CONTENTSABOUT THE REPORT
Published by(a) ASOCIO(b) WITSA(c) IDC(d) Disclaimer

002

MESSAGES FROM ASOCIO AND WITSA

004

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY008

KEY EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES

013

003

ICT TALENT OUTLOOK IN ASIA
PACIFIC ECONOMIES
1

Australia

019

2

Bangladesh

027

3

China

041

4

India

052

5

Indonesia

061

6

Japan

072

7

Malaysia

088

8Singapore096

9

Sri Lanka

109

10 South Korea

120

11 Taiwan

132

12 Thailand

146

13 Vietnam

154

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR CROSSBORDER ICT TALENT DEVELOPMENT
AND ACQUISITION WITHIN ASIA
PACIFIC ECONOMIES163

APPENDICES

168

2

IDC | ICT Talent Development & Collaboration

Cross Border Opportunities within Asia Pacific3

ABOUT THE REPORT
PUBLISHED BY

The Asian-Oceanian Computing Industry Organization(ASOCIO) is an ICT federation organized by ICT associations
representing from 24 economies throughout Asia Pacific.
ASOCIO was established in 1984 and it is the most timehonored and active international ICT trade organization in
Asia and Oceania. Its influence covers more than 10,000 ICT
companies and represents approximately USD 350 billionof ICT revenue in the region. ASOCIO's objective is topromote, encourage and foster relationships and trade
between its members, and to develop the computing
industry in the region.

RESEARCH AGENCY

Presently, ASOCIO represents the interests of 31
economies, comprising 24 members from Australia,
Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brunei, Cambodia, Chinese Taipei,
Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Laos, Macao, Malaysia,
Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, New Zealand, Pakistan,Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Thailand,
Vietnam and 7 guest members from USA, UK, Canada,
Spain, Russia, France, and Kenya. Under the ASOCIO
umbrella, member economies are provided an opportunity
to collaborate amongst the member economies for growth.

Is the premier global provider of market intelligence,advisory services, and events for the information
technology, telecommunications, and consumer technology
markets. With more than 1,100 analysts worldwide, IDC
offers global, regional, and local expertise on technology andindustry opportunities and trends in over 110 countries.

IDC's analysis and insight helps IT professionals, businessexecutives, and the investment community to make factbased technology decisions and to achieve their key
business objectives. Founded in 1964, IDC is a whollyowned subsidiary of International Data Group (IDG), theworld's leading media, data and marketing services
company that activates and engages the most influential
technology buyers.

Research Committee
1.
2.
3.

PARTNERMr. Grant Son - ASOCIO Research Committee Chairman
Mr Woon Tai Hai - Advisor, PIKOM
Mr Ong Kian Yew - Executive Director, PIKOM

Disclaimer:
The World Information Technology & Services Alliance(WITSA) is a global consortium of leading ICT industry
association members from over 80 countries/economies.
As the leading recognized voice of the global ICT industry,WITSA aims to drive transformation and grow the industry,
given that ICT is the key driver of the global economy:WITSA's members and stakeholders comprise national
associations, multinational corporations, institutions andorganizations, researchers, developers, manufacturers,
software developers, telecommunication companies,
suppliers, trainers and integrators of ICT goods and services.
As such, they represent a large and obviously vital
constituent group for whom the effective balancing ofconcerns and rights affecting the security, privacy andinformation capability provided by ICT products and services
underpins business development and economic activity.

This publication contains a collection of articles sourced
from various industry players, academia and publishedreports. The information in this report has been obtained
from sources believed to be reliable. All views expressed inthis report are based on the opinions and judgements of the
publisher and partner.
This report is for general information only, and does notconstitue a business recommendation or professional
advice. Readers are encouraged to consult their own
professional advisors before making any decision based on
the contents of this report.

Neither the publisher or their partners nor the research
agency, of this report accept any liability for any
consequences arising from the use of this report or thematerial contained herein.
Publisher:
Asian-OceanianComputingIndustry
Organization (ASOCIO) Partner: World Information
Technology & Services Alliance (WITSA)

November 2018 Copyright © ASOCIO and WITSA

Cross Border Opportunities within Asia Pacific

It is my great pleasure to present our second ASOCIO
research report, ICT TALENT DEVELOPMENT &COLLABORATION: Cross Border Opportunities Within Asia
Pacific.

MESSAGE FROM ASOCIOThis report comes at an opportune time wherein many
countries within the Asia Pacific region are moving
progressively forward with their Digital Economy agenda.
In their pursuit towards creating a wholesome digital driven
economy, stakeholders are also critically aware that future
talent requirements, changing landscape of workforce,
disruptive technologies such as Blockchain, Analytics,
Artificial Inteligence, Machine learning and Robotics toname a few; and national education policies, programmes
and agenda will continue to be important focus areas. In
particular with today’s pace of technology obsolucency andevolutions, to define and ascertain what future jobdemands and the necessary future-skills to fulfill thesevoids, it is imperative that governments, businesses andindustries must take appropriate actions now including
exploring the option of working cross borders withcounterparts and shoring up on effective collaborations andpartnerships in the region. It is with this in mind that in thissecond ASOCIO research report, we have decided to conduct
a regional search of data and pertinent information focusing
on Cross Border Opporunitues Within Asia Pacific on talentdevelopment and collaborations.
Specifically we have targeted and explored the successful
talent development initiatives and programmes of 13
economies within Asia Pacific namely Australia,
Bangladesh, China, India, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea,
Malaysia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand andVietnam. Some of the exemplary case studies in the report
showed that through partnerships and collaborations
between local businesses, industries and the respective
government in each country; they have been effective inyielding positive results in a short space of time. We areconfident that some of these programs can also be
replicated and emulated in the other countries in the region.
Based on the report, we also realised that there are certainly
ample of opportunities for cross talent collaborations andallowing countries to not only learn from another but
assisting the emerging digital economy countries to quickly
be placed on equal playing fields in talent development andacquisitions.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank WITSA (World
Information Technology and Services Alliance) for theircontinuing support and all ASOCIO members of the 13
economies for their assistance and collaboration for making
this report a success.
David Wong Nan Fay
ASOCIO Chairman

5

Cross Border Opportunities within Asia Pacific

MESSAGE FROM WITSA

7The World Information Technology & Services Alliance(WITSA) is pleased to co-sponsor this important report,
along of the with the Asian-Oceanian Computing Industry
Organization (ASOCIO). Information and Communications
Technology is impacting nearly every aspect of human lifeand endeavor. In order for the massive digitaltransformation underway to continue throughout societies,
the supply of labor must keep up with demand. It is safe to
say that the supply of talented workers necessary to fulfill
job requirements is woefully inadequate and getting worse.
Every aspect of hiring, recruiting, managing, retaining andmotivating the workforce in the Digital Age needs to adjust
and adapt to this new era. CEO surveys indicate that finding
the right skilled workforce is become more consuming andchallenging. Work is increasingly driven by rapid andunpredictable technological changes and competition for
intellectual capital. The very nature of work is radicallychanging; thus, affecting skill requirements. Each year it
becomes more important and pressing. To add to thechallenge, the young digitally skilled workforce is not looking
for lifetime employment; like their forbearers. Rather, mostare looking for challenges, change and contributing tosociety. Enter education. In most cases, the promise of
Digital Age education, where students of all ages learn attheir leisure and acquire advanced skills to meet workforce
demands and knowledge is not working. As a result, theglobal skills gap is growing and is extremely expensive bothfor businesses and society as a whole. No country has moreskilled, digitally trained workers than they have jobs for. The
global aging populations are shrinking tax revenues; puttingpressure on younger generations to fill the gap. Surprisingly,
the Digital gap between countries is also widening, puttingpressure on countries to catch up. Public education must
adopt new approaches to lifelong learning.
The rate of innovations is creating the need for new skills
to be delivered faster than the rate of educational
responses. Unfortunately, no one model of teaching has
emerged as the “best.” Colleges and University in manycases, are stuck in traditional teaching methods and are notkeeping up-to-date with technological changes. Some
multinational corporations are attempting to take up theslack from higher education in order to ensure adequality
trained employees, but such efforts in of themselves, areinadequate. As innovations require new skills to be
developed, a close, synergistic relationship between
governments, industry and academia needs to exist.
Governments must submerge students at a very young age
in all aspects of digital technologies, refrain from erecting
barriers to the free flow of human talent across boundaries,
do a better job at inspiring girls to pursue ICT studies andcareers and encourage better gender balance by promoting
a stronger role of women. Industry and governments mustalso work together to facilitate education, training andemployment initiatives that enable persons with disabilities
to achieve economic wellbeing.

As the World Information Technology and Services
Alliance (WITSA), which represents over 90% of the ICT
industry among its 83 countries continues the meetthe skilled workforce challenges, so to do allbusinesses, governments, organizations andsocieties. It is WITSA’s sincere hope that this reportwill add to the understanding of the workforce andskills challenges.
Yvonne Chiu
Chairman
WITSA

8IDC | ICT Talent Development & Collaboration

Cross Border Opportunities within Asia Pacific

EXECUTIVE SUMMARYOVERVIEW

KEY CHALLENGES

Asia Pacific region has achieved remarkable economic
growth and technological advancements over the past
decade. Organizations in the region embarked on thejourney of digital transformation to not only re-invent
themselves but to also make their businesses moresustainable. There are signs, however, that the strong digitaltransformation trend is putting pressure on the job market
and exacerbating the issue of shortage of the right skilled
ICT workforce in the region.

China, India and Japan's combined nominal GDP is morethan 20 Trillion US dollars and represents about 32% of theworld economy. India, Bangladesh, and Vietnam are one thefastest growing economies in the world. With population of
more 4 billion people Asia Pacific is the growth driver of theworld. To achieve and sustain economic growth humancapital is imperative and is considered one the mostimportant asset that any country has; whether it is theirown population or is a mix of local and foreign talent.

Despite many organizations having incorporated newtechnologies such as big data analytics (BDA), artificial
intelligence (AI), cloud, mobility, Internet of Things (IoT), andcybersecurity into their operations, the lack of ICT skills
remains as one of the biggest obstacles, holding backorganizations in their digital journey. To elaborate, being
unable to hire employees with the right skillset andexperience level at the right time, in some cases, haveresulted in the delay of projects and core business services.
Understanding the key challenges and limitations for ICT
talent development of each country in the region is crucial
in achieving collaborative and actionable solutions to tackle
the ICT talent shortage.

As the future of work is experiencing disruptions, innovation
and adoption of emerging technologies such as Artificial
Intelligence, Robotics, 3D Printing coupled withtechnological pillars of Mobility, Cloud, and Analytics are
becoming more important for economies to create newopportunities of growth and to keep unemployment rate incontrol.

In this report, IDC has identified the key challenges, top ten
high demand jobs, and initiatives taken for ICT talentdevelopment in 13 economies including Australia,
Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia,
People’s Republic of China, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Taiwan,
Thailand, and Vietnam. Many of the economies in the region
continue to be challenged by the lack of ICT graduates. For
instance, in Australia and Singapore the ICT course
enrolments are relatively low compared to enrolments inother fields of study. Whilst in countries such as Indonesia
and Bangladesh, lack of higher education has caused a large
portion of the labor force to remain in low-skill occupations.
Some commendable initiatives that are seen carried out by
the Singaporean government to address the issue are theintroduction of ICT related scholarships in the country suchas “Smart Nation Scholarship” and “Skillfuture Study
Awards” for Singaporean citizens as well as ICT scholarships
for international students. These initiatives will produce asustainable ICT talent pool and enable high demand jobs
such as Mobile & Web Application Developers, Computer
System Analysts, and Software Developers to be filled.
The final section of the report provides recommendations
for cross-border talent collaboration.

“ In this report, IDC has identified the key
challenges, top ten high demand jobs, andinitiatives taken for ICT talent development in
13 economies including Australia, Bangladesh,
India, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia,
People’s Republic of China, Singapore, Sri
Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam.

ESTIMATED ICT TALENT DEMAND

910

IDC | ICT Talent Development & Collaboration

ICT has reached and impacted every industry; almost all
traditional businesses are disrupted by new wave oftechnology and is changing how businesses are done forever. It is crucial for economies to have enough skilled ICT
talent to compete in the new world. For example, cyberattacks have become a norm in today's world where
thousands work full time as hackers to earn their income;to protect data and assets such a power grids, nuclear
plants, and defense installations; cybersecurity talent has
become critical to safeguard against any cyber-attacks.

IN-DEMAND ICT JOB AREAS AND CERTIFICATIONS

•

•

•

•

Lack of skilled ICT Workforce
In Asia pacific region organizations are facing immense
challenges in finding suitable skilled workers to fill in
the in-demand ICT jobs. Large percentage of graduatescoming to job market each year are not job-ready andrequires training by their employer to perform theirduties. Many large organizations are addressing the
problem by having in-house training centers, but
medium and small organizations find it difficult to train
them and often engage third-party training providers.
Experienced professionals who are not learning
continuously to acquire new skills are also losing out
as emerging technologies are demanding new skillset.
Outdated curriculum creating skillset mismatch
In many economies in Asia pacific, school anduniversity curriculums are not fully aligned andupdated to industry requirements and students areoften taught courses that are outdated. They also lackpractical trainings in areas of job requirements. Thismismatch is creating large pool of graduates with
degrees but substandard skillset.
Cross-border ICT Talent acquisition
Organizations are unable to freely acquire right ICT
talent from across the border due to work visa
limitations. Economies needs to protect rights of local
population and try to maintain desired demography
but if local population is not ready to take up the indemand jobs, organizations growth should not suffer
due to lack of ability to hire right skilled workers fromacross the borders.
Income disparity
Within Asia Pacific there is large income disparity.
Developed economies in the region pay theiremployees multiple times more than the averagesalary of developing economy luring the talented
workforce to migrate from their country of birth towork in the more developed economies of the region
such as Singapore, Australia, and Japan. These
economies also offer better quality of life compelling
talented workforce from countries such as India,
Bangladesh, and Indonesia to migrate causing brain
drain and talent shortage in their home countries.

KEY FINDINGS

1Business Intelligence Consultant

IDC team has estimated ICT Talent demand for 10 indemand job areas for 13 economies in Asia Pacific taking.
Estimations are based on ICT spending forecasts, industry
and market knowledge of IDC Analysts based out of IDC
offices across Asia Pacific. IDC Analysts have taken utmost
care to estimate the ICT talent demand numbers, but theseshould not be read as absolute numbers rather they are
estimated to demonstrate approximate ICT Talent demand
and trends across 13 economies in Asia Pacific region.

2

Cloud Solution Architect-

3

Computer Systems Analyst

4

Cybersecurity Consultant

5

Data Scientist

6Internet of Things (IoT) Developer

7

IT Infrastructure Engineer

8

Mobile and Web Application Developer

9

Network Engineer

10

Software Developer

IDC HAS IDENTIFIED THE FOLLOWINGICT JOB AREAS THAT ARE IN-DEMAND
AND WILL EXPERIENCE INCREASEDDEMAND FOR TALENT IN THE FUTURE
JOB AREAS

Following are the key ICT Talent acquisition challenges thatare faced by Asia pacific economies:-

The estimated ICT Talent demand numbers clearly
demonstrate direct link between economic growth ofthe country and ICT talent demand. As the economies
are becoming more dependent on technology andaspire to develop and grow digital economies thislinkage will only get stronger as we will move in the
future.

2018
Australia

IDC has also identified 10 in-demand certifications that aresought after by employers in Asia Pacific economies.
Acquiring one or more of these globally recognizedcertifications increases the probability of landing in-demand
ICT jobs along with improving performance of theemployees.

Every economy is the Asia Pacific region has ICT Talentdevelopment as a key agenda for overall human capitaldevelopment and has initiated programs to develop
ICT Talent but are at different level of effectiveness andmaturity.

-

Job creation is also one of economies such as Australia,
China, Japan, South Korea Singapore, Malaysia andIndia to avoid talent glut as the outcome of talentinitiatives are produced. Some economies are notdoing enough for job creation and must buckle up to
keep unemployment rate under control.

-

It is observed that initiatives that were good in intent
but are not followed through, either they werelaunched without proper planning or lacked thepolitical will to take them forward. It is imperative fortalent development programs to be effective that theymust have long term planning and political will in orderto achieve sustained results.

84,07093,654
103,720
India

2020

China
1,116,807
1,226,457
1,368,330

Indonesia
404,652
456,524
517,994

Korea

Japan
83,34588,727
93,872

261,052
269,717
278,154

Malaysia
48,502
51,68455,657

146,781
154,283
162,823
Sri Lanka
24,491
25,16025,591

2019

Bangladesh
50,42951,751
52,574IN- DEMAND ICT CERTIFICATIONS
Certified Information Security Manager (CISM)
Certified Information Systems Security Professional(CISSP)
3. Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA)
4. Project Management Professional (PMP)
5. AWS Certified Solution Architect - Associate
6. Citrix Certified Professional - Virtualization(CPP-V)7. VMware Certified Professional 6 - Data Center
Virtualization (VCP6-DCV)
8. ITIL v3 Foundation
9. CompTIA Project +10. Cisco Certified Network Professional (CCNP) Routing
and Switching-

ICT Talent demand in matured and developed
economies such as Japan and Singapore is slower thanemerging economies such as China and India except
for Australia which has tremendous ICT Talent demand
growth rates for a developed economy.

The 10 in-demand job areas are identified based on current
and forecasted overall ICT spending by organizations in Asia
Pacific economies, hiring trends by end-user organizations
and investments in emerging technologies by ICT vendors
to offer new products and services.

1.
2.

11

Cross Border Opportunities within Asia PacificTaiwanSingapore
59,13764,84471,740Thailand
57,03260,505
65,104

66,27571,80077,711

Vietnam
40,40
44,54048,257

12

IDC | ICT Talent Development & Collaboration

13

Cross Border Opportunities within Asia Pacific

KEY EMERGING TECHNOLOGIESRECOMMENDATIONSCOLLABORATIONS
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

11.

12.

13.

FOR

CROSS-BORDER

Advocate ease of working visas and policies amongst
ASEAN countries and Asia Pacific region.
Introduce cross-border inter-varsities interns or
exchange programs.
Organise collaborative regional talent events and fairs
in major cities.
Advocate an alignment of government policies on the
ICT certification, training and tertiary qualifications.
Standardise ICT job designations, roles and functions
across the region allowing portability of talent acrossborders.
Create a regional data and research agency to collect,manage and report on the state of skills and talent
including brain-drain out of the region.
Create online collaborative learning and training
portals that can be accessed by all countries across theregion including standardising the certification process.
Organise annual government-to-government summit
addressing the Human Resources and future talentdevelopment issues.
Create a Human Resource Fund based on contributions
by companies who have cross-border businessactivities in the region and any certified training
programs attended by the staff from the eligible
organizations can claim a rebate depending on the
program.
Identify key private sector training and certificationcompanies from respective countries and assist themin promoting across the region focusing on economies
that are most lacking in in-demand ICT skills.
Conduct a regional ICT salary comparison study of thevarious levels from entry to senior managers to better
understand the inter-country gaps of salarycompensation taking into account Purchasing Power
Parity (PPP) reflecting the exchange rate.
Advocate strongly that ICT talents and Human
Resources priorities must be high on the agenda of all
the Governments in the region and set up a regional
Talent Advisory Council (TAC) to advice on this agenda.
A realistic vision be developed to act as a beacon for
direction and decision of future initiatives andprograms.

CONCLUSIONBIG DATA ANALYTICS AND AI DEFINED

It is important to realise that to pursue a national digital
agenda successfully for the economy it is imperative thatyou also need a clear and effective talent fulfilment strategy
collectively for the country for the medium and long term.

Big data analytics (BDA) is a complex group of fundamental
technologies that provide the tools for utilizing data that isconstantly evolving. For example, driverless cars, digital
personal assistants, and intelligent fraud analysis require athorough understanding of data science technologies that
include performance management, business intelligence,
data platforms, and machine learning.

Based on the research data, there are certainly ample
opportunities for cross border talent development andacquisitions in the region across the 13 economies
identified. One can simply emulate others individually togain short term resolutions to your skills gaps anddeficiencies or an effective collaboration across the region
which will perhaps yield a more sustainable outcome.
There is need for greater collaboration among government,
ICT industry players, end-user enterprises and educational
institutions to improve existing and develop new policies
and programs for betterment of talent agenda which
requires serious continuous efforts to achieve the vision ofavailability of desired skilled ICT Talent in ever changing
Future of Work (FOW) environment.

Big data software is defined as a new generation ofsoftware and architectures designed to economicallyextract value from very large volumes of a wide variety ofdata by enabling high-velocity capture, discovery, and/or
analysis. IDC associates three attributes to “data” in a big
data definition: volume, variety, and velocity.
The BDA software market includes three primary segments:

The BDA industry represents a collection of softwaretools, their services, and applications for data extraction,
integration, governance, movement, curation, analysis, andvisualization deployed to support or automate a broad
range of strategic, operational, and tactical decision making.

INDUSTRY SEGMENTSANALYTIC AND PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT APPLICATIONSEnterprise Performance
Management Applications

Customer RelationshipAnalytic Applications

Workforce Analytic
Applications

Supply Chain and ProductAnalytic Applications

Services Operations
Analytic Applications

Production Planning
Applications

ANALYTIC DATA MANAGEMENT AND INTEGRATION PLATFORMS

Data Integration andIntegrity Tools

Continuous Analytics Tools

Non-relational Analytic
Data Stores

Relational Data
Warehouses

BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE AND ANALYTICS TOOLS AND PLATFORMS

Query, Reporting, andAnalysis Tools

Advanced and Predictive
Analytics Tools

Spatial and Location
Analytics Tools

Content Analytics Tools

Search Systems

Cogntive / AI Software
Platforms

14

IDC | ICT Talent Development & Collaboration

Cross Border Opportunities within Asia Pacific

15

COGNITIVE AND AI ECOSYSTEM
Existing among the subsegments of BDA is the emerging
3rd Platform technology of cognitive/AI systems. IDC
defines cognitive/AI systems as a technology that uses
deep natural language processing and understanding toanswer questions and provide recommendations anddirection. The system hypothesizes and formulates possible

answers based on available evidence, can be trained
through the ingestion of vast amounts of content, andautomatically adapts and learns from its mistakes andfailures.
Cognitive/AI software platforms are a subset of the overall
cognitive/AI systems market segments:

IDC’S COGNITIVE SOLUTIONS ECOSYSTEM

16

IDC | ICT Talent Development & Collaboration

With unstructured and semi-structured information to build
up curated information bases and knowledge graphs thatcan be mined and analyzed by various AI techniques andalgorithms, such as machine learning, neural networks, anddeep learning.
Recommendations, predictions, and advice based on this AI
provide users with answers and assistance in a wide range
of applications and use cases.
Cognitive AI systems, located at the heart of DX initiatives,
are a class of technologies that has emerged to facilitate
the discovery, use, and collaboration of information in
analysis and decision making. These technologies use
information curation, information retrieval, knowledge
graphs, and numerous other components to assist businessleaders in identifying improvement areas in businessprocesses, answering key questions about the market, andshaping organizational strategies.

IDC views the potential opportunity for cognitive/AI systems
by use case. This approach establishes a rich vocabulary andframework to enable meaningful conversations between
vendors and clients by painting a vivid, specific portrait of
the potential end state. An IDC use case is a conceptual
framework that provides a view of business value that iscreated when a set of technologies comes together. Usecases are not defined by the technology itself. The
parameters of a use case are defined by the value being
created and recognized by an organization.
Use cases can be categorized according to the three primary
benefits they provide:•••

Creating new products and services
Optimizing operations
Transforming the customer experience/creating
customer loyalty

CYBERSECURITY
With the growing threat incidents and sophistication of
cyberattacks, cybersecurity is becoming a critical businessas well as IT requirement for most countries in Asia Pacific.
As series of cybersecurity incidents over the last year has
highlighted the seriousness of the situation. And thesituation is exacerbated by weak data protection and breach
notification guidelines/regulations.
Furthermore, security continues to be crucial in the context
of digital transformation (DX), with organizations looking to
identify and mitigate the potential security risks acrossendpoints, networks, applications, and storage. The
adoption of 3rd Platform technologies and innovation
accelerators is increasing the scope and scale ofcyberattacks.

5 CYBER SECURITY THREATS
TO EXPERT IN 2018

Cloud Computing
under threat

17

Cross Border Opportunities within Asia Pacific

Vulnerabilityof the Internetof Things(IoT)

Cyber Criminals’
Tactics are
Evolving
and getting
Nastier

Silence of Cyber
Security
Researchers

Impractical
Expectations
from theIT Department

SOME CYBERCRIME STATISTICS FROM 2017

WannacryEquifax Hack

Ransomware
Wannacryaffected 300,000
Computers over
150 countries

143 Million
Compromised
Social Security
numbers
in the US

Ransomware
Attacks
Ransomware
Wannacryaffected 300,000
Computers over
150 countries

CIOs face two essential talent imperatives with digitaltransformation — ensuring that their IT teams have theright people and that their teams have the right skills.
Selecting IT professionals has never been straightforward.
In this period of very low unemployment in IT (someestimates put it at less than 3%, Monster.com even reported
0% unemployment for cybersecurity professionals recently),
it has never been harder. Recognizing or validating specificcompetence in available candidates can be a challenge. IDC
believes that leveraging relevant, well-constructed IT
certifications from significant technology vendors can help
IT leaders identify appropriate candidates for openings.
However, in the absence of a strong regulatoryenvironment, the limited capabilities of local professional
security services entities, and the lack of qualified
cybersecurity professionals, assess their complex IT
environments, and identify the gaps in their security
measures. Security vendors are increasingly focusing on
training and retaining qualified security engineers andanalysts that have a strong understanding of specificvertical security needs and challenges and will help clients
understand their security needs.

