Four education institutions here will help drive digitalisation efforts in the social service sector with tailor-made courses being offered by the year end.

The digital training courses offered by Singapore Management University, the National University of Singapore's Institute of Systems Science, Ngee Ann Polytechnic and Lithan Academy will focus on the strategic, managerial, operational and tactical aspects of a social service agency (SSA), to help them transform.

In a Facebook post yesterday, Minister for Social and Family Development Masagos Zulkifli said the National Council of Social Service had signed a memorandum of understanding with the institutions to help strengthen the sector's capabilities.

About 2,000 training places for digital training courses will be made available from next month to February 2023 for the non-profit sector, he added.

These courses will help the social service agencies transform to SSA 3.0 - a vision for social service agencies to be "driven by committed social service professionals, augmented by volunteers, and enabled by technology, putting end users and Singaporeans at the core", said Mr Masagos.

"For SSAs to make a successful digital transformation, they need to build capabilities, upskill and reskill their workforce to identify the most suitable technologies for their work, integrate technology into the way they work, and ensure that their staff are equipped to reap the full benefits of these technologies."

He encouraged social service agencies to embrace the spirit of continuous learning by exploring the technology hub Tech-and-Go! that was launched in September, as well as consider taking up the digital training courses.