In a recent IBM survey of some 3,000 CIOs, Cloud Computing and Business Analytics were identified as the top two technology priorities for mid and top-tier companies across all major industries in the near and mid-term. As one of the most networked countries in the world, Singapore is fast emerging as a hub in the Asia Pacific for these two functions.
To equip our PMEs, and to raise the efficiency and productivity of our industries through such technologies, Next U, the executive executive education arm of NTUC LearningHub, has inked a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with the Singapore Management University School of Information Systems (SMU SIS) to launch professional short courses in Cloud Computing and Business Analytics.
In order to serve PMEs, the Labour Movement (LM) has initiated schemes such as the Union Training Assistance Plan (U-TAP) for all Next U courses. This collaboration with SMU is the latest of the LM's efforts to equip PMEs with the relevant career skills to remain competitive in the workforce.
“The LM aims to co-create and facilitate touch points which will have positive impact on the PME Community in Singapore. One key pillar is in the area of professional development which involves training, up-skilling and the career development of our PMEs. It is with this end in mind that the LM is forging partnerships and forming alliances with industry partners and key stakeholders to leverage of each other's strengths and assisting PMEs and helping them enhance their careers and pay prospects.” said Mr Patrick Tay Teck Guan, NTUC Director for PMEs & Legal Services, and Member of Parliament for Nee Soon GRC, who was the Guest-of-Honour at the signing ceremony.
“Private and public sector leaders often tell us that our SMU SIS degree programmes excel at preparing people to create and use IT applications in business settings in innovative and value-creating ways. We are repeatedly asked by organisations if we could provide their employees with short-course versions of our curriculum content and expose them to our innovative approaches to teaching and learning. Through this partnership with NTUC Next U, we can respond to these industry requests in much more scalable and effective ways. This is why we have embraced this partnership,” said Professor Steven Miller, Dean, School of Information Systems, SMU.
This partnership is also in line with Singapore's Intelligent Nation 2015 masterplan of the Infocomm Development Authority which emphasises the importance of preparing companies and PMEs to harness the benefits of business analytics, cloud computing and productivity enhancement through business process management.
“We are delighted to work with Professor Steven Miller and his team to deliver a series of professional short courses designed to enable professionals to up their game in business analytics, cloud computing and business processes and systems,” said Mr Zee Yoong Kang, CEO, NTUC LearningHub.
This first partnership between SMU and Next U in professional education will see an initial set of 14 short courses in three training areas - Business Analytics, Cloud Computing, and Business Processes & Systems. The courses will be delivered in the SMU SIS style of innovatively contextualising information technology and systems education into business scenarios and settings. Trainees who have completed the programme will be awarded a Certificate of Completion from SMU. Some of the short courses can also be combined for credit exemptions for similar modules from SMU's Masters in IT for Business (MITB) programme.
The MOA was signed by Professor Steven Miller, Dean, SMU School of Information Systems, and Mr Zee Yoong Kang, Chief Executive Officer of NTUC LearningHub, and witnessed by Mr Tay.
About SMU School of Information Systems
The SMU School of Information Systems (SIS) was created in 2003 to extend SMU's research and education efforts into the areas of Information Systems Technology, Information Systems Management, and problems at the intersection of IS technology and management. The School possesses deep technology-based research and development capability in four strategically selected areas of IT: Data Management & Analytics; Intelligent Systems & Decision Analytics; Software Systems; and Information Security & Data Privacy. The fifth strategic area of the School is Information Systems & Management, where faculty investigate a range of issues related to the managerial and business impacts of IT within public and private sector organisations, and across collaboration networks, value chains, markets and industries. Since its inception in 2003, SIS has had a strategic partnership with Carnegie Mellon. Recently, through SIS, SMU and Carnegie Mellon launched the Living Analytics Research Centre (www.larc.smu.edu.sg). More on SIS is found at www.sis.smu.edu.sg
About Next U
Next U is the executive education arm of NTUC LearningHub – Singapore's largest continuing education provider. Next U represents the Labour Movement's commitment towards getting Singapore's Professionals, Managers and Executives “Future-Ready”. With almost 500 cutting-edge courses spanning infocomm & technology, productivity & innovation, service excellence, leadership & management and professional certifications from over 20 best-in-class global and local education partners, including UC Berkeley Extension, the Disney Institute and world-renowned technology brands, we help businesses and professionals realise their full potential through high-value professional developments and consulting solutions designed to take them to the next level.
About NTUC LearningHub
NTUC LearningHub Private Limited was corporatised in 2004 with the mission to enhance the lifelong employability of Singapore's workforce by providing high quality, innovative products and affordable learning. The training programmes provided by NTUC LearningHub comprise Infocomm Technology, Professional IT Certificates, Soft Skills & Literacy, Workplace Safety & Health, Employability Skills System, Customer Service Training, Pharmaceutical, Trades, Cleaning, WSQ Security and Manufacturing Skills. To date, it has trained close to 800,000 executives and working adults, and has worked with more than 10,000 companies to identify training needs, define curriculum roadmaps and deliver contemporary training programmes. The organisation has evolved to meet the burgeoning training needs of Singaporeans to continuously keep pace with the dynamic business economy.