Introduction

With infocomm, the future is a mere touch away. And with the National Infocomm Scholarship (NIS), your dream of shaping and leading it becomes possible. To develop your abilities to their fullest potential, the NIS provides you with both the prestige of a government scholarship and valuable private sector work exposure, through a partnership with the top names in the industry.

The National Infocomm Scholarship offers you more than one route to becoming an infocomm leader. If you seek a scholarship that offers you greater choice, scope and flexibility during your course of study, NIS is the one for you. With 3 scholarship categories, each brimming with possibilities, you can carve a unique and exciting route to becoming an infocomm leader.

Programme Description

With the National Infocomm Scholarship, there's more than one route to becoming an infocomm leader.

If you seek a scholarship that offers you greater choice, scope and flexibility during your course of study, NIS is the one for you. With 3 scholarship categories, each brimming with possibilities, you can carve a unique and exciting route to becoming an infocomm leader.

The 3 scholarship categories are:

• Full Scholarship : Enables you to pursue a Bachelor degree at top overseas or local universities. Scholars with outstanding results will be further sponsored for a one year local post-graduate study.*
  (*application for postgraduate study is subject to the approval of the participating organisation and IDA)
  
  
• Partial Scholarship : Awarded to outstanding 3rd year local undergraduates pursuing an infocomm related degree at the National University of Singapore (NUS), Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore Institute of Technology (SIT), Singapore Management University (SMU) or Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD) and moving on to their final year of studies.
  
  
• Flagship Infocomm Master's Scholarship : Awarded to outstanding "A" level and Polytechnic students who will pursue one of the Flagship Infocomm Master's programmes below:

  a. SMU-Carnegie Mellon Fast Track Programme ;
  b. NUS-Carnegie Mellon Entertainment Technology Centre (ETC) Programme in Interactive Digital Media;
  c. NTU-Georgia Institute of Technology Integrated Programmes;
  d. NUS and Brown University (BROWN) in Computational Biology ; or
  e. NUS and Cambridge University in Information System and Management .

View more details on the Flagship Infocomm Master's Scholarship programmes.

All the above scholarships come with up to 6 months of overseas work attachment with the sponsoring organisation.

Talent Management Programme

From 2008, the NIS Talent Management Programme (or TMP for short) has been further strengthened. The aim of the TMP is to ensure that the scholars are plugged into the latest infocomm developments and have the opportunities to upgrade themselves with industry-relevant skills while they are studying. Under this programme, the scholars could choose to attend development courses, besides the NIS education, to enhance their professional capabilities. IDA is committed to sponsoring up to S$7,000 for each scholar till 2013. The development courses seek to provide vendor-specific expertise, business domain knowledge, client management, business communication and soft skills. Specific examples include:

• ITIL V3 Foundation;
• Microsoft Certified Application Developer (MCAD);
• Microsoft Certified IT Professional (MCITP): Database Administrator;
• Red Hat Certified Engineer; and
• Sun Certified Java Developer.

Service Science, Management and Engineering (SSME) Programme

The SSME programme was developed by IBM to integrate multiple disciplines such as computer science, engineering, management and operations research, and educates students in a strong mix of technical, business and people skills. Students of SSME will learn to design and implement industry applications in multiple disciplines. This will help to address the need among organisations and businesses for multi-disciplinary infocomm professionals, thereby helping them to create competitive advantages in service delivery through the use of infocomm technology.

For a start, IBM will collaborate with Institutes of Higher Learning to integrate SSME into the undergraduate curricula of the university faculties as follows:

• NTU School of Computer Engineering - Bachelor of Engineering(Computer Science/Computer Engineering);
• NUS School of Computing - Bachelor of Computing (Computer Science/Information Systems); and
• SMU School of Information Systems - Bachelor of Science (Information Systems Management).

NUS School of Computing will also be introducing a SSME specialisation in the undergraduate degree programme and will explore joint research opportunities on service science.

In addition, SMU's School of Information Systems will offer SSME as a specialisation track. More information on the specialisation track can be found at www.sis.smu.edu.sg/programme/SSME/se_ssme.asp .

NTU's School of Computer Engineering is also looking into the possibility of offering SSME as one of its specialisations.

The collaboration aims to develop a new breed of service scientists and service entrepreneurs who understand service systems, are trained to enable efficient and systematic approaches to service delivery, and serve as catalysts for service innovation in organisations and for various industry sectors.

SSME-trained graduates will likely enter the workforce as solution designers, consultants, engineers, scientists, and managers. After gaining practical experience across multiple industry sectors and with rapidly evolving technology tools and solutions that transform businesses and institutions, they will then go on to be successful entrepreneurs, executives, researchers, and practitioners, with a solid grounding in theory and best practices in designing high-value service solutions.

