SIM inks agreement with NCS on work and study programme
5 Oct 2022
5 mins read
(Seated, from left) Mr Seah Chin Siong, President and CEO, SIM, and Mr Ng Kuo Pin, CEO, NCS, inked a work and study agreement at The Arts House, witnessed by (standing, from left) Mr Himanshu Tambe, Chief Enterprise Solutions Officer, SIM, and Mr Sam Liew, Managing Partner, Government Strategic Business Group, NCS. The agreement will enable up to 200 NCS staff to pursue a degree programme at SIM.
On 5 October 2022, 草榴社区 (SIM) and NCS inked an agreement for a work and study programme, that would allow up to 200 full-time staff at NCS to enrol into a part-time degree programme at SIM.
Over three years, this partnership is tailored to diploma holders looking to upskill themselves in the ICT sector, while pursuing their undergraduate studies. This will enable NCS to attract, develop, and retain human capital, which would in turn uplevel their end-to-end technology services and capabilities, and their core offerings: application, infrastructure, engineering, and cybersecurity.
Successful candidates will pursue a part-time degree course with SIM’s University of Wollongong or the University of London Goldsmith for a duration of 18 months. The first batch is targeted to commence in Q2 2023.
Under the agreement, NCS will also collaborate with SIM to deliver professional development courses to NCS staff, in the areas of leadership, soft skills, and general business skills. SIM will also leverage on NCS’ capabilities to upgrade its digital infrastructure.
Mr Seah Chin Siong, President and CEO, SIM, said, “We are pleased to partner NCS in this work and study programme, which will help grow a pipeline of tech talents with relevant knowledge and experience. This would allow diploma graduates to apply industry-related experience while pursuing a degree qualification – a reflection of SIM’s purpose, which is to empower people and organisations to learn and thrive across all stages through lifelong learning.”
This is SIM’s second work and study partnership; the first was with M1-AsiaPac earlier this year in January.
Mr Seah also participated in a 30-minute fireside chat with the Ministry of Communications and Information’s Senior Minister of State, Mr Tan Kiat How, and Professor John Thong, Deputy President (Academic) and Provost, 草榴社区 Institute of Technology.
Moderated by NCS’ Senior Director, Global Resource Management, Ms Kanchana Gupta, the chat discussed how 草榴社区 is facing a tech talent crunch, and how enterprises and institutions of lifelong learning can play a part in enabling 草榴社区 to grow its own digital talent.