SINGAPORE – Speaking at the opening ceremony of the Infocomm Media Business Exchange 2016 (imbX) on Tuesday, Minister for Communications and Information Yaacob Ibrahim announced three initiatives: enhancing connectivity through a Green WiFi pilot; using robots in preschool teaching; and developing technology professionals.
Dr Yaacob announced that the Infocomm Development Authority (IDA) will partner Aruba, M1, Skylab and Sentosa Development Corporation (SDC) in a new Green WiFi Pilot@Sentosa initiative on Sentosa island.
To be deployed along Merlion Walk by early June, the pilot will explore the feasibility of using solar energy to power outdoor WiFi in a cost- effective and environmentally sustainable manner. IDA and SDC will review the results of the pilot (which is expected to last a year) and consider deploying more outdoor Wireless@SG hotspots across Sentosa. SDC will also be piloting a trial on its mobile app to ensure seamless connection to Wireless@SG.
The minister noted that, traditionally, deploying WiFi outdoors has been difficult and costly, due to the trenching works required. “As such, most of the Wireless@SG hotspots are indoors. If this pilot is successful, and I believe it will be, we could potentially expand Wireless@SG to reach more outdoor areas in a sustainable manner, and bring the public WiFi coverage in Singapore to the next level.”
From June, Sentosa’s free WiFi service will also cover the beachfronts of Palawan Beach and Siloso Beach, as well as Fort Siloso Skywalk. There are now more than 200 hotspots across Sentosa. The new Green WiFi initiative will allow SDC to explore a larger deployment of more outdoor Wireless@SG hotspots on the island, with the aim of expanding wireless technology to more visitors for a better guest experience.
Dr Yaacob noted that children, especially preschoolers, learn through imaginative play and storytelling. In this context, he added that IDA is collaborating with SoftBank Telecom Singapore and Nanyang Technological University Robotics Research Centre to explore the use of social robots in early childhood education. Since April, two social robots (Pepper and NAO) are being piloted at My First Skool Jurong Point and MY World @ Bukit Panjang respectively, to complement preschool learning through collaborative play and interactive storytelling. The pilot will run till October.
Providing details about the third initiative, the minister noted that there is huge demand for infocomm technology (ICT) talent around the world. “This demand is becoming increasingly specialised – meaning that it is no longer enough for, say, data scientists to be skilled in data analytics. They also need to have a good understanding of the sectors that they work in so that they can apply their skills to provide insightful analyses in context,” Dr Yaacob said.
He added that Singapore is making a big national push to help students and ICT professionals to constantly refresh and update their skillsets.
“I announced last month that we are setting aside S$120 million to invest in the development of infocomm capabilities over the next three years. We are adopting an integrated approach – government together with industry – to grow these capabilities through the TechSkills Accelerator, or TeSA for short. TeSA is an integrated approach to ICT skills acquisition and practitioner training, both in core ICT and sector-specific areas.
“TeSA has two focus areas: TeSA Core which will focus on foundational ICT skills that are relevant across all industries such as cyber security and data analytics; while TeSA Sector will comprise more specialised skillsets that build on the TeSA Core foundation, starting with finance and healthcare sectors,” the minister said.
The objective is to create better job placement outcomes. To coordinate the development of TeSA, a governing council has been set up and chairmen of sector committees have been appointed, who will in turn look into appointing their members within the next few weeks. IDA will also be identifying specialised lead training providers for different sectors.
Dr Yaacob also announced the members of the governing council of TeSA. Gabriel Lim, CE-designate of the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) and co-managing director of IDA, will chair the governing council. Members representing the ICT industry include Shirley Wong, chairwoman of Singapore IT Federation; Howie Lau, president, Singapore Computer Society; and Alvin Ong, president, IT Management Association. To represent the hirers in the economy, the council will include Robert Yap Min Choy, deputy honorary secretary, Singapore National Employers Federation.
As a whole-of-government initiative, TeSA will also see representation from Ng Cher Pong, CEO, Workforce Development Authority of Singapore; Augustin Lee, deputy secretary, Ministry of Manpower; and Jacqueline Poh, CE-designate, Government Technology Agency.
The governing council will be further supported by hirers of tech manpower in sector committees, starting with financial services, healthcare and ICT. They will all work collaboratively with the aim of creating job placement outcomes for working professionals.
The chairs and co-chairs of these three sector committees are also members of the governing council:
- Co-chairs for TeSA Finance: Sopnendu Mohanty, chief fintech officer at the Monetary Authority of Singapore; and Susan Hwee, managing director and head of group technology and operations at UOB, which currently chairs the Association of Banks in Singapore.
- Chair for TeSA Healthcare: Chong Yoke Sin, CEO of Integrated Health Information Systems or IHIS, the single and largest employer of ICT professionals in the public healthcare sector.
- Co-chairs for TeSA ICT: Khoong Hock Yun, assistant CEO at IDA; and Lim Kang Song and Benjamin Mah, both leading the talent and capabilities committee within the Singapore IT Federation.
This article was first published on June 01, 2016.
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