It was not that long ago that PayNow was launched in July 2017, and close to $2 million transactions have already been made to date. We know that it has been so convenient that many of you cannot imagine going back to cumbersome bank transfers.
What would you say if we told you there will be a new version, where you can pay merchants for your purchases, and bosses can make payments to other businesses? Or that PayNow can be used to transfer students their Edusave Awards and enable older folks to make CPF withdrawals?
These will all happen all within this year, according to the Smart Nation and Digital Government Office under the Prime Minister’s Office at the Committee of Supply debate on 1 March 2018.
Wanted: Singapore’s Next Tech Talents
This is all quite impressive, isn’t it? And, Singapore is still working hard to groom ICT talent to achieve its Smart Nation dream.
The Government is looking out for all types of tech talent, from data scientists to software engineers, and they are willing to groom them from scratch.
The newly-announced Smart Nation Scholarship will offer Singaporean Junior College or Polytechnic students a full sponsorship of their Information and Communication Technology (ICT)-related degree at a local or overseas university. Non-ICT undergraduates pursuing a second degree or mid-term students are welcome to apply as well.
The catch? They will have to serve a bond of four years for local studies, and six years for overseas.
With guaranteed access to jobs at Government Technology Agency of Singapore (GovTech), Cyber Security Agency of Singapore or Info-communications Media Development Authority, we say the “investment” may be worth their while.
For now, the statutory boards are looking at awarding 10 scholarships a year so if you know of interested individuals, be sure to tell them today. You could be like DevOps Engineer Lim Zui Young, for example. He joined GovTech’s Government Digital Services’ Product Design and Development – Agile Consultancy Engineering team in 2016 after pursuing his Masters in Information Systems (Data Analytics).
He was one of the many heroes behind the Business Grants Portal launched in January 2017. This is the portal that automatically extracts necessary information from the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority’s database, eliminating the need for businesses to approach separate agencies for grant applications, and fill up multiple application forms.
Applications for the Smart Nation Scholarship will be open end of this year for the 2019 academic year.
Opportunities to Shine
For professionals with less than two years of working experience and are considering a career switch, GovTech has a two-year leadership programme for you. Named the Technology Associate Programme, the initiative trains you to become a manager or tech specialist.
You could get the chance to work with movers and shakers in the ICT industry at the upcoming Centre of Excellence in ICT & SS (Smart Systems) being developed by the Government. It covers the fields of data science & artificial intelligence, application design, development & deployment, ICT infrastructure, cybersecurity, and sensors & Internet of Things.
A pool of technical experts will be there to lend their expertise and capabilities in various government projects. They will work with leading experts from research institutes and the private sector, both local and overseas to further develop their expertise.