20/05/2016

Formation Of The Council For Skills, Innovation And Productivity

A tripartite Council for Skills, Innovation and Productivity (CSIP) will be established with effect from 20 May 2016, to take forward the efforts undertaken to date by the SkillsFuture Council and the National Productivity Council (NPC). The CSIP will also develop and implement the Industry Transformation Maps announced in Budget 2016.

The CSIP Council will be chaired by Deputy Prime Minister and Coordinating Minister for Economic and Social Policies Tharman Shanmugaratnam¹. It will comprise members from government, industry, unions, and educational and training institutions. They represent different sectors and bring together a broad range of expertise. Members will be appointed for a two year term initially (see list of members in Annex).

Integrating Skills Development, Innovation and Productivity Efforts at the Sectoral Level

SkillsFuture is gaining momentum. Several key initiatives have been implemented since the second half of 2015, such as the SkillsFuture Credit, the SkillsFuture Earn and Learn Programme, and the SkillsFuture Study Award for specific industries.

Besides these national-level initiatives, we have also launched several sectoral plans to develop deep skills, and industry recognition of skills progression. The next steps under SkillsFuture will see implementation of this sector-focused effort to develop quality careers through skills. This matches the sectoral approach to productivity transformation that has been taken under the NPC. These strategies will also be backed by efforts to boost innovation, as the fundamental engine of value creation and growth.

The CSIP will therefore integrate and achieve maximum synergies between our skills, innovation and productivity efforts. Each of these three dimensions will be reflected in the development of Industry Transformation Maps for key clusters of our economy.

In sum, the CSIP aims to develop skills for the future and support productivity-led economic growth by:

a. Advancing SkillsFuture: Developing an integrated system of education, training, and career progression for all Singaporeans;
b. Driving industry transformation: Overseeing implementation of plans for key clusters through skills development, innovation, productivity and internationalisation strategies; and
c. Fostering a culture of innovation and lifelong learning in Singapore.

The CSIP is a standing body to lead the implementation of these efforts to develop skills, innovation and productivity. It will take into account the recommendations later this year of the Committee on the Future Economy (CFE) wherever relevant, and ensure their effective implementation over the medium-to-long term.

“The CSIP builds on the momentum we have seen in the last two years. It is especially important that we extend the good progress seen in the externally-oriented sectors to the domestically-oriented sectors. It takes time, but can be done. We must persist, and work simultaneously on skills development, catalyzing industry innovation and productivity transformation in every sector,” said DPM Tharman.