Speech – Welcome Address by Mr Suresh Natarajan, Principal/ITE College Central, at the MOU Signing Ceremony between ITE and ST Engineering, on Wed, 20 January 2021, 4pm, at ITE College Central

Mr. Goh Eng Choon, ST Engineering, Singapore 

Friends from ST Engineering 

Industry partners 

ITE colleagues  

Ladies and gentlemen  

1. ITE is privileged to be a part of ST Engineering’s first collaboration with an institute of higher learning in the area of cyber security training.  It is therefore my pleasure to represent ITE in the signing of this MoU with ST Engineering.

2. Secure internet infrastructure, data protection and cyber security have all become critical features of the information value-chain in the knowledge economy.  

3. As individuals’ and organisations’ work processes are transformed digitally and exponentially, the need for a skilled, specialised workforce to safeguard the security of information and infrastructure in every aspect is critical.

4. The partnership with ST Engineering will boost our plans to equip our students with the relevant skillsets and provide the necessary industry know-how and exposure, to authentic work-based solutions. 

5. This cooperation in the field of cyber security training and development through the Centre of Excellence (COE) will be an extension of ITE’s authentic learning pedagogy and provides students with exposure to real life scenarios related to IT and Operational Technology.  

6. When I was earlier briefed about the partnership with ST Engineering, I was excited to hear that the collaboration would extend beyond the academic curriculum and into other areas such as:

   1. The use of ST Engineering’s Cyber and Operational Technology Range 

   2. Internships or job opportunities for ITE students at ST Engineering and their partners

   3. And the co-hosting of the Annual Cyber Security Conferences that form an important touchpoint for the cyber security community in Singapore. 

7. On behalf of ITE, I would like to thank everyone at ST Engineering for their belief in nurturing our ITE students and enhancing ITE’s teaching and training programmes.

8. We are confident that the collaboration between ITE and ST Engineering will be mutually beneficial and successful, and we look forward to growing this collaboration in the years ahead.

9. Thank you very much.