The Systems Engineering discipline just got a boost with four Information Technology (IT) corporations coming together to sign a landmark Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with The Institution of Engineers, Singapore (IES) to promote Systems Engineering (SE) in Singapore.
The MOU between IES and Hewlett-Packard Singapore (Sales) Pte Ltd (HP Singapore), IBM Singapore Pte Ltd (IBM Singapore), Oracle Corporation Singapore Pte Ltd (Oracle Singapore), and Sun Microsystems Pte Ltd (Sun Microsystems), signifies the growing importance of SE in the management of large scale, complex IT projects.
A “systems thinking approach” has increasingly become more common with a variety of large scale projects undertaken by both the government and private sectors in Singapore. Examples include the Kranji-Paya Lebar Expressway (KPE) and Marina Coastal Expressway (MCE), Jurong Island, and Changi Airport Terminal 3.
Through this MOU, IES and the four corporations will commit to support and nurture SE practices in Singapore. Besides supporting SE courses, the four IT firms will also be acquiring SE certification for their engineers. The certification process, administered by IES, is known as the Certified Systems Engineering Professionals (CSEPs) certification programme. For more information on the CSEP certification programme, please refer to Appendix 1.
The ultimate aim is to train the IT professionals in SE so that they can be better engineers. Of the newly formed alliance, IES President Engineer Lee Bee Wah said: “As the national body for engineers in Singapore, IES is proud to partner the four prominent IT firms in the promotion of the Systems Engineering discipline. The support of the four IT firms towards the CSEP certification programme goes to show that there is market value in the certification of Systems Engineers and we hope to export this to other parts of the world.” Said Ms Tan Yen Yen, Vice President and Managing Director, HP Singapore: “HP and IES share a commitment to attracting top talent and producing a competitive workforce for today’s knowledge based economy. For this reason, our goal is to stimulate innovation and promote continuous improvement of engineers. We look forward to collaborating closely with IES in advancing creative thinking for Singapore’s IT professionals.”
Said Ms Teresa Lim, Managing Director, IBM Singapore: "IBM is honoured to partner the Institution of Engineering Singapore to promote Systems Engineering, an interdisciplinary approach key to the success of designing and managing large-scale IT projects. This meaningful vocational development equipping IT professionals with relevant skills to excel as engineers is much aligned to IBM's Service Science, Management and Engineering (SSME) initiative.
Recognising that the service-oriented world calls for a new breed of workers, IBM in Singapore and across the globe have been driving, and more importantly, delivering our vision to develop T-shaped professionals with deep proficiency in one area – engineering for instance – and a breadth of multi-disciplinary skills that will enable them to collaborate productively and fuel the growth of our services economy. IBM continues to work with Singapore’s top universities to introduce SSME into their curricula; as well as the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore to rally leading industry partners to jointly sponsor the National Infocomm Scholarship, which supports students to pursue infocomm and SSME-related degrees."
"As IT projects become increasingly complex, we recognize that IT professionals would benefit from being trained in Systems Engineering in order to simplify their IT environments, promote quicker and better IT implementation resulting in reduction of costs. We support this initiative to nurture Systems Engineering practices in Singapore as organizations in this country will benefit from the eventual return on investment," said Mr Frank Koo, Managing Director of Oracle Singapore.
“We are pleased to be collaborating with IES on the establishment of professional standards in the practice of systems engineering.” said Mr Ong Chee Beng, Director, Systems Line of Business, Asia South and Managing Director, Singapore, Sun Microsystems. “In today’s highly competitive workplace learning landscape, certification is central to the learning process as it provides validation of skill sets for specific job roles. It is important for IT professionals in SE to get a industry-recognized certification and constantly enhance their knowledge and skill sets to engineer the increasingly complex systems in the world.”
The MOU Signing Ceremony between IES and the four IT firms will be held on 30 June 2009 at 11.00 am at IES (70 Bukit Tinggi Road Singapore 289758). The Guest-of-Honour for the event is Professor Su Guaning, President of the Nanyang Technological University (NTU).
For media queries only:
Ms Valerie J. Neo
Manager, External Relations
The Institution of Engineers,
Singapore (IES)
Tel: 6461 1229
Email: valerie@iesnet.org.sg
Ms Jorina Choy
Public Relations, Technology Solutions
Group, Southeast Asia
HP Asia Pacific Pte Ltd
Tel: 6572 0351
Email: Jorina.choy@hp.com
Ms Ryp Yong
Brand and Communications Manager
IBM Singapore Pte Ltd
Tel: 6418 1144
Email: yongryp@sg.ibm.com
Ms Boey Yin Yin
Senior Manager,
Communications – ASEAN
Oracle Corporation Singapore Pte Ltd
Tel: +603-2178 2773
Email: yin.yin.boey@oracle.com
Ms Hayley Yap / Leow Shui Yi
Communications Executive
Sun Microsystems Pte Ltd
Tel: 6438 1888
Email: Hayley.Yap@SUN.com /
Shuiyi.Leow@SUN.com