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  • Speech Opening Address By Ms Low Khah Gek Ceo Ite At Ite Outsystems Coding4all Challenge Awards Ceremony On 1 Feb 2023 9.15Am Ite College East

Speech - Opening Address by Ms Low Khah Gek, CEO/ITE, at ITE-Outsystems Coding4all Challenge Awards Ceremony, on 1 Feb 2023, 9.15am, ITE College East

News details

  • Publish date:01 Feb 2023

Mr Tan Kiat How
Senior Minister of State, Ministry of Communications & Information and Ministry of National Development 

Mr Leonard Tan
Regional Sales Direction, OutSystems Singapore

Industry Partners and Friends from OutSystems 

ITE Colleagues and Students 

Ladies and Gentlemen

Introduction

  1. Heraclitus, a Greek philosopher famously said, “The only constant in the world is change, however, the fear of the change is also constant.” These words still ring true today after 2 millennia. The world as we knew it, has changed. Digitalisation is no longer just a good-to-have for businesses. It has pervaded all aspects of our everyday life – shopping, banking, entertainment, news and information, dining etc. 

  2. At ITE, we have adopted digitalisation in our operations – cashless, paperless, pre-filled forms, end-to-end eservices, CRM, learning analytics, big data dashboard etc.

    My staff and I can testify to the value created by digitalisation in terms of efficiency, impact and speed. 

  3. For our students, we focus on equipping them with the horizontal digital skillsets to meet demands of the changing business environment in all industry sectors. ITE graduates can ride the digitalisation wave to seize new opportunities and optimise their potential.

  4. According to Gartner’s forecast, worldwide low-code development technologies market will grow by 20% in 2023 to USD26.9 billion. Ease of use, productivity enhancement and efficiency in developing new applications are some of the main factors for the rising prominence in the low-code development technology.

  5. In March, last year, ITE signed an MOU with OutSystems. One of the key collaboration announced was to encourage students to use low-code software to develop apps that will solve real-world problems and needs. The low-code platforms allow students to develop agile solutions faster, better and effortlessly.

Coding4All Challenge

  1. ITE launched the Coding4All Challenge in June 2022. The theme is “Better Life, Better Business, Better World”. 150 ITE students across the three colleges were trained in the OutSystems Low-code platform and started to do their projects. The students are not just from the Info-comm courses but also from other Business and Engineering courses. Students were given five months to learn the software and to develop their solutions to real-world problems.

  2. The applications developed by students cut across many domains like healthcare, sustainability, lifestyle and social welfare. Their applications were evaluated by our industry experts. Today, you will hear the presentations of the applications developed by the top 3 teams.  
    1. Zero Food Waste - A solution aimed at reducing food waste by providing a user-friendly e-platform for customers to buy ‘ugly’ food (nearing expiry/slight dent canned food) at a lower cost.
    2. E-waste-Bin-Finder - A mobile app that helps user locate nearby electronics waste bins around their neighbourhood. 
    3. AED Locator - A mobile app that helps people locate nearby AEDs quickly.

  3. Apart from participating in the Coding4All challenge, some of the students who were trained to use the OutSystems platform have secured internship with companies who are adopting low-code technology and seven students had just secured employment. We thank Outsystem for connecting ITE to the companies and advocating for the strong competencies of ITE students and graduates.  

  4. Our ITE staff have also been learning and challenging themselves. A team of lecturers and Learning Support Officers have used OutSystems to develop an app to facilitate the development of individual learning plan and intervention for Special Education Needs students.  We look forward to the staff’s sharing later.

Conclusion

  1. I am glad our students and staff have responded enthusiastically to the low-code apps development challenge. The partnership between OutSystems and ITE are bearing fruits and we can look forward to more collaboration programmes and impact in the months and years ahead.

  2. On behalf of ITE, I would like to thank Senior Minister of State, Mr Tan Kiat How, for gracing today’s event. We also thank OutSystems for your partnership and strong support to development the capabilities and talents of ITE students.

    Thank you.