SINGAPORE - Singaporeans will soon have the opportunity to improve their tech skills and work prospects in an increasingly digital landscape.
Workforce training provider NTUC Learning Hub (LHUB) has linked up with NTUC's Employment and Employability Institute (e2i), a network that funds skills-upgrading ventures, and Amazon Web Services (AWS) to introduce two new courses.
'Fundamentals of cloud computing' and 'fundamentals of internet of things (IoT' both aim to raise cloud computing literacy among working adults.
Cloud computing refers to the usage of services over the Internet on a paid-for basis to store and manage data.
Data from LinkedIn identified cloud computing as the skill most sought after by employers in 2016.
It is especially in demand in the information and communications technology (ICT) sector, which is one of the critical growth sectors in Singapore. The demand for ICT professionals is slated to grow by another 42,300 in the next two years.
NTUC secretary-general, Ng Chee Meng, who witnessed the signing of memorandums of understanding between LHUB and the two other organisations on Friday (May 25), commended the initiative and said that it had come at just the right time.
"We need to create a pipeline of talent to take on the new and transformed jobs that arise from (the expanding ICT) sector," he said.
LHUB's existing two-day SkillsFuture for digital workplace course, which 3,000 Singaporeans have signed up for since last October, will also be improved to include cloud technology resources.
By the end of 2019, LHUB hopes to train up to 20,000 more Singaporeans in areas such as cloud technology.
Mr Alex Leong Yeow Seng, 59, who manages a housing agency, was one of 12 participants who attended a test run of the 'fundamentals of IoT' course. IoT is used to refer to the interconnectedness of a broad range of devices and data.
He learnt basic concepts and applications of IoT, knowledge of which is necessary to pick up Cloud computing.
"Before, all I knew about cloud was that sometimes my iPhone would say cloud storage full," he joked. "Now that I have a deeper understanding of it, I can stay relevant in the job market."
The two-day courseswill be offered jointly by LHUB and e2i from July and August. The original course fee of $580 may be subsidised by e2i for some so that they cost just $100. Those interested can enrol by writing to LHUB.
