The majority of tech roles over the twenty three industry transformation maps are expected to be “tech-lite” – involving the usage of foundational digital solutions at work. “Tech-heavy” functions are specialised functions responsible for the development, implementation and repair off more complex technological solutions and applications.
So most workers aren’t expected to master synthetic intelligence, but they will have to be able to make better decisions with information using simple ‘drag-and-drop’ visual analytics, or even automate rudimentary procedures in business functions such as marketing or human resources, with basic coding skills in automatic process automation.
SOCIAL COHESION, NOT JUST ECONOMY, ON THE LINE
Equipping the broader human population with even tech-lite digital skills is not really without its problems.
It is usually assumed that students will need a foundational knowledge in personal computer science and development before embarking on electronic skills. Second, students may be faced with difficulty in applying their learning in the various contexts of a brand new tech-lite role, or company.
Failing to make mainstream a digital skillset can prove costly. All over the world, societies that turn out to be digital economies are grappling with an increase in social inequality, brought on by the job market becoming segregated into low-skill low-pay and high-skill high-pay segments.
The new digital upcoming will favour people who provide intellectual plus physical capital — innovators, shareholders, traders, and digitally qualified workers – rather than those with fewer related skills, who will keep fall behind.
This could furthermore potentially hurt Singapore’s prospects of appealing to top global businesses to invest and innovate locally.
To get Singapore, the price of failing to equip our own broader population with these digital skills could be the ossification of a two-tier economy.