Dell Technologies, the Infocomm Media Development Authority (“IMDA”), Salesforce and ST Engineering announced a one-year collaboration earlier this year to launch Singapore’s first MentorConnect program – a cross-company mentorship program dedicated to diversity and inclusion in the workplace.
It aims to provide mentoring, leadership and networking opportunities for Singapore professionals, which will harness the strengths and networks across the companies. The Singapore edition will have a primary focus on women mentees for its first edition.
Importance of workforce diversity
The growth of the Digital Economy in Singapore and Southeast Asia is reshaping industry sectors, business models and companies, with projected demand for tech workers in Singapore expected to grow by 28,500 from 2018 to 2020.
By attracting more women to be part of the technology sector, Singapore will be able to deepen its talent pool, build a strong core workforce, develop more ICT leaders for the future and strengthen diversity. This is expected to lead to better and more innovative products, services, and businesses.
MentorConnect Singapore Program
MentorConnect aims to provide a platform to guide and empower the professional development of mentees and promote best practices among participating companies from all industries. This broadens the reach and impact on mentees beyond the traditional one-to-one mentoring approach.
Through MentorConnect, mentees are able to broaden their professional networks, seek clarity on potential and career goals, increase awareness on leadership principles and obtain diversity of perspectives, expertise and knowledge.
For its first edition in 2019, each of the five organisations will contribute two mentors and 12 mentees each, with women mentees only for the inaugural edition.
SG Women In Tech Community Platform
Corporate groups, communities and individuals who are keen to participate in Singapore’s women in tech initiatives, and would like to contribute articles and mentorship opportunities are welcome to be part of the SG Women In Tech community platform.
The platform is a community collaboration supported by IMDA and SGInnovate, and aims to provide common resources and a networking site to inform women tech professionals, organisations and the community about the support and mentors available and the many infocomm media opportunities that are emerging. It also aims to help show entrepreneurship as an attractive career option.
The mission is to increase the number of women in Singapore’s infocomm media workforce, and encourage more females to take up STEM courses at the tertiary level. Participants can also look forward to networking opportunities via a fortnightly calendar of activities and events.
