AI Singapore (AISG) today announced our three-year AI Student Outreach Programme to help over 15,000 full-time students from secondary schools to tertiary education institutions gain AI literacy and proficiency through a multi-level online training. Students will receive industry-recognised certifications as well as work alongside AI engineers on real-world projects through an internship programme.

Officiated by the Minister of State for Education and Manpower, Ms Gan Siow Huang, the programme is supported by the Ministry of Education (MOE)’s STEM and Innovation & Enterprise (SIE) Promotion Funding Initiative. This is the latest development to AISG’s continual efforts towards developing Generational AI Capability and nurturing a strong AI engineering talent pipeline in Singapore, which is projected to require another 1.2 million digitally skilled workers to meet the demands of the digital economy by 2025¹.

Laurence Liew, Director of AI Innovation at AI Singapore said, “As implementation of AI continues to accelerate, there is a need for us to develop nationwide AI literacy and develop meaningful learning experiences that ensures a mastery of AI skills to meet the demands in our digital economy. As we continue to align our efforts with Singapore’s Smart Nation ambitions, we have enabled over 74,000 Singaporeans to gain AI literacy through our programmes to date. With this newly launched AI Student Outreach Programme, we look forward to nurturing the next generation of AI practitioners and help them unlock career opportunities in STEM industries.”

A progressive and self-paced online curriculum

The programme offers three levels to suit different AI proficiencies – Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced which can be completed via self-paced online learning, offering greater flexibility for full-time students. Interested participants must first form Student User Groups (SUG) with a minimum of ten members from the same educational institution to complete each level. The teams are given access to AISG Community Groups as well as monthly Ask-Me-Anything sessions to support their learning, networking, and career development.

Through the three levels, the students can pick up programming skills like Python and R, explore machine learning topics such as deep learning, develop statistical thinking and critical thinking skills needed to navigate the changing world.

Following an early engagement held by AISG in April 2022, there are currently 47 SUGs formed with more than 1,100 members registered for the Beginner or Intermediate levels. This indicates a strong desire among students who aspire to master practical knowledge in a fast-moving field like AI, beyond their existing curriculum. 

Working with industry partners to provide a headstart in STEM careers
Each level of completion offers certification for students to formalise their achievements and demonstrate to future employers their proficiency in AI. This includes an industry-recognised certification offered by Google Cloud – the Google Professional Machine Learning Engineer Certification – for 500 successful students every year who have completed the Advanced level.

Additionally, 21 students per year will have the opportunity to participate in a three to six-month paid internship alongside AISG’s engineers and apprentices to work on real-world industry projects with deployment deliverables under AISG’s AI Internship Programme (AIIP). Centre for Strategic Infocomm Technologies (CSIT) is the first partner on board this programme and will be providing projects and a monthly stipend for the interns. Under the joint internship programme, there will be dedicated technical mentorship under which interns will learn to apply their know-how on practical challenges and be exposed to possible career opportunities in the defence science and technology sector.

Laurence added, “To cater to the growing demand for an AI-skilled workforce in Singapore, AI Singapore will continue to offer access to AI education and skilling opportunities to Singaporeans, regardless of age, gender, and economic status. At the same time, we will work closely with industry partners to identify budding AI talents and prepare them for the workforce of the future.”

Applications for Beginner and Intermediate levels are open all year round. Interested applications can first apply to form their Student User Groups here. The next application period for Advanced level opens from 1 to 31 August 2022 and 1 to 31 January 2023.

More information on the programme can be found here. 

CSIT is honoured to be AISG’s inaugural partner in the AI Internship Programme to
nurture and grow the future generation of AI professionals in Singapore. As a technical
agency in MINDEF that uses digital technology to meet the nation’s security needs, we
have a deep interest in the application of AI in areas such as cyber defence and
countering hostile information operations. Through the AIIP, we hope to nurture interest
among young talent in the use and further development of AI for application in Singapore’s
security.
Seow Tein Heik Group Director of Digital Products, CSIT
AI and ML will continue to have a powerful impact on every aspect of our lives, from
improving disease prevention to helping retailers better engage their customers and
everything in between. To ensure that Singapore has the skilled talent to continue applying
these transformative technologies at scale, we are proud to be supporting the AI
Capability Development initiative and providing the curriculum that Google uses to train
our own technologists to solve high impact business challenges. In partnership with AI
Singapore and the Ministry of Education, we look forward to helping more Singaporeans
establish and showcase their proficiency in in-demand digital skills to prospective
employers, to kickstart careers in technology and advance local organizations’ digital
transformation strategies and initiatives.
Sherie NgCountry Director, Singapore and Malaysia, Google Cloud
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