5 August 2008 - A record of 48 students received the National Infocomm Scholarship today. These national infocomm scholars will be nurtured into infocomm professionals and leaders to meet industry demands and contribute to Singapore’s economy.
Singapore, 5 August 2008 | For Immediate Release
Seven More Organisations To Scout Talent Through The National Infocomm Scholarship 2008
A record of 48 students received the National Infocomm Scholarship (or NIS in short) today. These national infocomm scholars will be nurtured into infocomm professionals and leaders to meet industry demands and contribute to Singapore’s economy.
The NIS, offered by the Infocomm Development of Authority of Singapore (IDA) and various leading organisations, presents national infocomm scholars with the opportunity to gain valuable work experience, industry-relevant mentorship and employment at any of the 27 supporting organisations from both the private and public sectors. These leading multi-national corporations (MNCs), local companies and government agencies provide scholars with early industry exposure, where they will be attached to the sponsoring companies during their course of study. Through the early industry exposure, the scholars will be able to combine the infocomm knowledge learnt in the companies and classroom to address real work-related issues while enhancing and accelerating their industry-readiness. To accelerate the NIS scholars’ early entry into the workforce, 13 of the 48 NIS scholars will be pursuing two infocomm-related Bachelor and Master degrees under the fast-tracked flagship infocomm master’s programmes.
Presenting the scholarships at the NIS Awards ceremony today, RADM(NS) Lui Tuck Yew, Senior Minister of State, Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts & Ministry of Education said,” The future of infocomm offers promising growth prospects. I would like to encourage our infocomm scholars to further drive the industry’s growth and contribute to the development of other economic sectors which leverage infocomm. IDA is committed to grooming a sustainable pool of industry-ready, globally competitive infocomm professionals. In this respect, IDA has enhanced its Talent Management Programme which aims to offer scholars a career head-start.”
The Talent Management Programme has been further strengthened to offer scholars with opportunities to upgrade themselves with industry-relevant skills while they are studying. Under this programme, the scholars could choose to attend development courses, besides the NIS education, to enhance their professional capabilities. The development courses seek to provide vendor-specific expertise, business domain knowledge, client management, business communication and soft skills. IDA is committed to sponsoring up to S$7,000 for each scholar, on top of the NIS.
Seven More Industry Players Tap NIS For Infocomm Talent
More leading industry organisations including non-infocomm companies also joined the NIS this year. They are Barclays Capital, e-Cop (S) Pte Ltd, MobileOne Ltd, SAS Institute Pte Ltd, ST Electronics (Training & Simulation Systems) Pte Ltd, Symantec Singapore Ltd and United Overseas Bank Ltd, bringing the total number of industry sponsors to 27.
The sponsors hail from diverse sectors including banking and finance, defence, energy, entertainment, and infocomm. These sponsors will nurture national infocomm scholars through mentorship and overseas work attachments of up to six months. Top performing undergraduate scholars may be given an opportunity to pursue another year of sponsored postgraduate studies. At the end of their studies, all NIS scholars would go on to serve their bond with their sponsor organisations.
National Infocomm Scholars Work In Leading-Edge Companies
Since the inception of the NIS in 2004, 155 top students from local junior colleges, polytechnics and universities have been awarded the National Infocomm Scholarship. 38 of them have joined the workforce since 2005, with some working overseas in USA, Europe and China. Another 24 scholars will be expected to start work over the next two years.
These scholars are hired by top global and local industry players including IBM, Novell, BT Frontline and NCS. They hold rewarding jobs developing cutting-edge infocomm solutions to meet current industry demands. According to the IDA Annual Survey on Infocomm Manpower 2007, Singapore’s infocomm talent pool grew by some 9 percent to hit a new record high of 130,000 employed infocomm professionals last year. 56 percent of them worked in infocomm organisations while the rest in other economic sectors.
ISSUED BY CORPORATE & MARKETING COMMUNICATION DIVISION
INFOCOMM DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY OF SINGAPORE
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About Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore
The Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA) is committed to growing Singapore into a dynamic global infocomm hub. IDA uses an integrated approach to developing info-communications in Singapore. This involves nurturing a competitive telecoms market as well as a conducive business environment with programmes and schemes for both local and international companies. For more news and information, visit https://www.imda.gov.sg/.
For media clarification, please contact:
Vanni Cheong (Ms)
Manager, Corporate and Marketing Communication
Tel: +65 6211 0353
Email: Vanni_CHEONG@imda.gov.sg
Ho Hwei Ling (Ms)
Assistant Director, Corporate and Marketing Communication
Tel: +65 6211 1996
Email: HO_Hwei_Ling@imda.gov.sg
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