- This competition is part of IMDA’s wider efforts, through the Infocomm Media Clubs programme in schools, to inspire interest and support the training of youths in tech
- Youths impressed with their deep tech skills culminating in an AI drone derby
SINGAPORE – 18 AUG 2023
Four teams of secondary school students have emerged as champions of the inaugural National Youth Tech Championship (NYTC), jointly organised by the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) and Google Cloud. The students are among the 51 secondary schools’ Infocomm Media Clubs (IMCs) which received training in AI skills over four weeks ahead of the NYTC, culminating in an AI drone derby.
First deep-tech focused national competition for youths
Organised by IMDA, the NYTC is open to all secondary school students from IMCs, regardless of their level of technical competency. The championship aims to cultivate curiosity, confidence and creativity in technology among youths in Singapore. Participants receive hands-on training to empower them to compete on a national level platform.
More than 230 students from 51 secondary schools participated in the four-week competition held at IMDA and the Google Asia Pacific campus from 8 July to 18 August. Youth participants acquired AI skills progressively and worked in teams to solve weekly thematic challenges designed by Google Cloud engineers. The students then applied their new tech skills to build AI models and used these models to control drones.
IMDA worked closely with Google Cloud to ensure quality learning outcomes for participants. To maximise their learning experience, the teams had access to online learning resources allowing them to learn at their own pace. Each team also received a drone that they could bring back with them for extended learning and training, and to run and test their codes.
The NYTC culminated in today’s finals where the top eight teams battled it out in an AI drone derby, racing against one another on a stipulated course. After an exciting race, four winning teams from Anglo-Chinese School (Independent) (first place), Xinmin Secondary School (second place), Clementi Town Secondary School (third place), and NUS High School of Mathematics and Science (fourth place) emerged as the inaugural champions. Guest-of-Honour Senior Minister of State for Communications and Information Dr Janil Puthucheary presented the winning teams with their prizes at an award ceremony. In addition, the team from Bedok Green Secondary School received the Gumption Award for displaying and demonstrating tenacity and perseverance throughout the competition.
Digital and tech are cool, and we really want to expose the youths to try it out and be curious and confident about it. IMDA designed the inaugural NYTC such that all students who join would get to learn deep tech skills in a month so all students would gain. We also designed NYTC to be aired online, so that their families, friends and other youths could join the journey of the competing students and support them. We encourage more youths who want to learn deeper tech skills to join our IMCs, a co-curricular activity in schools. IMDA looks forward to continue working with teachers, schools and our industry partners such as Google to train IMCs’ students in tech, such as Artificial Intelligence and Virtual Reality, in a fun and engaging manner and to let them learn from digital leaders in tech giants.
Ms Doreen Tan
Assistant Chief Executive of Strategic Planning and Digital Readiness, IMDA
Mr Mark Micallef, Managing Director, Southeast Asia, Google Cloud, said, “AI literacy has become an important skill for the youth of today, the same way typing skills emerged as a necessity two to three decades ago. It is a privilege for Google Cloud to be partnering with IMDA on initiatives like NYTC, which offers students from diverse backgrounds the opportunity to experiment with tools that make AI tangible, and experience first-hand the potential uses and limitations of this technology. The process of building and training AI models to control drones, which is guided by Google’s AI Principles, will also impress upon our students the importance of applying a bold and responsible approach toward developing AI.”
Filmed in partnership with Titan Media, the NYTC was aired as an online series on YouTube for friends and families of the participants, as well as members of the public, to support these students and follow their journey throughout the competition. The online series can be viewed here: https://www.youtube.com/@TEAMTITANOFFICIAL.
Pre-tertiary students pick up deep tech skills and gain exposure through IMC programme
The NYTC is part of the IMC programme by IMDA that provides a suite of programmes to support the community of infocomm and media-related clubs across MOE primary, secondary schools and junior colleges, to provide an enriching CCA experience for club members. The programme enables students who are keen to pursue their interest in technology and media to deepen their learning in emerging technologies and gain industry exposure.
IMDA curates meaningful opportunities by working with industry partners to equip pre-tertiary students in tech, including bootcamps in app development and learning journeys in emerging tech. Through these activities, IMC members glean first-hand the real-world applications of tech and media.
Through the NYTC and other activities under the IMC programme, IMDA will continue to enrich and excite our youths in their tech and media journey. For more information on the IMC programme, please refer to https://codesg.imda.gov.sg/infocomm-media-clubs.
.webp)