As Singapore progresses towards a digital future, this movement will be accompanied by an increasing demand for a workforce that possesses the relevant IT skillsets in the areas of cyber risk, data science, and software development – as organisations become inclined to look to internal efforts of supporting these demands together with their partners.
For those in the workforce, it has then become evident that in order to seek better wages and employment opportunities, regardless of level or industry, one has to either upskill or reskill themselves to equip themselves with the relevant skillsets.
Upskilling and reskilling revolution
To support the upskill or reskill endeavours of individuals, Dell Technologies will be launching a tech skills accelerator initiative to empower up to 3,000 fresh graduates, mid-career professionals and students in Singapore with knowledge and skills in cloud computing, data protection and management, data science, and big data analytics over the next two years.
The two-part initiative comprises of a training and enablement opportunity for Singapore-based Dell Technologies’ partner and customer firms, and a collaboration with the Singapore Management University on a cloud-native focused curriculum for its students.
According to Dell Technologies’ Digital Transformation Index 2020, data privacy and cybersecurity concerns are some of the top challenges that an organisation in Singapore faces. Other challenges include the inability to extract insights from data and/or information overload, and the lack of the right in-house skillsets and expertise.
“Digital economy advancements have shaken up skills requirements, increased the pace of change and led to a surge in demand for highly-skilled tech talent. Together with VMware, we are proud to help bridge the skills gaps with the launch of Dell Technologies Academy’s tech skills accelerator initiative enabling individuals to learn and adapt to the industry’s evolving digital transformation needs,” said Amit Midha, President, Asia Pacific & Japan, and Global Digital Cities, Dell Technologies.
“As Singapore continues to grow its status as a global technology and innovation hub, technology companies have an important role to play in contributing back to this economy. We recognise the responsibility and role of companies such as ours have in helping to upskill and train the talent to help bridge the critical skills gap.”
Deepening technical proficiency for fresh graduates and mid-career professionals
To equip individuals with the necessary skillsets, Dell Technologies Skills Up is a five-week training session made available to 1,000 employees at Singapore-based Dell Technologies’ partner and customer firms that are enrolled to either the SGUnited Traineeship or Mid-career Pathways programme.
These sessions provide them with the relevant skills for positions such as Data Protection and Management Engineer, Data Analyst, and Converged Cloud Infrastructure Engineer. At the end of the programme, all participants will be evaluated on their technical proficiency and awarded industry-recognised certifications such as the Dell Certified Associate upon passing the examination.
There is also Getting Future Ready – a flexible eight-week programme piloted by VMware to offer structured learning paths towards emerging Cloud Native job roles and opportunities.
Both these programmes, Dell Technologies Skills Up and Getting Future Ready, will train up to 2,000 fresh graduates and mid-career professionals in Singapore, and will benefit tech talent across Dell Technologies’ partner and customer ecosystems.
Programmes targeted at students to boost their employability with cloud-native skills
Apart from providing avenues to develop existing talent in the workforce, Dell Technologies has also started a collaboration with Singapore Management University (SMU) to incorporate cloud-native technologies and content into their curriculum that will be conducted to over 1,000 students.
The undergraduate students from SMU School of Computing and Information Systems will undergo classroom-based training and experience hands-on lab sessions to gain practical technical skills in cloud-native practices and technologies.
Led by VMware, Dell Technologies will also be mentoring final-year students on cloud-native projects, participate in guest lectures and technical workshops to deepen the students’ cloud-native skills.
“Companies and public agencies are employing digital technology to transform their business models and processes. The digital transformation of industries, economies and societies will accelerate going forward. It is therefore imperative that we equip our students with highly sought-after computing skills, including emerging technologies such as cloud-native skills, so that they become industry ready, innovation-enabled solution developers who are able to create value to business and society,” said Professor Pang Hwee Hwa, Dean of the School of Computing and Information Systems at the Singapore Management University.
