The five local polytechnics and Singapore FinTech Association (SFA) have inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to deepen collaboration between educators and the FinTech industry on 1 Feb 2017. This supports the PolyFinTech 100 initiative, launched last October to develop a strong talent pool trained in financial technology to aid Singapore in becoming a Smart Financial Centre.
This is the first MOU that SFA has inked with the polytechnics – Nanyang Polytechnic, Ngee Ann Polytechnic, Republic Polytechnic, Singapore Polytechnic and Temasek Polytechnic. The MOU underscores SFA’s commitment to enhance the FinTech eco-system through active and continuous engagement of polytechnic students.
According to a survey conducted in 2015, employers estimated that there would be 5,100 vacancies for roles within network and infrastructure in the next three years (2016-2018), with a further 5,700 jobs in data analytics and cyber security. This collaboration prepares polytechnic graduates to meet these demands. Additionally, the involvement of start-ups, financial institutions and regulatory bodies will ensure that the programmes developed are relevant to industry needs.
Plans for 2017 include:
- Innovation Lab Crawls: The Poly Student Innovation Lab Crawls involving at least 10 innovation labs will take place in 2017. These labs will host interesting exhibits, and conduct facilitated tours and programmes to help students understand the impact of innovation created by renowned companies, such as V-Key and KPMG Digital Village, and financial service companies, such as HSBC, Open Vault, The FinLab, Visa and Mastercard, in the workplace.
- Internships: SFA will introduce final-year polytechnic students, who wish to explore local and/or cross-border internship opportunities in FinTech related roles, to start-ups, financial institutions and regulatory bodies within the FinTech community. These internships will give students a broader perspective of the regional and global markets. SFA will also recommend industry practitioners as mentors, as well as venture capitalists and incubators, to students.
- Workshops: SFA will engage respective domain experts from the industry and/or companies to update the Polytechnics on new technological, regulatory and other advancements in the banking and financial sector. They plan to conduct 100 educational workshops, inclusive of hands-on sessions, at different innovation labs. V-Key will host a workshop on how advanced mobile security enables digital banking innovation.
On FinTech’s burgeoning role in Singapore, SFA’s President Mr. Chia Hock Lai, said: “This MOU kick-starts an enriching partnership with the polytechnics to nurture a pool of skilled manpower for the flourishing FinTech community – a critical success factor for FinTech development in Singapore.”
Mr. Clarence Ti, Principal of Ngee Ann Polytechnic, the SkillsFuture Sector Coordinator for Accountancy and Financial Services, added: “Following the PolyFinTech 100 launch during the last quarter of 2016, we have gathered good momentum and achieved our target of securing 100 internships within two months. We are excited that this timely partnership with SFA will help open up more opportunities for polytechnic students to keep abreast of the FinTech sector’s evolving needs, fuel their passion for the sector and upgrade their skillsets to meet industry demands.”