Singapore unveils first infocomm registry for IT professionals
SINGAPORE--The Singapore Computer Society has launched the country's first registry dedicated for ICT professionals here, where it will serve as a repository and an online community to facilitate networking and collaboration among local IT professionals and business entities.
Dubbed InfoPier, the registry will help to raise the standard and profile of IT professionals here, aid in their career development and boost their demand in the job market, SCS President Alphonsus Pang said Tuesday during the official launch of the registry.
The registry will also profile the competences of IT workers and, hence, bridge the gap between demand and supply of local skilled IT manpower. This will also help attract foreign IT companies to Singapore, Pang added.
Membership for InfoPier is free until end-August 2012, after which basic membership will be tagged at S$48 (US$38) per year while premium membership is S$68 (US$53). According to SCS, the differences between both membership categories are still being finalized.
Pang noted that the current infocomm landscape is increasingly dynamic and fast-paced, and ICT professionals who want to stay competitive can "no longer play catchup".
Instead, he said, there is a need for them to "anticipate trends and shifts in [industry] demand" so they can leverage the first-mover advantage and meet those changes head-on. Resources for them to do so will be greater if they can tap a wider community of professionals, organizations and training providers, he highlighted.
Asked why IT talent should consider joining InfoPier, he explained that its biggest value proposition was enabling "career building" for members.
Wilson Tan, chairman of the 10-member Infocomm Registry Resource Panel which developed InfoPier, concurred, saying that the main driver behind the launch of the registry was to build a "trusted platform that facilitates the professional growth and career advancement" of ICT workers.
"The registry will become a repository and your best works will be on it. People will come to this platform and see what you've achieved," said Tan, who is also chairman of EZ Link.
He added that over the next 12 months, more features and enhancements will be introduced to InfoPier including a jobs portal, competency profiling, talent matching and career mentorship.
ICT registry long overdue
Lee Kwok Cheong, CEO of the Singapore Institute of Management (SIM), told ZDNet Asia on event sidelines that a Singaporean ICT registry should have been "set up long ago" and it was good to finally see it formally established.
Asked how it compared with global professional networking sites such as LinkedIn, Lee replied that both were not mutually exclusive. "It's good that it is locally anchored to be more tied to Singaporean needs," he explained. "[The idea] is a networking effect, and a network of networks, where the powers multiply."
Lawrence Goh, executive partner at Accenture, expressed similar sentiments. A lot of the global groups are "complementary" and do not compete against the local registry, he said on the fringes of the event. For instance, Goh said, employers can use both a potential hire's profile on global networking sites and on InfoPier to conduct crosschecks on qualifications and credibility.
He added that "it's about time we had registry like this" which would allow the ICT community to get together, recognize the professionalism of the workforce and help employers look out for potential talents.