E-mails
1 in 131 emails
contains a
MalwareRisingCyberattacks
Ransomware
attacks Roseby 36% in 2017

Malware
230,000
Malware samples
are createdever day18

IDC | ICT Talent Development & Collaboration

19

Cross Border Opportunities within Asia Pacific | Australia

1. AUSTRALIABLOCKCHAIN

1.1 INTRODUCTION

Blockchain technology is part of a new era of digital trust between enterprises and their communities, whether it be with
their customers, regulators, suppliers, or service providers. Some would consider blockchain technology a paradigm shift
in how enterprises will approach the management of data in the years to come. From the transparency and decentralized
consensus of distributed ledger technology to the security and incorruptibility ensured by cryptographic signatures andencryption, many features make blockchain an appealing solution to problems across various industries.

BLOCKCHAIN / DLT USE CASES : A BRIEF SUMMARY
Use Case(in no particular order, many have yet to move beyond
the proof of concept stage)

1.2 FUTURE INDUSTRY DIRECTIONIMPLICATION TO TALENT DEMAND

Australia’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is
US$1379.5 Billion in 2017. The International Monetary
Fund IMF has estimated a 2.2% GDP growth rate in2017. The current population in Australia is 24.8
million reported by the International Monetary Fund2017. The unemployment rate of 5.6%. The
Information and Communication Technology (ICT)
workforce in Australia is approximately 663,000 as of2017, with an increase of over 3% of an estimate of
640,000 workers in the last year. The Industry is also
estimated to grow by almost 100,000 by 2023.1

AND

There are a few initiatives put in place to develop the
ICT industry in Australia. For example, technology
parks, tax incentives and innovation hubs.

ICT WORKERS BY CIIER OCCUPATION GROUPINGS, 2017
ICT Trades

ICT Technical & Professional

ICT Industry Admin & Logistics Support

251,300

Finance
Crowdfunding

Insurance

Logistics

Multiparty Insurance ProductManagement

Shipping Documentation& Coordination

Multi-Jurisdiction Insurance
Product Management

Trucking(transaction management)

Consumer Insurance(e.g. travel insurance)

Perishable
Product Provenance,
Safety & Tracking

ICT Management & Operations
194,400

72,900ICT Sales

113,000
Electronic Trades & Professional

27,9003,600

Cross-border Transcations
Regulatory(KYC, Data Exchange)
Trade Finance Automation
Financial Loyalty Programs

RetailUtilities

Professional Services

Supply Chain Management

Wholesale
Energy Trading

Legal Services Workflow
Automation

Decentralized Grid
Management

Commercial Property
Selection

P2P Energy Trading

Real Estate Due Diligence

EV Charging (P2P + V2G)

Leasing Transaction
Management

Equipment/Parts Management& Authentication
Disintermediation of
Online Payments
Asset/Goods Management& Monitoring

The primary objective for using blockchain technology isprocess efficiency, trust and scalability. Investment inblockchain has gained momentum.

IDC expects to see rapid growth in the blockchain developer
marketplace, supporting the expected growth in services.
By 2021, the number of consultants and developers inblockchain services will have grown tenfold from current
estimates. Blockchain developers, including those building
front-end blockchain application or enterprise application
integration in Java, C++, Pyton and Node.js are in the ‘subunemployment ‘market today with the greatest shortage inthe United States, the United Kingdom and Japan (Tokyo).

This data demonstrates that the most in-demand ICT occupations are those which combine technical ICT skills and expertisewith broader business needs.2

LOCAL DEMANDTAX HOLIDAYSThe Australian government's 2017 Industry Employment
Predictions Report indicates that employment is expected
to grow strongly in the computer system design and related
services sector, which is projected to grow by 54,200 (or24.6%) after having grown by 83.9% over the past 10 years
to its current employment level of 220,200.

Since July 2016, the Australian government has beenoffering tax offsets to investors that invest in early stage
innovation companies. The purpose of this plan is to drive
growth in innovation start-ups. Faster growth in this area
will lead to greater demand-side pull for employees withICT experience.7

These high growth rates have been partially due todemand-side initiatives by the federal government toensure sustained demand for these skills.3

STONE & CHALKTECHNOLOGY PARKS
The Australian Technology Park (ATP), located in Sydney, isspread over almost 14 hectares of land and houses several
high-tech start-up companies as well as university researchbodies to encourage innovation and development.4
Digital Harbour, Melbourne's technology park established in
2004, is a "mixed use neighborhood held together by aseries of green landscaped recreation spaces with overlaysof high-speed communications infrastructure andAustralian and World Best Practice Ecologically Sustainable
Development (ESD)".5
It houses the Bureau of Meteorology, Melbourne Water, theNational Broadband Network Co, and the Telstra National
Learning Academy.6

Stone & Chalk is an independent, not-for-profit fintech hubthat supports start-ups in Australia. Grounded on a "givefirst" philosophy, Stone & Chalk has attracted corporate
membership from 26 large Australian and global corporate
and government.8
Major corporate partners include DXC Technology, KPMG,
Optus, ANZ, Westpac, NAB, HSBC, and Ernst & Young.9
Stone & Chalk has proved relatively successful in driving thedemand for ICT skills and development: "After just 18
months of operations, S&C now houses over 300
entrepreneurs working in over 60 fintech start-ups thathave already collectively raised over A$101 million in
funding."10

20

IDC | ICT Talent Development & Collaboration

Stone & Chalk has coworking spaces in both Melbourne andSydney, providing opportunities for entrepreneurship andgenerating potential employment opportunities for ICT
professionals.

“ The Australian government's 2017 Industry
Employment Predictions Report indicates that
employment is expected to grow strongly in thecomputer system design and related services
sector. “Cross Border Opportunities within Asia Pacific | Australia

TECHNOLOGY PARKS

AUSTRALIAN SKILLS GAP

Similarly, LaunchVic is a start-up agency that was createdby the Victorian government in 2016 as an independentagency responsible for developing Victoria's start-up
ecosystem. 11

According to a report published by the Australian Computer
Society (ACS) and Deloitte, there is currently a significant
technology skills gap in Australia, with an extra 200,000
technology workers needed in the next five years.

LaunchVic does not fund start-ups directly but connects
them with established service providers: "LaunchVic
connects credible service providers with start-up founders
and entrepreneurs who are building ambitious and exciting
businesses in our state… our rounds target start-up sector
specialists who can deliver programs and support toVictorian start-ups in the form of education, incubators,
accelerators, mentoring, professional development, andother programs."12

In the past year, there were only 22,300 new technology
jobs created, indicating a significant shortage in meeting
this demand at current rates of ICT job creation.

HISTORICAL & FORECAST ICT EMPLOYMENT, 2011 - 2023
2011

2017

ICT Technical & Professional
220,000
250,000
280,000

ICT Trades

ICT Management & Operations
150,000
190,000
225,000

ICT Sales
35,00024,00035,000ICT Industry Admin & Logistics Support
95,000115,000
125,000

To bridge this gap, Australian state and federal governments
should seek to foster programs that ensure thedevelopment of ICT skills, beginning at the primary schoollevel and continuing to tertiary programs.14

Electronic Trades & Professional
5,000
2,000
5,000

There are less than 5,000 local ICT graduates produced ayear, which inevitable will contribute to the issue ofshortage of ICT skilled talent and as a result the only way
for the industry to sustain is to continue importing skilled
talents into the country. This has been an underlying
problem in the past 5 years.

Growth is forecasted in all ICT employment areas, with the most substantial growth expected to occur in ICT management
and operations and ICT technical and professional. This demonstrates an expected growth in both supply and demand for
all ICT employment.13

AUSTRALIA IN-DEMAND JOBS 2018-2020
IN DEMAND JOBS

2018

2019

2020

Business Intelligence Consultant

5,241

5,848

6,585

Cloud Solution Architect

5,336

6,800

8,333

Computer Systems Analyst

19,202

19,893

20,592Cybersecurity Consultant

5,451

6,428

7,593

Data Scientist

1,965

2,193

2,469

Internet of Things (IoT) Developer

3,658

4,118

4,603

IT Infrastructure Engineer

8,537

10,88013,333

Mobile and Web Application Developer

16,754

17,39917,858

Network Engineer

6,403

8,160

10,000Software Developer

11,521

11,936

12,355Australia Total

84,07093,654

103,720“ According to the Australian government
website Job Outlook, there are a range of ICT
professions in which there is low
unemployment. “

1.3 CROSS-BORDER TALENT OPPORTUNITIESThe report outlined some of the ICT skills in greatest
demand: "Analysis of LinkedIn data from 2016 found thatthe top skills demanded by employers hiring new ICT
workers included technical skills - such as IT infrastructure,
web programming, and cloud computing - as well as
broader business skills like project management, customer
service, and strategic planning."

2023

75,00070,00088,00021

According to the Australian government website Job
Outlook, there are a range of ICT professions in which there
is low unemployment. These include ICT support and test
engineers, ICT support technicians, and ICT managers.
Lower unemployment figures are indicative of a general
imbalance in supply/demand numbers, which means there
are significant talent gaps in some cases, with the supply
not able to meet the demand for this range of professions.15
Additionally, Australia’s current labor force has diversity
issues. Rendering from the report published by ACS andDeloitte, 28% of the ICT workforce consists of female
workers and 12% are females above the age of 55%
comparison to 45% and 15% in all other industry professions.
16

CROSS-BORDER TALENTAs per the government, increasing dependence ontechnology ICT is changing the way the government
operates, and the pace of change will continue toaccelerate
throughtechnology-enabledtransformation of government business.
The Hays January 2017 quarterly forecast for ICT in the
public sector also confirms the strong upward pressure
on the demand for ICT skills and notes that"competition between public sector organizations
themselves for this limited resource pool will present
the greatest challenges."17
The ICT workforce grew to an estimated 640,846
workers in 2016, representing a 1.9% increase on the628,810 ICT workers recorded in 2015 (DAE 2016a).
The continued growth in ICT employment across theAustralian economy reflects the strong employer
demand for ICT workers and skills as well as continued
improvements in the foundations of the Australianlabor market.18

22

IDC | ICT Talent Development & Collaboration

23

Cross Border Opportunities within Asia Pacific | Australia

SUBCLASS 457 TEMPORARY WORK(SKILLED) VISAS GRANTED TO ICT WORKERSICT OCCUPATION MOST ADVERTISED IN 201619

ICT 457 Visa Grants (LHS)

Share of Total 457 Visa Grants (RHS)
16%
14%

Project
ManagerBusiness
AnalystBusiness
Development
Manager

Freelance Foreign
Language Content
Contributor.NET
Developer

12%
10%

NEW VISA PILOT
Highly skilled workers from around the world will have a
new visa pathway into Australia as a part of thegovernment's new Global Talent Scheme pilot program.
From July 1, 2018, all businesses will be able to sponsor
highly skilled and specialized workers who will help growtheir businesses and create more jobs.
The pilot will run for 12 months and provide businesses witha streamlined process to sponsor overseas workers with
cutting-edge skills, where there are no suitable Australians
available to fill the vacancies.
The government has been consulting with industry, startup, and tertiary institution leaders, who informed the initialdesign of the scheme and will provide additional advice
during the pilot.
The scheme includes two streams - one for establishedbusinesses and one for start-ups.

*
Workers sponsored under the scheme will have access to a
Temporary Skill Shortage visa and permanent residence
after three years.
Minister for Jobs and Innovation and Senator Michaelia Cashsaid the new scheme answers the call from businesses todeliver more flexible, future-focused visa arrangementsthat help attract global talent to Australia.

13,50013,5002009
2010

14,0002008
2009

11,500

Front-end
Developer

14,000JAVA
Developer

15,000

Solution
Architect

12,500SoftwareEngineer

8,500

Account
Manager

10,500

8%

2010
2011

2011
2012

2012
2013

2013
2014

2014
2015

2015
2016

2016
2017

6%
4%
2%
0%

Excludes ICT industry administative and logistics support, for which breakdowns are unavailable; data for electronic
trades and professional roles is for all industries

Source:Department of Immigration and Border Protection Subclass 457 Visa Statistics (2018).

Although the total number of 482 visas granted to ICT workers has fluctuated, there is a general upward trend in the ICT
share of the total number of 482 visas granted. This indicates a greater reliance on foreign workers to fill ICT occupations,demonstrating an excess of demand that outstrips domestic supply.21

Minister for Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs Alan Tudge
said the innovative new scheme will help attract top global
talent into Australia. "This scheme is designed to facilitatebusinesses accessing top talent from around the world… It
complements existing Temporary Skill Shortage visa
arrangements by providing the flexibility to handle highvalue, niche skills that can't be obtained under the standard
visa program. A lot of the top talent is in fierce demand fromcompanies all over the world. We want this talent to cometo Australia, to support businesses here and create wealthfor the nation."20

All businesses sponsoring workers to Australia under thescheme will need to demonstrate that they have been
unable to source suitable individuals in the Australian labormarket.

MIGRATION
Migration continues to be a key source of talent; however,more could be done to utilize this resource.
There was a net migration inflow of around 19,600 ICT
workers in 2014-15, with software and applications
programmers recording the largest net inflow of workers.
Around 13,900 457 visas were granted to ICT workers over
2014–15, representing 15% of total visas but only around
2% of the overall ICT workforce in Australia.22

457 visas have now been replaced with 482 Temporary Skill
Shortage visas. This visa "enables employers to address
labor shortages by bringing in genuinely skilled workers
where they cannot source an appropriately skilled
Australian."23

24

IDC | ICT Talent Development & Collaboration

Cross Border Opportunities within Asia Pacific | Australia

1.4 KEY INITIATIVESAUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENT ICT STRATEGIC
PLAN

NATIONAL INNOVATION AND SCIENCE AGENCYEDUCATION

The ICT Strategic Plan is subordinate to theparliamentary strategic plan and provides the context
of ICT planning across the four parliamentary
departmental corporate plans.24

As part of the A$1.1 billion National Innovation and Science
Agenda, the Australian government has allocated over A$64
million in an initiative to support early learning with regard
to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics(STEM) subjects.
This includes two measures: Embracing the Digital Age(school initiatives - A$51 million) and Inspiring STEM
Literacy (early learning initiatives - A$14 million).

STRATEGIC THEME 1

STRATEGIC THEME 2

STRATEGIC THEME 3

1. Supporting parliamentarians to
be more effective through betteruse of ICT anywhere and anytime
on a range of devices.

1. Support for the effective andefficient operation of parliamentand its committees.

1. Changing community expectations
about access to information anda more active engagement in theparliamentary process present
new opportunities through theuse of ICT for the public to be
more easily and directly involved
withparliament
andparliamentarians.

2. Parliamentary ICT systems andpolicies need to better reflect
this requirement and provide
improved levels of support toparliamentarians to carry out
their duties anywhere, at any
time and on a range of devices.
New mobile devices fromsmartphones to tablets are
becoming increasingly available,
affordable and popular, andparliamentarians require a choiceof mobile devices that are secure,seamlessly synchronized and linkreadily
to
a
range
of
parliamentary systems.

2. Trends in parliaments across theworld are demonstrating that
innovative business processes
supported by the appropriate ICT
tools and platforms can result inthe more effective and efficient
operation of parliamentary systems.
3. Common examples include theincreased digitization of documents,
with some international chambers
and committees now being
paperless, electronic voting andremote access through videoconferencing.

As part of this plan, the government has dedicated A$1.5
million to support the delivery of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in
Schools, under the Australian Technology and Science
Growth Plan. The purpose of this is to boost Australia's
artificial intelligence capability to support businesses. This
funding will create further demand for ICT job areas
specializing in AI.25

2. Developments in ICT are increasingly
enabling parliamentarians tocommunicate with individuals andgroups through email, videoconferencing,
websitesandsocial media.
3. As technology becomes moreconsumer-friendly and affordable
and as broadband speeds
increase, many more forms ofinteraction are becoming possible.

“ As part of the A$1.1 billion National
Innovation and Science Agenda, the Australian
government has allocated over A$64 million “

PRIVATE SECTOR GROWTH
The government also announced multiple grant programs
to support women in STEM, including the Women in STEM
and Entrepreneurship (WISE) grant program, with 22organizations across Australia receiving over A$4 million in
funding.26

In the private sector, there has been funding toward the
Cyber Security Growth Centre. The purpose of this GrowthCentre is to work with the private sector to increase
collaboration, build capability, innovate, and participate
globally in competitive markets in cybersecurity. The
funding of such a program is likely to lead to increased
demand for experienced cybersecurity engineers.27

25

CORPORATE PLAN 2017–2021

UNIVERSITIESIn 2016, the Australian government set out its digitaltransformation agenda. The agenda is focused on delivering
better and more accessible digital services to individuals
and businesses.

TALENT DEVELOPMENT RELATING TO ICT SKILLS IN
AUSTRALIA

Responsibility for realizing the digital transformation
agenda is owned by all agencies that are accountable fordelivering services to individuals and businesses.
For digital transformation across government to work, thegovernment has outlined the need for successful
coordination and collaboration between the Digital
Transformation Agency (DTA) and other agencies.
In August 2017, the ICT Procurement Taskforce report was
released. To implement the recommendations, thegovernment is working across agencies to transform how
it manages its ICT procurement by implementing a series ofreforms.

Although ICT degree enrollments and completions remain
below the peak of the early 2000s, they have gradually
increased in recent years, with enrollments rising from19,000 at the start of the decade to almost 24,000 in 2014.
IT-related vocational education and training courses havealso seen higher take-up over the past few years.
It should be acknowledged that ICT workers can be
educated in other fields aside from directly studying IT andtechnology-specific tertiary or vocational qualifications. The
2011 Census reported that 65% of ICT workers studied nonIT degrees.
Some of the most common courses studied by Australian
ICT workers include computer science, information scienceand technology, accounting, and business.32

AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIESTALENT DEVELOPMENT

Out of the 43 universities in Australia, 21 offer specialized
computer science degrees. The computer science degrees
offered by Australian universities are of a high quality.
According to the QS World University Rankings, there are
five Australian universities that are among the top 50 in theworld in computer science degrees, with Australia's best
university in this field being the University of Melbourne,
placing 13th.28

Australian businesses need to be the driving force for this,both now and in the future. Responding to digital disruption
and technological change can require changes to abusiness's products, operations, processes, andinfrastructure. Associated with these, there can also be
significant changes to the digital skills required of both ICT
workers and the broader workforce. Companies need to beaware of this and should therefore work to identify their ICT
skills requirements and consider whether there are any
skills gaps among their existing workforce; capability
assessments and competency-based frameworks, such as
the Skills Framework for the Information Age, can be usefuldiagnostic tools for this purpose.

Additionally, TAFE, an Australian vocational and educational
training institute, offers 79 ICT courses in various areas,such as IT systems administration, network security, and IT
support.29 The broad array of courses which can beundertaken at several tertiary institutions means that there
is a steady supply of employees working in the identified
ICT job areas.
Several Australian universities, including the University of
Adelaide, La Trobe University, Deakin University, and the
University of Wollongong, have implemented digital literacy
programs to hire technologists to support the digital literacyof staff and students.30
The Council of Australasian University Directors ofInformation Technology (CAUDIT) is an entity withmembership drawn from major Australian and South Pacificuniversities. CAUDIT provides advice and support to IT
directors/CIOs and IT professionals across the education
sector so that they can take a proactive leadership role
within their institutions.31

There may be a role for the government to highlight theimportance of ICT workforce development initiatives byprioritizing programs that support ICT-related skills
development.

26

IDC | ICT Talent Development & Collaboration

27

Cross Border Opportunities within Asia Pacific | Bangladesh

2. BANGLADESH

AUSTRALIAINFORMATIONASSOCIATION (AIIA)

INDUSTRYAIIA is a non- profit organization in Australia and sets
the direction for the ICT industry for the country. The
objective of the association is to fuel the prosperity of
the ICT industry in Australia by providing advisory andco-ordinating body to ICT industry in Australia,
represent and advocate ICT matters with thegovernment bodies and industry players.
AIIA has Special Interest Group SIG which consist ofIndustry Vertical SIG, Cross Industry SIG and
Government SIG.
The purpose of the education SIG is to encourage
collaboration between members of the SIG to develop
learning and training within the Australian ICT industry.
This includes the promotion of digital skills and Science
Technology Engineering and Mathematics STEM
knowledge.

ACTIVITIES:••••The Education SIG will have regular meetings to
discuss on new developments in education
related technology, curriculum, and delivery
The SIG engages with Government, both at Stateand Federal levels, to identify opportunities in ICT
industry
Conducted navigating technology and the job of
the future summit 2018
Published the skills policy precision statement

7%

PRE AND POST DEMOCRACY GDP GROWTH
IN BANGLADESH36
GDP Growth in the 1980s

GDP Growth in the 1990s

3.8% CAGR

ACS has three advisory board:
1. Membership Advisory Board
2. Professional Advisory Board
3. Technical Advisory Board

At present, the Bangladesh workforce sustains a large
economy of US$248 billion and the economic growthis driven byt the manufacturing and services sectors.
GDP has grown at an annual rate of over 6% since 2010
and is expected to continue growing at the same rate.

INNOVATION & BUSINESS SKILLS AUSTRALIA (IBSA)IBSA is a body of the Australian Government under the
department of Education and Training. IBSA presence is tocreate skilled workforce by developing future talents
capabilities by working closely with industries tounderstand the talent demand in the market. IBSA has also
been the lead in developing high quality Vocational
Education and Training (VET) to help achieve value result inAustralia.
IBSA Manufacturing is working on the project of Digital Skills
Cross Sector on behalf of all Australian industry to cultivate
digital literacy skills, addictive manufacturing (3D printing)skills, programming/ coding skills and so forth.

6.7%

5%
4%
3%
2%
1%

ACS will also strengthen the technology management andgovernance to enable agile process.

ACS continuing professional development and education:•
Network and events•
ACS accredited courses•
Digital library (41,000 videos)•
ICT leader series•
Professional year program•
Diploma of IT- ICT50115•
Instructor-led courses•
Education across the nation (EdXN)

6%
6.4%

Economic growth began to accelerate in Bangladesh
in the 1990s coinciding with the adoption of
democracy. The country saw a 4.8% growth in grossdomestic product (GDP) between 1990 and 1999
compared with 3.8% per annum between 1980 and
198935.

FY 2019
Forecast

Google also offers an IT Support Professional course.34

8%

FY 2018
Forecast

ACS also believes that delivering the right program to alllevels of education will groom future talents hence improve
employability rate.

REAL GDP GROWTH AT
CONSTANT MARKET PRICE37

7.2%

ACS is a member of Australia’s Council of Professionals,
predominantly supports the ICT workforce. ACS aim is tofoster future domestic ICT talent by strengthening thetalents with the appropriate skill set to ensure the talents
are globally competitive. Besides that, attracting
international talent into the country by way of promoting
awareness of the future technology career opportunities,
this will eventually help lower the employments issues
within the country.

Bangladesh, along with other emerging economies in
Asia, such as Myanmar and Cambodia, is regarded as
one of the last "Asian Tigers." The term Asian Tiger wasused initially to describe economies that experienced
rapid growth and expansion following World War II.

FY 2017
Estimate

Microsoft currently offers a number of certification
courses through Microsoft Certification to assist in
developing a range of ICT skills and closing the gap;
these courses include areas such as mobility, cloud,and data.33

AUSTRALIA COMPUTER SOCIETY (ACS)

2.1 INTRODUCTION

7.1%

CORPORATE INITIATIVES

Encouraging the Australian government to take action
and to create a future workforce with the appropriate
knowledge skills and motivation to maximise global
competitiveness in the digital age

FY 2016

The Australia Computer Society ACS is the main bodyin Australia in supporting ICT talent, to improve theAustralia’s digital competency to a global level and tohelp bridge the talent gap in the industry. The need forthese few other bodies will aid the transformation andgrowth of the ICT industry and talent supply in the
country. These organization will address workforce
issues of related to talent shortage in the ICT industry.

•

6.6%

TALENTFY 2015

IN

6.1%

INVOLVEDFY 2014

1.5 ORGANIZATIONSDEVELOPMENT

0%4.8% CAGRBANGLADESH ECONOMIC SNAPSHOT38
GDP in 2017

USD248,000,000,000
Average GDP Growth Rate Since 2010
6.4% CAGR

Technology plays an integral part in the economic successof Bangladesh, and the government is quick to integratetechnology into its national vision and plans. For example,"Digital Bangladesh" is a long-term plan to develop thenation's IT infrastructure, business industry, and talent
supply. IT itself isn't new to Bangladesh, and we can trace
its history back to the 1960s. The ICT industry of
Bangladesh has a long history, dating back to the 1960s.

28

IDC | ICT Talent Development & Collaboration

29

Cross Border Opportunities within Asia Pacific | Bangladesh

BUSINESS SPECIALIZATION OF BASIS MEMBERS41NOTABLE DEVELOPMENTS IN BANGLADESH'S IT INDUSTRY39

76.3%

1960S - 1980S

80%

Dhaka University obtained its first mainframe computer in 1964

70%
Banks and industrial companies began using computers for accounting and payroll

45.4%

49.8%

60%
50%

Public utility companies (gas and electricity) began using computers for billing

40%
The local ICT industry was set back after a financial crisis in 1971

16.7%

The Bangladesh Computer Society was formed in 1979

18.3%

14%
6.6%

3.2%

2.8%

30%
20%
10%

In 1982, a computer center was established at the Bangladesh University of Engineeringand Technology
The first font to display the Bangla script was developed in 1982
The government's National Computer Committee was formed in 1983
The Bangladesh Computer Samity was established in 198740

1990S

Internet service gained popularity in 1995
The Bangladesh Association of Software and Information Services was formed in 19972010 PRESENT

1
1
2
3

E-Commerce/
Web Services
IT EnabledServices
IT InfrastructureManagement

2

3

4

5
4
5
6

The ICT in National Education Policy was formed in 2010
ICT education is provided at secondary and tertiary education institutions
Various technology parks that house IT companies have been established or are being
planned throughout the country.

