SINGAPORE, 25 NOVEMBER 2008 – Hewlett-Packard (HP) Singapore and the Institute of Technical Education (ITE) have partnered to promote interest in IT security and help small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Singapore meet their IT security needs.
The collaboration involves the launch of an online portal, a technology lab, provision of security audits and assessment services and a resource centre for project development.
The online portal, which currently has more than 100 members, is open to the public. The site contains security technology updates, white papers, Web-based training modules, project management tools and an online forum. Security experts based in HP’s product lab in Bangalore, India, will respond to queries posted in the forum.
“Our youth today are becoming more technology savvy, and leading the Web 2.0 experience,” said Tan Yen Yen, vice president and managing director, HP Singapore. “With this portal, ITE students can learn more about the specific HP-UX security topics of their interest, at their own pace.” Tan was referring to HP’s proprietary Unix-based operating system.
Security audit
Another result of the collaboration between HP and ITE was a security audit and assessment conducted on home-grown retail players Mustafa Centre. Experience gained from working the project was subsequently converted into teaching resources for ITE’s students.
“With the multitude of security threats at every level, the initiation and development of this collaboration is apt and timely,” said Bruce Poh, director and chief executive officer, ITE. “Through internship and industry project engagements, and collaboration with SMEs, our lecturers and students will be quipped to meet the emerging and challenging manpower demands of the infocomm security industry.”
Expounding on the potential benefits the collaboration could bring to the local business environment, Roger Lee, president, ITE Alumni, said: “SMEs need to secure their IT environments but want cost-effective solutions and services to do so. I am sure many will find the new offerings from the resource centre relevant and attractive.”
