration prepares students with the knowledge, tools, and techniques to collect, clean, organize, process, classify, and interpret Big Data. Graduates of this concentration will be well-suited for careers as data analysts, data visualization developers, data engineers, and data storage architects.