Ms Grace Fu and Mr Ronnie Tay view a presentation by Henry Park Primary School.

Invest in the young as an integral part of Singapore’s infocomm manpower development roadmap - that was the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore’s (IDA) clear emphasis on Youth Infocomm Day, which was held at the F1 Pit Building.

IDA celebrated the day on 11 November 2011 with the presentation of special awards, the appointment of 20 Youth Infocomm Ambassadors and the launching of a nationwide “Can’t Live Without Tech!” contest. The Guest of Honour at the event was Ms Grace Fu, Senior Minister of State, Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts and Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources, who was on hand to deliver some words of encouragement and to present the awards.

This year’s National Infocomm Club Awards with the theme of “Cyber Wellness and Security” attracted a total of 162 entries from 65 schools, an increase of 60 per cent over the previous year. The entries came in various forms such as mobile applications, games, interactive websites, flash animations and videos.

Crescent Girls School’s entry emerged the top winner for secondary schools. Its “The Adventure of Cyberon” is a game in which a cyber wellness ambassador, Cyberon, fights viruses online and cyber bullies and saves victims. Ashley Koh, 15, one of the team members, sees “teamwork” as the key to the team’s success.

The primary schools top award went to Rosyth School. Filbert Phang, 11, a team member, said they owed a lot to their teachers. "We came up with at least 10 ideas. We brainstormed and the experience of exchanging our views was exhilarating," he said.

As part of the Youth Infocomm Day, 20 outstanding students were also appointed from the various Infocomm Clubs as Youth Infocomm Ambassadors. Ms Fu said, “As Youth Infocomm Ambassadors, they represent the voice of the infocomm clubs community and organise events to engage fellow club members. I would like to congratulate and encourage them to continue their good work in supporting infocomm learning.”

She elaborated, “IDA’s Infocomm Manpower Development Roadmap aims to equip our talents with sophisticated skills to keep up with ICT trends and industry shifts. Infocomm Clubs, a co-curricular activity (CCA) in schools, are one such initiative. I am pleased that the number of clubs has increased from 251 in 2009 to 280 presently, and more importantly, the number of club members has increased by 43 per cent from 2008’s enrolment to 15,000 members today.”

The objective of the Infocomm Manpower Development Roadmap v2.0 (MDEV 2.0) is to nurture Singapore’s local infocomm workforce for high-end, high value-add jobs. MDEV 2.0 hopes to create a greater share of talent for infocomm, develop talent with deep infocomm skills, ability to exploit infocomm and agility to respond to industry shifts, and align better the country’s infocomm manpower profile with its role as a global hub.

Another highlight of the day was the launch of the “Can’t Live Without Tech!” contest, organised jointly by IDA and the Interactive Digital Media Chapter of the Singapore Computer Society. Contestants are invited to submit a one-minute video showcasing the importance of technology in their lives.

There will be two categories - pre-tertiary and tertiary - with three winners in each category. The top prize for each category includes a trip to Silicon Valley, in California, to visit some of the world’s leading infocomm companies. The contest runs from 11 November 2011 to 16 January 2011.

For many of the students present at Youth Infocomm Day, however, the event was not just about awards. Some, like Asurinderjit Singh, 13, a computing student at Hong Kah Secondary School, were there to satisfy their curiosity about IT. “I just want to know more about IT stuff, to find out the different ways to approach IT,” he said.