The Singapore Institute of Technology (SIT) will be establishing “living labs” with Oracle and Salesforce to augment its industry-focused curriculum and authentic learning experiences.
The SIT-Oracle Living Lab will feature a dynamic digital ‘sandbox’ platform that enables SIT students, researchers and industry partners to collaborate on business solutions and innovation.
SIT will leverage Oracle’s expertise and technologies, such as database management and cloud computing. Internet-of-things (IoT) and other unstructured data can be collected, analysed and used to address key business sustainability issues and create innovative technological applications to increase business productivity.
The collaboration also provides opportunities for the co-development of Pre-Employment Training and Continuing Education and Training curriculum content through the integration of Oracle Academy’s offerings.
SIT will utilise Oracle Academy's learning resources in artificial intelligence, machine learning and data analytics to support faculty and students in applied learning and research, including students’ SIP activities. Suitable professionals will also be able to participate in SIT’s Industrial Masters and Industrial Doctorate programmes and work on Oracle projects.
Meanwhile, the SIT-Salesforce Learning Lab aims to train up to 50 SIT students per academic year to develop applications and prototypes that will benefit social service agencies.
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Specialists from Salesforce will serve as facilitators and mentors to students in their Social Innovation Projects via online or in-person engagements. Students will learn industry best practices and apply their knowledge to customer relationship management (CRM) projects for actual customers.
The partnership will also extend to SIT's CET offerings under SIT’s Competency-based Stackable Micro-credentials pathway. In-employment learners can pursue upskilling opportunities to build CRM competencies and enhance their expertise. Those in the programme will also have access to the Salesforce ecosystem of partner and customer organisations for work attachment opportunities. This will augment their real-world learning experiences and bridge the gap between academia and industry.
“Our Living Labs represent our commitment to transform learning by amplifying the capabilities of our students, faculty and researchers. Our partnerships with industry leaders like Oracle and Salesforce further enhance authentic and active applied learning opportunities for our students. In more ways than one, SIT is well-positioned to be Singapore’s premier university of applied learning,” says SIT president Professor Chua Kee Chaing.
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“Oracle has been operating in Singapore for over 30 years and we are constantly looking at new ways to enhance our local innovation ecosystem and nurture a pool of talent that are experts in new technologies. We’re excited to collaborate with SIT to leverage Oracle Cloud Infrastructure for the first of such digital sandboxes, as well as Oracle Academy training offerings. We look forward to enabling innovations that are to come,” says Chua Horng Shya, managing director for Oracle Singapore.
Sujith Abraham, senior vice president and general manager for ASEAN at Salesforce, adds: “Democratising access to digital skills education is a core tenet for Salesforce, and this partnership with SIT further advances our commitment to create pathways for the future generation of our workforce into tech roles. By developing solutions for real-world problems social service agencies are facing, this partnership goes a long way in helping non-profits transform digitally and deliver greater impact to their beneficiaries.”
These collaborations come ahead of the opening of SIT’s new campus in Punggol. Students and staff who are currently based at the university’s six campuses in Dover Drive and the polytechnics will move to the Punggol Campus in phases, with classes commencing in September 2024 for the new academic year.
Comprising two plots – known as ‘SIT Campus Heart’ and ‘SIT Campus Court’ – within JTC’s Punggol Digital District (PDD), the Campus is approximately two-thirds completed to date and is expected to be operational by the second half of 2024.
