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Singapore, August 18, 2011: Nanyang Polytechnic (NYP) and IBM (NYSE: IBM) announced today the launch of the Business Analytics Innovation Centre (BAIC) – the first on-campus IBM Software Centre of Excellence in the ASEAN region – to help students at NYP develop the business analytics know-how and enterprise skills to meet the growing demand from the industry for such capabilities.

Enterprises and businesses increasingly see the imperative and value of harvesting actionable business insights, through analytics, from structured and unstructured data generated from their daily business operations and processes. According to a recent global study by IBM of more than 3,000 global chief information officers (CIOs), 85 percent of the CIOs surveyed in Singapore cited "insights and intelligence" as their top focus for the next five years. While the CIOs are hard at work to integrate and gain sophisticated insight from Big Data, 80 percent of them are also concerned about acquiring the right talents that will help them leverage the wide array of innovative tools and methodologies to turn data into actionable information.

In its Infocomm Manpower Development Roadmap v2.0 (MDEV 2.0), the Infocomm Development Authority (IDA) of Singapore has also identified business analytics as an emerging IT skill set that is critical for Singapore's IT manpower to remain competitive both globally and within Singapore.

"NYP is pleased to build on our close partnership of 17 years with IBM with the establishment of the Business Analytics Innovation Centre. With the new BAIC, our students will further hone their skills by applying their business analytics knowledge to relevant industry projects. The set-up of the BAIC is timely as it will support the delivery of NYP's new Diploma in Business Intelligence & Analytics, to be launched in the next academic year," said Mr Chan Lee Mun, Principal and CEO, Nanyang Polytechnic.

The Diploma in Business Intelligence & Analytics aims to train manpower with a strong foundation in IT to implement solutions to harness data across platforms, coupled with a good knowledge of data management concepts and the ability to leverage business analytics techniques and tools to gain insights into different business aspects.

Students enrolling in the new diploma will benefit from the practical learning and knowledge application available at the BAIC. Located in NYP's School of Information Technology, the BAIC will train students through academic modules, project development, internship and professional certifications. Industry attachment opportunities to local and overseas IBM offices will also be facilitated through this partnership to give the students another dimension to their training. The Centre will further act as a platform for industry partners to engage NYP staff and students in industry project development.

"Knowing what happened is no longer adequate. Organisations need to know what is likely to happen next and what actions they should take. They need to leverage Big Data being generated by their business and in social networks to gain new insights into their customers and get ahead of the competition," said Ms Janet Ang, Managing Director, IBM Singapore. "Making sense of these complex data, however, requires a new set of skills that many IT professionals do not possess today. With the largest number of analytics professionals worldwide, IBM sees an opportunity to support our national agenda and help up-skill the IT talent in Singapore through this collaboration."

The core curricula of NYP's IT diploma courses, which already include the use of a range of IBM tools for in-depth hands-on training, is augmented by the two partners' collaboration in extending IBM's professional certification programmes to NYP students. The programmes, valued at approximately US$80,000 a year, will see NYP students and alumni achieving 200 certifications every year. To date, NYP students and graduates have achieved more than 700 IBM certifications.

Tan Wei Jie Amos, an NYP Year 3 student from Diploma in Financial Informatics, who has undergone the certification programme said that obtaining the certificate will give him a headstart to the industry. "Students in NYP have this great opportunity to undergo a programme that is being offered to professionals. Learning the various skill sets will definitely give me an added value to my future employers."

This collaboration between NYP and IBM leverages IBM's Global Academic Initiative. As a member of the IBM Academic Initiative, NYP will also receive no-charge access to IBM technology, course materials, training and curriculum development. Faculty and students at NYP will also have the opportunity to collaborate with IBM and gain hands-on expertise from IBM researchers and developers on innovative projects. This collaboration is part of IBM's work with thousands of universities around the world to develop and encourage future generations of business leaders and entrepreneurs, bringing innovative technology, access to experts and Watson technology to students around the world.

IBM continues to innovate and expand its business analytics portfolio. In the last five years, IBM has made 25 acquisitions in analytics, investing more than US$14 billion. IBM has also dedicated more than 8,000 business consultants worldwide, and more than 200 IBM mathematicians focused exclusively on analytics. IBM is projecting US$16 billion in business analytics and optimisation revenue by 2015. For more information about IBM Business Analytics, visit www.ibm.com/software/analytics/.

About Nanyang Polytechnic
Established in 1992, Nanyang Polytechnic (www.nyp.edu.sg) is a premier tertiary institution that offers quality education in Engineering, Information Technology, Design, Interactive & Digital Media, Chemical & Life Sciences, Business Management and Health Sciences. It offers 50 full-time diploma courses and a suite of customised courses for continuing education.

Nanyang Polytechnic's School of Information Technology constantly collaborates with the industry in cutting-edge technology projects, so as to provide relevance and a firm foundation for its students. As part of its capabilities development programme, the Polytechnic engages in applied R&D in core competencies such as Social Media, Business Analytics, Web 2.0 Technology, Web Services, Service-Oriented Architecture, Cloud Computing, Business Rule Solutions, Enterprise Technology, Information Security, IP Convergence and Wireless and Mobile Computing, to the end that its graduates will meet the ever-changing demands of the industry.

About IBM
For more information about IBM, visit www.ibm.com.

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Media Contacts
Nanyang Polytechnic:
Ginny-Ann Oh
Consultant
Asia PR Werkz
DID: 6536 6881
HP: 9626 7277
Email: ginny@asiaprwerkz.com

Jay Gopal
Manager, PR & Editorial
Nanyang Polytechnic
DID: 6550-0223
HP: 9665-7817
Email: Jayanthi_Gopal@nyp.gov.sg

IBM: Antonia Ong
Brand & Communications, IBM Singapore
Mobile: +65 9875 2708
Email: onghha@sg.ibm.com