The government is launching a ‘digital-focused office’ to boost the tech scene, says minister
The Singapore government launched on Wednesday (26 June) a new Digital Industry Singapore (DISG) office. It will create an estimated 10,000 technology jobs over the next three years.
The move is part of the country’s Smart Nation vision, where “every business is digitally empowered” and “every worker digitally skilled”, said Minister for Communications and Information S Iswaran.
He added that the digital economy is intertwined with the conventional one we know today, and technology is vital for businesses here, as well as people’s jobs and everyday lives.
Speaking at the Smart Nation Summit, Iswaran said the government aims to work closer with the private sector to expand ‘digital opportunities’.
The DISG aims to be the first stop for digital industry-related matters and will work with companies to discuss and solve issues like securing talent and market access, building capabilities and going international.
Beyond tech roles, the DISG promises to create jobs in areas like finance, human resources, innovation and business development.
The creation of job roles may ease the ongoing tech talent war in Singapore, said to be at its worst in five years, according to a recent Robert Half study. This may ease fears of the more than nine in 10 Singaporean IT leaders who are concerned Singapore does not have the IT talent readily available for the building of a Smart Nation-ready workforce.
Leaders are also optimistic about the outcome of Smart Nation initiatives. Majority (92%) of CIOs believe that it will positively impact the local IT employment market. More than half (60%) expect an increase in IT job opportunities and 53% predict an increase in average salaries.
Just under half are expecting increased competition for top IT talent, and 29% feel the initiatives will increase the number of locally-trained IT talent.
The new DISG office brings together 45 existing officers from the Economic Development Board, Enterprise Singapore and the Info-communications Media Development Authority (IMDA).
