Image: L-R: Ong Chen Hui, Assistant CEO, Infocomm Media Development Authority of Singapore, Russell Tham, Joint Head, Enterprise Development Group (Singapore); Head, Strategic Development, Temasek, Ng Yi Ming, CEO, Tribe, Lew Chuen Hong, CEO, Infocomm Media Development Authority of Singapore, Pradyumna Agrawal, Managing Director, Temasek.
Tribe in collaboration with Singapore’s Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) and Temasek launched a first-of-its-kind Global Developer Hacker House designed to provide an end-to-end hybrid setup for developers to learn, practice and build solutions to real-world problems.
Aimed at providing developers opportunities to gain new skill sets and innovate for impact under one roof, the initiative will groom 100,000 next generation developers over the next 2 years. It comprises a series of developer engagement programmes for innovative technologies including Artificial Intelligence (AI), Augmented Reality (AR)/ Virtual Reality (VR), Blockchain, Quantum amongst others.
Industry powerhouses such as Meta, Google Cloud and Circle will join Tribe, IMDA and Temasek as partners to enable an inspiring environment. They will contribute through mentorships, networking opportunities and provide technology assets for developers. The Global Developer Hacker House will also partner with AngelHack, one of the world’s largest and most diverse developer community platforms with more than 300,000 developers.
“As the emerging technology space continues to evolve rapidly, investing in its building blocks, namely talent, and infrastructure, is absolutely essential to push into new frontiers of innovation and impact. Collaboration is crucial for the industry to drive a major talent turnaround and lower skills mismatch. Through the Global Developer Hacker House, we are bringing together public and private sectors whilst building a space to spur the next generation of developers while allowing corporations to be able to work with these talent pools”, says Tribe CEO, Yi Ming Ng.
Unveiled at the sidelines of Asia Tech x Singapore (ATxSG), the region’s largest flagship technology event that bridges the East and the West through thought-provoking conversations on AI, trust tech, and sustainability, the Global Developer Hacker House aims to provide a neutral and safe space for developers to network with and learn from some of the best minds in the industry, devise solutions, and gain access to job and growth opportunities in different emerging tech ecosystems. The Global Developer Hacker House will run offline and online, consisting of a series of developer quests, hackathons, meetups and more, in cities around the world including Singapore, New York, Mexico City, London, Seoul and others.
Pointing towards the need to partner with industry to grow a community of tech talent, Dr. Ong Chen Hui, Assistant Chief Executive at IMDA, said, “Building a capable pool of developers in emerging tech domains like AI is vital to secure Singapore’s place in the digital economy. The Global Developer Hacker House will help talent upskill in diverse tech areas and nurture a thriving developer community. These, in turn, strengthen our talent core, enabling us to attract new investments, jobs, and opportunities for Singapore.”
Emerging technologies is an exciting area with a robust growth track, yet the scarcity of talent remains a key challenge. As generative AI continues to draw investments, persistent talent gaps are expected to drive 55% of IT organisations to invest in AI skills by 2023.
“Global Developer Hacker House provides developers the opportunity to learn and co-create next generation experiences,” says Coey Lam, Head of Reality Labs Developer Partnerships at Meta Asia Pacific. “AI and metaverse are two of the major technology waves driving our roadmap and our support of this program is core to our commitment to advance these technologies and support the ecosystem in Singapore.”
Blockchain expertise is also one of the highest in demand, and talent with adequate skills is a critical missing piece of the puzzle for blockchain organisations as they look to grow.
“APAC is fast becoming a global hub for Web3, and platforms like Global Developer Hacker House play an important role in helping fuel innovation and skills development in the ecosystem. We’re excited to see how developers use this new paradigm to build applications, businesses, and digital experiences, and to continue to see how decentralised networks can reimagine online interactions,” says Mitesh Agarwal, Managing Director, customer engineering and Web3 go-to-market, Asia Pacific of Google Cloud.
“At Circle, we are invested in fostering a vibrant developer community. We provide developers with the necessary tools and resources to thrive with the ever-evolving Web3 ecosystem,” says Sandra Persing, Vice President, Product and Developer Marketing for Circle. “Our mission is to establish a solid foundation for the future of finance, and we look forward to empowering future innovators to strengthen Singapore’s position as a global hub for digital assets and Web3 talent.”
