Speech by SMS Koh Poh Koon at the Regional Industry Networking Conference 2017

S​PEECH BY DR KOH POH KOON, SENIOR MINISTER OF STATE, MINISTRY OF TRADE AND INDUSTRY & MINISTRY OF NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT AT THE REGIONAL INDUSTRY NETWORKING CONFERENCE 2017 ON 1 NOV 2017 AT 0845HRS, SINGAPORE POLYTECHNIC CONVENTION CENTRE

Members of SP Board of Governors,

Mr Soh Wai Wah, Principal and CEO, Singapore Polytechnic,

Mr Ng Cher Pong, Chief Executive, SkillsFuture Singapore,

Distinguished guests,

Ladies and Gentleman,

1.            Good morning. It is my pleasure to join you here today for Singapore Polytechnic’s 16th Regional Industry Networking Conference (RINC). This annual Conference brings together companies and trade associations, students and academia, and government agencies to discuss industry trends and share the latest developments in technology.

2.            This Conference is held in conjunction with Singapore Polytechnic (SP) commemorating 60 years of its engineering education. Since 1957, SP has been a cornerstone of Singapore’s vocational and technical education programmes for our industrial workforce. It has served Singapore well throughout our industrialisation journey. It is crucial for SP to continue to evolve its role in engineering education as we enter a new phase of economic development.

3.            Manufacturing was a key pillar in Singapore’s early economic development, providing many Singaporeans with good jobs that improved their quality of life. It still plays an important role today, contributing about 20% to our GDP and accounting for 14% of our workforce. Through the years, Singapore has continually transformed itself by moving up the manufacturing value-chain. We have since developed a diversified portfolio of high value-added manufacturing industries from electronics and chemicals, to biomedical sciences. With the advent of Advanced Manufacturing technologies, the sector is set to transform again.

Manufacturing workers need to upgrade their skills in tandem with industry adoption of Advanced Manufacturing technologies

4.            Advanced Manufacturing technologies on the rise include robotics, artificial intelligence and industrial internet-of-things, or IIoT. Together, they transform how products are created, processes are structured, and supply chains are organised. Manufacturers can leverage these technologies to overcome resource constraints, become more productive, offer adjacent services to their customers, as well as adopt new business models.

5.            Singapore’s manufacturing sector is well-placed to adopt these technologies because we have an established ecosystem of leading manufacturers and key technology providers, and a well-educated workforce. Several manufacturers have already launched their Advanced Manufacturing initiatives in Singapore.

One example is Dyson’s Smart Factory of Dyson Digital Motors, which has fully automated production lines supported by customised robotics solutions and real-time process monitoring.

6.            As Singapore continues in its Advanced Manufacturing journey, more new jobs will be created, which will require specialised skillsets from our workforce. We need to equip our workforce with the right skills to take up these jobs. Our workers will need to be ‘Digitally Confident’.  This means being able to collaborate and communicate with others remotely, make decisions and solve problems using digital tools, and interact closely with robots. For some roles, knowledge of data analytics and programming can be critical as well.

SkillsFuture Series in Advanced Manufacturing a key initiative to upskill manufacturing workers for the new economy

7.            With this in mind, I am pleased to announce the launch of  SkillsFuture Series for Advanced Manufacturing, which Singapore Polytechnic is co-leading with the Nanyang Technological University. These Basic, Intermediate and Advanced CET courses have been carefully selected after 300 hours of close consultation with SMEs, MNCs and Trade Associations from various manufacturing industries.  My congratulations and thanks to SkillsFuture Singapore, EDB and the Institutes of Higher Learning (IHLs) for curating this package of courses that Singaporeans can benefit from.

8.            At the Basic level, there will be introductory courses for workers on the manufacturing shop floor, such as operators, technicians, and engineers, to help them develop Digital Confidence in areas like IIOT and robotics management. These courses will be short and modular, so that our workers will find it easier to fit them into their busy schedules.

9.            For workers wanting to deepen their skills in specialised fields, we have the Intermediate and Advanced level courses. They cover more complex topics tailored to sectoral- and even company-specific needs, like Artificial Intelligence in manufacturing and Advanced Materials. Our IHLs are partnering with best-in-class private training providers like TUM Asia to provide these courses.

The Government is committed to working with industry to develop our workforce and help them thrive in the new economy  

10.         The Series for Advanced Manufacturing is part of a broader SkillsFuture Series initiative, which SkillsFuture Singapore launched last week. The SkillsFuture Series aims to equip Singaporeans with key skills in eight priority and emerging areas relevant to the current economy, as well as future economy. As a start, the SkillsFuture Series will train 10,000 Singaporeans and this will be ramped up over the next three years to benefit 50,000 Singaporeans annually in 2020.

11.         The SkillsFuture Series is the fruit of close collaborations with many stakeholders, from public and private sector. In particular, I would like to thank our education institutions for their efforts. Later today, Singapore Polytechnic will be formalising its Advanced Manufacturing Partnership Network with 14 SMEs, MNCs and Trade Associations, forming an ecosystem where companies can collaborate on internships, projects and training courses. Other institutions, such as Ngee Ann Polytechnic, Nanyang Polytechnic, Republic Polytechnic and the ITEs are similarly committed, each having collaborations with major industry players in areas such as IoT, Additive Manufacturing and Electronics. The Government will continue to work closely with our industry partners to upskill our workers.

12.         I am heartened too that employers are actively investing in their workers’ skills development. For instance, I am pleased that Makino Asia Pte.  Ltd., a Precision Engineering company which is implementing Advanced Manufacturing technologies, has appointed Temasek Polytechnic as their training provider to equip their entire existing staff – all 500 workers –  with digital confidence in Advanced Manufacturing. The training will begin later this month, and will be followed up by Intermediate and Advanced level courses for select groups within the organisation.

13.         I hope more employers to support and invest in your employees as they embark on their learning journeys. You can start by signing your employees up for these courses today, if you have not already done so.

Conclusion

14.         For our collective efforts to succeed, Singaporean workers need to play their part too, and take ownership of their learning and development. We must be willing to un-learn, learn and re-learn new things. We must constantly adapt to the changing nature of work.

15.         Take a leaf from SP’s graduates.  Over the past 60 years, they have gamely stepped up to become pioneers of our engineering industrialisation drive. It is heartening to see this new generation of SP engineering graduates continue to support the nation in gearing up for the future economy.

16.         On this note, let me congratulate SP once again on their many achievements through the years, and the launch of this SkillsFuture Series on Advanced Manufacturing today. I hope that everyone will enjoy the lively conversations and networking at RINC 2017.