S'pore funds high-tech training

Agence France Presse, Singapore

Singapore on Tuesday pledged to invest about US$10 million to groom a pool of high-tech professionals over the next three years despite the recession and the dotcom collapse.

The fund will go towards the local and overseas training and attachment of fresh graduates and professionals, and will complement two separate Internet training programs launched in June.

"Because the training is designed to be relevant to the needs of the industry, this means that Singapore will have a ready pool of trained Infocomm specialists in projected high-end technology areas," said Infocomm Development Authority (IDA) executive Kaizad Heerjee.

These sectors include wireless technology, intelligent web services, Internet security as well as Java technology.

The stints would help Singapore graduates find employment during the downturn and enable experienced professionals to upgrade their expertise, IDA said in a statement.

Trainees will be posted to research institutes, technology universities and multinational corporations for three to 12 months.

The island launched two new Internet training programs in June to improve the quality of the city-state's work force.

One program was designed to make executives and managers of small and medium enterprises adept at using the Internet in their businesses.

A survey on Internet literacy carried out in June showed only eight percent of Singapore's work force have a comprehensive understanding of the use of the Internet for business.