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The Infocomm Media Development Authority of Singapore (IMDA), along with industry partners, has set up a new TechSkills Accelerator (TeSA) for the ITE and Polytechnics Alliance (TIP Alliance).
The alliance was formed following an announcement in March this year, at the Ministry of Communications and Information’s (MCI) Committee of Supply (COS) Debates in Parliament.
The TIP Alliance is mandated to equip Singaporean students and graduates from Polytechnics and the Institute of Technical Education (ITE) with the skills needed to take up tech job opportunities and share in Singapore’s digital growth.
It is projected to contribute 1,000 tech job opportunities over three years.
Announcing the TeSA during industry body, SGTech’s gala dinner to mark its 40th anniversary on Thursday, Singapore’s Deputy Prime Minister (DPM), Heng Swee Keat, said the TIP Alliance will deliver “structured, end-to-end pathways”, to support Polytechnic and ITE graduates in acquiring industry-relevant skills and have “exciting and fulfilling careers in tech”.
“I am very pleased that this initiative has received strong support from SGTech, Singapore Computer Society (SCS), and employers across tech and non-tech sectors alike. I welcome more employers to come on board the alliance.”
The TIP Alliance comprises global and local companies that employ tech talent, including Carousell, DBS, Dell Technologies, Ensign InfoSecurity, Google, GovTech, IBM, Inspire-Tech, NCS, PSA International, Singtel, and ST Engineering.
Industry-led
The TIP Alliance is industry-led and spearheaded by Wong Wai Meng, Chairman, SGTech, and Sam Liew, President of SCS, a society of technology professionals, and is supported by the MCI, the Ministry of Education, all five Polytechnics and the Institute of Technical Education.
Senior Minister of State, MCI, Tan Kiat How, will serve as an advisor to the TIP Alliance.
According to the IMDA, over the next three years, the TIP Alliance aimed to place and train Polytechnic and ITE graduates with tech qualifications and drive the shift in hiring practices in the industry from a qualification-based to a skills-based approach.
IMDA expects this will give capable jobseekers equal opportunities to succeed, and simultaneously it will help to shape the Polytechnic and ITE curriculum to stay relevant with industry trends.
Apart from Heng, other ministers present at the SGTech event were Senior Minister of State (SMS) for Sustainability and the Environment Amy Khor, Senior Minister of State for National Development and Communications and Information Tan Kiat How, and Senior Minister of State for Manpower and Defence Zaqy Mohamad.
The gala dinner celebrated SGTech’s journey over the last four decades, by hosting up to 1,000 corporate leaders from the tech community at the event.
The SGTech Chair said: “40 years is a significant milestone in our journey, and we have to thank our pioneers for their hard work and dedication that brought us where we are”.
He added the organisation would strive to position Singapore as a “global tech powerhouse with top leadership in the digital economy and be an active advocate for our members”.
