HELPING PEOPLE AND BUSINESSES SEIZE OPPORTUNITIES

During an internship with a global technology firm in June 2019, Mr Enelton Satria had a part to play in developing a national financial assistant grant system that lets eligible citizens apply for financial assistance.

That was when he found his calling: To do work that had a lasting impact on the wider community. He applied for the Smart Nation scholarship in 2019 and is now pursuing a double degree in Computing (Information Systems) and Business Administration (including Accountancy) at the National University of Singapore (NUS).

“That was when I decided I wanted to embark on a purposeful career in public service,” he says.

The 25-year-old believes his education will enable him to create more opportunities for fellow Singaporeans and businesses in the future when he joins the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) upon graduation.

“The Covid-19 pandemic has caused the rushed digitalisation of businesses across all sectors,” he says. “Digitalisation has rewritten the rules of competition and businesses are more incentivised than ever to go digital.”

During an internship with IMDA last year, he worked with Singapore’s Open Innovation Platform, which matches businesses with local start-ups and solution providers to solve problems through innovation. His work involved creating interactive dashboards to make the system easier to use.

Ultimately, he wants to help small and large enterprises to seize the opportunities of digitalisation, for example, through industry support schemes such as IMDA’s “SMEs Go Digital” that help businesses strengthen their digital capabilities.

“Having studied accountancy and information Systems, I hope that I can better understand the challenges faced by business and technology leaders,” he adds.

Upon graduation, he would join IMDA’s two-year Associate in Infocomm Media (AIM) Graduate Development Programme where he would further hone his technical and leadership skills.

“The scholarship programme helps me to bring a step closer to my aspiration, which is to be a competent public-interest technologist who can utilise technology to advance equity and inclusion in the wider community,” he said.

Visit www.imda.gov.sg for more information.