2.2 FUTURE INDUSTRY DIRECTIONIMPLICATIONS TO TALENT DEMANDAND

A large number of IT companies in Bangladesh areoffering IT or IT-enabled services (ITES). There is alsoa large export market where these services are done
remotely for foreign companies based in other parts of
the world.

The Bangladesh Association of Software and Information
Services (BASIS) is the national trade body for the softwareand IT-enabled service industry. It was established in 1997,
and the association has been working with a vision ofdeveloping a vibrant software and IT service industry in the
country. The composition of its members provides insights
into the potential areas of talent demand.

7

8

9

Customized Application
Development and Maintenance
Mobile Apps/
Content Provider
Product
Development

The demand for talent that specialize in areas such assoftware development programming and digital content
creation can be expected to remain strong as most of the
IT companies in Bangladesh are focused on softwaredevelopment or soft content creation.

The Digital Bangladesh vision was conceived
The National ICT Policy was formed in 20096

There is also an indication that a workforce with a high levelof IT literacy would be needed as a large percentage ofcompanies are also involved in providing IT-enabled services
to their clients. Examples of ITES include data processing,graphic design, web design, and content management.
Employees in the ITES sub-industry would need to be
comfortable and efficient at using IT applications and tools.
Comparatively, the ITES sub-industry generates a higher
percentage of revenue compared with softwaredevelopment, despite a smaller percentage of companies
involved in ITES. There could potentially be a demand fortalent who command a broad range of IT skills ascompanies in Bangladesh do not necessarily focus on one
narrow IT sub-industry.

NEW SECTION: GOVERNMENT INITIATIVES TO
BOOST THE IT INDUSTRY
The Government of Bangladesh has several initiatives todevelop the IT industry. One series of initiatives involves thecommissioning of technology parks across the nation.
These technology parks will be equipped with the suitableinfrastructure and environment to support the operationsof technology-focused firms. It is estimated that the
combined effect of the technology parks is the creation of
up to 300,000 new jobs in the IT industry42.

7
8
9

0%

Research andDevelopment
Reseller/ Value
Added Reseller
SystemIntegration

OVERVIEW OF BANGLADESH'S
SOFTWARE TECHNOLOGY PARK (STP-1)
Governed by
the Bangladesh
Hi-Tech Park Authority

12-story special
purpose building forsoftware development
companies

Uninterrupted
electrical power supply

Hi-speed fiber-optic
internet connection

Shared facilities, suchas training centers andconference rooms

Round-the-clockbuilding management
services

ACTIVITIES OF STP-1 TENANTS

IT Support
Services

Cloud Computing
Services(Datacenter)

Web
Development

Business Process
Outsourcing

SoftwareDevelopment

30

IDC | ICT Talent Development & Collaboration

The software technology park addresses somefundamental business needs of IT companies operating indeveloping countries, such the availability of uninterrupted
electrical power supply. The lack of reliable power supply is
a common problem faced in many emerging economies,
such as Cambodia and Myanmar. A single power loss canlast for hours, impacts productivity, and wipes out
business-critical data.

Besides the above, the Executive Committee of the National
Economic Council (ECNEC) has approved the developmentof technology parks in Khulna, Barisal, Rangpur, Chittagong,
Comilla, Cox's Bazar, Mymensingh, Jamalpur, Natore,
Gopalganj, Dhaka, and Sylhet.

Additionally, the provision of high-speed internet will allow
companies operating from the park to offer reliable services
to their clients. This is especially important if they are
working with clients based overseas, which may not befamiliar with the challenges faced by IT companies in
Bangladesh.

ESTIMATED IT JOBS CREATED BYTECHNOLOGY PARKS ACROSS BANGLADESH(EXISTING AND PLANNED)
300,000
200,000
100,000

LIST OF TECHNOLOGY PARKS IN BANGLADESH(EXISTING AND PLANNED)

50,00040,000

1

2

20,0003

STP-1 Janta Tower

Mohakhali IT Village

Bangabandhu
Hi-Tech City

Barind Silicon City

4

5

Bangabandhu
Hi-Tech City
Bangabandhu Sheikh
Mujib Hi-Tech City
Job Creation
TargetMohakhali
IT Village

550,000

5,000
2,500

6

1,000

Sylhet Electronic CityKUET Khulna IT Park

500

Bangabandhu Sheikh
Mujib Hi-Tech Park0

BANGLADESH IN-DEMAND JOBS 2018-2020
IN DEMAND JOBS

2018

2019

2020

Business Intelligence Consultant

423

489

567

Cloud Solution Architect

474

593

720

Computer Systems Analyst

13,742

13,892

13,835Cybersecurity Consultant

847

993

1,178

Data Scientist

159

183

213

Internet of Things (IoT) Developer

723

825

946

IT Infrastructure Engineer

1,137

1,423

1,728

Mobile and Web Application Developer

23,827

23,95023,790

Network Engineer

853

1,068

1,296

Software Developer

8,245

8,335

8,301

Bangladesh Total

50,42951,751

52,574

Women face significant barriers to enter the IT industry's
workforce. Lack of support from their families is one of the
major reasons that discourage them for pursuing suchcareers despite having the requisite IT knowledge43.

MOTIVATION FOR PURSUING IT-RELATEDTERTIARY EDUCATION

Sheikh Kamal IT
Training andIncubation Centre

Job Creation Target

1,500

7

Sheikh Hasina
Software Technology
Park

CUET IT Business
Incubator Centre

2,000
2,500

10,00010,00030,00014,000100,000

300,000

30,00031

Cross Border Opportunities within Asia Pacific | Bangladesh

45%
40%
35%
30%

•
•
•
•

Personal interest: 42%
Income prospects and job opportunities: 18%
ork flexibility: 7%
Parental influence: 5%

Parents are not well versed in ICT and are reluctant tosupport their daughters to pursue a career in ICT. The
government aims for equal employment of men andwomen in ICT by 2030, with a total ICT sector workforce of
2 million up from an estimated 700,000 currently.

GAP BETWEEN THE CURRENT IT WORKFORCE
AND DEMAND IN 2030

25%
20%
15%

Current

2030

700,000
2,000,000

10%
5%

1
2
3
4

6
7

Sheikh Hasina Software
Technology Park
STP-1
Janta Tower
Sylhet Electronic
City

Parental
InfluenceWork
Flexibility

IncomeProspects
and Job
Opportunities

Personal
Interest0%

A study was conducted in March 2018 to gather
information on the involvement of women in ICT. The study
found that students choose ICT programs, such asengineering and computer science, for the following
reasons:

2.3 CROSS-BORDER TALENT OPPORTUNITIESOne of the areas that IT companies in Bangladesh
focus on is exporting their IT and IT-enabled services(ITES) abroad through activities such as businessprocess outsourcing (BPO) and independent freelancework.
A case study done by the Nyenrode Business
Universiteit highlighted the kind of crossborder talent
opportunities available to IT talent in Bangladesh witheconomies that are more developed and are looking at
operational strategies to achieve cost efficiency44.

32

IDC | ICT Talent Development & Collaboration

The Nyenrode Business Universiteit in the Netherlands
conducted an in-depth study on the cross-borderopportunities in the IT industry between Bangladesh andthe Netherlands in 2014. Findings from this study provide
a view of a larger trend of European IT companies leveraging
on talent in Asian countries.

There are several avenues for the export of Bangladesh IT
services to the Netherlands, and possibly other developed
economies as well, through outsourcing. Several IT services
in demand in the Netherlands have a corresponding talentbase in Bangladesh.

2.4 KEY INITIATIVES FOR TALENT DEVELOPMENT
The development of ICT talent supply is enshrined within Bangladesh's national agenda, "Vision 2021." Vision 2021 isboth a political manifesto and a concrete development plan for Bangladesh. Bangladesh will celebrate its 50th
anniversary in 2021, and this will be marked by a number of milestones in various areas, including the developmentof the ICT industry. Collectively, the vision for Bangladesh's ICT development is known as "Digital Bangladesh"45.

COMPARISON BETWEEN THE SUPPLY OF SERVICES
IN BANGLADESH AND DEMAND OF SERVICES IN THE NETHERLANDSSUPPLY:BANGLADESHSERVICE AREA

33

Cross Border Opportunities within Asia Pacific | Bangladesh

FOUR PILLARS OF DIGITAL BANGLADESH46

DEMAND:
THE NETHERLANDSWeb Design

Taking Services to
Citizens' Doorsteps

Mobile Application Development
Customized/Web Application Development

Making the Private Sector
and Market More
Productive and Competitive
through the use of Digital
Technology

Developing
Human Resources to Meet
21st-century Needs

Connecting Citizens
in Ways that are Most
Meaningful to ThemBPO
Web Development
Graphic Design
Application Maintenance
Customized Software Development
Cloud Computing
Systems Integration

Services such as web design and web application
development can be exported easily to European countries.
The technologies involved do not require special
development hardware or environment. Furthermore, alarge percentage of IT service companies in Bangladesh are
already providing such services.

Another area with great potential is business process
outsourcing. This model has been implemented in many
Asian countries by multinational corporations (MNCs) toleverage on cost saving of a centralized back-officeprocessing center. Basic computer literacy is sufficient for
many ERP-enabled business tasks.
Bangladesh still lacks the supply of talent that are skilled inemerging technologies, such as cloud computing, andtechnologies relevant to very large and complex
organizations, such as systems integration.

OBJECTIVES OF ICT IN EDUCATION MASTER PLAN, 2012-202147

Development of
the Teaching–learning
Environment

Development of
Teachers' Professional and
ICT Skills

Development of
Teaching–learning
Resources

Development of
Human Resources to Meet
Present-day Demands

INDUSTRY SPECIALIZATION OF SOFTWARE COMPANIES(% OF SURVEYED COMPANIES SPECIALIZING IN THE RESPECTIVE FUNCTION)ORGANIZATION Boo 2

BanglaLtd.

BUSINESSACTIVITY TYPE

Budget
View

CIM
Hawar
Solutions IT

Software, Consulting Web
IT
DesignServices

Kimball
Systems

MisterClipping

Parkingware Rocket
BV
Internet
Benelux

IT
Hardware Hardware Software,
Services
HardwareVerintSystems
B.V.

Investment Software

Ensuring the participationof education-related
personnel

Ensuring Transparency,
Skills, and Accountability in
Education Management

Bringing
Education Services to theDoorsteps of Citizens

The government is actively working on several projects to boost the IT capabilities of the workforce. One example would
be an initiative with the World Bank Group to train new IT graduates and also upskill the existing workforce.

34

IDC | ICT Talent Development & Collaboration

35

Cross Border Opportunities within Asia Pacific | Bangladesh

BANGLADESH ICT/ITES SKILLS INITIATIVE, 2015–201848

SECONDARY SCHOOL ENROLLMENT, 1995–201751

Implications to Talent Supply

Enrollment (Male)

Enrollment (Female)

Enrollment (Total)

10,00011.0 mil

Science or IT Graduates
will be given Additional or"Top-up" Training

30,000
New and Upskilled
IT Professionals will Enter the Labor
Market Supply by 2018

20,00010.0 milHigh School Graduates
will be given "ITES Foundation
Skill Training"

9.0 mil
8.0 mil
7.0milThe Certification Agencies
are Appointed by the Governmentof Bangladesh

6.0 mil

Beneficiaries of the Training
Programs will Receive Assistance inGaining Employment

The programs are
Supported by the World Bank

5.0mil4.0 mil
3.0 mil

All Training Provided to Beneficiaries
will be Certified by International
Certification Agencies to Ensure theQuality of the Training Provided

2.0 mil

BANGLADESH ICT/ITES SKILLS INITIATIVE, 2015–201849
Implications to Talent Supply
The incubator will
focus on research, innovation,
entrepreneurship, job creation,and human resource
development

A technology business incubator
will be established by theGovernment of Bangladesh at the
Chittagong University of Engineeringand Technology (CUET)

Implications to Talent Supply
The project has
since grown to encompass
a large digitization effort
by the government.
For instance, in 2015,
the government appointed Telenor
Digital to develop and implement
digital and mobile technology to drive
economic and social developmentin the country.

The government has also signed amemorandum of understanding with
Microsoft for the support of women
entrepreneurs. Microsoft will
provide IT training at 5,273 digital
centers across Bangladesh.
The a2i Project started aspart of the government's effort torealize its Vision 2021 by providing
access to high-quality data to thecitizens of Bangladesh.

Additionally, Microsoft will connect
them to employment opportunities
at services centers following
completion of the training.

PRIMARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION IN BANGLADESH
The development of the primary and secondary education system also provides a view on the ability of the economy's youth
to take up ICT skills later in life. The youth will need to be prepared with a solid foundation in literacy and numeracy skills.

2017

2016

2015

2014

2013

2012

2011

2010

2009

2008

0.0 mil

Primary education is defined as education up to Grade 8 in Bangladesh and is free. The government may provide a stipend
for secondary school students who have financial needs, but this is not guaranteed. Enrollment rates in secondary schools
have been steadily increasing since 2008, which signal the increasing desire and importance of having a good education
despite the costs involved.

TERTIARY IT EDUCATION IN BANGLADESHBANGLADESH ICT/ITES SKILLS INITIATIVE, 2015–201850

2007

2006

2005

2004

2003

2002

2001

2000

1999

1998

1997

1996

1995

1.0 mil

NUMBER OF IT-RELATEDVERSUS NON-IT ENGINEERING PROGRAMSACCREDITED BY BAETE

There are several tertiary education institutions that offer
IT-related courses in Bangladesh. They range from technicaland vocational institutions offering basic IT training touniversities with engineering and computer science
programs.

IT-Related Programs

A large amount of published statistics on tertiary educationin Bangladesh grouped students that study computing andinformation and communication technology under a single
banner of science, technology, engineering, andmathematics (STEM). Therefore, data from the Board of
Accreditation for Engineering and Technical Education(BAETE) provides insights into the composition of programs
within the engineering discipline in Bangladesh's tertiary
institutions.

Accredited programs allow for specialization in softwareareas, such B.Sc. Computer Engineering and B.Sc. Computer
Science and Engineering, as well as hardware areas, suchas B.Sc. Electronic and Telecommunication Engineering.
There is a much larger number of engineering programs
related to ICT that have been or are accredited by BAETE (35to 13).

The BAETE was set up by the Institution of Engineers,
Bangladesh (IEB) to oversee the quality of engineering
programs offered at tertiary education institutions in the
country. The IEB has a long history in Bangladesh, goingback over 50 years.

The availability of such programs creates a diverse pool oftalent that can fill vacancies in positions that focus on
software development and programming, such as softwaredevelopers, mobile application developers, and web
developers. There will also be talent for positions that
require a deep understanding of hardware, such as network
engineers and IT infrastructure engineers.

35

Non-IT-Related Programs
13

36

IDC | ICT Talent Development & Collaboration

Cross Border Opportunities within Asia Pacific | Bangladesh

ANALYSIS OF ACCREDITED IT-RELATEDENGINEERING PROGRAMS IN BANGLADESHPROGRAM TITLE

ICT
Related

B.Sc. Aeronautical Engineering (AE)1

1

B.Sc. Chemical Engineering & Polymer Science (CEP)

1

1

B.Sc. Civil Engineering (CE)1
6There are both public and private organizations involved in talent development in Bangladesh. Public organizations
are focused on building up talent as a whole starting with education at the primary level. A strong foundation isnecessary for talent take on ICT skills later in life.

GOVERNMENT BODIES RESPONSIBLE FOR EDUCATION IN BANGLADESH
GOVERNMENT BODY

2

2

B.Sc. Textile Engineering (TE)1

1

B.Sc. Textile Engineering (TE)

11

2

13

B.Sc. Computer Engineering (CoE)1

1

B.Sc. Computer Science & Engineering (CSE)9RESPONSIBILITY

Ministry of Education

Responsible for the central management of the nation’s education
systemMinistry of Primary and Mass Education

Responsible for planning and managing public primary andpre-primary schools

1

B.Sc. Mechanical Engineering (ME)

B.Sc. Electrical & Communication Engineering (ECE)

ICT
Related1
6

1

B.Sc. Industrial & Production Engineering (IPE)

Not ICT
Related(Total)2.5 ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED IN TALENT DEVELOPMENTNUMBER OF ACCREDITED PROGRAMSACCREDIATION
ACCREDIATIONTOTALIN FORCENEEDS RENEWALPROGRAM

B.Sc. Civil & Environmental Engineering (CEE)37

Directorate of Primary Education
Bureau of Non-Formal Education

Oversees the provision of basic literacy, numeracy and life skills
outside of the formal education system in schools

2

Directorate of Secondary Education andHigher Education

Responsible for secondary and tertiary education, including
providing aid and support to privately managed secondary schools

2

11

Directorate of Technical Education

1

1

Oversees technical and vocational education and training (TVET),
which provides skills that can be directly applie upon gaining
employment

3

13

University Grants Commission

Ensures the quality and standards of all university-level educationin Bangladesh

Directorate of Madrasah Education

Oversees traditional schools (Madrasah) that are still popularamong the Bangladeshi citizens

Ministry of Social Welfare and Ministryof Women and Children Affairs

Coordinates special-purpose education programs targeted at
specific social groups

B.Sc. Electrical & Electronic Engineering (EEE)

10

B.Sc. Electrical, Electronic & Communication
Engineering (EECE)

1

1

B.Sc. Mechanical Engineering (ME)1

1

B.Sc. Textile Engineering (TE)3

3

B.Sc. Textile Engineering (TE)2

2

B.Sc. Textile Engineering (TE)1

1

ICT Related(Total)

28

7

35

Total
Programs

39

9

48

Private organization on the other hand are focused on
developing the ICT industry of which software, outsourcing
and IT enabled services are in the lead. Some initiatives
specifically target the development and upskilling of ICT
talent such as the Bangladesh Computer Samity’s Techno
Master Class and the BASIS Institute of Technology &Management.

BANGLADESH COMPUTER SAMITY (BCS)The Bangladesh Computer Samity (BCS) is trade association
formed in 1987 that represents players in the Bangladesh
ICT industry. Their members include distributors, dealers,
resellers of computer and allied products, locally assembled
computer vendors, software developers and exporters,internet service providers, ICT based educational
institutions and training houses and other ICT enabled
services providers. They have more than 1500 members52.

38

IDC | ICT Talent Development & Collaboration

BENEFITS ENJOYED BY BASIS MEMBERSBANGLADESH COMPUTER SAMITY ACTIVITIESIT Events andExpositions

Businessand Professional
AdviceProvision of
Learning Material in
Bangla Language

39

Cross Border Opportunities within Asia Pacific | Bangladesh

Provision ofInformation toIts Members

Awareness
Campaigns

Participate in Nationaland International Events at
Discounted Fees

Access to
SME Loan Fund and Equity
Entrepreneurship FundBANGLADESH COMPUTER SOCIETY
The Bangladesh Computer Society was established In 1979
as a non-profit professional body for computer engineers,scientist and technologist. They are involved in ICT humanresource development by providing certification for IT
professionals, contributing to Government policy making
and organizing events such as seminars, workshops andlectures59.

BANGLADESH COMPUTER SOCIETY OBJECTIVESRELATED TO ICT TALENT DEVELOPMENT60
Seminars

Training Programs

Conferences

Workshops

BANGLADESH COMPUTER SAMITY OBJECTIVES53

Legal and Advocacy
Support

Corporate
Tax Exemption(with Limits)

Workshops and
Seminars

Promote and Formulate
Effective Policies for
ICT Development

Encourage,
promote and diversify
effective use ofcomputer in Bangladesh

Renderexpert advice to theconcerned authorities on
computer technology andits implication of theeconomy of Bangladesh

Make representation to thegovernment and relatedbodies on behalf of BCS
members with a view to
reduce bottlenecks,
grievances, anomalies andmeeting legitimate demands

Unite andencourage cooperation
amongst companies,
firms and industries

Support for
Organizational Capacity
Development

Create Employment
Opportunities for Membersof the Society

Venue Rental Facilities
at BASIS Auditorium, Lounge,
and Board RoomPAST AND CURRENT PROJECTS OF BASIS

Conduct Seminars, Workshops, Symposiums and Lectures
to Improve Professional Skills of Members

Software Technology Park -1 (STP-1)
BASIS Institute of Technology & Management(BITM)
Seek cooperation
among all the members in
the ICT business

Safeguard theinterest of its members andtheir development

Discuss and promotelegislation to
support to industry

BASIS-A2I Joint Project for national portal
framework development

Maintaining Standard of
ICT Knowledge

Promote, Develop andMonitor ICT Competency

Advance Professional
Excellence in ICTSkill and Knowledge
Development

CBI-IT Outsourcing Export Coaching Program

TECHNO MASTER CLASSThe Techno Master Class is a series of training events in2018 made possible through a collaboration between BCS,
Bangladesh Skill Development Institute Vinsys54. The focusof these training events is IoT, data science, big data, andblockchain technologies55.

for Software & IT Enabled Service industry of Bangladesh.
They are involved a range of industry building activities
including market development, capacity building, businesssupport services and government advocacy57.

OBJECTIVES OF BASIS58

NTFIII Project (supported by CBI, Netherlands
Government and implemented jointlywith ITC, UN and DCCI)
Policy Reform Initiative of BASIS (BASIS incollaboration with The Asia Foundation)
BASIS Softexpo 2017

Vinsys is a global training provider that offers courses inareas such as project management leaded to a PMP,
PRINCE2 and other certifications. They also offer a wide
range of training courses targeted at technologies offeredby Microsoft, Oracle, SAP and Apache.56

Support to Kaliakoir Hi-Tech Park Project (BASIS incollaboration with Bangladesh HiTech park Authority)
Market Development

Capacity Building
Leveraging ICT (LICT) Project (With the support of
Ministry of ICT)BANGLADESH ASSOCIATION OF SOFTWARE AND
INFORMATION SERVICES (BASIS)
The Bangladesh Association of Software and Information
Services was established in 1997 as a national trade bodyBusiness Supports

Government Advocacy

BANGLADESH SKILL DEVELOPMENT INSTITUTE(BSDI)The Bangladesh Skill Development Institute (BSDI) was
founded in 2003 and is now a leading provider for
professional education in Bangladesh. It employs
competency-based training to produce high quality
graduates61.

40

IDC | ICT Talent Development & Collaboration

41

Cross Border Opportunities within Asia Pacific | China

3. CHINA
3.1 INTRODUCTION
China is the largest economy in Asia. GDP was reported at USD 12,014 billion in 2017 and the economy is expected to
grow more than 79% by 2023. Unemployment is below 5% and is expected to remain stable according to forecast by
the International Monetary Fund.

CHINA ECONOMIC SNAPSHOT65

ICT RELATED PROGRAMS OFFERED BY BSDI

SUBJECTUNITS
DESCRIPTOR

SCALE

Gross
domestic
product,
current
pricesU.S.
dollars

Billions 11,226.2 11,221.8 12,014.6 14,092.5 15,543.7 16,952.0 18,401.8 19,925.4 21,573.9

Unemployment rate

Percentof total
labor
force

3.4

3.1

2.9

2.9

2.9

2.9

2.9

2.9

2.9

Population

Persons Millions

64.0

64.6

65.3

65.6

65.4

n/a

n/a

n/a

n/a

2015

2016

2017

2018

2019

2020

2021

2022

2023

DIPLOMA IN ENGINEERING WITH THE FOLLOWING FOCUS AREA62
LARGE AND GROWING IT TALENT POOL66
ElectricalTechnology

ComputerTechnology

Telecommunication
Technology

Civil
Engineering

CERTIFICATION IN CREATIVE DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY WITH
THE FOLLOWING FOCUS AREA63
3D
Animation

MotionGraphics

Architectural
VisualizationGame
Development

SHORT COURSES64
Cisco Certified
Network Associate(CCNA)

Advanced
Computer Application

Database Design andDevelopment

Graphic Design

OnlineOutsourcing

Web Application using PHP,
MYSQL, Ajax, Jquery, HTML,CSS & JavaScript

Web Design andDevelopment

Linux

Complete Software
Development in Microsoft
Platform

Advanced
Microsoft Excel

JAVA Application
Development

Search Engine
Optimization

Computer Hardware andNetworking

Mobile Apps
Development

China is home to a large number of ICT talent. According toMinistry of Science and Technology, there were 71 million
people specializing in science and technology in China. The
science and technology category cover a range of industries
including high technology manufacturing, ICT, bio-tech,environment protection and energy.

The positive outlook for ICT talent growth is based on thestrong growth rate of ICT talent between 2008 to 2017.
Other factors include supportive government policies andinitiatives, high enrolment of students in ICT majors,availability of ICT training programs and growth of internetcompanies in China.

Talents in science and technology are defined as personwith science and technology academic degrees who are
working in technology-facing jobs including research &development, engineering design, technology development,
technology services and management according to Ministryof Science and Technology.

GROWTH POTENTIAL OF
CHINA’S ICT TALENT POOL67

The ICT industry alone commands a 15 million strong
workforce which represents over 20% of the total scienceand technology workforce. Employees in the ICT industry
are well skilled as they are graduates of ICT-related courses
or ICT training programs.

Science and Technology TalentThis number is expected to grow at a rapid pace. Should
historical trends continue, the whole science andtechnology category is expected to grow at 6% annually. The
ICT segment is expected to grow at an even faster pace of
10% annually.

71,000,000 People
6% Annual Growth

ICT Talent
15,000,000 People
10% Annual Growth42

IDC | ICT Talent Development & Collaboration

TIMELINE OF CHINA’S ICT INDUSTRY DEVELOPMENT, 2000 - PRESENT

3.2 FUTURE INDUSTRY DIRECTION AND IMPLICATIONS TO TALENT DEMAND
The Chinese Government has been working to develop the ICT industry. Major policies and initiative can be traced backto the turn of the century. Currently, China is home to technology giants such as Huawei, Xiaomi and Alibaba. In fact,
China is home to 9 out of 20 of the biggest technology companies globally with a prominent presence on the internet.

