Topic 1: The Digital Economy and the Future of Business (relevance: overview of the digital economy and how it is changing the business landscape – to foster urgency to learn. Also coverage of widely applicable national or sectoral platforms in use)

Topic 2: Internet of Things (IoT) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) (relevance: relate  these ubiquitous but still difficult-to-understand terms to their everyday life e.g. social media, search engine results, customer relations, etc.)

Topic 3: IDT & A – Chat Bots and Messenger Bots (relevance: in-demand tools to automate and enhance customer interactions pre- and post-sales)

Topic 4: IDT – Self-help Website Designers like Wix, Squarespace and Shopify (relevance: a tech-lite approach to setting up the online presence of businesses)

Topic 5: IDT – Payment Platforms and Credit Card Payment Apps (relevance: not every business needs a complex point-of-sale (POS) system – credit card payment apps allow small and/or agile businesses to take credit card payments on the go and in-store – helps reduce overheads in store operations)

Topic 6: IDT & A – Ecommerce Solutions (relevance: not every business has the manpower to set up and maintain their own website-based online store, hence the importance of covering easy-to-start eCommerce marketplaces like Easystore, Lazada and Shopee; and all-in-one management platforms like EasySellers)

Topic 7: IDT & A – All You Need to Know about Cloud (relevance: broad overview of how cloud technology works and how it supports the use of all the tech and tools covered so far and to be covered further in the course – also cover concepts of hybrid cloud to enhance cybersecurity)

Topic 8: CR – What about Security? The “”Big 5″” Threats in Cybersecurity (relevance: after getting some insights into the tech and tools used in the digital economy today, participants will be able to better relate to this topic about cybersecurity, which will cover the “”big five”” threats – Advanced Persistent Threat (APT), Ransomware, Supply Chain Attacks, Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) and Pivot in easy to understand language with examples. This will also cover Personal Data Protection Act and how to manage the risk of data leaks with increased digitalisation.)

Topic 9: DA – Web Analytics Tools (relevance: after the coverage of in-demand tools on Day 1, Day 2 starts off by covering how the data required to make those tools work as well as the data they collect are collected and analysed. This topic starts off with covering website analytics tools in-built in website creation solutions, and ends with some basics of Google Analytics – the most popular web analytics tool)

Topic 10: DA – Social Media Analytics Tools (relevance: after learning about web analytics, learners need to learn about social media analytics tools, which will help them assess their marketing, customer outreach and even sales performance on various social media platforms. Tools covered will include a platform-specific tool like Facebook Analytics and an all-in-one social media management platform like Sprout Social.)

Topic 11: DA – General Enterprise Analytics Tools (relevance: these are solutions for businesses to organise and analyse data collected in all parts of their business, which is essential given how much data is generated everyday in the modern digital economy. Learners will be introduced to free-to-start tools like ThoughtSpot and Tableau)

Topic 12: A – CRM Software (relevance: learners may feel overwhelmed at this point about the myriad of tools available for  all purposes in the market, hence an essential topic to cover is all-in-one customer relationship management software that also helps with social media marketing management like HubSpot. Such tools normally come with great User Interface and require little to no technical knowledge to use – hence will inspire the learners’ confidence to actually use them)

Topic 13: A – Robotic Process Automation (relevance: after knowing how different tools work and the unavoidable data collection, crunching, analysis and feedback work needed behind it, learners are then introduced to RPA, which helps organisations to automate rote and repetitive processes – thus making work more efficient)

Topic 14: Action Plan Setting (relevance: trainer will guide the learners in determining their immediate areas of interests and/or  required tech skillsets in their current/desired job roles among the technologies and tools covered, and how they can pursue their learning in these areas after the SFDW)