Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar is adding a third undergraduate degree to its course offerings.

Information Systems is an internationally recognised, bachelor of science degree for students who want to understand and solve information problems for organisations.

'The new IS programme is an obvious and welcome addition to our two existing programmes: it is the natural bridge between Computer Science and Business Administration,' says Dean of Carnegie Mellon Qatar Charles E. Thorpe.

'Besides the IS majors themselves, our other students will benefit form the new major. The courses offered in IS will be natural electives for CS students wanting to understand the application of Computer Science in a business setting, or for Business Administration students wanting to understand how to process information,' he added.

The focus of the Information Systems programme is on giving students the knowledge and skills necessary to design systems for the effective use of information.

This has now become central for the support of organizations, decision makers, researchers and policy makers. IS majors master the skills needed to bring together people, process and technology in a way that yields results.

Graduates of the IS programme are ideally situated to take a leading role in shaping our information-based future as technology managers, software developers, technical specialists, Web design specialists, consultants and entrepreneurs.

Market research conducted by Carnegie Mellon Qatar shows that a demand already exists for an IS program and it will grow considerably over the next 10 years. Supporting this growth are a strong economy, a developing IT sector and an improving pre-university educational system.

Qatar currently does not produce any four-year IS graduates however there are small amounts being produced in the region. Yet, this small number of graduates will not be sufficient to meet growing demand.

'We anticipate Information Systems will be a successful and popular addition to the curriculum at Carnegie Mellon Qatar,' said IS Programme Director at Carnegie Mellon Pittsburgh Randy Weinberg.

'We look forward to being active members of the Education City community and, in years to come, a major source of Information Systems graduates trained and ready to serve the diverse and expanding needs for information technology and systems management, IT infrastructure, management support, IT innovation and entrepreneurship of the growing national and regional economy.'

For more information on the new Information Systems degree, log onto www.qatar.cmu.edu/is. -Trade Arabia News Service