28 May 2013 - Speech by Ms Sim Ann, Senior Parliamentary Secretary, Ministry Of Communications And Information & Ministry Of Education, at the National Infocomm Competition and Junior College Computing Awards Ceremony 2013 on 28 May 2013, 3.20pm at Red Dot Design Museum
Speech by Ms Sim Ann, Senior Parliamentary Secretary, Ministry Of Communications And Information & Ministry Of Education, at the National Infocomm Competition and Junior College Computing Awards Ceremony 2013 on 28 May 2013, 3.20pm at Red Dot Design Museum
Distinguished Partners and Guests,
Parents and Teachers,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Good afternoon.
1. It is my pleasure to join everyone today for the National Infocomm Competition or NIC, and Junior College Computing Awards Ceremony 2013. Today, we come together to celebrate the achievements of our outstanding young infocomm talents.
Youths revolutionising infocomm with innovation
2. Our youths are unafraid to dream and think big. With the right support, many innovative ideas can take off. The National Infocomm Competition, or NIC, is one such platform, to celebrate our youths' interest in infocomm, to nurture and help them further their infocomm aspirations.
3. Organised by the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA) with academia and industry partners such as Autodesk, Google Developer Group Singapore, IEEE Singapore, and Microsoft, the NIC is the biggest network of student infocomm competitions in Singapore. Just last year alone, a total of nine competitions were organised, involving more than 1500 students from our local schools.
4. One of the interesting concepts came from Team Popcorn Developer from Nanyang Polytechnic, who conceptualised a paperless parking coupon concept for Plugfest.IHL, a competition organised by IEEE Singapore and Google Developer Group Singapore.
5. Another interesting concept is from the Anglo Chinese School (Independent)’s Team Crescent, winner of the National Software Competition organised by Singapore Polytechnic. They had in December gone on to compete in the prestigious Asia Pacific ICT Awards 2012 with their mobile game application that encourages students to participate actively in class and track their study progress. Another team - Kwek Ming Hong and Joshua Sim from Nanyang Polytechnic, winners of the NetRiders challenge also did Singapore proud by beating 17 other teams from countries such as Thailand, Malaysia and Philippines to emerge as the 2nd runner-up in the Netriders Asia Pacific Challenge, organised by Cisco. It is through the opportunities and funding support from NIC, that our young talents can meet their counterparts at international competitions, to showcase their innovations and further develop their capabilities.
The Government is committed to developing our infocomm talents
6. The Government remains committed to developing infocomm talents in Singapore. Besides competitions, students from the primary to tertiary level also have access to various opportunities to acquire infocomm skills and be exposed to Singapore’s vibrant infocomm industry.
7. Today, I am also pleased that the IDA JC Computing Awards (JCA) will be presented to 21 outstanding students who have demonstrated a strong attitude and passion in computing. The award not only provides these students with a head-start in the thriving infocomm industry, but also helps them gain more industry knowledge through infocomm events, workshops and attachments.
8. To support students’ learning journey in infocomm, IDA also offers a suite of training programmes such as the IT Exposed Programme and the Computer Science Reloaded Programme. To date, the IT Exposed workshops have trained more than 1,000 students in infocomm skills such as mobile application development, data analytics and programming, while the Computer Science Reloaded Programme has trained more than 1,500 students to learn computational thinking skills on topics such as games development and Python programming.
9. Attachments and mentorships are important in helping young jobseekers accelerate their careers in infocomm. On behalf of the IDA, I am pleased to announce that this year, we welcome polytechnic graduands to join the Enhanced Learning in Infocomm Technology programme and take advantage of the many opportunities to be exposed to the infocomm industry.
10. In addition, the existing National Infocomm Scholarship (NIS) programme for outstanding ‘A’ level and diploma holders will also be expanded to include mid-term scholarships from 2014. These mid-term scholarships will be applicable to existing infocomm students who are in their first, second or third year of studies at our local autonomous universities or overseas universities, boosting Singapore’s pool of infocomm talent. I encourage our youths to grab the many opportunities available to showcase your innovations and develop your infocomm talent!
Conclusion
11. In conclusion, may I express my appreciation to our industry partners, teachers and the NIC organisers for their support in making the NIC a success and also encourage the students to continue your adventures in the IT world. I look forward to your continued support and many more innovative ideas. Thank you.
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