The collaboration aims to bridge the talent gap between AI research and enterprise application
[SINGAPORE] A new training programme in artificial intelligence (AI), a collaboration between local university Singapore Institute of Technology (SIT) and tech giant Nvidia, was launched on Thursday (Oct 2).
Targeting both fresh graduates and mid-careerists, the six-month-long programme will train more than 200 individuals over three years, with each participant paying a fee of S$1,000.
Supported by the Infocomm Media Development Authority’s TechSkills Accelerator initiative, the programme aims to equip participants with skills to leverage AI tools, libraries and algorithms, with the goal of developing AI applications.
SIT noted that trainees of the programme may come from diverse industry backgrounds, but they must have fundamental technical skills in programming, machine learning and data technologies.
The programme will award industry certifications, which can be used to gain academic recognition under the SIT’s Competency-based Stackable Micro-credential Pathway.
The training will be run at the new SIT x Nvidia AI Centre (Snaic) located in SIT’s Punggol campus in the Punggol Digital District. Snaic was officially opened on Thursday.
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At its opening, SIT also announced the setting up of the Applied AI Doctoral Training Centre, which will support the training of 10 students at the doctorate level each year.
As with the six-month AI programme, this programme is aimed at both fresh graduates and working professionals. Candidates will undertake multi-year research programmes that “cannot be solved with off-the-shelf tools”, SIT said.
Susanna Leong, vice-president of applied research at SIT, said that, unlike other local universities offering similar doctorate-level programmes, this one will focus more on research in the application of AI.
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She added that Snaic and SIT hope to bridge the talent gap between AI research and enterprise application.
Speaking at SIT’s Punggol campus where the SIT-Nvidia tie-up was launched, Minister for Digital Development and Information Josephine Teo said that the doctoral training centre is the “first of several planned”.
Subsequent centres will focus on developing more tech talents who can contribute to AI innovation in Singapore’s priority sectors, such as maritime and healthcare, she added.
Teo said that Singapore is not “pursuing AI for AI’s sake”: “We are far more interested in improving lives, whether for individuals or through organisations. There is no use if we talk about how great AI is, if it isn’t bringing benefits in the real world.”
Since its inception in 2024, Snaic has operated out of SIT@NYP Building in the Nanyang Polytechnic campus in Ang Mo Kio while its permanent space in SIT Punggol Campus was being built.
Snaic has collaborated with more than 20 companies, including SMRT and insurance firm Prudential, on various AI projects. The centre now hosts 19 industry doctorate and industry masters students, and has 20 faculty supervisors.
