The Manpower Industry Steering Committee Working Group for ICT Sector’s (MISC-WG ICT) recent second retreat aimed to improve the outcome from the MISC-WG ICT by discussing lessons learnt and challenges faced for improvements, acknowledging the manpower issues faced by the ICT sector and addressing this by identifying future programmes in line with the needs and future demand for manpower.
The Authority for Info-communications Technology Industry of Brunei Darussalam (AITI) as the Secretariat of the MISC-WG ICT initiated and facilitated the half-day event in Bandar Seri Begawan.
AITI Chief Executive Ir Haji Jailani bin Haji Buntar and InfoCom Federation Brunei (IFB) Chairperson Pengiran Sarimah binti Pengiran Haji Abdul Latiff attended as co-leads of MISC-WG ICT.
Some members from the government, industry, institutes of higher learning and training providers participated.
Since its inception in August 2020, the MISC-WG ICT has pursued its mandate given by the Manpower Industry Steering Committee (MISC) under the Pejabat Perancangan Tenaga Manusia (PPTM), focusing on understanding job demands within the MISC sectors, identifying critical occupations, and collaborating with industry stakeholders to develop critical job competencies. MISC-WG ICT aims to increase the number of talented local graduates and career development in the Sultanate.
The group recognising the pressing need to bridge manpower supply and demand, aims to re-strategise and develop collaborative strategies to amplify the impact of its initiatives.
Initiatives like Coding.bn, the first Brunei coding academy, have yielded promising results, where 75 per cent of the participants hired in various information technology positions for cohort 1 and 58 per cent for cohort 2.
MISC-WG ICT identified several new programmes and projects for development and execution in the coming years. – James Kon