TOP 20 INTERNET COMPANIES BY MARKET VALUE, 201868
Market Value (2013)Market Value (2018)

USA Region

China Region2013 Total 1,429 bil

43

Cross Border Opportunities within Asia Pacific | China

Market Value (2013)Market Value (2018)2018 Total 5,788 bil

National Policies andInitiatives to Drive China
ICT Growth

Government Released Work Report to
Optimize ICT Industry and Drive Growth of
ICT Technology

National mid and long term science and technology
development planning guideline (2006-2020)

Suggestions on accelerating the development ofservice outsourcing industry

Advice to speeding up the development of
ICT service industry

Government guidance on the purchase of services fromenterprises and companies
Accelerating the construction of cloud computing andbig data standard system

Market Value
1000 bil

Action plan for promoting big data development

900 bil
800 bil
700 bil
600 bil

Beginning Stage

Development Stage

Expanding Stage

Innovation Stage

500 bil

Before 2006

2006-20102011-20152016 and Afterwards

400 bil
300 bil
200 bil
150 bil
100 bil
75 bil
50 bil
25 bil
0 bil
1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

1

Apple

5

Facebook

9

Ant Financial

13 Baidu

17 JD.com

2

Amazon6

Alibaba

10 eBay + Paypal

14 Xiaomi

18 Airbnb

3

Microsoft

7

Tencent

11 Booking Holdings

15 Uber

19 Meituan-Dianping

4

Google/Alphabet

8

Netflix

12 Salesforce.com

16 Didi Chuxing

20 Toutiao

The development of the Chinese ICT landscape can be
broken up into 4 stages. The foundation was laid with afocus on software, outsourcing and services sub industries
in the early 2000s and improvements to science andtechnology talent. The ICT industry development continued
to infrastructure investments including software parks andtraining programs.

Over the past decade, the focus of ICT development in China
has shifted to emerging technologies such as cloudcomputing, big data and artificial intelligence. China is
positioned to be a major competitor to technology giants
around the world.

Government Set Up High Tech Parks,
with Supportive Programs to
Speed the Growth

Government Issued Strategies toPrioritize Importance of ICT for
Economic Development and Innovations

MOC, MII and MOST collaborated to set up
high tech parks for software outsourcing industry growth

Software outsourcing host cities being
increased to 31 cities

Implementation of 1,110
policies for software outsourcing industry

Software outsourcing industry has its own
13th five year planning

State council approved 21 cities as host forsoftware outsourcing industry

Made in China 2025, Internet + Initiatives, big data action
guideline, One Road, One Belt program, etc.

IT training program to support IT talents forsoftware industry growth

ICT technology innovations to be emphasized andhighlighted as key force to drive business innovations andadoption in industries e.g. financing
Development plan of artificial intelligence
new generation, etc.

The Government has laid out several policies and plans to ensure that the country is ready to harness the economic potentialof Big Data and AI technologies. The application of these emerging technologies is not confined to the ICT industry. Big Data
has found a home with environmental science and medical field as well.

44

IDC | ICT Talent Development & Collaboration

GOVERNMENT POLICIES ON AI

GOVERNMENT POLICIES ON BIG DATAPOLICY

TIME

Overall Plan for Big Data
ConstructionofEcological
Environmen

Mar
2016

Guidance on Promoting
andRegulating
theDevelopment of Big Data
Applications
forHealthcare

Mar
2016

Outline of the Thirteenth
Five-Year
Plan
for
National Economic andSocial Development of
the People's Republic of
China

Sep
2016

Big
Data
Industry
Development Plan
(2016 - 2020)
Meteorological Big Data
Action Plan
(2018-2020)

MINISTRY
Ministry ofEnvironmental
Protection

Office of the StateCouncil

45

Cross Border Opportunities within Asia Pacific | China

CONTENTPOLICYTIMEMINISTRY

Recommends the establishment of three platforms Big
Data, namely: Big Data Environmental Protection Cloud,Big Data Management Platform and Big Data
Application Platform. Presently, the first phase of theecoenvironment big data application platform has beenlaunched.

“Thirteenth Five-Year" National
Science and Technology Innovation
Plan

Jul
2016

State
Council

Proposal for the development of big data driven
artificial intelligence technology

Science and Technology Innovation
2030 - Major Projects

Mar
2017

Ministry of
Science

Outline of artificial intelligence as a national
strategy

National Artificial Intelligence New
Generation Open Innovation Platform

Nov
2017

Ministry of
Science

Plans for artificial intelligence development andhighlights of projects already implemented

Three-Year
ActionPlan
for
Promoting the Development of New
Generation of Artificial Intelligence
Industry (2018 - 2020)

Dec
2017

Ministry ofIndustry
andInformation
Technology

Promotes for deeper integration of artificial
intelligence and manufacturing

Promotes the integration and open sharing ofgovernment health medical information system andpublic health medical data and the creation of adevelopment environment that promotes security
norms and innovative applications for Big Data inhealthcare.

National People's
Congress Financial
and Economic
Committee National
Development andReform Commission

Proposes the implementation of the National Big Data
strategy and promote the innovative applications of Big
Data.

Jan
2017

Ministry of Industry
and Information
Technology

Promotes the coordinated development of technology,
applications and security related to Big Data.

Apr
2018

China
Meteorological
Administration

By 2020, the meteorological Big Data cloud platform
will be the meteorological department's mostcomprehensive and authoritative cloud computing
platform. It consists of an online data warehouse anddata mining application that enables scientific decision
making and service provision based on Big Datatechnologies.

CONTENT

Traditional, mobile and web application developers make up the largest segment of ICT employment in China. The pushtoward emerging technologies through government initiatives as well as by businesses needing to stay competitive in the
global market will drive the demand for new categories of talent. There is already a sizable number of talent specializing in
IoT and Data Science at 7% and 6% of total ICT employment respectively.

ICT EMPLOYMENT SEGMENTS, 2017
Total ICT Employees, 2017 is 15 million persons
25%

3%

3%

4%

4%

5%

6%

7%

8%

10%

12%

30%

13%

20%
10%
0%

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

1

Digital Marketing
Consultant

5

Cybersecurity
Engineer92Software Functional
Consultant

6

Data
Scientist

10 Network
Engineer3

Business Intelligence
Analyst7

IoT
Developer

11 Mobile and Web
Application Developer

4

Cloud Solution
Architect8

SoftwareTester

12 Custom Application
Developer(Traditional App)IT Infrastructure
Engineer

46

IDC | ICT Talent Development & Collaboration

Cross Border Opportunities within Asia Pacific | China

PRC IN-DEMAND JOBS 2018-2020

47

3.3 CROSS-BORDER TALENT OPPORTUNITIESIn 2016, the Ministry of Public Security approved a total of 1,576 foreigners (mostly scientific and technology talents)
for permanent residence in China, an increase of 163% over the previous year.

IN DEMAND JOBS

2018

2019

2020

Business Intelligence Consultant

21,29025,11329,458Cloud Solution Architect

28,73142,36958,742Computer Systems Analyst

237,559

249,781261,575

Cybersecurity Consultant

31,25539,75850,368

Data Scientist

10,645

12,557

14,729Internet of Things (IoT) Developer

134,218

151,713

170,895

IT Infrastructure Engineer

45,97067,79093,987

Mobile and Web Application Developer

430,127

436,664

461,142

Network Engineer

34,47750,843

Software Developer

142,536

PRC Total

1,116,807

Foreign scientific and technology talents are allowed to act as legal representative of foreign scientific research
institutions, and foreign scientists are allowed to undertake national science and technology projects, receive
government science and technology awards, and carry out innovation activities.

GOVERNMENT DECISION RELATED TO CROSS-BORDER TALENTDATEINITIATIVE

2016/2/18

70,490

The General Office of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the General Office of
the State Council issued the "Opinions on Strengthening the Management of Permanent Residing
Services for Foreigners “This includes:

149,869

156,945• Adjusting the policy of applying for permanent residence for foreigners working in China

1,226,457

1,368,330• Removing of job-level restrictions• Relaxing residence time requirements

The Ministry of Science and Technology highlighted several
challenges within the ICT talent pool. These include the lackof high end and leading ICT talents, inability to fill in roles
across the whole IT value-chain, and unbalanced purchasing
power between sub-industries.

ROOM FOR MORE ICT MAJORS AMONG HIGHEREDUCATION INSTITUTESNUMBER OF ICT MAJORS IN
CHINESE UNIVERSITIESICT Majors
Non-ICT Majors
Total Number• Easing transition for work permission to permeance residence for foreigner in field supported by thecountry

ICT Majors Growth
Non-ICT Majors Growth
Total Growth

2016/3/17

The State Council announced the outline of the Thirteenth Five-Year Plan for National Economic andSocial Development of the People's Republic of China that includes improvement to the permanent
residence system for foreigners and relax the requirements for skilled personnel to obtain permanent
residency.

Number of People

According to statistics, there were 2,596 HEIs (High
Education Institutes) in 2016. Around 8.15 million newstudents enrolled in HEIs in 2016 with about 10% enrollingin ICT majors. Overall, ICT majors make up 9.6% of the total
students enrolled in 2016.

8.0 mil
7.0 mil
6.0 mil

2.3% CAGR

2.0% CAGR

2.0 mil

784,492

665,077

The State Council issued the Notice on Several Measures for Active and Effective Use of Foreign Capitalto Promote High-Quality Economic Development that includes the call to enhance the convenience of
foreign talents working in China, and introduce measures to ensure that foreign talents in China enjoy
basic public services and provide more convenient work permit management services

3.0 mil
1.0 mil
0.9 mil
0.8 mil
0.7 mil
0.6 mil

5.7% CAGR

0.5 mil
0.4 mil
0.3 mil
0.2 mil
0.1 mil2013

2017/6/15

4.0 mil

8,153,174“ According to statistics, there were 2,596 HEIs
(High Education Institutes) in 2016. Around8.15 million new students enrolled in HEIs in2016 with about 10% enrolling in ICT majors. “

5.0 mil

7,368,682
7,609,711

6,944,634

The job marks indicated that ICT graduates are in highdemand with 94% if ICT graduates getting employedcompared to the overall employment rate for graduates at
92%.

It also includes the call to make it convenient for overseas talents to work in China, and attract foreigner
to study in China

9.0 mil2016

0.0 mil“ the Ministry of Public Security approved a
total of 1,576 foreigners (mostly scientific andtechnology talents) for permanent residence in
China, an increase of 163% over the previous
year. “IDC | ICT Talent Development & Collaboration

VOCATION EDUCATION IN SUPPLYING ICT TALENT

3.4 KEY INITIATIVES FOR TALENT DEVELOPMENT
GOVERNMENT INITIATIVES ON TALENT DEVELOPMENTThe Government has several initiatives in place to encourage the development of ICT talent.

GOVERNMENT POLICIES FOR ICT TALENT DEVELOPMENT

Scientific and technical personnel can work part-time at
private enterprises to engage in scientific and technologicaladvancement and transformation

35 bil40 bilIncludes areas on discovering, cultivating, and gathering
strategic scientists, technology leaders, and highly skilled
personnel
To highlight the need to improve the talent evaluation
mechanism and service guarantee system

2010
National Innovation Driven
Development
Strategy
Outline2016/5/19

Guiding
Opinionson
Deepening the Integrationof Manufacturing and theInternet

2016/5/20

State
Council,
CPC
CentralCommittee

Policies to attract innovative and entrepreneurial talents

State
Council

Support for colleges and universities to set up "Internet +"and other related majors

Policies to promote equity options as incentives so that
innovative talents of various subjects and positions canenjoy the gains from scientific and technologicalachievements.

To promote the provision of professional degrees in higher
education institutions
To promote the CIO system in large and medium-sizedenterprises and expand the network application talent
team

Thirteenth
Five-Year
National
ScienceandTechnology
InnovationPlan

2016/8/8

State
Council

To improve the evaluation method of talent evaluation andimplement the classification evaluation of scientific andtechnical personnel.
To reform/enhance the salary and recruitment system tocreate fair and equitable for all types of talent

Notice on Printing andDistributing
theDevelopment Plan of a
New Generation of Artificial
Intelligence

2017/7/8

State
Council

To prioritize the formation of a highly talented pool of
employees in emerging technology areas such as artificial
intelligence

40.6

30 bil36.2

StateCouncil

45 bil32.5

2016/3/17

Awards given to people to made major contributions toscience and technology

29.3

Thirteenth Five-Year Plan
for National Economic andSocial Development of thePeople's Republic of China

State
Council

SIZE OF CHINA’S ICT VOCATIONAL TRAINING MARKET, 2010-2017 (billion RMB)

26.6

2016/3/2

SUMMARY

24.3

Legal
Provisions
for
Promoting Scientific andTechnologicalAchievements

MINISTRY

15.6

DATE

The ICT training market is driven by students in academic
institutions who want to learn practical ICT skills for job
opportunities. The are also employees who wish to improvetheir ICT skills for new job opportunities or learn the latest
technologies to remain competitive.

Vocational training in China plays a major role in in supplying
talent to the ICT industry in China. In 2017, around 4.1
million students are registered for the ICT vocational
training and 870,000 IT certification granted. The market isworth USD 4.4 billion in 2017.

11.0

POLICY

49

Cross Border Opportunities within Asia Pacific | China

22.3

48

25 bil20 bil15 bil10 bil
5 bil

2011

2014

2015

2016

2017

2018 F2019 F

2020 F

0 bil

Training providers such as Aptech, Xinhua computer, Ambow, Thinkbank, Huadi, Wanbo, NIIT, Eduask, Gamfe, Tarena, andWenda have cultivated their reputation as a reliable source of high-quality ICT talent over the year. These training providers
are also involved in ICT certification programs.

REGION TALENT INCENTIVES
There are also incentives tailored to attract ICT talent tospecific region in China. For instance, Shenyang City hasplans to develop high-valued industries such as equipment
manufacturing, intelligent robots, electronic information,
pharmaceutical and chemical industry, and aerospace. Thus,
the city has developed an incentive to be given to qualified
talent in the form of subsided up to USD 72,000.

FINANCIAL INDUSTRY
INCENTIVESTALENT

RETENTION

The financial industry has resorted to various soft incentives
to retain the best ICT talent in a competitive job market.
These incentives include flexible working hours, shorter
workhours, free meals, performance rewards, profit sharing,
retention bonuses, stock options and deferredcompensation.

50

IDC | ICT Talent Development & Collaboration

3.5 ORGANIZATIONSDEVELOPMENTEMPLOYEE INCENTIVES PROVIDED

62%

80%
70%
60%

37%
16%

18%

34%

39%

50%
40%

25%

20%

18%

13%

51

Cross Border Opportunities within Asia Pacific | China

INVOLVEDIN

TALENT

China is home to many of the biggest technology
companies in the world. As such, securing talent it is
crucial for them to remain competitive in the intense
and fast-moving global market. Many of thesecompanies have launched their own initiatives toattract and develop ICT talent for their organization.

Under the program, there are research scholarships thatprovide 100,000 yuan per year per person for two
consecutive years. This award is to be used for the academic
research, including but not limited to international academic
conferences, article publications, patent applications andother fees.

HUAWEI ICT ACADEMY69

ALIBABA

Huawei ICT Academy is a collaboration program
between Huawei and education institution thatdelivers Huawei ICT technologies training, encourages
students to get Huawei certification, and develops
talents with practical skills for the ICT industry and thecommunity.

CLOUD AUCP UNIVERSITY INCLUSIVE PLAN

Courses are carried out by education institutions or
academies certified by Huawei. Education institutions
under this program include universities, colleges,
polytechnics training centers and others. Huawei
provides various forms of business support forcertified academies. Students also enjoy a variety of
benefits for enrolling in course under this program andare awarded with recognized certificates uponcompletion.

Provides students and teachers in universities andeducational institutions around the world
with a wealth of courses in cloud computing and big data,practice, certification, and othereducational ecological resources, and to train the futuretechnology professionals,
entrepreneurs and leaders of cloud computing and big dataindustry.

30%

17%

20%

TENCENT10%RHINO BIRD
PROGRAM

0%
1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

1

DeferredCompensation

4

Profit Sharing

7

Work Time
Compression

10 Regular Social
Activities

BAIDU

2

Stock Options

5

Performance
Rewards

8Free Fitness
Membership

11 Flexible
Work Schedule

SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM

3

Retention
Bonus

6

Free
Work Meals

9

Teleworking
Opportunities

In 2013, Baidu established the Baidu Scholarship
Program to provide the industry's most generous
financial support for the top technical talents who may
become technology leaders or scientists in the future,and provide data, platform and expert guidance for
their research work, aiming to make potential
outstanding technical talents stand out.

ELITE

TALENT

DEVELOPMENT

The program is aimed at recruiting talents fromundergraduate, master's and doctoral
students in science and technology. It aims to use theTencent platform and resources towork together to create a school-enterprise joint training
program for students, and to train
students to innovate to promote the cultivation of scientificresearch and innovative talents.

52

IDC | ICT Talent Development & Collaboration

Cross Border Opportunities within Asia Pacific | India

53

4. INDIA
4.1 INTRODUCTION
The Indian IT industry currently stands at USD 143
billion in terms of revenues and employs about 3.7
million directly across the four sub-sectors: IT Services,
Business Process Management (BPM), Software
Product Development (SPD) and Engineering Research& Design (ERD) with an incremental hiring of nearly 0.2
million witnessed in FY 2016. The Indian IT industry is
expected to grow at about 10 to 12% CAGR as
compared to global IT spends, which are expected toincrease at 3.6% YoY, over the 2014 to 2019 period leading to an increased India’s share of the Global IT
spends. However, the employment growth is expected
to settle down with increasing maturity of the sector
and evolution of non-linear business models andinnovations, leading to a decoupling of revenues andemployment.

maintain our competitive edge in the future. Though skilling
efforts are required across the industry it is imperative tounderstand the “High Demand Occupations” wherecompanies expect majority of hiring to take place.
It is also vital to keep track of emerging occupations. It is
expected that going forward, the IT services sub-sector will
also witness incremental hiring in Application Maintenance,
Sales & Pre-Sales occupations apart from the identified highdemand occupations while in the BPM sub-sector, HealthServices, Human Resource Outsourcing and Knowledge
Services will have incremental hiring over the next three
years.

HIGH DEMAND OCCUPATIONSIN THE IT-BPM INDUSTRY

More importantly, the industry has led the economictransformation of the country and altered the perception ofIndia in the global economy. The IT sector in India grew at acompound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 13 per cent over
2010-16, which is 3-4 times higher than the global IT
spend, and is estimated to expand at a CAGR of 12 per centto USD 201 billion by 2019.
International Data Corp. (IDC) estimates that Indian IT
vendors will generate at least USD 225 billion in overall
revenue in 2020 on back of growth of SMAC. The break-up
of spending expected across each of the components are
10% of the total IT budget on big data and analytics, 9.5% on
cloud services, 5.3% on mobile apps and devices and 3.4%
on social media. A survey of 410 global IT decision makers
in 2014 predicted India will export $15 billion worth of
SMAC software and services in FY17.

SPENDING PERCENTAGE OFOVERALL ICT REVENUEINDIA IT SECTOR REVENUE AND
EMPLOYMENT PROJECTION

IT Services

BPM

Data Scientist

Analytics

10%

Finance and Accounting

8%

Revenue

Information/Cyber
Security

225 bil

Application Development

Customer RelationshipManagement (CRM)

6%

4.5 mil
4.0 mil

200 bil

3.5 mil

175 bil

3.0 mil

150 bil

Employment
Headcount Growth

Industry Revenue (USD)
Industry Growth

0.0 mil

FY 2016 FY 2019195 bil - 200 bil

0.5 mil

10% - 12% CAGR

1.0 mil

143 bil

1.5 mil

3.7 mil

2.0 mil

5.4% CAGR

2.5 mil

4.2 mil - 4.3 mil

Employment

FY 2016 FY 2019125 bil
100 bil
75 bil
50 bil
25 bilWhile the 0.5-0.6 mn new jobs being created will
require fresh skilling initiatives, the existing
workforce of 3.7 mn requires significant re-skillingand up-skilling in new digital technologies to

4%
2%
Big Data
Analytics

ER&D

SPD

Product Lifecycle
Management

Product Development
and Delivery

SoftwareDevelopment

Quality
Assurance

0 bil2019 industry revenues are expected to reach USD
190 to 200 bn and the industry is expected to
employ about 4.2 to 4.3 mn people directly. This
speaks to headcount growth of about 5% over the
next 3 years as against a revenue growth of ~10 to
12%. This difference of growth rates is a result of the
adoption of automation technologies as well asother new digital technologies namely IoT, SMAC andCyber Security which is seeing a higher revenue per
employee potential as compared to traditional
services provided by companies from across theglobe.

12%

On the supply side, the industry can continue to expect asurplus of manpower seeking and willing to work in the IT
industry. About 7 million students are expected to be eligiblefor jobs every year for qualifications relevant to the IT
industry. However, employability of the new workforce
remains a major concern and therefore it becomes
imperative to ensure that the new entrants possess
relevant national and global qualification standards.
India remains the world's No.1 sourcing destination for the
information technology (IT) industry, accounting for
approximately 5 per cent of the USD 2,720 billion global IT
spends. The indirect employment attributed by the industry
employs about 10 million people and continues tocontribute significantly to the social and economictransformation in the country. As per the NASSCOM
Strategic Review report 2016, the industry is estimated to
employ nearly 3.7 million people directly in FY2016.

Cloud
Services

Mobile Apps
and Devices

SocialMedia

0%

4.2 FUTURE INDUSTRY DIRECTIONIMPLICATIONS TO TALENT DEMAND

AND

India has one of the world's largest education systems,
which includes 1.3 million schools, over 35,000 higher
educational institutions including colleges anduniversities. Over the last decade, the education
market, especially the higher education sector, has
witnessed massive expansion in terms of growth andenrolment. National focus on education, especiallyhigher education, is not new. Many governments of thepast have understood the pivotal role it plays inshaping a nation’s socio-economic makeup. In recent
times, several big-ticket reforms and progressive
initiatives have been ideated on and discussed tostrengthen the sector and its preparedness for future
opportunities.
The announcement by the Centre in the Union budget
2015 to establish new institutes of excellence
including IIMs and IITs in the country, setting up offinancing authority, extending additional funds forinfrastructural development of institutions of national
importance, amongst others, are expected to essay a
new storyline for the higher education sector in the
country. At the statelevel, the states of UP, Tamil Nadu,
Maharashtra, amongst others are some of the leadingstates in terms of students' enrolment in higher
educational institutions. Five southern states led by
Tamil Nadu and Karnataka accounts for almost 30
percent of total enrolments in the country.
According to the AISHE report of 2014-15, the country
has a total of 757 universities comprising of Central
Universities, state universities, private universities,
deemed universities, institutes of national importanceamong others. State universities form the highest
share of universities in India, followed by private
universities and deemed universities. Rajasthan andUttar Pradesh have the highest number of universities(64 each), followed by Tamil Nadu (58), Karnataka (51)and Gujarat (49).

"International Data Corp. (IDC) estimates thatIndian IT vendors will generate at least USD
225 billion in overall revenue in 2020 on backof growth of SMAC."

54

IDC | ICT Talent Development & Collaboration

BREAK UP OF UNIVERSITIES BY STATEOVERVIEW OF TOTAL SUPPLY TO THE IT INDUSTRYCENTRALSTATE
PRIVATEDEEMED
INSTITUTES
UNIVERSITIES UNIVERSITIES UNIVERSITIES UNIVERSITIES OF NATIONALIMPORTANCESTATEOTHERSTOTAL NO.
OF
UNIVERSITIESRajasthan

1

20

32

8

3

0

64

Uttar Pradesh

4

26

20

10

4

0

64

Tamil Nadu

2

21

0

28

6

1

58

Karnataka

1

26

8

15

1

0

51

Gujarat

1

26

18

2

2

0

49

Maharashtra

1

20

0

21

3

0

45

Madhya Pradesh

2

18

13

3

4

1

41

Haryana

1

13

16

5

1

0

36

West Bengal

1

23

0

1

5

0

30

Andhra Pradesh

0

21

0

5

0

2

28

Non-Tech Talent
AY 2017 - 7.2 million
5.8 milNational enrolment split by Academic Stream Enrolment at
the graduate level by discipline reveals that enrolment was
highest in Arts (40.4%), followed by Engineering &Technology (17.4%), Commerce (13.9%) and Science (13.8%).
The share of enrolments in other disciplines is given in thetable below:

ALL INDIA SURVEY OF HIGHER EDUCATION, 2013 - 20141

Arts/Humanities/
Social Sciences

4

Science

7

Management

10 Oriental
Learning

2

Engineering andTechnology

5

IT and Computer

8Law

11 Agriculture

3

Commerce

6

Medical Science9

Education

12 Other

40%
40%
35%
30%
25%
14%

14%

20%
15%
3%

1

2

3

4

5

3%

6

2%

7

1%
8

3%

9

0%

1%

2%

10

11

12

AY19. Of the same, about 19% of the talent can be
attributed as core IT sector talent which includes all
engineers as well as IT specific qualifications like BCA/MCA.

Tech Talent

AY 2018 - 7.5 million
1.3 mil

6.1 mil

AY 2019 - 7.8 million
1.4 mil

6.3 mil

1.5 mil

INDIA IN-DEMAND JOBS 2018-2020

NATIONAL ENROLMENT BY EDUCATION LEVEL

17%

The total supply of talent from different states at different
levels across different streams is expected to increase
with supply getting close to 22.5 million for the period(Assessment Year from July to June every year) AY17 to

ANALYSIS BASED ON AISHE REPORT*Source: AISHE report, 2014-15

According to AISHE report for 2015, there are more than 33
million students enrolled in the Higher education system inIndia. Maximum enrolment in higher education is at theUnder Graduate level (79.4%), followed by Post Graduate(11.4%) and Diploma (6.8%). This pool of Graduate and above
form the initial basis of supply for the IT industry. Share ofenrolment by gender is almost the same in school andhigher education, boys form about 52.3% of the enrolment
in both categories.

