News
BBS taps Israel-based Wawiwa to launch Cybersecurity Courses in Singapore
October 2021 by Marc Jacob
BBS, otherwise known as the Boston Business School, a training academy of long-standing in Singapore, is launching state-of-the-art programmes to train, upskill, and reskill people to work in highly sought after technology roles. The first new programmes to be taught will enable people to take on roles as cybersecurity analysts or investigators, or to work in incident response teams, due to the fast growing demand for these roles[1]. Another programme will equip people with digital analytical skills to become effective product managers. The programmes will be taught in purpose built classrooms, and in a hybrid format, online.
“There’s a huge gap of unfilled technology jobs across our region, which we know is due to a mismatch between available talent and requisite tech skills,” said Mr Lee Kian Chong[2], Director, BBS. “To bridge that gap, together with industry partners and Israeli knowhow, BBS has developed tech programmes aimed at building a pool of talent with the digital skills necessary to effectively perform in these available jobs, and prepare students in alignment with industry certifications.”
To launch the curricula for the tech education practice, BBS partnered with Wawiwa, experts in tech training. Wawiwa Tech Training has helped establish similar tech training academies across the world, drawing from their experience working with tech companies in Israel, a place globally renowned for its research and development, cybersecurity, and technology companies. Wawiwa perfected methodologies used in the Israeli army to train new soldiers with no technological experience to become savvy professionals who work in programming, data science, and cybersecurity within a few months. Their proprietary Job-Effective Training (JET) design training methodology makes sure that the training experience feels a lot like everyday work at the future job role. Over 70 percent[3] of graduates from Wawiwa’s cybersecurity programmes have found relevant employment in the private and public sectors.
To ensure local industry relevance to the programmes, BBS engaged industry partners, such as Qavar and Choco Up. Industry partners help advise on the programme content which prepares graduates to work in local industry when they complete the programme. BBS also set up an advisory board of renowned experts in the cybersecurity field, notably Eugene Ching, MD of Qavar Security, along with Efrat Rahat, an eminent figure in tech human resources (tech HR), to offer insights when developing the tech curricula.
Several highly qualified, deeply experienced industry experts have been appointed to teach the new programmes at purpose-built facilities situated at The Plaza, on Beach Road. The trainers have decades of industry experience as experts in cybersecurity, data analytics, cloud applications, AI, and solutions architecture, among other skills.
Cybersecurity Education
Organizations today are involved in unprecedented digitalisation, which has meant that the role of cybersecurity has now reached the board’s agenda and is a top priority. Demand to fill cybersecurity jobs is highest in Singapore, and an average salary tops $100,000 per annum, according to recent research by Techshielder.
BBS will teach programmes that upskill people to become a Cyber Advance Malware Analyst Investigator, work in Cyber Security and Incident Response, and Practical Cyber Forensics Investigation. Another programme will upskill or reskill employees in as little as six months to work as Cybersecurity Analysts. BBS also plans to introduce programmes that teach skills to work in OT security, threat hunting, and threat intelligence.
The programmes are aligned with industry-recognized certification from organisations such as Global Information Assurance Certification (GIAC), and the Computing Technology Industry Association (CompTIA).
Product Management Education
At present, product managers are becoming increasingly important to businesses. Their job role spans the entire organization because product managers are tasked to discover new revenue opportunities, design new products, services, or activities, make go-to-market decisions, and play an active role in determining pricing. They use analytical skills to dive into metrics and draw insights. Within the technology and data sectors there is high demand for product managers who can discover and develop new revenue opportunities, so the job skill requirements are heavily digitally focused; and most businesses find product managers valuable as they can adjust an organization’s product strategy to meet evolving market needs.
At BBS, the Product Management Programme will reskill or upskill people to take on future-forward roles in product management. Led by local trainers along with supplemental guest workshops, the hands-on programme delves into current practice and theory of product management. The programme entails engagement and interactions with instructors or industry professionals, so that students are job-ready by the end of the programme. Students learn a realistic, holistic view of the product life cycle from conception through to business planning, solution definition and requirements, development guidance, product marketing, to product launch, and further product enhancement. The hands-on exercises and projects they undertake will be demonstrable to future employers.
Career Development
BBS tech programmes may be undertaken part time to enable students to study keeping their employment, or full time so that anyone who wants to rapidly upskill may do so.
To help fresh and mid-career graduates find internships and jobs, BBS has an established career counselling department and is already collaborating with local companies on career opportunities.
