Training Cybersecurity Experts for Singapore

Mr Speaker, cybersecurity is an important growth sector and a key enabler for Singapore’s economy and digital future. It is vital to nurture and grow our cybersecurity workforce to ensure our networks are well protected.

The Cyber Security Agency of Singapore, or CSA, works closely with our industry partners and other Government agencies in order to do so. Based on the Infocomm Media Development Authority's survey, the number of cybersecurity professionals in Singapore in 2019 more than doubled to almost 6,000 compared to 2014.

To meet near-term demand for cybersecurity professionals, we facilitate the training of fresh and mid-career non-cybersecurity professionals for cybersecurity jobs. Since 2016, almost 5,000 Singaporeans have undergone cybersecurity training as part of the Tech Skills Accelerator programme.

Working with industry partners, we have increased opportunities for Singaporeans to take on cybersecurity roles. Companies such as Ensign InfoSecurity, Singtel and DBS offer traineeships under the SGUnited Jobs and Skills package to help fresh graduates gain cybersecurity industry experience. The Government will also hire more cybersecurity professionals. CSA has earmarked 120 places over the next two years for cybersecurity roles in Government agencies.

CSA has also worked with associations, industry and academic partners to introduce programmes under the national SG Cyber Talent initiative to reach out to the young. The SG Cyber Youth and SG Cyber Women programmes have engaged over 7,000 participants to date, to encourage them to pursue a career in cybersecurity. Our Institutes of Higher Learning also offer dedicated courses for students to build up foundational cybersecurity expertise.

These efforts will nurture and strengthen our cybersecurity workforce to meet Singapore’s needs.

I thank the Senior Minister of State for the reply. May I know in terms of national security, will the Ministry consider that we need a core Singapore team to protect our national security in terms of cybersecurity? What measures will the Ministry consider?

Indeed, Mr Gan Thiam Poh is correct that we do need to ensure that we have the appropriate security protocols in terms of the hiring practices. While the nationality is taken into consideration, the key thing that we have to achieve is the breadth and depth of talent across our cybersecurity landscape in order to benefit both the public sector as well as the private sector here in Singapore.

Thank you, Speaker. I thank the Senior Minister of State for the reply. Just a brief question with regard to attracting Singaporeans to some of these jobs at CSA and more broadly the wider subset of the IT industry in Singapore. We have heard in the debate yesterday about ensuring that Singapore remains cosmopolitan. And so, in brief, the question is, has it been difficult for the Government to attract Singaporeans to some of the jobs that are being offered by CSA in the past and what are the prospects going forward?

Mr Speaker, I thank Mr Pritam Singh for his question. There are two ways to look at this, which is, what are the jobs unfilled and the gaps that are growing or r what is the attractiveness of the job to Singaporeans and local graduates? To answer the question Mr Pritam Singh is asking, this set of cybersecurity jobs, especially those within the public sector and agencies, such as the Home Team, DSTA, Cyber Security Agency, GovTech and various others, are attractive to our local cybersecurity graduates. The competition to get into these jobs is significant and the awareness of the opportunities afforded by these jobs amongst our local graduates is very high. There are a number of surveys, studies and publications both in the private sector as well as coming out of the public sector that validate this.

Nevertheless, globally, there is a dearth of talent for these types of jobs and there is a global competition for the kind of skillsets that we need to deploy in cybersecurity. That applies in Singapore, as it does around the globe.