SINGAPORE – An industry-led coalition looking at opportunities for Singapore in the educational technology sector has come up with several initiatives to position the country as a global talent hub in the field.
The four initiatives by the Alliance for Action on EduTech – ZilLearn Skills, Agility Growth Index, WorkGuide.co and eduCLaaS Academy – target various segments of the current and potential workforce.
Together, they aim to support Singaporeans in their skills acquisition and career pathways, to be better prepared for current challenges and to embrace new opportunities, said the Ministry of Trade and Industry on Monday (Jan 25).
ZilLearn Skills is a career advancement platform that provides personalised career and learning recommendations for Singaporeans. This can be done through skill sets evaluation and identifying upskilling and reskilling needs.
The target launch date is in March or April.
The Agility Growth Index, which has already been launched, is an analytics tool that can help companies, regardless of size, understand the learning behaviours and motivators of their workforce. This could allow them to effectively engage and retain high performers.
WorkGuide.co, set to be launched at the end of the month, provides a safe place for individuals to ask questions about work matters and get engaging short video answers from credible volunteer guides. It leverages technology to scale the benefits of traditional mentoring, making it more accessible.
The eduCLaaS Academy connects higher education students and institutions, working adults and hiring employers to cultivate digital talent and make it easier for them to be deployed in Singapore and across Asia. It has been launched.
The Alliance for Action on EduTech is part of the Singapore Together Alliances for Action – partnerships between industry players and the Government – that aim to rapidly prototype new ideas in a bid to grow the country’s economy.
They were set up by the Emerging Stronger Task Force, which the Government convened in May last year to help Singapore seize new opportunities in the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Alliance for Action on EduTech is led by Ms Dilys Boey, assistant chief executive of Enterprise Singapore; Mr Tan Chin Hwee, Asia-Pacific CEO of trading company Trafigura; Mr Sunny Verghese, co-founder and group CEO of food and agri-business company Olam International; Mr Peter Ho, CEO of Singapore-based engineering company Hope Technik; and Mr Edmund Koh, president of UBS Asia-Pacific and member of the UBS Group executive board.
Ms Boey said she was “encouraged by the commitment and passion shown by the industry stakeholders… to catalyse growth opportunities particularly in skills development and continuing education”.
Mr Tan said: “Edutech has always been an exciting space, and with Covid-19, the opportunities are boundless for individuals and businesses alike.
“With the collaborative spirit forged by the Alliances for Action, we can leverage on each other’s strengths and go further, together.”
The other industry-led alliances are in the areas of robotics, e-commerce, digitalisation of supply chains and the built environment, and environmental sustainability, as well as enabling safe travel and tourism.
A new alliance on medical technology is also in the process of being formed.
This article originally appeared in The Straits Times on Jan. 25, 2021
