Remarks by Ms Gan Siow Huang, Minister of State for Education, at buildingSMART Singapore's Ihl Appreciation Event for the Digital Delivery Management Accreditation Scheme

Mr. Eugene Seah, President of buildingSMART Singapore

Mr. Neo Choon Keong, Deputy Chief Executive, Building & Construction Authority

Ladies and Gentlemen

1. A very good afternoon to all of you. I am happy to join you today — it is a very happy occasion as we witness the close partnership between our Institutes of Higher Learning (IHLs) and the industry doing good together to meet the needs of industries as well as the workers in this sector.

Skills Framework for the Built Environment – A Key Enabler for Workforce Development

2. The speed of technological developments and digitalisation today have made it necessary for businesses to transform and innovate to stay relevant to the times. What does this mean? There is more disruption taking place, and there is a need for workers as well as businesses to grow together.

3. To remain competitive, the Built Environment sector has progressively digitalised. Digital construction, involving automating fabrication, machine learning, augmented reality and drone reality capture has revolutionised the construction scene both locally and globally.

4. As the sector embraces digitalisation, the workforce must also keep up with the changes. For this to happen, it is crucial that

1. Workers adopt a growth mindset and actively seek upskilling opportunities;
2. Companies invest in the development of their employees; and
3. IHLs stay in touch, working hand in hand with the industry to update the courses and curriculum so that the students, whether they are fresh graduates or mid-careerists going through the courses at IHLs, find the courses useful and valuable for them to progress in their careers.

5. The Skills Framework for the Built Environment plays an important role in supporting our workforce development. By setting out the skills and competencies needed in various job roles, it:

1. Empowers employees to be proactive in their professional development;
2. Helps companies to chart training and career roadmaps for their workers; and
3. Guides IHLs in developing industry-relevant curriculum.

Digital Delivery Management Accreditation Scheme – a Complement to the Skills Framework

6. The Digital Delivery Management (DDM) Accreditation Scheme by buildingSMART Singapore is a valuable complement to the Skills Framework for the Built Environment.

7. The accreditation recognises and validates employees' digital skillsets and relevant project experiences, allowing employers to deploy and renumerate these competencies accordingly. It also provides clear skills-based standards across the sector that would guide in-service professionals in charting their personal upgrading journey.

8. The accreditation partnerships also allow IHLs to ensure that their courses provide students with the skills that employers demand – not just for today's jobs, but also for jobs in the future.

Congratulations to the First Batch of Accredited Digital Delivery Management Professionals

9. I'd like to congratulate the first batch of accredited Digital Delivery Management professionals who completed their accreditation in July 2022.

10. One recipient is Mr Mohammad Azman bin Said, who holds a Diploma in Aeronautical Engineering with a Certificate in Business.

1. Azman had acquired digital delivery management skills on the job through the construction projects he worked on.
2. To supplement his work experiences, Azman also took up part-time studies in Built Environment-related courses.
3. Resources such as the Skills Framework and DDM accreditation scheme, help Azman plan his continuing education and training pathway in deepening his competencies for further career progress.
4. Following the completion of his accreditation, his employer, AcePLP, entrusted Azman with bigger and more technically complex assignments – confident that he would be able to rise up to the challenge.
5. I understand that Azman will share his story later and look forward to hearing his sharing.

Conclusion

11. I hope Azman's story will encourage other Built Environment professionals to do likewise and take the opportunity to upskill.

12. To companies in the sector, I hope you will adopt this accreditation scheme and encourage your employees to be accredited as well. With clearer assurances of your employees' competencies and skillsets, you can better plan project deployment and develop company training roadmaps to plug skills gaps.

13. Lastly, I would like to encourage the IHLs to continue working with the industry to design industry relevant courses to meet our workers' upskilling and also our companies' needs.

14. Thank you.