Singtel committed to hiring more than 500 employees in Singapore over the next two years to work on 5G and emerging technologies, as a part of a collaborative effort with the telecoms regulator and local universities to advance the city-state’s smart nation goals.

In a statement, Singtel said it will work with the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA), the National University of Singapore and Singapore Polytechnic to expand the talent pool in areas spanning IoT, cloud engineering and data analytics.

IMDA CEO Lew Chuen Hong said Singaporeans with the right technology skills can look forward to good job opportunities in a “vibrant 5G ecosystem”.

“Working with academia and Singtel will ensure our workers have these skills in in-demand areas.”

Singtel group CEO Yuen Kuan Moon said “we have to pivot our workforce and pivot fast” to capture growth opportunities and drive digital transformation across industries.

“The learning gained from academia will complement practical on-the-job training in our workplace to build the critical competencies needed to help transition enterprises to a digital economy.”

Through structured training and courses, coupled with work experience at its facilities, Singtel said employees can develop domain expertise in core areas including network engineering, digital services, 5G product and platform development, application development and advanced analytics.

IMDA last month earmarked SGD30 million ($22.7 million) to accelerate the adoption and commercialisation of 5G as part of a programme which aims to support enterprises’ efforts to use next-generation technologies.