Three top-tier schools adopt IBM program

Guess which schools they were?

According to the release, IBM announced that it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Nanyang Polytechnic (NYP), Ngee Ann Polytechnic (NP), and Temasek Polytechnic (TP) to embed Service Science, Management and Engineering (SSME) in their current academic curriculum.

The SSME academic discipline is designed to produce students with the combined business, technology, and social sciences skills needed to enter today's workforce, ready to contribute immediately to their countries' economic and innovation agendas.

The MOU is the third signed, extending the initial collaboration with Nanyang Technological University (NTU), National University of Singapore (NUS), Singapore Management University (SMU), and Institute of Systems Science (ISS) which began in 2009.

Under this new collaboration, NYP, NP and TP will work with IBM to develop and train students with a deep understanding of how advanced technologies can be applied to society's toughest challenges in area such as transport, water, food, energy, and healthcare. At the same time, many of these advances in education technology, such as analytics and cloud computing, can be applied to schools to refresh current infrastructures with new functionality.

“It is more crucial than ever that current and emerging workforce are equipped with cross-disciplinary 'T-shaped' skills,” Mr. Foong Sew Bun, Chief Technologist and Distinguished Engineer, IBM ASEAN. “Through our partnerships with the polytechnics and universities, we hope to nurture a new generation of IT-savvy, solutions-focused recruits for our customers and partners, spur research around key market needs, and leverage the resources of the IBM Smarter Planet initiatives.” he added. 

To date, over 6,282 students across the institutes of higher learning have since graduated or are currently signed up for courses or degree programmes in SSME. 

These service-minded professionals and graduates possess deep knowledge in one discipline and broader knowledge in other areas, providing a mix of business, technical and liberal arts knowledge for the development of richer innovations. They understand service systems, are trained to enable efficient and systematic approaches to service delivery, and serve as catalysts for service innovation in organisations and for various industry sectors.

SSME-trained graduates will likely enter the workforce as solution designers, consultants, engineers, scientists, and managers. After gaining practical experience across multiple industry sectors, and with rapidly evolving technology tools and solutions that transform businesses and institutions, they will then go on to be successful entrepreneurs, executives, researchers, and practitioners, with a solid grounding in theory and best practices in designing high-value service solutions. 

Commenting on the MOU, Nanyang Polytechnic, Ngee Ann Polytechnic and Temasek Polytechnic said: 

Nanyang Polytechnic (NYP)
“NYP is pleased to collaborate with IBM on SSME. This collaboration is another milestone in our close partnership that spans almost two decades. In this latest MOU, we will focus on grooming students for a future-ready workforce for the 21st century. Service Innovation will be a key theme in our diploma offerings especially for our Diploma in Business Informatics programme. NYP’s collaborations with IBM have deeply benefitted our curricula and programmes which will continue to train IT professionals with enterprise skills to meet the growing demand from the industry,” said Mr Lai Poh Hing, Director, School of Information Technology, NYP.

Ngee Ann Polytechnic (NP)
"We are very excited to partner IBM to incorporate SSME into our Diploma in Information Technology (IT) course. The collaboration will benefit IT students who specialise in the Business Management option, as they will be offered three new elective modules from 2013 – Business Process Modelling & Development, Service Management, and Strategic Management. Apart from inculcating a service-oriented mindset, the enhanced programme will also equip our students with strong management and technical skills, thus giving them an edge in the industry,” said Ms Angela Wee, Director of the NP School of InfoComm Technology.

Temasek Polytechnic (TP)
“We are pleased to be partnering IBM to infuse the SSME programme into our curriculum at TP. We firmly believe in training graduates who will bring value to the companies they join. Sensitivity to the needs of businesses, and the ability to offer timely and innovative solutions to improve business processes will differentiate these graduates. Such skills are becoming increasingly important in a global and competitive market. The SSME programme will complement our curriculum to equip students with these highly relevant and core skills.” said Mrs Lee-Lim Sok Keow, Deputy Principal, TP