The National Infocomm Scholarship continues to attract the best and brightest

Singapore's Infocomm industry will continue to attract some of the brightest minds in Singapore, if the awarding of a record number of Infocomm scholarships is anything to go by.

A record number of 36 students were handed National Infocomm Scholarships (NIS) in September, with four of these given to foreign students who will be required to take up Singapore citizenship or permanent residency. There was also a four-fold increase in applications over the previous year to 567 applications.

The NIS is run in partnership with leading Infocomm companies in Singapore with support from the Singapore Infocomm Technology Federation (SiTF) and the Singapore Computer Society (SCS). To give the students wider exposure, experience and guidance, scholars will be given the opportunity to do a six month attachment and mentorship with their sponsoring Infocomm company at their overseas offices or research facilities in the final year of undergraduate study.

Mr Chan Yeng Kit, CEO of IDA with the NIS recipients at the 2006 awards ceremony

Mr Chan Yeng Kit, Chief Executive Officer of the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore said during the awards ceremony that Infocomm would continue to be a key driver of the Singaporean economy. He also added Singapore needs to develop globally competitive Infocomm professionals who are both technologists and business strategists to grow our Infocomm industry as well as to transform key economic sectors. This is one of the key building blocks for Singapore in the digital age.

The growth of the Infocomm industry of about 6 to 8 percent last year is expected to continue and according to Mr Chan, "The scholarships given out by the IDA aims to ensure the industry continues to attract the best and brightest talent."

Participating organisations for NIS include Computer Associates, Fujitsu Asia Pte Ltd, Frontline Solutions Pte Ltd, IBM Singapore Pte Ltd, Intel Technology Asia Pte Ltd, Microsoft Singapore Pte Ltd, NCS Pte Ltd, Oracle Corporation Pte Ltd and Singapore Computer Systems Pte Ltd. Joining these nine companies this year are seven new organisations, namely Accenture Pte Ltd, Avaya Singapore Pte Ltd, Aztech Systems Ltd, IDA Singapore, Novell Singapore, Singapore Telecoms, and an Infocomm-user organisation, DBS Bank.

The NIS is an initiative of the IDA, supported by SiTF and SCS, with the above participating companies

One of the leading home-grown regional banks, DBS Bank's participation underscores the importance of Infocomm talent for strategic business needs as well. Mr Rajan Raju, Managing Director and Head of Technology and Operations, DBS Bank said: "As a bank born and bred in Asia, one of DBS' key aims is to contribute to the regional community by promoting IT excellence and rising talent in Asia. Our participation in the National Infocomm Scholarship, which attracts some of the best and brightest in the region, will help build a talent pool to meet the current and emerging needs of both DBS and the Infocomm industry. We are pleased to be a part of this scholarship programme."