MDDI Family Awards 84 Scholarships to Nurture Talents for Singapore's Tech, Media and Information Sectors

SINGAPORE, 14 Aug 2024 - 84 scholarships were awarded today by the Ministry of Digital Development and Information (MDDI), and its statutory boards and agencies - Cyber Security Agency of Singapore (CSA), Government Technology Agency (GovTech), Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA), and National Library Board (NLB). The scholarship award ceremony was hosted by Mrs Josephine Teo, the Minister for Digital Development and Information and Minister-in-charge of Smart Nation and Cybersecurity. This is MDDI family's first scholarship award ceremony following the merger of the Ministry of Communications and Information and the Smart Nation and Digital Government Group last October.

2. The scholarships are part of MDDI family's collective effort to nurture talents in technology, media, library, and archives services and communications areas, allowing them to lead a range of digital development and government communications work across public and private sectors. A total of three types of scholarship were awarded to the recipients:

(A) Undergraduate Scholarships

3. The MDDI Family offers three categories of scholarships to support students pursuing bachelor's degrees relevant to the ministry, statutory boards, or agencies:

i. MDDI Information Service Scholarship

3 recipients were awarded the MDDI Information Service Scholarship. This scholarship was first introduced in 2008 to attract young talents with an interest in government communications. They will play an important role in public communications to ensure that citizens are heard and connected to the Government, through engaging citizens on national and social issues in various channels, strengthening policy communications at whole-of-government level, communicating policies to the public, and managing government media relations.

ii. NLB Scholarship

3 recipients were awarded the NLB Scholarship. Through the NLB Scholarship, NLB aims to build and nurture a multi-disciplinary talent pipeline in information literacy, knowledge creation and preservation to develop Singapore's libraries and archives of the future. These scholarship holders will play a key role in realising NLB's goal of transforming the reading and learning experience for all Singaporeans. They will also contribute to NLB's roles in building a Learning Marketplace, nurturing an Informed Citizenry, inspiring Singapore Storytellers, and being an Equaliser as envisioned through LAB25 (Libraries and Archives Blueprint 2025).

iii. Smart Nation Scholarship

8 recipients were awarded the Smart Nation Scholarship (SNS). The SNS seeks to develop future technology leaders who are passionate in making a difference to our national digital transformation. Jointly offered by CSA, GovTech, and IMDA, scholars can look forward to a multifaceted career, specialising in a variety of tech domains and opportunities for job rotations across the different public agencies.

(B) MDDI Postgraduate Scholarship

4. Beyond attracting and growing young talents, MDDI family also strives to develop in service officers' professional and specialised capabilities through the MDDI Postgraduate Scholarship, which was awarded to 2 MDDI officers this year, to pursue postgraduate studies.

(C) IMDA SG Digital Scholarship

5. In addition to developing talents for the public sector, MDDI family also aims to develop future leaders for Singapore's technology and media ecosystem. 68 recipients were awarded the IMDA SG Digital Scholarship, an industry scholarship that provides both undergraduate and postgraduate scholars the flexibility to chart their own career with the industry and take on key roles in a tech or media-related field in an organisation of their choice. Recipients will also be supported for certifications beyond school curriculum, overseas programmes, internship, mentorship, and networking opportunities with industry leaders, to equip them with necessary skills to ride on opportunities for a career in tech.

6. These scholars will join the growing community of Singaporean digital leaders under IMDA's SG Digital Leadership Accelerator programme, which comprises over 1,000 tech and media talents, including past scholars who hold leadership positions, such as founders of high growth tech startups, leaders in multi-national companies, and innovators building tech products for the world, in areas ranging from AI to quantum. The past scholars also pay it forward and mentor the younger SG Digital scholars.

7. The scholarship attracts high quality applicants with many focusing on in-demand skills such as Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning, Cybersecurity, Data Science and Analytics. For instance, 33 scholars will pursue AI-related degrees to equip them with the relevant knowledge and skills to develop and scale the use of AI for organisations and across the economy. This is part of IMDA's $20 million investment over three years to increase the number of AI-related scholarships and overseas internships to grow the talent pool. These efforts will contribute to Singapore's goal of tripling the AI workforce to 15,000 practitioners, under Singapore's National AI Strategy 2.0.

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