55

Cross Border Opportunities within Asia Pacific | India

10%
5%
0%

IN DEMAND JOBS

2018

2019

2020

Business Intelligence Consultant

8,546

9,757

11,400

Cloud Solution Architect

14,566

20,41828,159Computer Systems Analyst

123,121130,751

139,787

Cybersecurity Consultant

10,453

12,383

14,703

Data Scientist

4,273

4,878

5,700

Internet of Things (IoT) Developer

34,796

38,79543,088IT Infrastructure Engineer

23,30532,66845,055

Mobile and Web Application Developer

94,241103,921

112,439

Network Engineer

17,47924,50133,791

Software Developer

73,87378,451

83,872

India Total

404,652

456,524

517,994

Considering the jobs expected to be created within theindustry, the “industry-ready” workforce is higher and thus
the demand supply gap seems high with a higher numberof employable workforce expected to be eligible and willingfor jobs. The supply of the talent from the non-technicalstreams account for a larger share in the talent pool of
supply when compared to the technical streams from2015-16 to 2018-19. The technical streams contributeabout 15% to 17%of the talent supply for the years 201516 to 2018-19 respectively. The talent for demand seems
to be highest in the year 2018-19.

However, while the “industry-ready” supply is higher thanthe projected demand for technical and nontechnicalstreams, the job-ready demand accounts for only about
4.5% of the industry ready demand thus creating a huge
supply deficit. The need thus is to have the requisite
qualified as well certified manpower in order to meet theindustry demand of a “job-ready” workforce..

56

IDC | ICT Talent Development & Collaboration

4.3 CROSS- BORDER TALENT OPPORTUNITIESThe number of jobseekers in India across industries,
rising steadily over the last few months, spiked to 7.1%
in the week which ended on February 25 2018.There
are around 31 million unemployed Indians seeking jobs
now—the highest since October 2016, according to areport published on Feb. 27 by the Centre for
Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE), a think-tank thattracks business and economic data.After falling to a
low of 3.4% in July 2017, unemployment rates havebeen rising gradually, the CMIE data show. In addition
to the 31 million unemployed Indians as of February
25 2018 urban India will see a spike in demand for jobs
as a fresh batch of college graduates enters theworkforce. But the number of jobs created in financial
year 2018 is an estimated 600,000.
On the other hand, with increased focus on digitaltransformation and analytics, the demand for data
scientists in India shot up by 417 percent in the past
one year, according to a new study. People seeking
data scientists' job during the same period increasedby just 19 percent, according to the study titled "Talent
Supply Index" (TSI) by data-driven hiring solution
provider Belong Technologies India Pvt Ltd. The
demand for security engineers in the past year
increased by 120 percent while the supply has beenable to match up by only 14 percent, showed the 2018
edition of TSI.
Indian IT industry is experiencing change in hiring
patterns due to new global outsourcing trends andpressures due to emergence and increasing adoptionof new technologies such as AI which is helping
organizations to automate number of processes,
hence making many jobs done by humans redundantand impacting Indian IT industry which depends
heavily on US and European outsourcing clients. It isan irony that on one hand there is high unemployment
and on the other there is shortage of skilled resources.
One of the main reasons for this situation is outdated
curriculum and quality of education. Still with 7 million
graduates joining workforce every year in a country of
1.35 billion, India is and will remain a big exporter oftalent to developed and semi-developed countries.
Better salaries, higher currency value and lack of jobs
at home remain prime reason for Indian talent to crossborder for work. In Asia Pacific; Singapore, Australia
and Malaysia are most sought after destinations for
Indians to work as an expatriate. It is expected that thistrend will continue to hold along with newopportunities in China and Indonesia where recently
Indian talent has started to move.

Cross Border Opportunities within Asia Pacific | India

TOP REASONS FOR INDIANS TOMIGRATE FOR WORK

BetterSalary Structure

Lack of Job
Opportunities
at Home2.

The India BPO Promotion Scheme (IBPS) has been
approved under Digital India Programme, to incentivize
BPO/ITES operations across the country, for creationof employment opportunities for the youths andgrowth of IT-ITES Industry. IBPS aims to incentivize
establishment of 48,300 seats distributed among eachState in proportion of State’s population, with financial
support up to Rs. 1lakh/seat in the form of Viability
Gap Funding (VGF), with an outlay of Rs. 493 crore up
to 31.03.2019. The scheme provides following
financial supports:

HigherCurrency Value

4.4 KEY INITIATIVES
1.

BPO PROMOTION SCHEMESA.

5.

The scheme is also expected to encourage working
professionals and non-PhD faculty members to pursue
PhD.

4.

DIGITAL INDIA
Digital India is an initiative of Government of India
which aims at(i)ensuring the government services are madeavailable to citizens electronically by reducing
paperwork,(ii) connecting rural areas with high-speed internet
networks and(iii) promoting digital literacy amongst the citizens of
the country.

FINANCIAL SUPPORT:
Up to 50% of expenditure incurred on BPO/ITES
operations towards capital expenditure (CAPEX)
and/or operational expenditure (OPEX) on
admissible items, subject to an upper ceiling of ₹1 Lakh/Seat.

DIGITAL INDIA INTERNSHIP SCHEME
An internship is an opportunity for a student to secure
first hand and practical work experience under theguidance of a qualified and experienced
Supervisor/Mentor. It also aims at active participationin the learning process through experimentation andputting into practice the knowledge acquired in theclassrooms.

B.

This umbrella program pulls together various existing
schemes of the government in an effort to restructure,
re-focus and thereafter implement in phases to be
centrally coordinated by the Department of Electronics
and Information Technology (DeitY). It has an overlayof about INR 1.1 trillion from budgets of various
departments and is slated to be completed by.

SPECIAL INCENTIVES:
The following special incentives will be provided
within the ceiling of total financial support i.e. Rs.
1 Lakh/seat:

5.
The Ministry of Electronics and Information
Technology is engaged in electronic development
through e-Infrastructure creation to facilitate andpromote
(1)
(2)

(3)
(4)
(5)

e-governance
Promotionofelectronics
hardwaremanufacturing and Information Technology & IT
Enabled Services (IT-ITeS) Industry
Providing support for creation of Innovation
Infrastructure in emerging areas of technology
Providing support for development of e-skills andknowledge network andSecuring India's cyber space. For the larger
benefit of the student community and with a viewto enrich the management/implementation of its
various schemes/programmes, the Ministry ofElectronics and Information Technology has
decided to notify these “Internship Guidelines”, toprovide a framework for engagement of Interns
for a limited period.

3.

PHD SCHEME
Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology,
Government of India initiated “Visvesvaraya PhD
Scheme for Electronics and IT” with an objective toenhance the number of PhDs in Electronics System
Design & Manufacturing (ESDM) and IT/IT EnabledServices (IT/ITES) sectors in the country. Cabinet
Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) approved thescheme in 2014 for a period of nine years with a total
estimated cost of ₹ 466 crores (Rupees Four Hundred
Sixty Six Crores Only)OBJECTIVES:
1.

To enhance the number of PhDs in Electronics System
Design & Manufacturing (ESDM) and IT/IT EnabledServices (IT/ITES) sectors in the country.

2.

Give thrust to R&D, create an innovative ecosystemand enhance India’s competitiveness in theseknowledge intensive sectors.

3.

To fulfil the commitments made in National Policy on
Electronics (NPE 2012) and National Policy on
Information Technology (NPIT 2012) which
recommend to give special thrust on significantly
increasing the number of PhDs in the country to enable
India to compete globally in the coming decades, todevelop an ecosystem of research, development andIP creation in these knowledge intensive sectors.
To support 1500 PhD candidates including both fulltime (500) and part-time (1000) in each of ESDM and
IT/ITES sectors (Total: 3000 PhDs).

4.

57

FUTURESKILLS
FutureSkills is an industry utility to get India
accelerated on a journey to build its skills and become
the global hub for talent in the emerging technologies.
FutureSkills portal is designed as a resource for the ITITeS industry to enable discovery, continuous learningand deep skilling in 9 emerging technologies.The portal
has been designed as a marketplace and content
library, where the best global providers of content andlearning will come together to offer learners
information on the latest jobs, the skills needed for
those jobs, learning content, assessments andcertifications.
The platform is fueled by a curation engine that has
the ability to trawl the massive amount of high quality
learning content available on the web and funnel it inan easy to consume format that’s meaningful andeffective for the learners.

58

IDC | ICT Talent Development & Collaboration

SPECIAL ECONOMIC ZONES (SEZ) SCHEME

INDIAN GOVERNMENT INITIATIVES THAT CAN BE
EMULATED BY OTHER COUNTRIES
After the economic reforms of 1991-92, liberalization of
external trade, elimination of duties on imports of
information technology products, relaxation of controls on
both inward and outward investments and foreignexchange and the fiscal measures taken by the Governmentof India and the individual state governments specificallyfor IT and ITeS have been major factors for the sector toflourish in India and for the country to be able to acquire adominant position in offshore services in the world. The
major fiscal incentives provided by the Government of India
have been for the Export Oriented Units (EOU), Software
Technology Parks (STP), and Special Economic Zones (SEZ).

SOFTWARE TECHNOLOGY PARKS (STPS)
For the promotion of software exports from the country, theSoftware Technology Parks of India was set up in 1991 as
an autonomous society under the Ministry of Electronics
and Information Technology. The services rendered by STPI
for the software exporting community have been statutory
services, data communications servers, incubation facilities,
training and value added services. STPI has played a key
developmental role in the promotion of software exports
with a special focus on SMEs and start up units. The STP
scheme which is a 100% export-oriented scheme has beensuccessful in fostering the growth of the software industry.
The exports made by STP Units have grown over the years.
The STP scheme allows software companies to set up
operations in convenient and inexpensive locations and plan
their investment and growth driven by business needs.
More than 4000 units are registered with STPI.

In 2005, the Department of Commerce, Ministry ofCommerce & Industry, Government of India has enacted theSpecial Economic Zone (SEZ) Act, with an objective ofproviding an internationally competitive and hassle-freeenvironment for exports. A SEZ is defined as a "specificallydemarked duty-free enclave and shall deemed to be foreign
territory (out of customs jurisdiction) for the purpose of
trade operations and duties and tariffs". It provides drastic
simplification of procedures and a single window clearance
policy on matters relating to central and state governments.
The scheme is ideal for bigger Industries and has asignificant impact on future Exports and employment.
The SEZ policy aims at creating competitive, convenient andintegrated zones offering world class infrastructure, utilities
and services for globally oriented businesses. The SEZ Act
2005 envisages key role for the state governments inexport promotion and creation of related infrastructure.

SALIENT FEATURES OF SEZ SCHEME ARE AS UNDER:
1.
2.

BENEFITS UNDER STP SCHEME:
1.
2.
3.

4.
5.
6.

8.

Customs Duty Exemption in full on
imports.
Central Excise Duty Exemption in full on
indigenous procurement.
All relevant equipment / goods
including second hand equipment canbe imported (except prohibited items).
Equipment can also be imported onloan basis/lease.
100% FDI is permitted throughautomatic route.
Sales in the DTA up to 50% of the FOB
value of exports permissible. 7. Use ofcomputer imported for training
permissible subject to certain
conditions.
Depreciation on computers at
accelerated rates up to 100% over 5
years is permissible.

59

Cross Border Opportunities within Asia Pacific | India

3.

4.
5.
6.

Duty free import/domestic procurement of goods fordevelopment, operation and maintenance of SEZ units
100% Income Tax exemption on export income for SEZ
units under Section 10AA of the Income Tax Act for
first 5 years, 50% for next 5 years thereafter and 50%of the ploughed back export profit for next 5 years.
Exemption from Central Sales Tax, exemption from
Service Tax and exemption from State sales tax. These
have now subsumed into GST and supplies to SEZs are
zero rated under IGST Act, 2017.
Other levies as imposed by the respective State
Governments
Single window clearance for central and state levelapprovals.
This scheme has a significant impact on future exports& employment. About 230 IT-ITeS specific SEZs havebeen notified by the DOC.

" C-DAC is the premier R&D organization inIndia. It also provides excellent education andtraining services in areas such as
Cybersecurity, Health Informatics, Grid
Computing and Embedded Systems. "4.5 ORGANIZATIONSDEVELOPMENTINVOLVEDIN

TALENTKEY TRAINING PROVIDERS AND IN-DEMAND
CERTIFICATIONSAPTECHAptech is a premier education institute. Aptech is apioneer in providing career-orientated courses toaspiring professionals since 1986. The institute has
trained 68 lakh (6.8 million) students through a wide
network of education centres located in over 40
countries.

CENTRE FOR DEVELOPMENT OF ADVANCEDCOMPUTING (C-DAC)
Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (CDAC) is the premier R&D organization of the Ministryof Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) for
carrying out R&D in IT, Electronics and associatedareas. Different areas of C-DAC, had originated at
different times, many of which came out as a result ofidentification of opportunities.
•

The setting up of C-DAC in 1988 itself was to built
supercomputers in context of denial of import ofsupercomputers by USA. Since then C-DAC has
been undertaking building of multiple generationsof supercomputer starting from PARAM with 1
GF in 1988.

•

Almost at the same time, C-DAC started building
indian language computing solutions with setting
up of GIST group (Graphics and Intelligence based
Script Technology); National Centre for Software
Technology (NCST) set up in 1985 had also
initiated work in Indian Language Computing
around the same period.

•

Electronic Research and Development Centre ofIndia (ER&DCI) with various constituents starting
as adjunct entities of various state electronic
Corporations, had been brought under the hold of
Department
ofElectronics
andTelecommunications (now MeitY) in around 1988.
They were focusing on various aspects of applied
electronics, technology and applications.

•With the passage of time as a result of creative
ecosystem that got set up in C-DAC, more areas
such as health informatics, etc., got created; whileright from the beginning the focus of NCST wason software technologies; similarly C-DAC started
its education & training activities in 1994 as a
spin-off with the passage of time, it grew to alarge efforts to meet the growing needs of indianindustry for finishing schools.

60

IDC | ICT Talent Development & Collaboration

Cross Border Opportunities within Asia Pacific | Indonesia

61

5. INDONESIA
NIIT•

5.1 OVERVIEW OF INDONESIA

NIIT is a leading Global Talent Development Corporation, building skilled manpower pool for global industry requirements.
The company which was set up in 1981, to help the nascent IT industry overcome its human resource challenges, has today
grown to be amongst world's leading talent development companies offering learning solutions to Individuals, Enterprises
and Institutions across 40 countries.

IN- DEMAND CERTIFICATIONS
1.

Certified Information Security Manager (CISM)

2.

Certified Information Systems Security Professional(CISSP)

3.

Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA)

4.

Project Management Professional (PMP)5.

AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Associate

6.

Citrix Certified Professional – Virtualization (CCP-V)

7.

VMware Certified Professional 6 – Data Center
Virtualization (VCP6-DCV)

8.

ITIL v3 Foundation

9.

CompTIA Project + 10. Cisco Certified Network
Professional (CCNP) Routing and Switching

Indonesia has a population of close to 260 million, andmore than 25 million Indonesians still live in poverty.
However, it is a growing middle- income country, thegovernment has improved the poverty reduction byhalf since 1999 to close to 10% in 2018. The Gross
Domestic Product (GDP) in Indonesia was stated at
US$1015.54 Billion in 2017, which represents 1.67%
of the world economy. The number of employedpersons in Indonesia increased to 127,067,835 in
2017.On the other hand, the unemployment rate ofIndonesia plummeted to 5.13% in the first quarter of2018 from 5.5% in the third quarter of 2017.
Indonesia ICT industry is evolving quickly, and ashortage of 9 Million skilled and semi-skilled ICT
workers between the period of 2015-2030 isprojected.70 The Indonesian government has started
working on programs to bridge the gap. One of theinitiatives was to sign a memorandum of
understanding (MoU) on vocational education
development on the 29th November 2016 among 5
other ministries (Ministry of Industry, Ministry ofState-owned Enterprises/BUMN, Ministry on
Manpower, Ministry of Education and Culture, andMinistry of Research, Technology and Higher
Education).71

5.2 FUTURE INDUSTRY DIRECTIONIMPLICATION TO TALENT DEMAND
KEY MINISTRIES AND GOVERNMENT BODIES THAT DRIVETALENT STRATEGY AND DEVELOPMENT

AND

•

•

Technology awareness in Indonesian enterprises is higher
compared with other countries in ASEAN but still lags
behind Malaysia and Singapore. Indonesian consumers are
determined to be tech-savvy, using smartphones and theinternet to find information and make decisions. In the longrun, Indonesian enterprises should be able to adapt and beagile about changing purchasing behavior, a situation where
technology is a key enabler.
••

INDONESIA’S GOVERNMENT PLANNING ON
DIGITALLY DRIVEN ECONOMIES•

Government of India
Ministry of Human Resource
Development

Government of India
Ministry of Electronics andInformation Technology

The Indonesian government has launched its vision to
make Indonesia a digital economy by 2020. Byleveraging digitalization, the government expects fast
growth and contribution from digital businesses. To
support the initiative, the Indonesian government has
introduced key programs that will be leveraged andenable new job opportunities and skill-set
development in the market. These are:•1,000 start-ups. One of the key targets for thedigital economy is small and medium-sizedenterprises (SMEs) that can be enhanced throughthis initiative.

Industry 4.0. The industrial revolution is determined
to be the key market development in Indonesia,
focusing on production optimization in the
manufacturing sector. Textile & Garment, Food &Beverages, Automotive, and Chemicals will be thepriority subsectors for Industry 4.0 development.
eCommerce Road Map. With SMEs dominant in the
country, there is an indirect push and motivation to
enable digitalization in the SME landscape. In theecommerce road map, one of the focuses are skillset
development.
Internet of Things (IoT). The Ministry ofCommunication & Information fully supports theimplementation of IoT in all sectors in Indonesia. The
government wants to encourage the use of thistechnology not only for large companies but also forfarmers, fishermen, etc.

•
•
•

•
•

In spite of organizations' technology awareness, highfixed capital costs and the lack of skilled operators
remain barriers
Many hackathon events were held by private
enterprises in Indonesia. They hold these events tocapture ideas for company development and tosupport the spirit of improving business throughtechnology.
•
Jasa Raharja; Indosat; Telkom; AWS; XL; BNI;
Pertamina; Bank Mandiri; BCA; BTN
Nongsa Digital Park Batam resulted from thecollaboration between Indonesia and Singapore tobuild a technology park.
Tech park: Digital Hub, Slipicon Valley
Community
Foreign IT principal•
Google Developers Kejar; Alibaba Cloud
Community; Apple Developer Academy; AWS
University•
UMN; Binus; Purwadhika
Community-based online learning platform•
Online: codepolitan; ajaro.id; decoding; PHP
Indonesia; codelabs; algoritma; iykra•
Community: numerous communities thatemphasize emerging technology•
Ncubator: block71

62

IDC | ICT Talent Development & Collaboration

INDONESIA, SINGAPORE JOINTLY OPENNONGSA DIGITAL PARK IN BATAM

Indonesia

ASEAN

40%
35%
30%
25%
20%
15%
10%
5%
Protects
IP

Invests in
R&D

Protects
Data

UpgradesTechnology

Risk isCurrently
Too High

ENTERPRISE INITIATIVES AND OBSTACLES ONTECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT
Overall, awareness about technology development by
Indonesian enterprises is higher than the ASEAN average.
Around 35% of enterprises in Indonesia reported upgrading
technology, yet the ASEAN average is only 27%. Data
protection is again higher in Indonesia than the ASEAN
average (28%), with 34% of Indonesian enterprises reportingplans to enhance data protection.

Lacks
Knowledgeon
Capabilities

Licensing
Costs
Too High

0%
Lacks
Fixed
Skilled Capital Costs
Operators
Too High

There were some initiatives on the demand side made by
the private sector for human capital development toward
ICT job areas. Along with the private sector, there weregroups that focused on emphasizing emerging technology
within their community of developers, engineers, and data
enthusiasts.
Numerous hackathon events were also held by privatecompanies in Indonesia. Jasa Raharja, Indosat, Telkom, XL,
BNI, Pertamina, Bank Mandiri, BCA, and BTN held
hackathons to capture ideas to develop their businesses
and support the spirit of ICT skills improvement.

For people development on ICT skills, foreign IT principals
are also focusing on Indonesia. Apple recently opened a
Developer Academy in Indonesia through collaboration with
Bina Nusantara University — the first Developer Academy
built by Apple in Southeast Asia. Teaming up with dicoding,Google will hold a Developer Training and Course in 10 cities
across Indonesia. AWS also had developer workshops inIndonesia. It collaborated with Block71, a start-ups
incubator owned by Salim Group.

NONGSA DIGITAL PARK, BATAMIn March 2018, the Indonesian and Singaporean Foreign
Minister inaugurated the Nongsa Digital Park in Batam. Thisfacility is the result of the Indonesia and Singapore
governments' commitment to enhance economic
cooperation in a digitally driven economy. The Indonesian
government is eyeing an investment of US$500 million,
which is expected to create 10,000 jobs. Both governments
stressed the importance of education in keeping up with therapid changes in the digital industry and committed tofuture cooperation on human capital development.
There are also future plans to transform the Nongsa Digital
Park to be a Special Economic Zone. With regards to thisinitiative, the Special Economic Zone is expected to ease theinvestment toward them and make exchange of good,
services, and talent easier. Nongsa Digital Park is expected
to be a game-changer for Indonesia in the global
development of the digital economy.

PEOPLE DEVELOPMENT ON ICT SKILLSETIn Indonesia, there are growing trends in communities thatemphasize technology advancement. Several communities
even build their own courses for ICT-related skills.
Codepolitan, Ajaro.id, Dicoding, PHP Indonesia, Codelabs,
Algoritma, and iykra are some of the well-known ICT skills
training and certification providers.

“ Technology awareness in Indonesian
enterprises is higher compared with othercountries in ASEAN but still lags behind
Malaysia and Singapore. “

63Cross Border Opportunities within Asia Pacific | Indonesia*Image taken from The Jakarta Post

INDONESIA IN-DEMAND JOBS 2018-2020
IN DEMAND JOBS

2018

2019

2020

Business Intelligence Consultant

1,159

1,377

1,644

Cloud Solution Architect

1,130

1,430

1,790

Computer Systems Analyst

18,46819,46920,378Cybersecurity Consultant

1,614

1,892

2,244

Data Scientist

579

688

822

Internet of Things (IoT) Developer

5,445

6,113

6,817

IT Infrastructure Engineer

1,808

2,289

2,864

Mobile and Web Application Developer

40,70442,071

42,940

Network Engineer

1,356

1,717

2,148

Software Developer

11,081

11,681

12,227

India Total

83,34588,727

93,872

64

IDC | ICT Talent Development & Collaboration

SKILL MISMATCH ON INDONESIANWORKFORCEEMPLOYMENT GROWTH AND AVERAGE SALARY CLASSIFIED BY SECTORS
2013

2014

2016

2015

2017

Average Wage 2017

YoY % Change

Employment GrowthOvereducation
5.5 m

35%

5.0 m

30%

4.5 m

25%

4.0 m

20%

3.5 m

15%

3.0 m

10%

2.5 m

5%

2.0 m

0%

1.5 m

-5%

1.0 m

-15%
1
2
3
4
5

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

9

10

Accomodation
and Restaurant
Healthcare andSocial Services

PublicUtilities
RealEstateFinancial Services
and Insurance
Enterprise
Services

6

Construction

10 Trading

7

8

8

Manufacturing

9

PublicAuthorities

Undereducation

Average Wag

40%

-10%

11

65

Cross Border Opportunities within Asia Pacific | Indonesia

12

13

14

15

16

17

30%
20%
10%
5%
2006

2009

2016

12 Transportationand Logistics
Other
13
Services

17 Mining an
Quarrying

0%

JOB FIELDS SEEKD BY JOB SEEKERS

0.0 m

16 Energy

Recent data from the Indonesia Statistics Bureau showedthat most of the Indonesian workforce are still in low-skill
occupations, accounting for almost 70% of total
employment. Agricultural work and machine operator
account for 30.4% and 29.0%, respectively. This might be aconsequence of the low education in Indonesian labor.

15%

0.5 m

11 Education

INDONESIA’S WORKFORCE LANDSCAPE

25%

1

BFSI

3

Entertainment

5

Hospitality

7

Marketing

92

Education

4

FMCG

6

IT

8

Resources

10 Others

Social

2018

2015

25%

14 Agriculture

20%

15 Information andCommunication

15%
10%
5%

INDONESIA’S EMPLOYMENT OUTLOOKFor two consecutive years, the information andcommunication sector1 has outperformed other leading
sectors in terms of employment capacity. In 2017, the ICT
sector's GDP also experienced the highest growth overother sectors. In Indonesia, working in ICT job areas isgaining significant interest from jobseekers2. This showsthat the ICT sector not only performed better but is also
extensively absorbing the workforce in Indonesia.
Working in the information and communication sector, on
average, also receives a higher income compared with othersectors. It is logical to interpret that jobs in ICT areas
demand higher skills, thus producing a higher salary even in
the early phase of employment or as a junior. Other leading
sectors could produce high variations on the salary received
by the workers as they have a wider wage gap between
different levels in the organization, with the majority comingfrom the low-wage end of the spectrum. 72

EMPLOYMENT CLASSIFIED BY JOB TYPE

1

1

Administrative

4

Experts

7

Services2

Agricultural

5

Operators

8

Others3

Executive

6

Sales
30.43%

28.98%

35%
30%
25%

17.95%

20%
7.42%

5.96%

1.79% 10%
5%

1.17%

1

2

3

15%

6.30%

4

5

6

7

8

0%

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

0%

JOB AREAS THAT JOB SEEKERS SEEK
Jakpat published pooled cross-sectional data that observed
the jobs that are sought by various job seekers in two
periods of time. Examining the data and ICT-related jobs fortwo consecutive points of time yielded the leading jobs
being sought by job seekers. In 2015, 16% of job seekers
sought ICT-related jobs and, furthermore, this number isincreasing to 18% in 2018. The number was only slightly
higher in 2018 but this job type is still at the top in terms of
the jobs sought by the Indonesian workforce. ICT has
attracted the Indonesian workforce in the past 5 years.

