Talent
70 receive IDA scholarships
Joshua Tan Jun Ming was 10 when he caught the infocomm bug. He was intrigued by the fact that seemingly dull HTML coding could transform his primary school website into something beautiful. He started dabbling in website development and created his first website while he was in Primary 4.
The fascination with infocomm led to an Integrated Infocomm Scholarship (IIS) from the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA) in 2010. And on 15 August 2013, he went on to receive his National Infocomm Scholarship (NIS) at a joint awards ceremony held by the Ministry of Communications and Information (MCI) and its agencies.
Mr Stephen Lee: It is important for us to start developing talents in data analytics and innovation so that we become competitive in the future, not just from a local perspective but also from a global perspective.
The 2013 MCI Scholarships Award Ceremony took place at Fusionopolis and featured 80 scholarships from MCI, Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore, Media Development Authority, DesignSingapore Council, and National Library Board. The recipients received their scholarships from Communications and Information Minister Dr Yaacob Ibrahim.
Mr Joshua Tan was one of the 30 recipients of IDA’s NIS. “The scholarship allows me to pursue certifications under the talent management programme by IDA. On top of that, I also get to participate in conferences and forums with industry leaders. Another highlight of the scholarship is that it allows me to be mentored by experienced IT professionals in Accenture,” said the 20-year old, who will be pursuing a Bachelor degree in Engineering (Computer Science) at Nanyang Technological University of Singapore, supported by Accenture Pte Ltd. Under the NIS, which was established in 2004, the partner organisations will nurture NIS scholars through mentorship and provide local/overseas work attachments of up to six months.
From 2014 onwards, NIS will be expanded to include a mid-term scholarship to attract students who are in their first, second, or third year of infocomm-related studies either in a local or an overseas university. This new initiative is aimed at widening the pipeline of talent for the infocomm industry.
Another 40 students received the IIS, which supports outstanding “O” level students in their infocomm studies from polytechnic through to the university level.
“The government is completely committed to grooming future leaders in IT,” said Mr Andrew Khaw, Senior Director (Industry Development), IDA, who highlighted cyber security and data analytics as two areas where IDA is seeking to strengthen the talent pool within the IT industry.
He noted that many multinational companies have their regional headquarters based in Singapore and are making decisions about their Asia Pacific operations based on the data that they have. This is where the opportunity presents itself for Singapore to take the data to a higher level through data analytics and deliver new value. Cyber security is also an important area as the world is getting more connected with companies trying to engage their customers in cyber space.
Muhammad Mikail bin Jamil: I am interested to find out how digital security is set up, and how we can strengthen it further. I would like to contribute on that front in the future.
Mr Stephen Lee, Head of i3, the innovation, investment and incubation arm of NIS partner organisation StarHub, also emphasised the importance of developing talent in data analytics and innovation. “There is a huge changing landscape in the world today and we just want to be very prepared,” he said. “With the growing number of companies setting up their operations in Singapore, there will be higher demand for this kind of expertise. It is thus important for us to start developing talents in these areas so that we become competitive in the future, not just from a local perspective but also from a global perspective.”
One NIS recipient who expressed a keen interest in data analytics was Tan Shi Hui, who was struck by how data can be converted into intelligence to help business owners analyse their competitors and the market, understand their customers, and from there find ways to help the business make better decisions.
For IIS recipient Muhammad Mikail bin Jamil, infocomm security was the area of choice for his polytechnic studies. His interest in this field was stoked when news of security breaches kept appearing in the media. He said, “I became interested in how these cyber-attacks were carried out and how the companies tried to defend against these attacks. I am interested to find out how digital security is set up, and how we can strengthen it further. I would like to contribute on that front in the future,” he said.