NUS' Institute of Systems Science conferred National Continuing Education Training Institute for Infocomm Technology Sector
The Institute of Systems Science (ISS) at the National University of Singapore (NUS) has been conferred the pinnacle status of National Continuing Education and Training (CET) Institute by the Singapore Workforce Development Agency (WDA).
The recognition is reserved for CET Centres which demonstrate a high quality of delivery and commitment to supporting workforce development programmes through the Singapore Workforce Skills Qualifications (WSQ) frameworks developed for sectors that they serve. The ISS is the first National CET Institute (NCI) for the National Infocomm Competency Framework (NICF), which is the WSQ framework for the Infocomm Technology (ICT) sector. Please refer to Annex A and Annex B for more details on the NCI and NICF respectively.
Developed by WDA, Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA) and strategic industry stakeholders in the ICT sector, the NICF serves as a competency roadmap for ICT professionals to map out their career and skills development pathway. It is also a framework for employers to incorporate into their ICT personnel management practices to better develop and manage the performance of their staff.
In qualifying for the NCI status, ISS has demonstrated its abilities at achieving practical outcomes, ensuring organisation excellence and providing quality WSQ and NICF programmes and services. ISS will continue to spearhead the adoption of innovative learning methods, respond quickly to skills gaps and shortages, and provide holistic workforce development initiatives to ICT companies and professionals. Please refer to Annex C for more details on ISS' courses and career services.
Mr Ng Cher Pong, Chief Executive of WDA, said: “ISS' appointment as an NCI marks WDA's continued efforts to develop a robust CET system with committed quality training institutions to meet industry needs. The NICF is an industry-driven framework that defines high value-added skills needed by the infocomm industry to deliver quality solutions, products and services. ISS' training programmes, which are aligned to the NICF framework, will further boost the Government's efforts to grow a highly skilled infocomm talent pool, which will in turn boost productivity of the infocomm industry.”
Said Mr Lim Swee Cheang, Director & CEO of ISS, “The achievement of NCI status is a testament to our understanding of the industry's needs and our experience and expertise in offering education programmes under the NICF and WSQ schemes. We have consistently delivered excellent training outcomes, garnered strong industry support and embraced innovative approaches to delivering quality education and training. We have an experienced management team and lecturers who are industry practitioners with a diverse and multi-disciplinary background. Through practice-based teaching, over 95% of our students can apply what they have learnt at ISS to their work immediately.”
Today, ISS has 60 accredited courses under NICF and one NICF Specialist Diploma in Enterprise Architecture. Please refer to Annex D for more information on the Specialist Diploma. As at 31 December 2013, it has trained 12,487 ICT professionals since being appointed as WDA's CET Centre in 2008.
As an NICF NCI, ISS plans to be the forerunner in training ICT professionals in existing, new and emerging ICT skills areas and to spearhead new learning and certification methods. ISS launched a Masters of Technology in Enterprise Business Analytics in January 2014 to develop Singapore's data analytics industry cluster and a pool of 2,500 analytic professionals in the next five years. The first intake of 67 students was three times over-subscribed.
ISS is also unveiling five Assessment Only Pathway (AOP) courses for experienced ICT professionals to certify their competencies in the areas of Enterprise Architecture, Enterprise Business Analytics, Mobile Development, Agile Developer and Service Innovation.
With ISS' value proposition of technology-enabled innovation, the Institute is rolling out more than 20 service innovation and excellence courses, seminars and Master-classes for ICT professionals and organisations this year. There are also plans to introduce a series of ICT Leadership Executive programmes, as well as e-learning initiatives later this year.