The rapidly growing ecommerce, fintech, and digitaltransformation among enterprises and start-ups produced
significant demand in ICT job areas. From the governmentside, they also extensively support the development ofworkforce skills in ICT job areas.

“ The number was only slightly higher in 2018
but this job type is still at the top in terms of
the jobs sought by the Indonesian workforce. “

66

IDC | ICT Talent Development & Collaboration

67

Cross Border Opportunities within Asia Pacific | Indonesia

WHICH COUNTRY HAS THE LARGEST PROPORTION
OF FEMALE DEVELOPERS?
Current Condition
Most of the Indonesians
are still categorized as low
skilled labor, thus resulting inhigh occupancy in low skill jobs.
Flourishing technology startups
and digital transformation initiativeby enterprises made the demandfor ICT jobs increase rapidly,
yet the supply of labor couldn’t
keep up with the demand.
High-skilled job is increasing
quickly, showed by declining rate ofovereducation and increasing rateof undereducation.
The latter is more concerning
because there were more of lessqualified workers placing certain
position in business (attach
under-and-overeducated labor).

Targeted Condition
Gap
If government want to pushdigitalization through theirinitiatives they must help todevelop worker’s ability, yet there
weren’t any significant initiatives
according to this.
Through vocational high school
and diploma, government could
develop new curriculum on
ICT job specialization in order toreduce the gap.

Fulfilling demand ofhigh skill labor in responseto rapidly growing
digital economy.
It is unbearable that
automation from industry 4.0
initiative will impact thelow skilled labor.
ASEAN
Economic Community (AEC) will
facilitate skilled labor mobility
within ASEAN.

Based on the survey by ILO,
the enthusiasm by fresh graduate
toward ICT-related jobs is very
positive, but enterprises felt that itis still hard to look fortalent in ICT jobs.

Closing the Gap
Government could increase Public Private Partnership in order to develop
tangible programs and facilities for workforce skillset development.
This type of partnership could be a win-win for both Government and Private sector tofulfill the target and demand to produce high-skilled labor.
There were many examples on academic research thatshowed the openness of economies for cross-border talent will fasten the process oftechnology and knowledge transfers (Worldbank3, 2007 and Japan Research Institute4, 2015).
Indonesia’s economy will expectedly to benefit if they weremore open to cross border talent.

The other gap that Indonesia is also experiencing is the lack of female talents in ICT sector. The ICT sector is predominantly
occupied by male talents. Below is the data from Hacker Rank, it is stated that Indonesia has 15% female developers. The
need to encourage more females to enter the ICT sector will also help bridge the shortage of talent gap.

Share of HackerRank Tests
RANK

COUNTRY

FEMALERANKCOUNTRY

FEMALE

1

India

22.9%

26

France9.4%

2

United Arab Emirates

21.0%

27

Switzerland

9.0%

3

Romania

20.6%

28

Egypt

8.9%

4

China

19.6%

29

Netherlands

8.3%

5

Sri Lanka

19.0%

30

Greece

8.3%

6

Italy

16.7%

31

Belarus

7.8%

7BUlgaria

16.5%

32

Russia7.8%

8Singapore

15.2%

33

Spain

7.4%

9

Philippines

15.1%

34

Germany

7.4%

10Indonesia

15.0%

35

Portugal

7.2%

11

United States

14.8%

36

Turkey6.7%

12

New Zealand

14.6%

37

Colombia

6.5%

13

Malaysia

14.4%

38

Pakistan

6.5%

14

Hong Kong

13.8%

39

Mexico6.3%

15South Korea

13.6%

40

Venezuela

6.3%

16

Israel12.9%

41

Beigium

6.0%

17

Japan

12.8%

42

South Africa

5.9%

18

Ukraine

12.6%

43

Brazil5.8%

19Bangladesh

11.9%

44

Sweden5.7%

20

Canada11.4%

45

Austria

5.4%

21

Vietnam11.3%

46

Hungary

5.0%

22Australia

10.7%

47

Argentina

4.5%

23

United Kingdom

10.3%

48

Czech Republic

4.5%

24

Poland10.2%

49

Denmark

3.3%

25

Ireland

9.7%

50

Chile

2.9%

68

IDC | ICT Talent Development & Collaboration

Foreign talent that work in Indonesia must be
categorized as high-skilled labor. The
Indonesian government must forbid lowskilled labor from abroad to work in Indonesia.
According to the data published by Ministry of
Manpower and Transmigration, 61.2% ofIndonesia's foreign workforce is occupied in
the services-based sector.73

5.3 CROSS-BORDER TALENT OPPORTUNITIESFOREIGN WORKERS IN INDONESIAACCORDING TO TYPE OF WORK, 2013-2017
Agriculture
and Fishery

Industrial

Services
55,00048,20045,50043,60042,50052,60050,00045,00040,00035,00030,00027,00024,00029,40029,10027,10030,60021,00025,000

Cross Border Opportunities within Asia Pacific | Indonesia

18,00015,00012,000
9,000
6,000

2,600

3,000

2,500

2,800

2,700

3,000

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

2,000
1,000
0

The number of foreign workers absorbed inIndonesia’s labor force is noticeably lower
compared with other emerging economies: theratio of foreign workers to population is only
0.03%. Compared with Malaysia andSingapore, Indonesia’s foreign worker
absorption is very low. It is known thatIndonesia is quite protective of the local labor
force. This data also showed that there will beconsequences from low knowledge exchange
from foreign workers to local workers thathave already noticed by the government ofIndonesia. 74
The
MinistryofInformation
andCommunication realized that Indonesia stilllacks high-skilled labor in technology andmight ease the permit for cross-border talent.
Through a presidential decree, the government
will ease the paperwork for foreign talent thatwork as a lecturer (or teacher). By thisderegulation, the Indonesian government
means to increase the exchange of knowledge
between expertise abroad and local talent.75

5.4 KEY INITIATIVESINDONESIA GOVERNMENT'S MILESTONES INWORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT
The Indonesia government acknowledges that threeshould be tangible action to enhance the country's
workforce skill set in ICT job areas, that would catch up
with the plan that the government has already made.
Several programs in line with this include:•••

NUMBER OF FOREIGN WORKERS 2007
Number of Foreign Workers

Foreign Workers to Population Ratio
11,000100%

10,000

90%

9,000

80%

8,000

70%

7,000

60%

6,000

50%

5,000

40%

4,000

30%

3,000

20%

2,000

10%

1,000

0%

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

1

Indonesia

4South Korea

7

Singapore

2

Brunei5

Taiwan8

Malaysia

3

Hong Kong

6

Qatar

9

Kuwait

9

10

11

•

•

The Ministry of Manpower has developed apartnership with education organization
lingkaran. The Ministry has leveraged scholarship
through the lingkaran community, especially on
digital businesses. In the program, key skill setsare developed, especially for digital marketing
specialists.
The Center of Training and Development on
Information and Communication Technology
built by the Ministry of Information andCommunication. To improve the technicalcompetence of the ICT field for ASN and support
the implementation of eGovernment in Indonesia,
BPPTIK and the Ministry of Communication andInformation will hold a Technical Training on ICT
for ASN.
The National ICT Occupational Map from the
Ministry of ICT was published in order to clarify
job competencies in ICT job areas along with job
certifications. The Ministry will provide
certification in ICT to create a more competitive
landscape in the country, where technology
implementation is more aggressive. The job
certifications that will be given include those fortechnicians, programmers, network technicians,among others.
The Bandung College of Technology incollaboration with the Ministry of Industry held a
Public Discussion entitled, “Preparing Human
Resources in Facing the Revolution of Industry
4.0.”
The Ministry of Information and Communicationis ready to help disabled to build start-ups. The
MoIC will help in terms of capital financing.

•

•
•
•

•

•
•
•

BPPTIK. To improve the technical competence of the
ICT field for ASN and support the implementation ofeGovernment in Indonesia, BPPTIK and the Ministry ofCommunication and Information will hold a TechnicalTraining on ICT for ASN.
The National ICT Occupational Map from the Ministryof ICT was published in order to clarify job
competencies in ICT job areas along with job
certifications. The Ministry will provide certification in
ICT to create a more competitive landscape in the
country, where technology implementation is moreaggressive. The job certifications that will be given
include those for technicians, programmers, network
technicians, among others.
Indonesia Financial Services Authority is developing an
innovation hub as a place to try out financial
technology start-ups under their supervision.
The Ministry of Information and Communication isready to help disabled to build start-ups. The MoIC will
help in terms of capital financing.
MoMT, MoIC, and MoRTHE will support easing theemployment process for foreign talent in order toincrease the exchange of knowledge.

lingkaran is a group of informal education communities
that focus on building untouched capabilities such as
digital and creative capabilities that may not be
available in most universities in Indonesia.
lingkaran’s programs are held frequently. Several
programs that are delivered are Mini Class, Class
Series, Digital Mastership, Business Starter Pack.
Recently, lingkaran launched a partnership with the
Ministry of Manpower and Transmigration to leverage
digital capabilities and skill sets in the country.
Several enterprises also work with lingkaran for its
talent development for digital capabilities.

Some actions are being done by government agencies
to support digital talent and digital transformation
within the organization.
••

0

10 United ArabEmirates
11 Saudi Arabia

•

69

•

The Ministry of Manpower has developed apartnership with education organization
lingkaran. The Ministry has leveraged scholarship
through the lingkaran community, especially on
digital businesses. In the program, key skill setsare developed, especially for digital marketing
specialists.
Bekraf developer day•

MauBelajarApa.com is an online marketplace thatallows learners to search and register for offline
classes/workshops published by educators and has a
mission to make learning and the sharing of lifestyles
inspiring and available to anyone.
MauBelajarApa collaborates with key partners to runworkshops, short courses, sharing sessions, and soforth. For example, MauBelajarApa partnered with
Purwadhika School to provide lessons in coding for
non-IT individuals.

70

ACTIONS
Regulation

IDC | ICT Talent Development & Collaboration

ENTITIES

IMPACT

Ministry of
Manpower andTransmigration

The government of Indonesia, led by the Ministry of Manpower and Transmigration,
regulates foreign workers who will work in Indonesia such that they must have highskills that are not available in Indonesia. The regulation, without further
development of the enhancement of high skills in the country, has created a talent
gap in Indonesia. While the needs of high skills are growing, the supply is limited,which then creates a high cost of labor in the country.

Strategic
Planning

Ministry of
Manpower andTransmigration

The Ministry of Manpower and Transmigration has started programs to address
digital infrastructure requirements and human resources capabilities, and to bridge
regulation and incentive gaps. This program will create better talent development
and aims to help the country in accelerating and enhancing the future ofworksource.

TalentDevelopment
andTraining
CenterUniversities,
Ministry of
Manpower andTransmigration,
Technology
Partners,
Technology
Community

Most universities in Indonesia have their center for skill-set development..

The Ministry of Manpower and Transmigration has developed a partnership withthe technology community to enhance and create visibility for digital capabilities inIndonesia.
The availability of training development and centers in the country is growing andbrings a positive impact in skill development especially in digital and futurecapabilities.
Intense competition in specific fields of work, especially in digital capabilities, is
expected to occur due to the high demand yet low supply in Indonesia.
Career Center
and Job Fair

University,
TalentRecruitment,
Community

Along with talent development, career centers are meant to ease the job seeking
process for the recently graduated. Universities enter into cooperation withenterprises to recruit new employees. Talent recruitment becomes more diverse
and is growing in Indonesia with vertical-focused enhancement as key
go-to-market strategy.
Informal networking is also found in Indonesia in order to bridge the gap of supply
and demand in the market. Vertical-based community, for example, technology
community is determined as key influencer and driver of the engagement in the
country.
The Ministry of Manpower and Transmigration could act as an intermediary forlabor demand and supply, considering its routine engagement in annual job fairs.
The beginning of active engagement in talent fairs can still be improved in themarket.

Formal
Education
andCertification

Government
Universities
School/Vocational
School

5.5 ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVE IN TALENT DEVELOPMENT
JACK MA INSTITUTE TO
BE ESTABLISHED IN INDONESIA
SMARTGEN BY HUAWEIHuawei Indonesia ICT training program - SmartGen
providing ICT training program in 7 state-run colleges. The
state college that provides SmartGen program are as
follows: University of Indonesia (UI), Bandung Institute ofTechnology (ITB), Gadjah Mada University (UGM), Telkom
University (Tel U), Diponegoro University (UNDIP),
Padjadjaran University (UNPAD) and Sepuluh November
Institute of Technology (ITS). This program also allows theapplicants to further their training by commissioning
vocational trainings in Beijing and Huawei headquarters inShenzhen.

Several well-known universities already acknowledge additional skill-set
certification for their students. Goals include to create ease and practical situations
as well as prepare the students for work.
Some private universities have added technology-driven courses and faculties toincrease digital capabilities within their organizations. These universities work
together with technology vendors to create a mutual engagement where students
get “on-hand” experience through the partnership.

The government again raises the courses of ICT in early school because ICT has tobe mastered by students in junior and senior high school or vocational school in the
midst of rapid technological development.
New courses are added in business schools in Indonesia by building partnerships
with technology vendors and the technology community as key experts andstakeholders in talent development.
Leadership and business-driven thinking such as design thinking, business model
canvas, are taught and part of the learning process in universities. The change of thelearning approach is felt is aimed to provide competitive advantage in Indonesia.

71

Cross Border Opportunities within Asia Pacific | Indonesia*Image taken from The Star

The idea to establish the Jack Ma Institute in Indonesia todevelop human resources and entrepreneurship was
proposed at a meeting between the President of Indonesia,
Joko Widodo, and Alibaba’s Executive Chairman Jack Ma.
According to Jack Ma, talent development is important indeveloping digital technology in the country. He wants toencourage small and medium-sized businesses in Indonesia
to use business opportunities that have been served byecommerce.

Future generation will be exposed to the latest ICT
technology in preparing these young talents to be globallycompetitive and capable to enter the future working force.
Application of SmartGen program in these colleges would
comprise of Tech Day, Huawei Experience Day, SmartCampus Consultancy, Seeds for the Future and Students
Internship.

TECHNICAL VOCATIONAL
TRAINING (TVET)EDUCATIONAND

The senior education level also known as Sekolah
Menengah Kejuruan (SMK) has an initiative to ensure thatwhat is being taught is in sync with the industrial demandand have collaboration with the industries. The need of both
ICT hard and soft skills will be crucial in the syllabus.
Multimedia syllabus will focus on Internet of Things (IoT),
mobile application development, computer programmingand computer network. Electric engineering for ICT skills willbe crucial due to the rapid growth in digital transformation.76

72

IDC | ICT Talent Development & Collaboration73

Cross Border Opportunities within Asia Pacific | Japan

6. JAPAN
6.1 INTRODUCTIONANDSENSE OF URGENCY WITHIN THE JAPANESE ICT
INDUSTRY

The Japanese ICT industry is mature, with several
companies employing in the thousands and having a
global market reach. Familiar corporations include
technology giants, such as NTT DoCoMo, SoftBank,
Canon, Hitachi, and Mitsubishi Electric. Despite theprominence of technology in Japan, the nation lacks
software and online companies at the scale ofAmazon, Apple, and Google. The government andtechnology companies are working to keep Japan up topace with the latest technologies, such as data
analytics and Internet of Things (IoT), to ensure it cancontinue to compete with global players well into the
future79.

The Japanese ICT industry is structured around amultilayered system of subcontractors as this enables
companies to better respond to fluctuation in demand andreduce costs. However, as the multilayer structure
expanded, so has the competition among IT companies.

DIRECTION OF IT COMPANIES IN JAPANBY SUB-INDUSTRYIT Vendors (n=1,000)

6.2 FUTURE INDUSTRY DIRECTIONIMPLICATIONS TO TALENT DEMAND

Japan is in East Asia and is a significant trade partnerwith many Asian and Western economies. The grossdomestic product (GDP) was reported at US$4,872

billion in 2017. Unemployment is below 5% and is expected
to remain stable, according to forecast by the International
Monetary Fund.

JAPAN ECONOMIC SNAPSHOT 77
SUBJECTDESCRIPTOR

UNITS

SCALE

2015

Gross
domestic
product,
current prices

U.S.
dollars

Billions

4,395.0 4,949.3 4,872.1 5,167.1

5,362.2 5,498.8 5,641.5 5,796.7 5,962.4

Unemployment rate

Percentof total
labor
force

3.4

2.9

Employment

Persons Millions

64.0

64.6

65.3

65.6

65.4

n/a

n/a

n/a

n/a

Population

Persons Millions

127.0

127.0

126.7

126.5

126.1

125.7

125.2

124.7

124.1

2016

3.1

2017

2.9

2018

2.9

2019

2020

2.9

2021

2.9

2022

2.9

2023

2.9

Japan is home to approximately 2,176,000 ICT professionals. Technology is almost synonymous with Japan, which has beena leader in both advancing technology through research and development as well as bringing new technologies to themarket through efficient manufacturing.

To be a world leadingindustry by creatingcompetitive IT products
and services

To provide
a safe guard of thesociety and industries
without obstacles

To be a domestic
advanced industry byleading advanced IT
utilization for society
and industries

Within the context of this intensive competition, ICT
industry players have a strong drive to be industry leaders.
The possession of "outstanding skills," especially in areas
such as software services, data analytics, artificial
intelligence, Big Data, and IoT provides a competitive
advantage to industry players. Traditional IT vendors thatare not at the top of the competition may face a difficulty incompeting without undergoing their own digitaltransformation.

38.7%
29.6%
31.0%
IT Department of User Companies (n=1,000)

29.6%

0.2%

27.1%

0.3%

26.7%

0.3%

Other than the above
34.9%
37.8%
Web Business Companies (n=300)

37.7%

NEED FOR OUTSTANDING IT SKILLSIN THE INDUSTRY
Do you think that IT vendors who do not haveoutstanding skills and services will be culled out?

2,176,000

29.8%

LOB of User Companies (n=2,000)

ICT PROFESSIONALS IN JAPAN78
ICT Professionals Employed in 2016

40.4%

0.7%

Strongly
Agree

Disagree

Agree

Strongly
Disagree35.3%

Less than 30 (n=200)

21.5%

53.5%

15.0%

10.0%

From 100 to Less than 300 (n=200)

20.5%

55.5%

19.0%

5.0%

21.5%

6.0%

From 100 to Less than 300 (n=200)

25.0%

47.5%

From 300 to Less than 1000 (n=200)

24.5%1000 and More (n=200)

25.0%

55.0%

18.5% 2.0%

53.0%

18.0% 4.0%

74

IDC | ICT Talent Development & Collaboration75

Cross Border Opportunities within Asia Pacific | JapanNEW VISION FOR FUTURE JAPANESE INDUSTRIES

Thus, the Government of Japan is exploring several avenues
to develop the ICT industry, including investments, funding,and policies.

IT INDUSTRY DEVELOPMENT INITIATIVES
The Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry (METI) has
allocated US$550 million in FY18 as measures to realize"Connected Industries" and to accelerate the utilization ofdata.80

METI INVESTMENT IN“CONNECTED INDUSTRIES”
Core Budget in FY 2018

USD550,000,000

Current Situation
Japanese industries
are advancing digitalization ofdata for theirestablishments and factories
as well as technologies andtechniques, but the companies
tend to manage
the data in-house and tend
not to collaborate on
conducting these activities“CONNECTED INDUSTRIES” PROJECT

Fair use of data, utilization of
Proof of concept fordata possessed by thebusiness model and R&D ingovernment and formulation
important vertical areaof data distribution rules

Human resources
supply support according
to the growth stage ofcompanies

Human resource development
through strengthening
collaboration with the US andIsrael and others

Industry-AcademiaGovernment Collaborative
Efforts for Encouraging
Discussions and Study

Future Goals

Sector-based efforts, e.g.:
Mobility, Manufacturing,
Biotechnology and Materials,
Plant Safety, Smart Life

Connecting data and using
data efficiently will encourage
innovation, better productivity anddessemination of technology

Cross-sectoral efforts, e.g.:
Data Utilization, Standardization,
IT Human Resources,
Cyber Security, AI R&D“Connected Industries” will become a strength for Japanese industries,
such as Made-in-Japan Products, “Industrial Robots”, “Kaizen”, etc.

Analyzing Data
by AI

Practical application offusion technology of robot,
bio, etc. by AIST and
University of Tokyo

Utilization ofJapanese Green Card foradvanced worker,
acceptance of foreigners

Diversehuman resource
development

Cyber Attack
Information Sharing
SchemeCyber security ofcritical infrastructure

IT skill
standards and courses
certification system

Review of industrial
restructuring related systemsuch as law to strengthenindustrial competitiveness

New Services and Soloutions
Based on Data

Humans and Robots
Working Together (Concept)

Dissemination of
Know-how by Data

Realization ofhighly productive wayof working

METI CONNECTED INDUSTRIESJapan aims to achieve "Society 5.0" in the future throughthe utilization of technological innovation, including IoT,
artificial intelligence (AI), and Big Data. Achieving Society 5.0
goals requires active participation of the industry. Therefore,
the Japanese government has announced "Connected
Industries" as a new concept framework in which industries
will create new added value and provide solutions to various

Data forBetter Productivity

problems in society. The idea is to leverage on the"connectedness" of modern lifestyles between humans(including our roles as consumers and suppliers), machines,
systems, and companies. To this end, the Japanese
government is advancing a wide variety of policy initiatives
in cooperation with private sector parties.81

Disseminating toRegional Companies
and SMEs

76

IDC | ICT Talent Development & Collaboration

Cross Border Opportunities within Asia Pacific | Japan

CONNECTED INDUSTRIES OUTLINE

5TH SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY BASIC PLAN
The 5th Science and Technology Basic Plan highlight several areas of emerging technology within Japan’s vision for the future.

Priority fields tackled under the “Connected Industries”

Automated Driving andMobility Service
Identifying approaches fordata harmonization
Enhancing AI and related humanresource development
Establishing future vision ofmobility service concerning
logistics and EVs

Plant/Infrastructure
Safety Management

Manufacturing and Robotics
International standardization ofdata rules including formats
Enhancing inter-company
collaboration in harmonized fields(e.g.: Cyber Security and Human
Resource Development)

Cutting-edge
Information andCommunication
Technology (ICT)

Improving technological capability
for safety through utilizing IoTDeveloping guidelines and othercommon rules for harmonizing data
across companies

Environmental improvement for the
IoT introduction for SMEs
(e.g.: IoT Tools)

Biotechnologies andMaterials

Promoting further reform of
regulation systems

Emulation ofUS’s “Advanced
Manufacturing
Partnership”

Emulation ofChina’s“Made in
China 2025”

FOCUS AREAS
OF THE 5TH
SCIENCE ANDTECHNOLOGYBASIC PLAN

Emulation ofGermany’s“Industry 4.0”

Energy Value
ChainsSmart Life

Achieving joint utilization of data acrosscompanies in harmonized fields
Establishing an AI technology platform
for commercialization
Obtaining public acceptance77

Discovering potential needs andmaterializing possible services
Data collaboration throughinter-company alliancesInternetof-Things(IoT)Intelligent
Transportation
System (ITS)The Japanese government will also promote the creation of
a common platform or "super smart society service
platform" that allows for coordination and collaboration
between multiple ICT or IoT systems and for a wide variety
of data (e.g., web data, human activity data, 3D geographicaldata, transportation data, environmental observation data,
production and distribution data of manufacturing andagricultural produce).
In this regard, the Japanese government will further
promote the development of technologies for IoT, Big Dataand analytics, high-speed processing device, AI, networking,edge computing, and cybersecurity as the "fundamental
technologies necessary to build the super smart society
service platform," as well as technologies such as those forrobotics, sensor, and human interface as the "fundamental
technologies that are Japan's strengths, which form the coreof new value creation."

Integrated
Material
Development

Developing other rules for further
data utilization

SUPER SMART SOCIETY SERVICE
PLATFORM TECHNOLOGIESOTHER GOVERNMENT INITIATIVES
Besides METI, other government bodies have several initiatives to promote the use of ICT within their industry verticals.

INITIATIVES OF GOVERNMENT BODIES TO PROMOTE IT INDUSTRYMINISTRY OR AGENCY
Ministry of Economy,
Trade and Industry

IT HUMAN RESOURCE - RELATED ITEMSIntelligent
Transportation
System (ITS)

Value Chain
Optimization
System

IoT-based
Manufacturingor Production
SystemIntegrated
Community Care
SystemSmart Food
Chain System

Quasi-Zenith
Satelite System

Realization of Connected Industries
Enhancement of cybersecurity
Measures aimed at nurturing venture companies
Training diverse human resources through utilization of EdTech and recurrent education
Information-Technology Promotion Agency (IPA) management expenses grants

Ministry of Internal
Affairs andCommunications (MIC)

Enhancement of cybersecurity

Financial Services Agency

Strategic response to fintech and securing cybersecurity

Promotion of utilization of IoT, Big Data, AI, sharing economy, and so forth, leading to
productivity improvement and talent developmentAI

IoT

Big Data“ The Japanese government will also promote
the creation of a common platform or “supersmart society service platform” that allow for
coordination and collaboration between
multiple ICT or IoT systems and for a wide
variety of data ”

78

IDC | ICT Talent Development & Collaboration

79

Cross Border Opportunities within Asia Pacific | Japan

JAPAN IN-DEMAND JOBS 2018-2020

DECREASING POPULATION
The declining birthrate and aging population is expected tohave a significant impact on ICT Talent. Government
initiatives such Comprehensive Innovation Strategy aims todevelop 100,000 IT talent each year with up to 10,000
possessing advance IT skills. However, university enrolment
in ICT majors is estimated to be between 26,000 -28,000
per year suggesting that the talent gap may be widening6.

