NCS partners NUS-ISS to train over 1,000 staff in digital ICT skills in two years

Information, communications and technology (ICT) service provider, NCS has announced a partnership with the Institute of Systems Science at National University of Singapore (NUS-ISS) to provide its employees and new hires with training programmes that offer opportunities to gain professional certifications and a Master of Technology degree from NUS-ISS.

Through the various programmes under the collaboration, NCS expects to train over 1,000 employees in digital ICT skills over the next two years. The ICT service provider currently has about 8,ooo staff.

Upskilling programmes under the collaboration include:

Technical training for mid-career NCS employees in areas of emerging technology such as advanced analytics, artificial intelligence (AI) and Internet-of-Things (IoT) and cloud technologies.

Specialist skills development for new software engineers under NCS' Nucleus 2.0 - a five-year career development programme designed to help fresh hires jump start a tech career in NCS. Nucleus 2.0 encompasses a foundational programme leading to an NUS Graduate Certificate in Architecting Scalable Systems, and a specialisation programme leading to graduate certification in key growth areas. The areas include system architecture, project management, application modernisation, AI and automation, IoT, platform and product architecture, as well as advanced analytics.

NCS employees who achieve the requisite graduate certificates and complete a capstone project will be awarded the Master of Technology in Software Engineering by NUS-ISS. As NCS ramps up its digital workforce, it will recruit more than 200 ICT graduates into Nucleus 2.0 every year.

Ng Kuo Pin, CEO of NCS said: "In NCS, we believe that talent development is a top priority, and must be a deliberate and ongoing process. It is therefore important for us to ensure that our people have access to opportunities to develop new specialist skills and achieve accreditation as they progress in their careers. Together with their experience at NCS working on impactful projects for our clients, this initiative will set a strong foundation for our people to realise their individual potential and aspiration. The partnership with NUS-ISS underscores our commitment to help our people grow throughout their career development journey."

Apart from the upskilling programmes, the collaboration includes:

• Accreditation of NCS subject matter experts to conduct technical trainingNUS-ISS will accredit NCS’ subject matter experts as its adjunct teaching staff to teach in NUS-ISS.
• Internships and Project collaborationsIn addition to providing training for its employees, NCS will also work with NUS-ISS to offer internship and project opportunities to NUS-ISS students in the Graduate Certificate and Master in Technology programmes. The students will gain exposure to a real working environment and get hands-on experience in developing prototypes of new products using emerging technologies.