A 19th century painting by Japanese artist Katsushika Hokusai holds a pertinent message for 21st century infocomm professionals. The work, The Great Wave off Kanagawa, depicts boatmen battling tremendous waves while Mount Fuji stands in the background - stable and unchanging.

Stable, unchanging Mt Fuji in the background represents the longer term view.

Drawing the parallels between Mount Fuji and the infocomm market, Mr Saw Ken Wye, Vice President, Sales and Marketing, Asia Pacific, Microsoft, said, "If you cut out fluctuations, there is a Mount Fuji out there. You have to take the longer term view."

Mr Saw was sharing his thoughts on "What lies ahead for every IT professional" at a recent Business Leadership Seminar organised by the Singapore Computer Society and Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA).

Emphasising the fact that there was opportunity in every market situation, he cited the 1997 currency crisis when everyone was bailing out of Asia. That was when Microsoft set up its Asia Pacific Operations Centre - one of three in the world - right here in Singapore. A few years later, when SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) struck, Microsoft locked in its office lease at under S$4 per sq ft, buffering itself against subsequent rate hikes.

When Mr Saw started with Microsoft Singapore, there were about 50 people in the company. Today, there are about 1,000. "There is an opportunity for Singapore," he said. "We are in a great place to serve the region, to do sales and marketing, support and operations and technical support really well. These jobs will continue to grow," he said.

Also emphasising the need for a longer-term view was RADM(NS) Ronnie Tay, Chief Executive Officer of IDA. While the global financial crisis that has been unfolding will have an impact on other economic sectors, including infocomm, Singapore should not lose sight of the need to continually develop its infocomm talent, he said. "This will enable us to ride the recovery to growth that will come after this period of uncertainty."

IDA, on its part, will continue with its efforts to develop a flow of high quality infocomm professionals. Over the next three to five years, it will invest a further S$70 million together with the industry to ensure that Singapore is well positioned to capitalise on the digital opportunities ahead.

Initiatives start with the young, with the setting up of more Infocomm Clubs at schools, National Infocomm Competitions, the National Infocomm Scholarship programme and an Enhanced Learning in Infocomm Technology or "ELITe" programme which helps to equip infocomm undergraduates with "industry-ready" skills.

For infocomm professionals, IDA and the Workforce Development Agency have co-developed the National Infocomm Competency Framework, a national infocomm roadmap which articulates the competency requirements of key infocomm jobs. IDA has also launched the Techno-Strategist Programme which aims to equip 1,000 middle-tier professionals with domain knowledge in the healthcare, retail, finance and banking sectors over the next two years. This is to meet the growing demand for infocomm professionals who are well-versed in both infocomm knowledge and sector-specific domain knowledge.

The ability of infocomm professionals to understand the business domain and deliver value will be key to thriving in a changing environment, said Mr Lee Kwok Cheong, Chief Executive Officer, Singapore Institute of Management.

Speaking at the same seminar, Mr Lee put across the view that it was not enough for infocomm professionals to love what they do. "The focus should be on what I can do in the context of my own company to deliver value," he said.

"Professional competency and certification may be important, but we really have to think about how we are adding value to the organisation. We need to be able to articulate this. Companies need to articulate this. Infocomm professionals need to articulate this," he said.

This applies in every area of infocomm, each presenting the infocomm professional with opportunities to add value. As Mr Saw said, "There are many specialisations in this industry and many opportunities. There are many paths to go. The road to the future in IT is very bright despite the current turmoil. Keep Mount Fuji in focus."