NUS-ISS’ First-Ever Virtual Learning Festival: Empowering Skills & Career Transformation

NUS-ISS’ first-ever Virtual Learning Festival delivered a metamorphic change as it took on a vastly different approach from the past five annual learning days. Traversing the unprecedented changes that led up to the nationwide SkillsFuture Month in August 2020, the challenge was clear – to bring about a brand new learning experience virtually beyond the limitations of video conferencing. Themed, “Empowering Skills and Career Transformation”, it was all-hands-on-deck with unshakable perseverance as gears shifted to adapt and innovate, amidst the evolving pandemic.

Onsite to the clouds

From a blank canvas, setup began from the ground up by converting a classroom on premise to an in-house video production studio. Complete with a green screen to cast captivating virtual backgrounds, a transformed space emerged with full production and broadcast capabilities. Safety remained a top priority as manpower and logistics were thoroughly planned and executed carefully.  




Behind-the-scenes timelapse featuring the in-house studio setup

What used to be a one-day event, paved way for a four-day festival. And from 11 to 14 August, a total of 46 sessions by NUS-ISS lecturers and guest speakers were succinctly delivered live as interactive learning snippets to help fresh graduates, PMETs and mid-career professionals navigate the skills and competencies required to pivot toward the digital economy. Curated into 9 key tracks, the learning journey comprised of topics on Artificial intelligence; Cybersecurity, Digital Transformation & Leadership, Digital Products & Platforms, Digital Marketing & Design Thinking, Data Science, Smart Health, Smart Systems with a focus on Career Transformation. 10 career sessions were blended throughout the festival to cater to both jobseekers and employers.

From an audience of 800 to 8000 - Scaling up by going digital 

Growing from strength to strength, the result was a 10-fold increase from last year, garnering over 8000 attendees globally. Guest speaker, Tan Kok Yong, Director of Digital Transformation from Ernest & Young Consulting, shares that connecting with a virtual audience had been a truly productive experience. He was one of the line-up of invited guest speakers from various industries including Carousell, Shopee, Google, NuronLabs, Thoughtworks, the Institute for Human Resource Professionals and more.

Cangina See, Head of Private Wealth at CGS-CIMB Securities said of the stellar experience, “there was so much to learn and digest. The variety of topics are good and complements my industry and past roles. The slides, visual and audio were professionally done.” 

Day three track on Digital Marketing and one of many captivating virtual backgrounds designed in-house

Keith, Director of Care Envision, said, “the virtual format has made it really convenient to attend and get to know NUS-ISS programmes and its focus."  "it gives a good idea of the courses NUS-ISS provides and demonstrates their relevance in meeting current industry needs," added Chew Lee Ching, Director of Mandate Communications. 

NUS-ISS Master of Technology in Digital Leadership alumni, Jacob Wong, Alexander Ang and Alfred Tam also shared their capstone project, titled ‘Leveraging Digitalisation for Transformation’, which features a smart needle, poised to be the first in the marketplace. Led by Programme Chief, Chi Siong they felt that the Q&A segment was most insightful as the type of questions asked reflected the move towards digital transformation. By returning to their alma mater as panelists, the team wants to inspire future students to embark on something similar or even more challenging.

Other popular topics at the learning festival include ‘From Human Intelligence to Machine Intelligence’; The (Artistic + Scientific) Design of Data Storytelling as well as a career session with NTUC e2i where the Professional Conversion Programme Bridging Course was launched to more than 300 participants.

Guest speaker, Joe from NTUC e2i with NUS-ISS career consultant, Winston

In between sessions, participants were encouraged to explore the 9 virtual exhibits showcasing interesting student projects and industry partnerships such as the Smart Aircon Management System, Transforming Crop Protection Demo Trial Process and the Design4Impact Health Designathon Initiative. Digital graphic recordings were also drawn in real-time to capture key insights and ideas: 

The Joy of Learning

It was full steam ahead through all four-days as the energy remained high on the ground. The festival then culminated with a live band performance by home-grown musicians Jack and Rai who took song dedications and thrilled the virtual audience with their upbeat performance with songs like ‘Never gonna give you up', 'Sunflower', and 'Uptown Girl'.

Dynamic duo, Jack and Rai who have played live at Wala Wala and Timbre@station

Vasant Pawar, Director of SMBT Educational Trust from the healthcare industry shares, “it was a wonderful experience. I had the opportunity to attend a world-class conference sitting in my office."

Made possible with sheer teamwork, exploring the unknown and anticipating the unexpected, NUS-ISS' first ever Virtual Learning Festival has been very much an enriching learning journey for NUS-ISS as it was for the virtual audience. Shares Chan Meng, CEO, NUS-ISS in a heartfelt post event message, “as I followed through our team’s work from the beginning till the end, I felt that history was being made...a piece of history that will stay with us forever to cherish. As our very first virtual learning festival and also the final edition to be held at 29 Heng Mui Keng Terrace in anticipation of our new building, it was truly a celebration of what makes NUS-ISS special.

To view the NUS-ISS Virtual Learning Festival 2020 highlights video, click here.
To view photos of the Virtual Learning Festival 2020, click here.
All session recordings are hosted on NUS-ISS' Official Youtube Channel here.