The Authority for the Info-communication Technology Industry of Brunei Darussalam (AITI) as the secretariat of the Manpower Industry Steering Committee Working Group for ICT Sector (MISC-WG ICT) has launched the Brunei ICT Industry Competency Framework (BIICF).
The BIICF aims to ensure that the local ICT professionals have the relevant competencies to perform their jobs and guide them with the required skills that are aligned with the industry needs.
Developed to support the vision of Wawasan Brunei 2035 and the Digital Economy Masterplan 2025, the framework has identified 79 technical and soft skills competencies for 20 job roles across six sub-sectors of the sultanate’s ICT industry.
In his opening remarks during the launching event of the BIICF held at the Songket Hall of The Rizqun International Hotel recently, Chief Executive of AITI and Co-Lead of MISC-WG ICT, Ir. Hj Jailani Hj Buntar explained that the COVID-19 pandemic which has posed an unprecedented challenges, has also accelerated ICT adoption, creating new opportunities.
“Digitilisation is no longer a ‘nice to have’, but rather a ‘must to have’ to enable business continuity and transformation,” he added.
Citing the Future of Jobs 2020 Report by the World Economic Forum (WEF), the report detailed how COVID-19 has caused the labour market to transform “faster than expected” indicating that what used to be the “future of work” has already arrived.
“Companies’ adoption of technology will transform tasks, jobs and skill by 2025. Some 43 per cent of businesses surveyed indicate that they are set to reduce their workforce over the next few years because of technology integration,” he continued.
“Globally, we can see that workers with advanced digital skills are in high demand. Therefore, it is important for us to contextualise the expected outlook for technology adoption, jobs and skills for the upcoming years,” Hj Jailani added.
Furthermore, with the workforce being one of the “key ingredients” of digitalisation, the AITI Chief Executive stressed the necessity of the local workforce to be equipped with new skills and competencies, so they may manage digital transformation and keep up-to-date with the accelerated technological advancements.
The BIICF was prepared through an extensive and concerted effort by the BIICF Working Group together with the Competencies Development Technical Group of the MISC Working Group for ICT Sector which comprised representatives from the government, industry, institues of higher learning and training providers.
“The BIICF has identified 79 technical and soft skill competencies for 20 job roles, across six ICT sub-sectors,” Hj Jailani said adding that these job roles include Data Analyst, Data Engineer, Application Developer, Cyber Risk Analyst and Security Engineer amongst others.
He explained that the job roles were identified as “critical” and “of high demand”, which were based on findings from the ICT manpower survey and stakeholder’s engagement that was held with the industry back in 2020.
He added that with the assistance of their appointed consultant, Rhymin and Partners, the BIICF draft was “reviewed, validated and enhanced” to ensure they remain industry-relevant by taking into reference the Skills Framework for Information Age (SFIA Version 8), Singapore’s Skills Framework for Infocomm Technology, Malaysian Skills Competency Matrix and Japan i-Competency Dictionary.
“It was further verified through a series of consultations with more than 50 local industry leaders across the ICT and non-ICT sectors, including GLCs, MSMEs and start-ups,” he continued.
Hj Jailani then encouraged the relevant stakeholders to explore the use of the BIICF for their own needs, where industry and businesses for instance, may use the framework to assist in their talent hiring, development and sucession planning processes.
“Using the skills map and career pathways illustrated in the Framework, they can identify the skills and competencies required for each job role and invest in the necessary training to grow the skills in their workforce,” he said.
“Similarly, for training providers, the BIICF can enhance relevant training programs for the ICT sector, ensuring that professionals will have access to up-to-date courses and trainings that would enable our workforce to remain relevant and effective in their respective professions,” he added.
The Co-Lead of MISC-WG ICT then went on to share that the BIICF has already been taken as reference for curriculum and competencies development by local learning institutions and private entities.
“Politeknik Brunei has reviewed its ICT curriculum including its new Diploma in Data Analytics programme to complement BIICF,” he explained adding that last year MISC-WG ICT had also endorsed EVYD Technology’s “Certificate of Professional Achievement in Data Engineering” and Dynamik Technologies’ “Blockchain Masterclass” training courses, which were also aligned with the BIICF competencies.
He then revealed that in the near future, the MISC Working Group for ICT Sector will introduce the TechInspire Apprenticeship programme, targeting ICT jobseekers to take up the IT Technician and Network Technician job roles, with training modules curated from the BIICF.
Concluding his remarks, Hj Jailani described the framework as a living document, which will be continuously reviewed to ensure it remains relevant in meeting the industry needs and rapidly evolving ICT landscape.
“For it to be meaningful, we will need the support of all stakeholders in the industry to adopt and utilize it as a reference in their human resource and capability development efforts and initiatives,” he went on to say.
The launch event of the BIICF was officiated by guest of honour, Yang Berhormat Pengiran Dato Seri Setia Shamhary Pengiran Dato Paduka Haji Mustapha, Minister of Transport and Infocommunications.
The event also saw a presentation on “BIICF for Better Career and Performance in ICT Industry” by Haji Sairul Rhymin CA Mohamed, a representative of the MISC-WG ICT and the event concluded with a tour by the guest of honour to the showcase of BIICF-related programmes.
For more information regarding BIICF, the public can access to www.biicf.bn.
THE BRUNEIAN | BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN
