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 – Ecommerce Platforms, End-to-end Supply Chains, and e-procurement (relevance: Firms providing bunkering, harbour craft and ship space rentals have to adapt to the increasing pace of business with the growth of eCommerce increasing the amount of goods being shipped around the world every day – they need to know how these tools work, how they can be API-ed to their enterprise resource planning systems, and how to leverage on process automations and proactive AI management to lessen human error in the fulfilment of the needs of their sea transportation clients and facilitate their own procurement needs)

Topic 4: IDT & A – Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Systems (relevance: while not new to the industry, ERP systems are getting better everyday and are capable of handling more data, processes and management functions as IoT, AI/Machine Learning, and Cloud technologies improve – learners need to evolve from what they know about ERP systems from the 2010s and fully leverage on what ERP systems in the 2020s can do) 

Topic 5: IDT & A – AI/Machine Learning-Assisted Digital Cargo and Bay Optimisation (relevance: the organisation of containers on cargo ships is traditionally planned manually, and can result in mistakes – e.g. a container to be unloaded first is stacked at the bottom, resulting in additional time required for unloading as containers on top have to be shifted to make way – the industry is now increasingly using AI to help with the optimisation of container placement as well as the maximisation of empty spaces in containers to ensure maximum efficacy per trip)

Topic 6: IDT & A – AI/Machine Learning-Assisted Mooring Operations and Harbour Navigation (relevance: this covers technologies already in use to minimise accidents in waters near the harbours, and also to maximise efficiency of the loading and unloading docks – the key is to familiarise learners with how these systems operate from the ship side, and from the port side.)

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: IDT & A – Digitalisation of Documents Required (relevance: While the Maritime Port Authority has digitalised most of the paperwork required for docking/undocking, the Port of Singapore Authority is still in the process of digitalising the paperwork-heavy documents required for declaration and checking of the cargo carried on ships – it is invaluable for learners to learn about the latest steps in digitalisations of documentation required by the authorities so that they can update their work processes accordingly) 

Topic 10: IDT & A – Autonomous Piloting and Drones for Maritime Operations (relevance: help learners to ready up for the impending implementation of autonomous piloting of harbour crafts and the use of remote-controlled drones for maritime operations like small parcel delivery and surveillance rather than the deployment of physical craft and personnel for the jobs)

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 every day in the modern digital economy. Learners will be introduced to free-to-start tools like ThoughtSpot and Tableau)

Topic 12: 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 13: Action Plan Setting (relevance: the trainer will guide the learners in determining their immediate areas of interest 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)