SINGAPORE - DBS Bank has launched an in-house digital training institute to groom its tech talent and enhance the skills of its nearly 5,000-strong tech workforce.
The DBS Future Tech Academy will initially cover three technology disciplines - site reliability engineering, data processing and analytics; and application security, the bank said on Thursday (Jan 7).
DBS will evaluate more programmes to cover other key technology domains at the mostly virtual academy in the next 12 months.
"The DBS Future Tech Academy aims to build a learning ecosystem that incorporates a blended pedagogical approach tapping both external experts as well as internally developed content and certifications," said the bank.
It added that this will enable employees to pick up the latest technology skill sets from external industry experts and immediately apply their new skills to technology projects being rolled out by the bank.
The bank's technologists will also be granted access to technology-focused digital learning platforms such as O'Reilly and Pluralsight, which will allow them to pick up relevant skills and knowledge to complement their training in the academy.
Mr Jimmy Ng, group chief information officer at DBS, said the bank is constantly looking for innovative ways to maximise the potential of existing and emerging technologies to enhance its services to customers.
"Having our own DBS Future Tech Academy gives us the agility to adapt our training curricula according the bank's needs and enables us to stay ahead of the massive changes around us," he said.
Besides the academy, DBS said it is sponsoring the training of some 200 Singaporeans who are currently on traineeships with the bank.
The trainees will go through skills certification programmes offered by the DBS Future Tech Academy and will also be given free access to the digital learning platforms.
"By equipping the trainees with foundational skills in growth technology areas, DBS hopes to encourage them to pursue a longer-term career in technology regardless of whether they stay on with the bank after their traineeships," said DBS.
Ms Vanessa Leo, 23, who joined DBS under the SGUnited Traineeship Programme in September after graduating from Nanyang Technological University, said she did not expect to be able to go through the same training and certification programmes as full-time employees when she joined the bank.
She has since joined the bank's Skill Enhancement Education and Development Programme, which grooms young graduates for tech careers in roles such as development and cyber security.
Ms Leo said: "These learning opportunities help me to lay a strong foundation for a technology career in the banking and finance industry."
