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As a Labour Movement that stands by our working people, we want to help our current workforce to be ready to take advantage of future opportunities and enable them to move into the jobs of tomorrow. With advancement in information technology and science, computers and robots are replacing and will continue to replace some of our current jobs. Thus, there is an impetus for our current workforce to level up, leverage technology, move up the value chain and be future-ready. Hence, the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) launched a new initiative, Innovation Exchange (IEX).
IEX is part of the NTUC U Future Leaders suite of programmes (refer to Annex A), to equip our working people with innovation insights and know-how, to help add value to their careers. Designed to provide working people with access to cutting edge innovation, participants of IEX will be able to tour leading innovation labs of multinational corporations (MNCs) and engage key innovators in roundtable sessions. The pioneer group of participating MNCs include Dentsu Aegis Network, DHL, Intel, Mastercard, Microsoft, Procter & Gamble and Unilever, all of which are part of the Labour Movement’s U Circle of Friends.
Through IEX, participants can learn to identify potential disruptive innovations across their industries and help themselves and their organisations ride the waves of change. The IEX experience would also inspire them to become more creative, think out-of-the-box and innovate – this ability to amalgamate different ideas will be a great personal value-add to their individual careers and organisations. At the various MNCs’ innovation labs, participants could expect to see prototypes and new innovations that will help with and complement the work of our working people. Via the roundtable sessions with the MNCs’ key innovators, participants could also pick up useful knowledge to transform their experiences into feasible business solutions.
Mr Vivek Kumar, Director of NTUC U Associate and U Future Leaders said, “With the changing economic landscape and disruption in many sectors, our working people must not only be competent in their core profession, but also possess key cross-sectoral skillsets to take on future jobs and add value to their companies. The World Economic Forum report in February 2016 noted that innovation has become one of the key distinguishing factors that would enable our working people to compete at a global level. Hence, NTUC’s Innovation Exchange initiative will help our working people learn about innovation through experiential learning and knowledge sharing.”
“We future-proof our business through innovation. At the DHL Asia Pacific Innovation Center, we showcase some of our globally successful pilots from collaborative robotics, drone to augmented reality and maintenance-on-demand. Our partners from governments, academia and the business community in the region, work with us jointly to identify trends and proof-of-concept for more innovations. Through our showcase, we inspire Innovation Exchange participants in incorporating innovation in their work,” said Ms Pang Mei Yee, Vice President, Innovation, Solution Delivery & Service Management, Asia Pacific, DHL.
To encourage more in-depth sharing and learning, each IEX session will be kept to a maximum of 20 participants. It is open to NTUC union members who are past participants of the U Future Leaders programme. It will be a half-day programme, organised on a quarterly basis. The first session will commence in early 2017, starting with Dentsu Aegis Network, followed by Procter & Gamble and Microsoft. Registration for IEX will open in mid-November.
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