Exhibitor News

Subpage Hero

Subpage Hero

      

01 Jul 2020

Meet the startup that created its own ‘university' to answer Asia's AI talent shortage

Artificial intelligence has the potential to reshape the world, but one thing is holding the industry back: a lack of qualified talent.

In 2017, there were 300,000 AI practitioners around the world, but compare that with the millions of job vacancies in the data science field, and you’ll see the problem. As the demand for data scientists continues to rise, the issue will only get worse.

Businesses have responded by rolling out various measures, such as investing internationally to expand their talent pool or providing in-house training to upskill their staff.

Others are tackling the problem from the ground up by working with educational institutions to train new AI talent.

PricewaterhouseCoopers, for instance, has collaborated with the University of Birmingham to fund computer science apprenticeships, and German engineering firm Bosch co-founded an AI research lab with the University of Amsterdam.

Here in Asia, Shanghai-based big data and AI platform provider Transwarp is taking the lead through its education and training arm, Transwarp University.

Fostering AI talent

Launched in 2017, Transwarp University was initially created as a way to train the company’s customers on how to use its products, says Transwarp’s founder and CEO, Sun Yuanhao.

“Our customers needed to know how to use our product, but they [also had to] have a deeper knowledge of big data in order to use it effectively,” he explains.

Besides educating customers, Transwarp also worked with China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology to provide data science training and certification programs for people looking to upgrade their skills.

However, the company realized that these programs would not be able to fully address the lack of data science workers in the market. As the demand for talent continues to increase, Transwarp found that there would be an estimated 2 million unfilled positions in AI and data science by 2026 in mainland China alone.

In order for the business to grow, it needed to play a bigger part in addressing the issue and developing the AI ecosystem. The solution: bringing Transwarp University to actual schools and learning institutions.

Entering the mainstream education sector

When Transwarp first began approaching schools, the main problem it encountered was getting administrators to see the importance of having a proper AI training program. While universities were aware that data science was a big trend, it was not something they were particularly concerned about developing.

“The key thing was to educate [the universities] and show them that they need focused data science programs,” says Sun. “Schools had programs for mathematics, computer science, statistics – all the parts of big data, but separated.”

With Transwarp University, the company helps educational institutions design AI and data science training programs by providing expertise and advising on curricula. It also offers the know-how for schools to construct their own data science laboratories which allows students to gain hands-on experience. To date, the firm has already partnered with some of China’s top colleges like Peking University and Fudan University to open big data and AI research labs.

For Sun, businesses and schools need to collaborate in order to provide the best learning experience for emerging AI talent.

“Schools teach and help students gain knowledge, but they cannot provide industry experience,” he explains.

Indeed, opportunities like internships and on-the-job training would enhance a student’s learning experience, says the CEO.

Going regional

Largely based out of China, Transwarp is now looking to take its university program abroad.

The company already has several partners in Singapore – it’s working with Singapore Polytechnic to provide enhanced learning opportunities in data science for students and AI Singapore – an AI program launched by the government – to develop training programs in the country.

In the future, Transwarp hopes to expand the program to other countries in the region, such as Indonesia, where the government is currently developing a national AI strategy.

Ultimately, Sun believes that growing the data science talent pool is a big requirement for the AI industry to flourish.

“The industry needs to develop well, [in order for] businesses to develop well too,” he says.

View all Exhibitor News
Loading

Sponsors

Diamond Sponsor

  • Alteryx

Visionary Sponsor

  • Aerospike

 

Expert Sponsor

  • Expert Sponsor

Expert Sponsor

  • Collibra

Expert Sponsor

  • Confluent

Expert Sponsor

  • Fivetran

Expert Sponsor

  • Juniper Networks

Partners

Knowledge Partner

  • BISCI
  • BICSI

News Distribution Partner

  • ACN Newswire

Associate Content Partner

  • Uptime Institute

Strategic SEO Partner

  • AdVantage

Training and Education Partner

  • DBL

Strategic Event Partner

  • Frost & Sullivan

She Loves Data Live! Partners

  • She Loves Data Live
  • Coding girls
  • Codette Project
  • DBL

She Loves Data Live! Partners

  • DBS
  • Female Fouders
  • Facebook
  • General Assembly

She Loves Data Live! Partners

  • Grab
  • JetBrains
  • Girls in Tech
  • Meiro

She Loves Data Live! Partners

  • Minerra
  • Oracle
  • Tech Ladies
  • Yellowfin
  • VISA

Event Partners

  • AiSP
  • ARC Advisory
  • Asia Cloud Computing Association (ACCA)
  • Asosiasi Cloud Computing Indonesia
  • Singapore Chamber of E-Commerce
  • Fintech Association of Hong Kong
  • Accelerating Asia

Event Partners

  • Best Practice of eCommerce
  • BigDataX
  • CMO Council
  • CSCIS
  • European Data Centre Association
  • Co Creation Lab
  • GS1

Event Partners

  • Practical DevSecOps
  • Digital Advertising Association Thailand (DAAT)
  • DevOps Institute
  • Forrester
  • Michael Page
  • ISACA
  • CHIME

Event Partners

  • IASA
  • IPI Singapore
  • itSMF
  • IFMA Singapore
  • Open Connectivity Foundation
  • La French Tech

Event Partners

  • KinerjaBisa
  • Logistics & Supply Chain Management Society
  • NexChange
  • SG Tech
  • DBS
  • Plug And Play

Event Partners

  • Singapore Cyber Security Consortium (SGCSC)
  • Structure Research
  • General Assembly
  • VISA
  • Smart Asia India
  • ASME

Event Partners

  • Agorize
  • CDPI
  • SheLovesData
  • RavitShow
  • CocrreationLabs
  • Goodbards

Media Partners

  • APSM ASEAN
  • Asia Blockchain Review
  • Australian Cybersecurity Magazine
  • Australian Security Magazine
  • Asia Research News
  • Cybersec Asia

Media Partners

  • BizClik Media
  • Chief IT
  • CIO Advisor APAC
  • Cross Border Magazine
  • Disruptive Tech Asean
  • Digicon Asia

Media Partners

  • CryptoNewsZ
  • Computer Weekly
  • Cyber Security ASEAN
  • Data Storage ASEAN
  • European Data Centre Association
  • Frontier Enterprise

Media Partners

  • e27
  • Fintech Finance
  • Gigabit
  • Jumpstart Media
  • AI Time Journal
  • GovTech SEA

Media Partners

  • My Security Media
  • Retail CIO Outlook
  • Supply Chain Brain
  • Supply Chain Digital
  • Asia Content News
  • Enterprise Security Magazine

Media Partners

  • Tech Wire Asia
  • TechTarget
  • Telecom Era
  • Wire 19
  • CMO Asia
  • FutureCFO

Media Partners

  • ACN Newswire
  • 万瑞布线网
  • FutureIoT
  • Marketing Ops
  • Payment & Cards Network
  • APAC CIO Outlook
  • FutureCIO
  • Escomedia

Official Partner Hotel

  • Marina Bay Sands

Held In

  • SG

Supported By

  • SG