IN DEMAND JOBS

2018

2019

2020

Business Intelligence Consultant

13,771

14,18014,583Cloud Solution Architect

25,821

26,587

27,343

Computer Systems Analyst

24,56525,87327,084Cybersecurity Consultant

16,87017,37017,864

Data Scientist

8,033

8,271

8,507

Internet of Things (IoT) Developer

24,10024,81425,521IT Infrastructure Engineer

48,20049,62851,041

Mobile and Web Application Developer

57,84059,554

61,249

Network Engineer

27,113

27,91628,711

Software Developer

14,73915,524

16,251

Japan Total

261,052

269,717

278,154TARGETED IT TALENT SUPPLY VS
CURRENT IT TALENT SUPPLY7
Targeted Advance IT Talent Each Year
10,000Targeted IT Talent Each Year

100,000
Current IT Program Enrolment Each Year

28,000The number of ICT talent in the economy has been in decline since 2007. Several issues have been suggested as the cause
for the talent gap, including the declining population, rigid work culture, and lack of foreign investment in the ICT sector.

NUMBER OF ICT PROFESSIONALS, 2000-2016
2.7 mil
2.4 mil
2.1 mil
1.8 mil
2,176,850

2,148,050

2,086,640

2,016,240

2,076,990

2,194,290

2,247,510

2,260,660

2,328,410

2,402,420

2,278,150

2,102,620

2,057,650

2,055,660

2,059,060

2,143,830

2,119,280

1.5 mil
1.2 mil
0.9 mil
0.6 mil

2016

2015

2014

2013

2012

2011

2010

2009

2008

2007

2006

2005

2004

2003

2002

2001

2000

0.3 mil
0.0 mil

Surveys on the IT talent gap reveal a more in-depth pictureof the issue with areas such as application development andproject management experiencing greater difficulties. Thereis also a bigger gap for talent with skills in emerging
technologies such as IoT and Big Data.

IDC | ICT Talent Development & Collaboration

STATISTICS ON IT TALENT SHORTAGES BY CATEGORY

Highest Scenario 790,000
calculated using 2 to 4%
of market grows

Internediate Scenario 590,000
calculated using 1.5 to 2.5%of market grows

Lowest Scenario 410,000
calculated using 1%
of market grows

40%

from Execution Members

10 Others

It is the biggest problem that it is difficult to hire talented resources both mid-career and new graduate.

132.5

130.5

128.4

126.4

124.4

122.3

586,598

555,873524,562

492,983

461,087

429,611120.2
401,843118.1
374,564

116.0

113.9

856,845865,744875,018

884,368

893,863902,789

907,878

912,370

916,447

919,924

923,002923,273

2029

2028

2027

2026

2025

2024

2023

2022

2021

2020

2019

2030
856,845

0.6 mil
0.5 mil32

0.4 mil2030

9 We cannot get Understanding

865,744

There is no Qualified Personnel of
Motivated Personnel

0.7 mil

33
2029

We cannot get Understanding
from Management Layer

875,018

8

2028

6

Difficult to Provide
Appropriate Training Internally34884,368

Experimenting with
Various Methods
but it has not been Trained
Up Well

We don’t know how to
Develop Human Resources

2027

3

7

893,863535Adequate Experience in the Company

1.4 mil
41.2
1.3 mil

0.8 mil2026

Difficulty of Hiring Talented
New Graduate Resources

0.4 mil

36

902,789

2

10

2025

4 There is no Place to have

9907,878

Difficulty of Hiring Talented
Mid-career Resources841.1 41.1
40.8 40.9 41.0 41.0

2024

1

7

0.6 mil

0.9 mil
912,370

60.7 mil

1.0 mil2023

5

0.8 mil

37
916,447

4

38

2022

3

1.0 mil

1.2 mil

919,9240%2

1.1 milNumber of People

40.3 40.5 40.6

2021

0%

1

1.2 mil

1.1 mil

923,002

5%

38.1

2020

5%

37.5 37.8

923,27310%

39.0

39.9 40.2

2019

1.3%

38.4 38.7

923,09410%

39

921,082

15%

6.1%

39.7
39.2 39.5

2016

15%

40

918,921

9.6%

41

2015

20%

20%

915,052

25%

17.8%

2014

19.6%

1.3 milAverage Age

42910,492

19.9%

1.4 milAverage Age Rises until 2030

Average Age

2013

25%

30%

905,408

21.1%

2012

22.4%

Supply of Talents

899,266

35%

35%

2018

33.8%

30%

1.5 mil

Survey Results on the Latest Trends and Future Estimates of IT Talents

45%

922,491

39.9%

40%

1.6 mil

In 2019, the retirement rate exceeds the employment rate and the industrial population declines. Shortage in 2030.

Junior Staff

2011

45%

2018

2010

STATISTICS ON IT TALENT SHORTAGES BY ISSUES
Senior Staff

1.7 mil

0.5 mil

In order to survive the intensifying competitive environment, it is strongly required that IT vendors’ executives andleaders be responsible for new business development and business creation.

Executive/Leader

923,094

10 Data Analytics Resources

922,491

Operation and Maintenance
Resources

2017

9915,052

Development Resources(Application Development, etc.)

2014

6

Number of People

0.9 mil
910,492

Cybersecurity Resources

2013

8

905,408

5

Architect(IT Architect/System Architect, etc.)2012

Development Resources(Infrastructure, etc.)
899,266

7

2011

Project Manager

892,511

3

Sales Resources(Expanding Sales for
Existing Business)
Consultant

4892,5112

Business Development

2010

1

347,611100

320,638

110

10

111.6

0%

293,499

120

109.4

130

5%

268,655

140

10%

107.1

15%

243,805

150
104.8

160

20%

Growing Market Size by Expansion of IT Needs

218,976

Market Size

25%

102.4

30%

194,608

9

15.3%
13.8%
16.7%

4.2%
7.6%
13.3%

8

Market Size: 100 in 2015

921,082

7

Shortage of Talents

2016

6

8.7%
12.9%
15.2%

18.7%
10.1%
3.7%

6.4%
5

Supply of Talents

100.0

35.2%

40%

16.9%

22.2%
19.2%

4

45%

170,700

3

50%

918,9212

Estimate Results on “Shortages of IT Talents”

35%

8.1%

12.0%

28.5%
9.7%

22.8%
20.1%

22.8%
18.4%
12.8%

21.2%
14.5%
1

SHORTAGES OF IT TALENTS

Junior Staff

2015

Senior Staff

37.6%

40.6%

Executive/Leader

81

Cross Border Opportunities within Asia Pacific | Japan

2017

80

82

IDC | ICT Talent Development & Collaboration

Number of Resources

Shortage

2016

2020

919,000

Cross Border Opportunities within Asia Pacific | Japan

MEASURES FOR JAPAN EMPLOYMENT SUPPORT FOR“HIGHLY-SKILLED FOREIGN PROFESSIONALS”86923,000

Total Number
of Engineers

171,000
129,000
48,000

Advanced IT Capable
Talents (AI, IoT, etc.)

281,000
132,000

369,000
97,00015,000"Japan Revitalization Strategy 2014 Update" Cabinet Decision on June 24, 2014
To take advantage of "highly skilled foreign professionals," the government considered concrete measures for
employment support for international students, identifying issues and planning solutions related to working environmentsfor "highly skilled foreign professionals."

371,000
193,000

Cybersecurity
Capable Talents

83“Japan Revitalization Strategy 2015 Update” Cabinet decision at Jun 30, 2015
Based on the fact that the status of residence for "highly skilled foreign professionals" was established in April 2015, thegovernment promptly set up a mechanism to strategically publicize and aim for dissemination and utilization for the"points-based system for highly skilled foreign professionals."

CURRENT STATUS OF FOREIGN NATIONAL IT
HUMAN RESOURCES

6.3 CROSS-BORDER TALENT OPPORTUNITIESRecognizing the potential talent shortage that may
affect the IT industry in Japan, a number oforganizations have implemented plans to attract andretain foreign talent.
METI and MEXT advocated the implementation of the"Asian Human Resources Fund" concept to promotemutual understanding and economic partnership in
Asia84.

As the domestic population declines, it is difficult tostrengthen the IT human resources supply capability byfocusing only on Japan. Acceptance and taking advantageof foreign national IT human resources are important asmeasures to secure sufficient IT human resources in the
future. The government improved the acceptance of highly
skilled foreign professionals through the "Japan
Revitalization Strategy."

There is also an advanced development program forinternational students85 who are willing to study inJapan and get a job in a Japanese company. These
programs include industry-academia collaborativeeducation program, business Japanese language
education, Japanese business education, internship,and employment support.

In accordance with the "Five Commitments for Attracting Foreign Companies to Japan" (March 17, 2015 Foreign
Investment Promotion Council decision), the government promotes the improvement of foreign acceptance environment.
This includes further acceptance of international students and active support after studying in Japan; the government
intends to strengthen employment support for foreign students. There is a 60,000 target for foreign IT resources engaged
in the ICT industry by 2020, an increase from the current 30,000.

Ministry of Justice Measures Concerning 'Acceptance of Highly Skilled Foreign Professionals'
1. Points-Based System for Highly Skilled Foreign Professionals
To promote the acceptance of "highly skilled foreign professionals," the government introduced a system to takepreferential treatment on immigration control by using a point system. It classified the activities into three categories:
advanced academic research activities, advanced specialty and technical activities, advanced management/management
activities. According to their respective characteristics, educational background, employment history, yearly salary, and soforth, they will be given preferential treatment when the total of points reaches a certain score (70 points).

Ministry of Foreign Affairs Measures Concerning Strengthening Employment Support for Foreign
Students and Overseas Students to Japanese Companies
A project to be newly implemented in accordance with the "Japan Revitalization Strategy 2016" designates top-level
universities in Asian developing countries as "partner universities." Students who are expected to graduate or alreadygraduated will be provided research opportunities, especially related to IT, IoT, and AI, among others, in Japan andinternship opportunities in Japanese companies. The project aims to accept about 1,000 people from FY17 to FY21.

ACCEPTANCE POLICY OF FOREIGN PROFESSIONALS AND FOREIGN STUDENTS

Participants who have completed a certain training in the "Innovative Asia" will take special additions in the "points-based
system for highly skilled foreign professionals." In addition to targeted 12 countries, 14 nations, including ASEAN
members Brunei and Singapore, are covered.

CABINET
Japan Revitalization Strategy
2014, 2015, 2016

Future Investment Strategy
2017, 2018

MINISTRIES AND AGENCIES

FUTURE INVESTMENT STRATEGY 201888

6.4 KEY INITIATIVES
Two important strategies taken by the Japanese
government relating to ICT talent as well as thepromotion of advance technologies are the “Future
Investment Strategy 2018" and “Comprehensive
Innovation Strategy".
87

Ministry ofJustice

Ministry ofForeign Affairs

METI
(IPA)

CabinetOfficePoint-based System
for Highly-skilled Foreign
Professionals

Innovative
Asia

Brochure Related
to Employment of
Foreign IT

Promotion Programfor Foreign Human
Resources

COMPREHENSIVE INNOVATION STRATEGY

The "Comprehensive Innovation Strategy" was decided
by the Cabinet on 15th June 2018, as a response to theshortage of the quality and quantity of IT talent. The
goal is to train and recruit advanced IT talents on ascale of tens of thousands of people by 2025 and IT
talents on a scale of hundreds of thousands of people
a year.

Following the "Japan Revitalization Strategy" from 2014 to2016 and the "Future Investment Strategy 2017," the"Future Investment Strategy 2018" was decided by the
Cabinet on June 15, 2018.
Currently, there is stiff international competition for theacquisition of data, which is the source of the value in thedigital age and human resources that create new added
value with data and ideas. To nurture human resources andutilize AI technology, the government has added a
mandatory subject, "Informatics I," in college and university
entrance examinations, established an environment inwhich all university students can take mathematics anddata science, and introduced applied cross-departmental
degree programs.
These strategies were decided by the Cabinet as a national
strategy in which each ministry or agency implements
policies corresponding to their respective roles.

84

IDC | ICT Talent Development & Collaboration

Cross Border Opportunities within Asia Pacific | JapanRESPONSIBILITIES OF MINISTRY AND AGENCIES UNDER FUTURE INVESTMENT STRATEGY85

CYBER SECURITY TALENT INITIATIVESCYBERSECURITY STRATEGY (INFORMATION SECURITY POLICY COUNCIL)90

Expansion of
School Education

Promotion of Advance IT
Technology Research andDevelopment throughCooperation between
Industry, Academia andGovernment

Development ofAdvanced IT
Engineers

Expansion of Training
Organizations ofCybersecurity

Provide Support for
National Projects for
R&D

Interoperation
Among Countries for
Certifications

Examination of
IT Engineers

The "Cybersecurity Strategy" was decided by the Cabinet on September 4, 2015, with a focus on discovering, developing,and securing ICT talents with outstanding aon the policy created by the Information Security Policy Council, METI, MEXT,
the Financial Services Agency, and the National Police Agency are implementing concrete measures to strengthen humanresources development.bilities. Based 91,92

HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT INITIATIVES RELATED TO CYBER SECURITY

PromoteHuman Resources
Measures

The Government of Japan Sets the Growth Strategy 2018 For Society 5.0

CABINET
Future Investment Strategy 2018

Comprehensive Innovation Strategy

Cabinet Decision Made on
15 June 2018 by
Future Investment Council

Cabinet Decision Made on
15 June 2018 by Council of Science,
Technology and Innovation

Ministry of Internal Affairs
and Communications

Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports,
Science and Technology

National Cyber Training Center(Established in April 2017)

Advanced Technology Talent Development Project(enPiT-Pro)CYDER:
Cyber Defense Exercise with Recurrence

Nurturing Information Security Talents(Maintenance as a security exercise base forall technical colleges)

CYBER COLOSSEO:
Practical Exercises of Attack and Defense forTokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games
SecHack365:
Young Security Innovator
Development Program

Ministerial Accreditation System of“Vocational Practice Specialized Course”
at Vocational Schools
Information Security, Information Moral Education(Junior High School, High School)

MINISTRIES AND AGENCIES

Ministry of Economy, Tradeand Industry(METI)

Ministry of Education, Culture,
Sports, Science and Technology(MEXT)

Ministry of Internal Affairs
and Communications(MIC)

Ministry of Economy,
Trade and Industry Industrial Cyber Security
Promotion Project
Registered Information Security Specialist(RISS)

Ministry of JusticeFinancial Services Agency

National Police Agency

PROGRESSION TOWARDS “SOCIETY 5.0”89

Hunting Society(Society 1.0)

Agricultural Society(Society 2.0)

Industrial Society(Society 3.0)

There are also initiatives specific to certain ICT sub-industries, such as cybersecurity.

Information Society(Society 4.0)

National Police Agency
Cyber Security Lecture to Technical College

86

6.5 ORGANIZATIONSDEVELOPMENT

IDC | ICT Talent Development & Collaboration

INVOLVEDIN

Cross Border Opportunities within Asia Pacific | Japan

JAPAN INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY ENGINEERS
EXAMINATION CENTER (JITEC)TALENT

COUNCIL FOR SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY ANDINNOVATION: 5TH SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGYBASIC PLAN
The Council for Science and Technology Policy was set
up in the Cabinet Office as one of the policy councils
during the reorganization of government ministries
and agencies in January 2001. The council was
reorganized into the Council for Science, Technology,
and Innovation in May 2014 to strengthen its functions
related to promoting innovation. Under the leadershipof the Prime Minister and the Minister of State for
Science and Technology Policy, the Council for Science,
Technology, and Innovation overlooks all of the nation's
science and technology development, formulates
comprehensive policies, and coordinates industry
players.93
The "5th Science and Technology Basic Plan" was set
by the Council for Science, Technology, and Innovationin April 2016. Japan's public science and technology
administration operates under the basic policies of theCouncil for Science, Technology, and Innovation chairedby the Prime Minister and works to promote scienceand technology in coordination with related ministries.
Basic plans are made every five years, and four Scienceand Technology Basic Plans have been establishedsince the enactment of the Science and Technology
Basic Law in 1995. The 5th Science and Technology
Basic Plan (from 2016 to 2020) took effect from April
2016. In parallel with the five-year plans, the "STI
Comprehensive Strategies" is published every two
years.
To promote innovation, this plan encourages theformation of places where collecting human resources,
knowledge, and funds is made possible. There is also
an emphasis on the exchange and movement of
human resources beyond organizational barriers.
Talent should be able to move freely among
companies, universities, and research institutes. The
plan also aims at developing human resources withentrepreneurial mindsets.

Science and technology cooperation between emerging
countries and developing countries is also encouraged.
Japan will strategically establish a framework for thecreation of socially inclusive and sustainable innovation.
Under the plan, Japan will establish an equal partnershipwith each country, promote interactive knowledge
exchanges, and establish a mechanism to make use of eachother's strength.

JAPAN INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION (JISA)SERVICE"JISA was established in 1984, and its members include
leading systems integrators, computer system designers,
development and related service providers, and system
operation and management service vendors."94
Their activities include:•
Surveys and research•
Providing information•
Education and training•
Privacy mark certification•
Communication and exchange among businessexecutives•
International activities•
Regional activities•
Welfare for employees•
Strengthening business fundamentals

The Information Technology Engineers Examination (ITEE)
was first administered in 1969, and in 1970, it became anational examination under the former Ministry ofInternational Trade and Industry (now the Ministry of
Economy, Trade, and Industry). Japan Information
Technology Engineers Examination Center (JITEC) presently
administers the ITEE. Since its commencement, theexamination has played an important role in thedevelopment of IT engineers. IT has grown into one of thelargest-scale national examinations in Japan, withapproximately 600,000 applicants each year.
The Information Technology Professionals Examination
Council (ITPEC) was established in November 2005 to
benefit, assist, and advance ITEE in Asian countries. The
council agreed to conduct the examination on the same date
and time with the same set of questions, so that theexamination is consistent among all of the member
countries. This consistency enables accurate measurementof the skills of the examinees in any of these countries.
Currently, ITPEC Common Examination has been conductedin the Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, Myanmar, Malaysia,
Mongolia, and Bangladesh biannually, in April and October.

They provide these services to over 500 member companies
in the technology industry as well as associate members
within the banking, insurance, manufacturing, and tradeindustries. Talent development initiatives under JISA include
courses, seminars, training for IT professionals, andsymposiums. JISA is also involved in promoting employee
welfare through pension and insurance schemes.95

Promote thedevelopment, demonstration,and standardization
for IoT-related
technologies

WORKING GROUPS••“ To promote innovation, this plan encourages
the formation of places where collecting
human resources, knowledge and funds ismade possible. “

IOT ACCELERATION CONSORTIUM
The IoT Acceleration Consortium will be established in Japan
with the aim of creating an adequate environment for
attracting investment in the future with the Internet ofThings through public-private collaboration. METI and MIC
support this consortium.
This initiative was spurred by the development of IoT, Big
Data, and artificial intelligence in recent years. While thedevelopment of IoT creates new services, there are concerns
about existing businesses going obsolete if they are unable
to keep up with the changes.
The IoT Acceleration Consortium aims to combine thestrengths of government, industry, and academia and build
a structure for developing and demonstrating technologies
related to the promotion of IoT as well as creating andfacilitating new business models.

CONSORTIUM OBJECTIVES•••“ The council was reorganized into the Council
for Science, Technology and Innovation in May
2014 to strengthen its functions related topromoting innovation. ”

87Technology Development Working Group (Smart IoT
Acceleration Forum)
Advanced Model Business Promotion Working Group(IoT Acceleration Lab)
IoT Security Working Group
Promotion of data distribution Working GroupInternational Collaboration Working Group

Promote the creation of various
IoT-related projects and recommendations
includingregulatory reforms necessary to
run those projects

88

IDC | ICT Talent Development & Collaboration

89

Cross Border Opportunities within Asia Pacific | Malaysia

7. MALAYSIA
7.1 INTRODUCTION
The total size of labor force in Malaysia is about 14.9
million with an unemployment rate of 3.4%. In termsof employment by skill level, Malaysia’s share of highskill employment increased by 1.8 percentage points
to 27.3% in the year 2017 compared to 2016. Thismeans that 27.3% of those employed in Malaysia arein managerial, professional or technician roles.

THE TOTAL SIZE OF LABOR FORCE
Employment Rate

Unemployment Rate

96.6%
40 units

3.4%

Total size 14.9 million

Meanwhile, the share of semi-skill workers is at 59.7% while the share of low-skill employment is at 13.0%.

EMPLOYMENT ROLES IN MALAYSIA
Low-Skilled Semi-Skilled
Employment Workers

Managerial, Professional orTechnician Roles

13%

59.7%

27.3%

7.2 FUTURE INDUSTRY DIRECTION AND IMPLICATIONS TO TALENT DEMAND
MALAYSIA IN-DEMAND JOBS 2018-2020
On the other hand, Malaysian Institutes of Higher Learning
produces approximately 105,000 graduates every year ofwhich approximately 10,000 graduates have ICT degrees.

GRADUATES PRODUCED BY
MALAYSIA INSTITUES OF HIGHER LEARNING
Other Graduates - 90.5%

ICT Graduates - 9.5%

Approximate Graduates Every Year105,000 - 10.8% Unemployed

However, enterprises in Malaysia are facing serious
challenge in hiring fresh graduates due to mismatch in skills
being taught at the universities and the skills that are
required in the industry to perform the available jobs. It is
one of the major reasons behind higher youth
unemployment rate at around 10.8%, which over threetimes higher than overall unemployment rate. To addressthese challenges, government and industry initiatives fortalent development and policies for cross border talentattraction are of paramount importance as often different
economies will be competing for hiring from the same talent
resource pools.

2018

2019

2020

Business Intelligence Consultant

2,126

2,482

2,902

Cloud Solution Architect

1,218

1,530

1,915

Computer Systems Analyst

12,112

12,485

12,878Cybersecurity Consultant

1,932

2,307

2,798

Data Scientist

1,063

1,241

1,451

Internet of Things (IoT) Developer

2,183

2,550

2,956

IT Infrastructure Engineer

1,949

2,449

3,064

Mobile and Web Application Developer

17,191

17,313

17,666

Network Engineer

1,461

1,837

2,298

Software Developer

7,267

7,491

7,727

Malaysia Total

48,502

51,68455,657

90

IDC | ICT Talent Development & Collaboration

7.3 CROSS-BORDER TALENT OPPORTUNITIESNUMBER OF UNIVERSITIESThere are 20 Public Universities and 40 Private
Universities in Malaysia producing approximately
10,000 ICT graduates every year.

PrivatePublic40 units

20 units

To upskill these graduate’s Malaysian government has taken many initiatives. We have discussed some key initiatives below:

TOP FKW SOURCE COUNTRIES
1

India

5

Pakistan

92Philippines

6

Iran

3

Indonesia

7

4

China

8

Disruptive technology may force corporations to tap into atalent pool with technical skills but it doesn’t mean that
corporations have started reducing their workforce. The
numbers have instead increased, especially for tech-skilledworkers like graphic designers, data analysts and dataengineers. Furthermore, With the rise of emerging
technology adoption in the ICT sector and with the ICT
talent gap within the country puts Malaysia in a state toleverage on cross border talents. Malaysia have been
leveraging on talents from India especially on softwaredevelopment skills as they are more competitive andadvance in this area.

Therefore, Malaysia government should emphasize into
working permit policies to ensure talents from different
parts of the world can contribute their skills for the nation’s
economy. These can also increase the chance for Malaysian
talents to develop their skillset with leveraging on theskillsets that cross border talents can bring to the table.
The Human Resource Ministry should also look into
programs that can invite talents from different countries
and emphasize on the wage that is provided to this groupof people as it is considered as key concern for majority ofthe talents.

HUMAN CAPITAL DEVELOPMENT IN THE ELEVENTH PLAN, 2016 -2020

13 Australia

17 France

10 UK

14 Sri Lanka

18 Netherlands

South Korean

11 Nigeria

15 USA

19 Germany

Japan

12 Bangladesh

16 Singapore

20 Others

10819

Vietnam91

Cross Border Opportunities within Asia Pacific | Malaysia

MSC Active FKW
11,0009,000

Enhancing
Inclusiveness Towards an
Equitable Society

ImprovingWellbeing for All

Accelerating
Human Capital Development
for an Advanced Nation

Pursuing Green
Growth for Sustainability and
Resilience

Strengthening
Infrastructure to Support
Economic Expansion

Re-engineering
Growth for Greater
Prosperity

7,000
2846 5,000

2969

3,000
1915 1884

2,500
2,000
1,500
1,000
9,00

733

8,00

604

7,00

521
462 452

6,00
367

5,00
277 2614,00
186 185 166

121 113

3,00
97

81

2,00
1,00
0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

The Government has initiated several programmes under11th Malaysia Plan that focus on accelerating humancapital development through four key areas which are:•
Improving the efficiency of labour market to accelerate
economic growth:•
Transforming technical and vocational education tomeet industry demand;•
Strengthening lifelong learning for skills enhancement;and  Improving the quality of education system forbetter student outcomes and institutional excellence.
HRDF is responsible in creating and growing the quality of
local human capital through efficient high-skilled training
certification programmes and initiatives that is discussed
above in this report. This is expected to contribute to a 35%
skilled Malaysian workforce and the creation of 1.5 million
jobs by year 2020.

