ITE 03/10 Vol 13
SPEECH BY MR BRUCE POH, DIRECTOR & CEO/ITE AT MOU SIGNING CEREMONY BETWEEN ITE AND SUN MICROSYSTEMS ON THURSDAY 2 AUGUST 2007, AT ITE COLLEGE EAST
Mr Ong Chee Beng,
Managing Director, Singapore
Regional Director, Storage Practice, Asia South
Sun MicrosystemsMr Wong Heng Chew,
Regional Director,
Services Practice,
Sun Microsystems, Asia SouthDistinguished Guests
ITE Colleagues
Ladies and Gentlemen
1 Good morning and welcome to ITE.
2 It is my pleasure to be here this morning to renew the Memorandum of Understanding between ITE and Sun Microsystems Pte Ltd, a world leader in Java Technology and a keen supporter of ITE and technical education.
3 ITE and SUN signed our first MOU in June 2004. Through the MOU, ITE and SUN jointly set up the ITE-SUN Engineering IT Solutions Centre at ITE College East , one of ITE’s key highlights in visits by foreign dignitaries to ITE. In the last 3 years, our collaboration has yielded rich benefits for ITE staff, students, and for industry, and I am most pleased to have the support of SUN Microsystems again through the renewal of this MOU for another five years.
4 To date, some 1,300 ITE students have benefited from the three Joint-Certificate Elective modules developed jointly by staff of ITE College East and SUN. These students will graduate from ITE with additional, highly-valued, industry-recognised certificate, thanks to the vision of SUN in developing next-generation skilled manpower for the IT industry. Our staff have also been trained by SUN as Qualified Trainers for the three Joint-Certificate Elective modules. Through the collaboration and sharing of knowledge and experience between staff of ITE and SUN, the capabilities of ITE staff have been enhanced.
5 I am glad to note too that the MOU has benefited students outside ITE as well. The JavaJive Challenge jointly organised by SUN and ITE has attracted teams from the Polytechnics, and this year, even the Universities. I was told that the 2007 JavaJive Challenge had 31 teams, and they came, not only from the ITE Colleges, but also the Polytechnics and even the Universities. ITE College East students have done well in the competition; winning two Innovation Awards and one Participation Age Award.
6 The partnership with Sun has also benefited the industry at large. In May 2006, the ITE-SUN Engineering IT Solutions Centre and Sun Microsystems jointly conducted 22 Solaris Jumpstart and Codecamp workshops for some 550 IT personnel from the industry and collaborated with a private company to develop a RFID-enabled inventory tracking system that is fully integrated with its point-of-sales system. This intelligent system enhances its stock-taking capability and inventory visibility across the whole value chain.
7 Today’s signing of a new MOU marks a new milestone in our collaboration and reflects ITE’s commitment in forging strong partnerships with industry. The MOU will see ITE and SUN cooperate for another 5 years in the running of the ITE-SUN Engineering IT Solutions Centre at ITE College East.
8 The new MOU will also include the joint development of commercial projects and technologies for both local and overseas markets, thereby extending the Centre’s activities to the region, at the same time helping local SMEs to develop their technology capability and enhance their competitiveness in the global economy.
9 On behalf of ITE, I would like to thank SUN Microsystems for this partnership and I look forward to many more achievements from our continued partnership.