Dr Lee Boon Yang calling on industry players to take on the challenge of nurturing and developing Singapore's current and next generation of infocomm talents

Move Singapore's infocomm professionals up the value chain to meet increasingly sophisticated demand from businesses. That was the call from Dr Lee Boon Yang, Minister for Information, Communications and the Arts, at the Singapore Computer Society (SCS) IT Leader Awards And Gala Dinner 2007.

At the event, outstanding infocomm professionals – whose innovation, passion and commitment have made a mark in the infocomm industry – were presented with the IT Leader Awards.

Dr Lee, the Guest of Honour, highlighted the need for Singapore to expand the depth and breadth of the capabilities of its infocomm professionals to better serve the industry. "Infocomm professionals today must acquire not just deeper professional and technical skills, but business skills as well," he noted. "To become globally competitive and entrepreneurial techno-strategists, the new generation of infocomm professionals have to be well-versed in multiple disciplines. They must deepen their knowledge of the ever-more complex business environment in the domains which they operate in."

Dr Lee Boon Yang conversing with two recipients of the National Infocomm Scholarships

To this end, Dr Lee called on the industry, organisations and agencies to adopt three strategic approaches. Firstly, through certification employers are able to identify competent IT project managers who are qualified to handle their specific areas of expertise. For example, SCS and IDA launched the "Certificate on Outsourcing Management for IT", which is the world's first IT outsourcing certification. Such national certification efforts will ensure that Singapore's manpower is groomed to achieve global standards and can be at the forefront of the industry.

Secondly, the infocomm industry should look towards raising the professional standing of its practitioners by setting up professional associations in areas such as information security, which could then be linked with international counterparts. This would enhance the international recognition of Singapore's infocomm professional manpower.

Flanked by the winners of the SCS IT Leader Awards, Dr Lee enjoys a light moment before the evening's festivities

Thirdly, the infocomm industry has to make sure that Singapore has a sustainable strategy for building a strong talent pool. To this end, IDA has formed the Infocomm Manpower Council (IMC) which will be industry-led. The IMC will work together with the government to build the capabilities of our next generation of infocomm professionals, who will spearhead the growth of the industry.

During his speech, Dr Lee also encouraged businesses, especially small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs), to leverage infocomm technologies on a larger scale to help them achieve the necessary competitive advantage and build up critical mass of infocomm users. "It will also address this perception of Singapore businesses not being progressive in using infocomm technology. Infocomm technology can help to extend SMEs' market reach as well as improve operational and time-to-market efficiencies for their products."

For more information:

• IDA embarked on a five-year Infocomm Manpower Development Roadmap to develop infocomm professionals into globally-competitive players, the general workforce into savvy Infocomm users, and students into the infocomm talent of the future. The Roadmap supports the ten-year Intelligent Nation 2015 (iN2015) masterplan to turn Singapore into a globally connected city, powered by infocomm.
• For more information on the Infocomm Manpower Development Programmes, visit www.infocommtalent.sg.