Additionally, HRDF continues to be steadfast in its effort
towards encouraging employers covered under the PSMB
Act 2001 to retrain and upgrade the skills of their local
employees, apprentices and trainees in keeping up with the
fast-evolving global business landscape while meeting theirindividual company’s aspirations.
HRDF began addressing the needs of critical ICT skills for
employees of HRDF-registered employers through theutilization of the 30% HRDF Consolidated Fund under the
Industry-Based Certification (INBASE) Programme. As such,a Malaysia Digital Skills Competency Framework (“MyDISC”)
was developed for Digital Technology whereby several
technical domains were identified in areas such as
programming, mobile technology / development platform,
web development / technologies and softwaredevelopment.

92

IDC | ICT Talent Development & Collaboration

POWERPM LEADERSHIPPIKOM PowerPM Leadership Course covers a wide
spectrum of issues other than standard project
management areas that must be addressed in order toobtain the desired business outcome. The course emphasis
on leadership and communications as IT practitioners today
need to be good in soft skills and EQ (emotional intelligence)as core technical expertise. This unique professional
development opportunity offers a platform to meet andinteract with experienced Portfolio / Programme / ProjectManagers, colleagues and peers to share ideas and discussvarious opportunities. Participants will also be given handson exposure to a real-life PMO tool, in order to broaden theirhorizons on the alternatives available in this ever-changing,new normal world of Project Management. PLC has trained
more than 600 project managers and team leaders and it is
one of the most sought after certification in the Malaysian
ICT industry.

7.4 KEY INITIATIVESGLOBALLY
RECOGNISEDINDUSTRY
PROFESSIONAL CERTIFICATION (GRIP)•ASEAN DATA ANALYTICS EXCHANGE (ADAX)
To approach the growth of a digital economy in a holisticmanner, MDEC committed itself to nurturing and developing
the digital workforce. This ensures that the demands of thecurrent and future industry-relevant talents are met. The
goal is to ensure sufficient talent availability, as theSoutheast Asian economies head toward a high-income
knowledge-based digital economy. The initiatives
implemented are designed to satiate the talent skills gap
that comes with a booming tech ecosystem.
This led to the creation of the ASEAN Data Analytics
eXchange (ADAX), a regional platform that brings together
innovative talent and development models and showcases
the latest BDA technologies. A national initiative to benefit
Malaysia, ADAX was given the task of nurturing theecosystem of BDA and AI that would contribute to its
strategic objectives.
This led to a focus on building a big data community throughshared values, skills building, and collaboration around arobust data analytics ecosystem. By piloting advanced data
analytics use cases for the ASEAN region and providing a
co-working location for BDA start-ups and accelerators.

&

This program is initiated and funded by the Malaysian
government to ensure local talents are trained andcertified. There are several objectives designed under
this program and its discussed below:••

To provide opportunity to employees to increase
their skills by participating in specific fields to beexpert that would enhance their careerdevelopment and earn higher income;To provide employers with skilled workforce thatwill enable them to explore business
opportunities in higher valued chain that is
related to Knowledge Intensive activities that areknowledge based, high-tech and high valueadded products / activities to be continuouslycompetitive in the global market
To increase labor supply in the strategic and highimpact areas that was identified to reducecountry’s dependency on external expertise andsupport the Government’s aspiration to achieve
developed nation status by the year 2020

GRADUATE EMPLOYABILITY MANAGEMENTSCHEME (GEMS)This program is designed to discover graduate’s
employability and effectively match relatedcommercial skills to their career. This helps themdiscover business acumen and enhance theirentrepreneur spirit. They are guided and mentored byindustrial professional and business owners inovercoming the challenge in starting their own
business. There are several benefits for graduates who
participates in this program:
•
•
•
•

93

Cross Border Opportunities within Asia Pacific | Malaysia

Able to understand their strengths andweaknesses
Able to learn effective commercial skills
Transform feasible ideas to business
opportunities
Understand the real talent within themselves

E-REZEKI

MSC MALAYSIA

The eRezeki is a national programme based on
crowdsourcing concept and its variety of models. The
Government of Malaysia via MDEC, has taken a uniquecountry-level approach in developing and managing local
crowd-labour or crowd workers, especially since theprogramme targets to benefit the population in the bottom
forty percent of the income strata or referred to as the B40.

MSC Malaysia Status is awarded by the Government of
Malaysia to eligible local and foreign ICT related businesses.
MSC Malaysia Status companies are eligible for attractive
incentives, rights and privileges which promote continued
growth for businesses, the industry and the Malaysian
economy. Currently there are:

The primary focus is to match the local crowd workers withsuitable service-based task/job, starting from theintroduction of simple digital micro-tasks coming from themore matured crowdsourcing market. One of the key value
proposition is indeed about efficiently matching the demand
from the crowdsourcing industry with the supply of services
from Malaysian citizens and vice-versa. Hence profiling ofeRezeki participant is vital and incessant process in theeRezeki system that will enable a proper demand-supply
matching function.
The ‘eRezeki’ Programme is an initiative that can beemulated by other government that has the similar kind of
demographics such as Malaysia. These initiatives not only
provide a safe and trustworthy source of income for those
who has an income below RM 4000 monthly, or also
referred to as the Bottom-40 (B40) income group. The B40
community includes blue-collared workers, the unemployed
and under-employed, students, housewives, retirees andsenior citizens. This initiative will not only help in growing
the nation’s economy but also provides a higher talent pool
who are trained by qualified trainers for the ICT industries.

IAOP(INTERNATIONALASSOCIATIONOUTSOURCING PROFESSIONAL)OF

MSC MALAYSIA CURRENT STATUS

RM47.1 billion

3,241 MSC

167,044 jobs

Companies with MSC Malaysia Status can source and hire
local and foreign knowledge workers to ensure they havethe best expertise locally and from around the world togrow their business.

RETURNING EXPERT PROGRAMME (REP)
This programme is initiated to encourage Malaysian abroadin selected fields important to the nation to return and workin Malaysia. This programme is constantly being improved
to meet the needs of Malaysian expats.

RETURNING EXPERT PROGRAMME
Till date 4,568 applications are approved
since 2011

Training and certification through IAOP IAOP (International
Association of Outsourcing Professional) reflects thehighest industry standards and achievement criteria, andare the de facto programs recognized by customers,
providers and advisors of outsourcing services. IAOP bringsa vast array of educational opportunities to the SSO
community. While some lead to professional certification,others give both the individual and company a broader
knowledge of the end-to-end standard practices andprocesses that define a successful outsourcing relationship.
The IAOP has been the bridge that leads local outsourcing
professionals to the global market and vice versa, ever since
they started their first chapter in Malaysia in the year 2008.

“ The Government of Malaysia via MDEC, hastaken a unique country-level approach indeveloping and managing local crowd-labouror crowd workers “

94

7.5 ORGANIZATIONSDEVELOPMENT

IDC | ICT Talent Development & Collaboration

INVOLVEDIN

TALENT

Currently there are 3483 training service providers thatare recognized by the government through registration
with HRDF. Following are the key training providers:

GLOBAL TALENT ACADEMY SDN BHD
Global Talent Academy Sdn Bhd (GTA) is a premiertraining and certification provider, striving to bring thelatest, most innovative learning and education
programs to the ASEAN region. Since its inception in
2010, GTA has been committed to providing thehighest quality corporate training to graduates,individual professional, organizations and public
sectors in Malaysia.
GTA has 8 years of track record in conducting manysuccessful programs including Train and Place for the
Ministry of Human Resource, ASET Program for HRDF,
GRIP (Globally Recognised International Program) for
HRDF, MyProcert program for MDEC and GEMS
(Graduate Employability) for Talent Corp. It's strategic
partners include MDEC, Pemandu, PIKOM, Outsourcing
Malaysia, Skills Johor and SMECorp . GTA is the
exclusive corporate and professional development
partner of IAOP in Malaysia. IAOP(International
Association of Outsourcing Professional) is the global,
standard-setting leading professional association andadvocate for outsourcing professionals. Courses underprograms are Human Resource, Marketing & Sales,
Finance & Accounting, Global Business Services.
Certified Outsourcing Specialist (COS) Family of
Certifications - The Certified Outsourcing Specialists(COS) family of certifications recognizes individuals
primarily involved in the delivery of outsourcing
services. Although the primary intent is to serve theneeds of the provider community, certifications in thisfamily may also serve the needs of the customer (i.e.
shared service centers) and advisory communities.
COS family of certifications are aligned with specificjobs areas of responsibility. COS certifications enable
individuals, the companies they work for, and thecustomers they serve to consistently validate aworker's specific knowledge, skills and experience inthe delivery of outsourcing services.

Cross Border Opportunities within Asia Pacific | Malaysia

IVERSON ASSOCIATES SDN BHD

ITRAIN (M) SDN BHD

Iverson Associates Sdn Bhd is the undisputed leader ofprofessional IT training in Malaysia. Iverson has helped
hundreds of companies, including Fortune 500 companies,
government departments and agencies, government linked
corporations as well as many of the Top 100 companies on
Bursa Malaysia, to upgrade the IT skills of their employees
to maximize their return on investment and gain
competitive advantage.

iTrain enables continuous brain to gain through in-demandskills trainings that help talents stay ahead in the digital
economy.

They have set the benchmark for professional IT training in
Malaysia. With the best facilities for professional IT training
in Malaysia. They also have the largest pool of full-timecertified trainers. Iverson is the preferred training provider
of many of the world-class companies operating in
Malaysia. Today's IT professionals require both technicalknowledge and soft skills. Hence, they also offer soft skills
training programmes which are complementary to their
existing technical training.

GLOBAL KNOWLEDGE NETWORKTechnology and process are crucial for accomplishingorganizational objectives, but they’ve been democratized by
the digital revolution. The larger issue are the skill gaps
hijacking your technology return on investments. As aresult, organizations who are successfully using technology
to accelerate success are also successfully transforming thecapabilities of their people to maximize investments.
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
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waters)

Their vision is to bridge industrial leaders and drivers of newtechnologies with educational pathways to share theirunique expertise with the world. iTrain was the first training
provider to introduce Google authorized trainings inSoutheast Asia (SEA). iTrain have partnered with NVIDIA
Deep Learning Institute USA to bring Artificial Intelligence(AI) know-how and advancement to the Southeast Asian
region. They have also joined forces with MIMOS to launch
IoT trainings in SEA.
iTrain is recognized by the Government of Malaysia, theircertifications are HRDF claimable and therefore highly
accessible and affordable for employers from private,
government and education sectors who wish to keep theirworkforce trained and updated in the latest digital tech inAI, Data Science, IoT, digital marketing, Mobile App
Development, project management, and businessproficiencies.

PENANG SKILLS DEVELOPMENT CENTRE
Penang Skills Development Centre (PSDC) is dedicated tomeet the immediate human resource needs of the business
community and to support and strengthen business
requirements. It has attained both national andinternational recognition as a truly successful example ofshared learning and a model institution for human resource
development to be emulated within and beyond Malaysia.
Over a period of 29 years, the Centre has trained over
200,000 participants through more than 10,000 courses;
pioneered local industry development initiatives; assisted
in the input and formulation of national policies pertaining
to human capital development and contributed directly to
the Malaysian workforce transformation initiatives.

95

development, the PSDC executed its Industry 4.0 initiativein 2016, a strategy that supports the new phase ofindustrial revolution in Malaysia. Moving forward, the PSDC
will expand its role and gear towards becoming the Centreof Excellence for Industry 4.0 in Penang and Malaysia byproviding leadership, the right platform for learning of bestpractices, as well as talent development support throughits high-end Shared Services facilities to meet the current
needs and demands of the industry.

IN-DEMAND CERTIFICATIONS
1.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Project Management Professional (PMP)AWS Certified Solutions ArchitectAWS Certified Developer
Certified Information Systems Security Professional(CISSP)
Cisco Certified Networking Professional (CCNP)
Routing and Switching
ITIL V3 Foundation

PIKOM
The National ICT Association of Malaysia is the association
representing the information and communication
technology (ICT) industry in Malaysia. It has a total of 1000+
membership comprising companies involved in a whole
spectrum of ICT products and service which commands 80%of the total ICT trade in Malaysia. PIKOM is focused to serve
the members and industry of :
•
•
•
•
•

Outsourcing Malaysia
CIO Chapter
Cybersecurity Chapter
E-Commerce Chapter
PIKOM Venture Investment Chapter

PIKOM is a non-profit organization managed by a team ofcouncil elected by the members every year during theannual general meeting.

In line with its commitment to facilitate industry growth and

KEY MINISTRIES AND GOVERNMENT BODIES96

IDC | ICT Talent Development & Collaboration

97

Cross Border Opportunities within Asia Pacific | Singapore

8. SINGAPORE
8.2 FUTURE INDUSTRY DIRECTIONIMPLICATIONS TO TALENT DEMAND

8.1 INTRODUCTION
Singapore is located in South East Asia with a robust and growing economy. GDP was reported at USD 323.9 billion
USD in 2017. Unemployment is below 5% and is expected to remain stable according to forecast by the International
Monetary Fund.

SINGAPORE ECONOMIC SNAPSHOT 96
SUBJECTDESCRIPTOR

ESTIMATESSTART AFTER

UNITS

SCALE

2015

2016

2017

2018

2019

2020

2021

2022

U.S.
Gross
domestic
dollars
product,
current prices

Billions

304.1

309.8

323.9

349.7 367.8

385.2

401.9

419.2 437.8

2017

2023

Unemployment rate

Percentof total
labor
force

1.9

2.1

2.2

2.1

2.1

2.1

2.1

2.1

2.1

2017

Employment

Persons Millions

3.6

3.7

3.7

3.7

3.7

n/a

n/a

n/a

n/a

2017

Population

Persons Millions

5.5

5.6

5.6

5.7

5.7

5.8

5.8

5.9

5.9

2017

Singapore is home to approximately 180,000 ICT
professional2. The Government and the Industry recognizes
their importance to economic development and the future

ICT PROFESSIONALS IN SINGAPORE98
ICT Professionals Employed in 2017

180,000

success of business. National and industry development
initiatives often include considerations for talentdevelopment and talent attraction.

QUOTATION FROM THE TRANSCRIPT OF
PRIME MINISTER LEE HSIEN LOONG'S
SPEECH AT SMART NATION LAUNCH ON
24 NOVEMBER“We need the right organisations, the right skills, theright mindsets to be a Smart Nation. We have to startwith our education system. We are equipping students
with up-to-date knowledge and skills
to use the technology. But schools
olsmust also teach students how toocreate the technology of the
future; teach them to code, toprototype and build things, to fail
fast and learn quickly, to use thelatest gadgets, the latest tools
and be up with the latestt
technology.”- Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong*Image taken from TIMEAND

The demand for ICT talent in Singapore is expected torise in light rapid technology adoption across the board
and the digitalization efforts by the government andindustry alike.

OVERVIEW OF SINGAPORE’S ICT INDUSTRY99

Estimatedrevenue of the
ICT Industry is
SGD189.6 billion
in 2015

ICT industry’s
revenue grew by
a compound
annual growthrate of 18% perannum from2010 to 2015
ICT Sector
contributes 8% ofSingapore’s
gross domestic
product

QUOTATION FROM THE TRANSCRIPT OF
PRIME MINISTER LEE HSIEN LOONG'S
SPEECH AT SMART NATION LAUNCH ON
24 NOVEMBER“One important advantage which we have which wemust take full advantage of is to use technology
extensively and systematically, particularly IT. Not justpiecemeal, individual gadgets, individual programmes
and systems – that we are already doing, and all sorts
of devices and applications have technology and IT inthem. I am sure just in this room if we add all our
handphones together we will have terabytes ofstorage and gigabytes of processing power but wehave to do this systematically, to make the most of
the potential, to integrate all of thetechnology and possibilities into a
coherent and comprehensivee
whole. This will make our
economy more productive, ourlives better, and our society
more responsive to our people’s
needs and aspirations.”- Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong*Image taken from TIMEDIGITALIZATION OF SINGAPOREAN INDUSTRIESThe Ministry for Communications in Information announced several plans to transform the economy intoa leading digital economy. These plans are guided by the Digital Economy Framework centered on 3 action
pillars100.

98

IDC | ICT Talent Development & Collaboration

GUIDING PILLARS OF SINGAPORE DIGITAL ECONOMY FRAMEWORK

Digital transformation across industries in Singapore will make an impact on the demand for talent with digital skills thatare relevant to the trends in the market. Studies done in 2015 and 2017 by Robert Walter’s highlighted that companies
continue to invest in digitalization and consequently demand more professional with a broad digital skillset. Areas highlighted
include:DIGITAL SKILLS IN DEMAND
Accelerating the Digital
Transformation of Industries
Transformation roadmaps
for every major industry withthe focus on adopting digitaltechnologies

Transforming the Infocomm
Media (ICM) Industry
to Drive Economic Growth

Sharpening the Nation’sCompetitive Edge
Encouraging businessto adopt business model thatleverage digital for growth

Position the ICM industry
as a significant contributor to
economic value
Position the ICM industry
as a nexus for outstanding talent

Support for SMEs to go digital

Agile
Development

Encourage digital champions, newtalents and innovations to as a means
to tackle real business problems

Position the ICM industry
as a “frontier” for new technologies
such as Artificial Intelligence (AI),
Data science, Cybersecurity, andthe Internet of Things (IoT)

The transformation initiatives in the ICM industry101 are
expected to contribute to IT talent demand significantly.
Overall, the ICM industry it poised to create more than
13,000 jobs at the PMET level and employing more than
200,000 workers by 2020.

99

Cross Border Opportunities within Asia Pacific | Singapore

MobileandApplication
Development

Cloud
Technologies
andArchitecture

INDUSTRIES DRIVINGDIGITAL TRANSFORMATION

Healthcare

Media

Consultancy
OnlineContent

Project
Delivery

Full Stack
Open Source
Development

UX Designand User
Experience

Automation

Cyber
Security

Insurance

Financial
Services

Logistics

E-commerce

GROWING FINTECH INDUSTRY WITH A DEMAND
FOR TALENT IN EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES NEEDFOR DIGITAL TALENT102
The FinTech Industry lies at the cross-roads of many
emerging technologies. The government is interested inpositioning the national as an international FinTech hub thatwould place it in competition FinTech leaders in the China,
US, and Japan.

FOCUS AREAS OF SINGAPORE’S FINTECH INDUSTRY
Increase Efficiency

Create Opportunities

Manage Risks Better

Improve Lives

Cross-Border
Collaboration

Open
Architecture

Venture Capital
Ecosystem

Electronic
Payment

Expand web ofcooperation agreements

Enhance connectivity
through APIs

Deepen and expand
FinTech investment

Improve interoperability
and increase adoption

DEMAND FOR UP SKILLING WHEN TALENT SUPPLYIS SHORT103
A study by SGTech revealed that information andcommunication companies in Singapore are facing a talent
crunch. The survey also looked at the strategies thesecompanies are employing in light of their recruitment
difficulties.

MEASURES TAKEN BY INFOCOMM COMPANIES FACING TALENT SHORTAGES
Employing Contractors or Freelancers
61%
Willing to Re-hire Senior PMET
75%

Blockchains

Digital ID & E-KYC

FinTech Talent

Pilots forinter-bank payments andtrade finance

Enhance customer
experience and operational
efficiency

Improve interoperability
andincrease adoption

Among the responses are up skilling their existing employee
and re-hiring senior or retired professional, managers,
executives and technicians (“PMETs”). Some companies areeven exploring the use of technology to fill in the talent gap..
The long-term impact of these measures on the industry as
a whole remains to be seen. Companies would need toconsider new talent in addition to re-skilling and up-skillingthe existing workforce.

Upskill Employee
56%
Deploy Technology to Reduce Manpower Needs
49%

100

101

IDC | ICT Talent Development & Collaboration

Cross Border Opportunities within Asia Pacific | Singapore

SINGAPORE IN-DEMAND JOBS 2018-2020

GRADUATES FROM UNIVERSITY FIRST DEGREE COURSES BY TYPE OF COURSE AND SEX 105

2018

2019

2020

Business Intelligence Consultant

2,475

2,808

3,146

Cloud Solution Architect

3,871

4,768

5,803

Computer Systems Analyst

14,358

14,961

15,628Cybersecurity Consultant

2,760

3,257

3,867

Data Scientist

1,238

1,404

1,573

Internet of Things (IoT) Developer

2,407

2,801

3,273

IT Infrastructure Engineer

6,193

7,629

9,284

Mobile and Web Application Developer

12,575

12,517

12,827

Network Engineer

4,645

5,722

6,963

Software Developer

8,615

8,977

9,377

Singapore Total

59,13764,84471,740Information Technology
Engineering Sciences

Males

Females

6,300

6,496
419

2010

3,117

154
1,020

6,428

7,281
388

2011

3,060

195
1,215

6,778

7,228
484

2012

280
1,213

2,880

The enrollment of students in ICT specific fields of study is still low compared to other fields such as the Humanities andSocial Sciences and Business and Administration.

7,724

8,085
573

2013

3,286

ENROLMENT IN UNIVERSITY FIRST DEGREE COURSES BY TYPE OF COURSE104

251
1,323

7,756

7,620

TYPE OF COURSE

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

2016

708

Engineering Sciences

17,294

17,42618,007

18,073

18,43818,431

18,656

3,288

Humanities & Social Sciences

9,694

9,689

10,087

10,645

11,291

11,915

12,495Natural, Physical &Mathematical Sciences

7,640

7,822

7,883

7,855

8,145

8,226

8,267

Business & Administration

6,426

5,780

6,073

6,188

6,577

7,138

7,514

Accountancy

3,203

3,871

4,001

4,042

4,368

4,723

5,090

Information Technology

3,207

3,643

3,853

4,058

4,152

4,575

4,865

Architecture & Building

1,786

1,857

1,829

1,883

1,990

1,973

1,980

Health Sciences

1,064

1,139

1,293

1,441

1,498

1,567

1,860

Medicine

1,305

1,328

1,374

1,469

1,585

1,719

1,845

Applied Arts

1,076

1,179

1,347

1,492

1,578

1,599

1,628

Law

1,423

1,448

1,474

1,491

1,514

1,550

1,593

Mass Communication

675

673

678

702

729

776

774

Education

1,841

1,837

1,609

1,338

1,103

978

752

Services

299

827

1,047

922

679

725

737

Dentistry

184

190

201

207

216

219

220

The overall graduation figures for Information Technology and Engineering Courses have also been relatively flat since 2010.

Information Technology
Engineering Sciences

2014

289
1,251

7,872

7,638
689

2015

3,258

377
1,375

7,703

8,192
670
3,283

2016

381
1,385

Considering that tertiary-level educational institutions play an important role in developing ICT talent. There are a few
scholarships that help encourage more citizens to take up ICT courses.

102

IDC | ICT Talent Development & Collaboration

ICT RELATED SCHOLARSHIPS IN SINGAPORE
106

Smart Nation Scholarship

TOP 5 IT POSITION WITH TALENT SHORTAGE

Skillfuture Study Awards107

For Singaporean Citizens

For Singaporeans working in the ICT sector

For study of ICT programs at
local or foreign universities

For bachelors and masters level courses
approved by the Info-communications
Media Development Authority of Singapore

Eligible for career opportunities
within the Government Technology Agencyof Singapore, Cyber Security Agency ofSingapore and Info-communications MediaDevelopment Authority of Singapore

SGTech conducted a survey of over 180 companies within
the Singapore information and communication
understand some of the challenges faced by companies
within the industry. The survey revealed that Singapore
Infocomm companies have a demand for talent with IT andbusiness skills but are often unable to find suitable
candidates. 75% of the companies expressed their concernof not being able to recruit the “right talent”. Compared towell establish companies, new companies in the market
such as start-up are facing the most difficulty in the
Singapore talent marketplace. Up to 91% of start-ups list
“recruiting the right talent” as their “gravest concern”.

TOP 3 CONCERNS OF SINGAPOREAN INFOCOMM COMPANIES, 2017
Economic Slowdown

75%

Increasing Manpower Costs
57%

70%

HIGHLIGHT OF SGTECH INDUSTRY SURVEY, 2017
There are vacancies
but not enough qualified
local candidates tofill the jobs (suitableapplicants are mostly
foreigners)

Programmers
52%

Business
Development
50%

System Architects
38%

SGTECH INDUSTRY SURVEY 2017108

Recruiting Talent

103

Cross Border Opportunities within Asia Pacific | Singapore

There are vacancies
and we have many
suitable applicants(both local andforeigners)

There are vacancies
but no suitable
candidates to fill
the jobs

We have no vacancies

Cyber Security
Specialists
40%

Engineers36%

8.3 CROSS-BORDER TALENT OPPORTUNITIESThe Singaporean Government addresses the need for
top quality talent by encouraging promising students
from other nationalities to pursue their education in
Singapore. Through the Ministry of Education,
outstanding students from ASEAN nations areawarded scholarships to pursue their education in
Singapore leading to a Singapore-Cambridge General
Certificate of Education Advanced Level. This createsa pipeline of students who are well prepared forentrance into Singaporean institutes of higher
education and some may elect to pursue ICT related
courses109.
Scholarships are also available at the tertiary level.
These scholarships are often offered through a tertiarylevel institution. Some scholarships are also targetedat programs that are specifically relevant toSingapore’s ICT talent demands.

EXAMPLES OF SCHOLARSHIPS FOR INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS IN SINGAPORE

MNC
44%

28%

21%

6%

SME
50%

5%

24%

21%

Startup
34%

13%

27%

24%

National Universityof Singapore PhD in
Data Science
Scholarship110

National Universityof Singapore ASEAN
Undergraduate
Scholarship111

National Universityof Singapore
Science & Technology
Undergraduate
Scholarship112

Nanyang
Technological
University Research
Scholarship113

Nanyang
Technological
University
Undergraduate
Scholarship114

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