11 October 2006 - Opening Speech By Mr Leong Keng Thai, Deputy Chief Executive / Director-General (Telecoms), Infocomm Development Authority Of Singapore At the ICPAS Awareness Seminar, The Knowledge Theatre, Singapore Expo.
Opening Speech By Mr Leong Keng Thai, Deputy Chief Executive / Director-General (Telecoms), Infocomm Development Authority Of Singapore At the ICPAS Awareness Seminar, The Knowledge Theatre on 11 October 2006, Singapore Expo.
Mr K.K Tang, Chairman, ICPAS,
Mr Evan Law, Training Director, ICPAS,
ICPAS Council Members,
Ladies and gentlemen,
A very good afternoon to all.
Introduction
1. I am very happy to be here today to celebrate 25 years of infocomm with you at the ICPAS seminar. I hope many of you have visited the InnovatioNation Exhibition. If you haven't done so, do make it a point to go there after this seminar. You will be in for a visual feast as you get a hands-on interactive experience that tells the story of how infocomm technology has directly influenced our lives and our nation. You will also get to travel through time to catch a glimpse of yesterday's as well as tomorrow's technology and the exciting developments on the horizon.
2. Today, Singapore has evolved into a thriving infocomm hub of international repute, and is widely known for our sophistication in harnessing infocomm for business. For Singapore to maintain our strong position, a good vision and strong stewardship by the industry leaders, and a capable workforce that is able to continuously embrace infocomm are key factors. Infocomm as a key enabler at work
3. Because of our strong repute, Singapore was chosen to play host to almost 16,000 delegates who attended the Annual Meetings of the Boards of Governors of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank Group recently. During this period, we showcased Singapore's advanced technology infrastructure, including the use of third-generation (3G) mobile networks facilitate logistics for the meeting. Infocomm will continue to be a strategic enabler and driving tool as we progress into a world that is increasingly digital and connected. Infocomm is the backbone that enables the functioning of any industry and will be the source of advantage for anyone, any organisation to be more competitive in this digital age.
Launch of InSkills@Work Programme
4. By now, I am sure many of you have heard of the government's Intelligent Nation 2015 Masterplan. This master-plan sets bold targets to make Singapore number one in harnessing infocomm to add value to our economy. As part of the iN2015 master-plan, one of the goals for the financial services sector is to achieve service excellence through the use of infocomm.
5. For many of you as accounting professionals, you would have encountered tedious and labour-intensive processes of producing, reporting and analysing huge amounts of financial data. In addition, increased economic, market and regulatory pressures require stricter compliance with new accounting and reporting standards. This means information has to be published to both internal and external stakeholders in greater frequency and in a variety of format. This is a potential opportunity for the use of infocomm to help accounting professionals deal with this increased complexity.
6. I am very pleased to announce an initiative by IDA called the infocomm Skills at Work or in short, inSkills@Work programme to develop the necessary infocomm competencies for key sectors or occupations through the provision of training and certification opportunities tailored for the non-infocomm workforce. Through these training opportunities, the non-infocomm workforce such as accounting professionals can increasingly apply relevant infocomm skills to optimise work performance and create enhanced value for your organisation and your customers.
7. IDA has worked with ICPAS in our first application of the inSkills@Work Programme. Through ICPAS's training arm, the Singapore Accountancy Academy, a course inclusive of certification on financial data modelling and reporting will be made available to you. This course will focus its emphasis on the effective use of analytical tools to streamline financial analysis and reporting. For those of you looking to accumulate points under the Continuing Professional Education (CPE) programme, I am happy to say that this course will be recognised as part of the CPE programme.
8. In closing, I would like to encourage all of you to join this course and continue to embrace infocomm in your work.
9. I wish all of you a fruitful seminar and enjoyable tour of the innovationation exhibition.
10. Thank you.
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