SIM, RMIT Online to offer upskilling opportunities for Singapore workforce

THE Singapore Institute of Management (SIM) and RMIT Online are tying up to offer "skills-based, industry-designed" online learning opportunities for Singaporeans.

SIM will provide a selection of courses from RMIT Online's existing portfolio to help develop skills identified as necessary for Singapore to remain competitive in increasingly digitised industries, both institutions said in a joint statement on Wednesday.

The first suite of courses to be offered include the areas of artificial intelligence, agile project management, digital marketing, cybersecurity and data analytics.

Each course has been designed with industry partners such as IBM, Salesforce and AWS Educate, and are taught by senior industry mentors, SIM and RMIT Online said. Upon completion, learners will receive a digital credential.

According to a 2018 report by Korn Ferry focusing on the global talent crunch in Singapore, the city-state could lose out on US$106.82 billion by 2030 due to skill shortages, the statement showed.

Said Seah Chin Siong, SIM president and chief executive officer: "With Covid-19, online learning will be an important mode of learning. Our collaboration with RMIT Online offers yet another flexible pathway for professionals, managers, executives and technicians in Singapore to build skills which are in demand by employers.

GET BT IN YOUR INBOX DAILY

Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox.

Sign UpVIEW ALL

"Under SIM's digital initiative, we will continue to provide short, micro-credentialed courses that help our learners build greater agility across industry segments and in their careers."

RMIT vice-chancellor and president, Martin Bean, said RMIT had achieved "great success" in Australia with its industry-focused short courses.

The latest initiative extends the 33-year-long partnership between both institutions, with the latter having graduated over 40,000 students in Singapore.

Last week, the Singapore Management University's (SMU) School of Accountancy and KPMG also announced a new cyber risk and forensics work-study programme. This is open to all SMU students, and the school will be accepting applications in August 2020, it said.

The programme consists of three courses: Forensic Accounting and Investigation; Foundations of Cybersecurity; and the Cyber Risk and Forensics Work-Study Elective, which is a six-month extended internship programme at KPMG. The first run of the work-study elective is planned for January to June 2021.

SMU said the latest initiative will help local companies by developing talents in the fast-growing area of cyber risk and forensics, provide SMU students with the necessary knowledge and skills to contribute to the digital economy, and ensure the competitiveness of Singapore's infocommunications manpower.

The programme also comes on the heels of a new second major in financial forensics that SMU is offering from this August.

Said Lem Chin Kok, head of forensic and partner at KPMG Asia-Pacific: "With the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, many organisations face limitations to conduct face-to-face interactions and travel. At the same time, they are also looking to increase effectiveness and reduce business costs. All this has led to an accelerated adoption of technology on many fronts.

"However, such rapid adoption inadvertently increases IT, cyber and digital fraud risks, which in turn is driving demand for professionals in this field."