Speech by Professor Ling San, Deputy President & Provost at the launch of Work-Study Degree Programme in Computing, AiSP IOT Security Sharing 2023

Speech by Professor Ling San

Deputy President & Provost

Nanyang Technological University, Singapore

 

Launch of Work-Study Degree Programme in Computing at

AiSP IOT Security Sharing 2023

 

3 Nov 2023, 10.10am

Research Techno Plaza

Dr Janil Puthucheary, Senior Minister of State, Ministry of Communications and Information and Ministry of Health,

AiSP President Mr Johnny Kho,

NTU colleagues,

Ladies and gentlemen

 

Good morning.

Thank you for joining us at the launch of our new SkillsFuture Work-Study Degree Programme in Computing at NTU, at today’s IoT Security Sharing session co-organised by the Association of Information Security Professionals (AISP) and National Integrated Centre for Evaluation (NiCE), NTU.

This new part-time degree programme comes amid the growth of the information and communications technology (ICT) sector and a strong demand for skilled professionals in areas such as software engineering, artificial intelligence and cyber security.

This demand is expected to go up even more as more businesses and organisations move and adopt digital technologies in their operations.

5G technology and artificial intelligence are also expected to provide a major boost to the ICT sector, with new opportunities arising in areas such as Industry 4.0, self-driving vehicles, and smart cities.

To take advantage of these opportunities, working professionals need to embrace lifelong learning to ride the constantly-evolving digitalisation wave.

Recognising this necessity, NTU has been drawing on the expertise of our faculty and leveraging our industry networks to develop and offer industry-relevant continuing education courses.

For instance, for cyber security, NTU offers a Graduate Certificate in Hardware Security Evaluation and Certification, offered through NiCE, a joint centre set up by NTU and the Cyber Security Agency of Singapore.

You will have a chance later to tour the Centre and see its capabilities for yourself.

Today’s launch of the SkillsFuture Work-Study Degree Programme in Computing is a timely addition to NTU’s suite of offerings for working professionals who are looking to upskill or reskill.

This is the first time a SkillsFuture Work-Study Degree Programme is offered on a part-time basis and designed with a ‘stackable’ structure in Singapore. The intent behind the flexibility of this part-time programme is to allow students to study with minimal disruption to their work commitments, which is extremely important for working adults.

NTU’s School of Computer Science and Engineering designed and developed the curriculum together with ICT partners to ensure that the programme stays relevant to and meets industry needs. Accenture, Singtel subsidiary NCS and ST Engineering, all leaders in the ICT sector, are the first to come on board to help design and develop the programme. We will sign an MOU today to solidify this partnership.

In this programme, students need to complete modules under three “stacks” – the Foundation, the Specialist, and the Industry Immersion stacks – to graduate with a full Bachelor of Technology in Computing degree.

A unique feature of the programme is that at the end of each of the Foundation and Specialist stacks, students are awarded a Professional Certificate to recognise their newly attained competencies. They can use these certificates to advance in their career or pivot into a more specialised job role while continuing with the pursuit of their degree programme.

Upon graduating with the full Bachelor of Technology degree in Computing, students will be able to take advantage of career opportunities in the booming ICT sector, ranging from cyber risk analysts, to full-stack developers and AI engineers, and more as the industry continues to grow.

These skillsets will continue to be in demand, and likely to be in greater demand, as Singapore continues its digital transformation into a Smart Nation. I look forward to the positive impact that this new Work-Study Degree Programme will have on learners, the wider ICT sector, and our economy.

I wish all attendees a fruitful session at today’s conference.

Thank you.