Cisco and DDAS Launch Three-Year AI and Cybersecurity Training Push in Singapore
Source: The Edge Singapore
Cisco has partnered with the Digital Defence Alliance Singapore to train youths and professionals in AI and cybersecurity over three years, with overseas immersions in Seoul and Tokyo already underway alongside expanded TeSA and SkillsFuture AI initiatives.
Cisco and the Digital Defence Alliance Singapore (DDAS) have signed a three-year Memorandum of Understanding to develop practical AI and cybersecurity training programmes for Singapore students and working professionals. The partnership, announced at Cisco Connect 2026, aims to build a pipeline of talent equipped to handle the security implications of accelerated AI adoption across Singapore economy.
The training includes hands-on overseas components that have already kicked off. In April, a delegation of digital defenders visited Cisco Seoul office to study AI adaptation and startup scaling. In October, 60 polytechnic students will travel to Cisco Tokyo office for an immersion in network security within Japan commercial IT industry. Speaking at the launch, Cisco ASEAN Cybersecurity Director Koo Juan Huat emphasised that organisations must treat security as a foundational requirement of digitalisation rather than an afterthought.
The partnership aligns with broader government initiatives announced alongside it. Minister of State for Digital Development and Information Rahayu Mahzam outlined three supporting thrusts: expanding the TechSkills Accelerator (TeSA) programme to non-technology professionals such as accountants and lawyers to foster AI bilingualism, strengthening AI literacy across Institutes of Higher Learning, and offering participants of selected SkillsFuture AI courses six months of free premium AI tool access. These measures reflect a growing recognition that Singapore AI workforce strategy must extend beyond pure technical roles.
Why it matters for Singapore: The Cisco-DDAS partnership addresses a gap that often gets overlooked in Singapore AI push security skills. While much of the public discourse focuses on AI model development and compute infrastructure, the workforce that will actually deploy and secure these systems at an organisational level is still being built. By combining overseas exposure with local certification pathways, this initiative gives Singapore cybersecurity professionals an applied edge. The non-tech TeSA expansion is particularly significant: it signals that the government views AI literacy as a baseline competency across every sector, not just IT.