Story and photo by Shukry Rashid
If you weren’t aware of it, the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) industry – specifically job scopes involving artificial intelligence, cybersecurity and data analytics – has been in the limelight lately.
The Government is pumping an additional $145 million into the Tech Skills Accelerator (TeSA) programme over the next three years, as announced by Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat during the Singapore Budget 2018.
TeSa aims to boost learning in emerging digital skills.
According to the Infocomm Media Development Authority’s (IMDA) 2016 Annual Infocomm Media Professional survey, the number of infocomm professionals employed grew by 4.2 per cent to reach 180,000 from 2015 to 2016.
The number of infocomm job vacancies stood at a staggering 18,200 in 2016, taking the total demand of infocomm professionals to almost 200,000.
Demand for infocomm professionals is also projected to grow by another 42,300 between 2017 and 2019.
Tie-up with U Associates Partners
On its part, the Labour Movement is ramping up efforts to address the growing challenges and manpower needs in the industry.
It signed memoranda of understanding (MOUs) with three new U Associate (UA) partners on 12 March 2018 with AI Singapore, (ISC)2 Singapore Chapter and Tech Singapore Advocate.
The number of ICT UA partners now stands at 12, up from five last year. With these partnerships, the Labour Movement can now reach out to 40,000 professionals in the ICT sector.
The signing of the MOUs was witnessed by Senior Minister of State (SMS) for Communications and Information Dr Janil Puthucheary, who also became an advisor to the UA Leaders Circle. The UA Leaders Circle is a group of key elected leaders from NTUC U Associate.
Dr Janil said: “We will help workers and businesses build strong digital capabilities to seize the opportunities created as we transform into a Smart Nation. There will be an increasing demand for ICT-skilled workers in all sectors.”
The Labour Movement Infocomm and Media Cluster Supervising Lead Irene Low said: “It is important to have a strong ecosystem of UA partners for the ICT cluster that provides insights into new developments in the tech sector, and the support for vulnerable ICT PMEs [professionals, managers and executives] in emerging skillsets and professional development as the sector evolves.”
Roundtable Discussion
Dr Janil also had a discussion with various ICT UA leaders on how the Labour Movement can work together with the UA and tripartite partners to grow the ICT workforce. Topics included challenges such as shortage of skilled manpower in the ICT sector and how to overcome them.
Suggestions were also raised, such as reviewing the tertiary curriculum to provide more specialised training and attracting the youth to join the sector through tie-ups with overseas companies.
Dr Janil, who is also SMS for Education, said that the Singapore education system is working on blurring the lines between education and industry. This is so that the education system can remain relevant and up-to-date with changes in the industry.
He added that education cannot stop at school and that people would need to continuously upgrade and upskill to remain relevant, especially for the rapidly evolving ICT sector.
The UA leaders also highlighted the importance of raising awareness on ICT and its growing demand across all sectors. Tripartite partners and schools need to work together to identify the ICT needs in the different sectors to be able to train the future workforce to meet these demands.