To catalyse the development of multi-disciplinary professionals through infocomm and service science, IDA, together with Avaya Singapore Pte Ltd, DBS Bank Ltd, IBM Singapore, NCS and Singapore Telecommunications Ltd are sponsoring students who are keen to pursue infocomm and SSME-related courses through the National Infocomm Scholarship (NIS). The Scholarship aims to identify and nurture a group of talented students for a career in infocomm. The six organisations will sponsor up to 38 scholarships for 2008.

For more information on the IBM SSME Initiative, visit: www.ibm.com/university/ssme .

Infocomm Security Specialisation

In a digital global economy, information assets are becoming as important as, if not more important than, physical assets. As cyber threats such as malware, hackers and cyber criminals become more sophisticated, infocomm security is now an evolving challenge. The right infocomm security professional is needed to help businesses and organisations mitigate the risks from cyber threats - a professional that is grounded in the sound principles of infocomm solutions and who also has the acumen to maintain a delicate balance between security and business needs.

In Singapore, infocomm security professionals are high in demand. The Government has driven the implementation of two Infocomm Security Masterplans to enhance Singapore's position as a secure and trusted hub, and Singapore was ranked 1st out of 55 economies in the 2008 IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook survey for the degree to which cyber security is being addressed by corporations.

The NIS for Infocomm Security programme will allow scholars to pursue their university studies in the area of infocomm security. Upon graduation, scholars will work as an infocomm security professional with our designated NIS partners.

Below is a list of renowned universities which offer infocomm security degrees:

List of recommended universities

• Carnegie Mellon University;
• Georgia Institute of Technology;
• Purdue University;
• University of California, Davis;
• Cambridge University; and
• Royal Holloway, University of London.

Benefits

With the National Infocomm Scholarship, great benefits await you en route to becoming an infocomm leader.

• Local and overseas job attachments with the best in the industry
  
  You will have the opportunity to understudy with leading infocomm companies and infocomm-user organisations, and be at the forefront of the latest industry developments. What's more, a 6-month attachment to a participating company at its overseas office will help you gain a wider exposure to different working cultures and a broader perspective of the industry. These experiences will prove invaluable as you begin your journey as an infocomm professional, poised to make a difference in the infocomm world.
  
  
• Job placements with leading companies to put you on course to becoming an infocomm leader
  
  There is no better way to kick-start your journey than with the best in the business. You'll learn the finer points of leadership from the captains of industry, and eventually become one yourself. Every day will be an opportunity to shape the future.
  
  
• Fast track double degree programmes with local and reputable overseas universities
  
  The NIS's fast track and integrated scholarship programmes will give you the chance to study at top overseas universities like Carnegie Mellon University and Georgia Institute of Technology and also allows you to acquire two prestigious degrees i.e. Bachelor and Master in the time it takes to get one.
  
  
• Short bond period to give you greater freedom in charting your career path
  
  A short bond period of 4 to 5 years maximum means that you will have the freedom to seek fresh challenges and realise your untapped potential. After all, being an infocomm leader will open up many doors, where a universe of opportunities await.

Programme Support

• NIS offers extensive programme support during your course of study:
  
  a. Tuition and other compulsory university fees
  b. Annual allowance
  c. Hostel fees
  d. One-time settling-in, living allowances and return airfare for overseas attachment
  e. Warm clothing allowance
  f. Medical insurance and visa fees, etc.

  For partial scholarships, items a, b & c will only be offered in the final academic year.

• Course of Study
  
  a. Business and IT (e.g. Business Information Technology, Computational Finance, Computational Biology, etc)
  b. Computer Engineering
  c. Computer Science
  d. Computing
  e. Digital Media
  f. Electronic Commerce
  g. Electrical and Electronic Engineering
  h. Economics (applicable for candidates who intend to be placed with IDA only)
  i. Financial IT/Informatics
  j. Information Systems
  k. Information Systems
  l. Law (applicable for candidates who intend to be placed with IDA only).
  m. Other infocomm-related courses

• Service Commitment
  
  You will be required to serve a bond with a participating company or as an infocomm professional in Singapore for:

  a. 5 years for Overseas Full Scholarship;
  b. 3 years for Local Full Scholarship;
  c. 4 years for the Flagship Infocomm Master's Scholarship;
  d. 1 year for Partial Scholarship.

Eligibility Criteria

Applicants must:

• Be a Singapore citizen or Permanent Resident (Foreigners may apply but are required to become a Singapore Permanent Resident if selected).
• Have a good Co-Curricular Activities (CCA) record.
• Possess a strong interest in a career in the infocomm industry.
• For Full Scholarship - possess outstanding "A" Level or Polytechnic results.
• For Partial Scholarship - be an undergraduate with good academic results advancing to the final year of studies in an infocomm-related degree at the National University of Singapore (NUS), Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore Institute of Technology (SIT), Singapore Management University (SMU) or Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD), for their final year of studies.

For Application Procedure and More Information

Application is now open until 20th March 2013.

Please visit www.infocommtalent.sg/nis for more information.

Organisation Profile

Frequently Asked Questions

View the FAQs here .

Enquiries

For enquiries, please email: [email protected] .

---