Seniors to pick up fun skills with courses to create ringtones, code apps, make movies

SINGAPORE — Seniors keen on learning how to create ringtones of their favourite songs, run a blog, or code an app can now sign up for a series of new courses run by the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) in collaboration with tech giant Apple and the National Library Board.  

Targeted at those aged 50 and above, the “Silver Digital Creators” curriculum will offer new courses in digital photography, movie making, digital music, coding and art, as well as book writing and digital story publishing.

The courses were introduced to encourage seniors who have already embraced digital technology to bring their skills “to the next level”. Through the movie making course, for example, they will learn how to create and edit simple videos of their latest vacation on iMovie.

They will be offered at an introductory rate of S$38 each, and seniors can use their SkillsFuture credits to offset the course fee. Registration for seniors begins on Tuesday (July 24), and lessons will start in September.

Conducted by trainers from the NTUC Learning Hub, each six-hour course will be held over two half-day sessions. The lessons will be conducted at the Silver Infocomm Junctions located in four public libraries – Bedok Public Library, Jurong Regional Library, Toa Payoh Public Library and Woodlands Regional Library.

Participants who complete all five courses will receive an Apple Regional Training Centre certificate of recognition.

The “Silver Digital Creators” curriculum is one of several new initiatives unveiled during the Ministry of Communications and Information’s (MCI) annual workplan seminar, which was held at Orchard Hotel on Tuesday.

Besides the elderly, the young will also get a taste of frontier technologies through a new programme, the Artificial Intelligence (AI) themed “Lab on Wheels” bus.

Secondary school students are immersed in an escape room scenario on the roving school bus, where they will interact with and learn how to use AI to solve a series of challenges.

Speaking at his first workplan seminar since helming the ministry in May, Minister for Communications and Information S Iswaran stressed that such community initiatives will help to ensure that every Singaporean benefits from the nation’s stride towards a digital future, and that no one is left behind.

“The Digital Era offers enormous opportunities for everyone… it will be meaningful if all Singaporeans are able to share in this progress,” he said.

To that end, the Government launched a Digital Readiness Blueprint in June to help Singaporeans improve their access to digital technology, and equip them with the skills to use technology safely and confidently.

To support initiatives mooted in the blueprint, Mr Iswaran also unveiled a new SG:D Friends project.

Through the SG:D project, companies will support and undertake initiatives announced in the blueprint, such as setting up digital concierges to help seniors who have difficulty in using digital services and mobile applications.

Over 20 companies have committed to the SG:D Friends project, including Apple, IBM, Microsoft, and banks such as OCBC and Standard Chartered.

OCBC is rolling out digital concierges at selected branches, with staff members on site to assist customers with navigating the bank’s digital self-service channels.

An expansion of the Friends of Silver Infocomm Initiative (FSI) — which was started in August 2016 — the SG:D Friends project offers opportunities for private and public sector organisations to join in and reach out to all segments of the community to promote IT awareness and literacy. 

To date, the programme has recruited about 700 volunteers, and the Silver Infocomm Initiative has benefitted about 200,000 seniors.

As Singapore continues on its digital push, Mr Iswaran also provided an update on digital training for the local workforce through the TechSkills Accelerator (TeSA) programme.

A total of 39,000 training places have been taken by companies since its launch in 2016, said Mr Iswaran. This, he said, gave more Singaporeans the opportunity to “participate in the digital economy with good information and communications technology (ICT) jobs”.

Besides training workers, more money will also be pumped into research and development. Mr

Iswaran said that S$360 million will now be allocated to the Services and Digital Economy domain, and other “promising investments” in cyber security and AI Singapore.

In addition, to better address the needs of Infocomm Media (ICM) companies, the Economic Development Board, Enterprise Singapore and IMDA will also form a joint office, named the Digital Industry Office. More details on this will be announced at a later date.