The Singapore Ministry of Education started introducing Internet of Things (IoT) to secondary schools in 2016. The smart home system manufactured in Poznań by FIBARO is used for education. Currently, there is ongoing regular work on the next step – including FIBARO solutions into universities programmes. On the basis of FIBARO equipment and smart home system, Singapore will conduct research on building and home automation.
Currently, 6 secondary schools have classes in their program with FIBARO smart home system, and another 5 will be included in the project during this year. Skills acquired by pupils will be verified in a national examination. Young Singaporeans will enter the market with exceptional knowledge which in Poland can only be acquired through professional experience.
Each of the secondary schools participating in the program received 13 smart cases and one professional laboratory each. Suitcases include a smart home HUB – Home Center 2, motion sensor or lighting and its intensity management devices i.e. Dimmer 2 or the Double Switch. Initiative is part of the Singapore Smart Nation program launched in 2014. Its aim is to exploit the potential of technology i.e. to increase the ability of people to respond to market demand by teaching them top notch technologies.
Singaporeans think future-oriented in the context of home automation. Introducing programs to schools and colleges that expand opportunities will allow Singaporeans to create a strong foundation for commercial activities in the smart home industry but also fot the Internet of Things (IoT)
– explains Krzysztof Banasiak, FIBARO board member
Use of Polish technology to educate young people by official government in Singapore inculding the international success of FIBARO as a brand, prove that Polish engineers really have a lot to offer to the world – adds Banasiak. — As in Singapore, we encourage educational activities at the level of vocational schools, technicians and universities in Poland. Of course, our dream is a nationwide scale, so that every young Pole can acquire skills that will help them find themselves in a life packed with variety of technologies and let them use the knowledge gained at school as their true profession.
-adds Banasiak
FIBARO has collaborated with Singapore universities such as Nanyang University of Technology, Republic of Technology, Singapore University of Technology and Design. Within the walls of the last of these institutions, FIBARO system serves research in the field of building automation and office space. Domestic automation issues discussed on the basis of the Polish smart home system were brought to the syllabuses of the Institute of Technical Education (since 2018) and the Ngee Ann University of Technology (since 2019).
A core aspect of this project is also the fact that learning process at an early stage of education will allow these young people to design or install everyday devices and create completely new solutions and added values for the user in the nearest future. These types of classes develop imagination, teach a non-standard approach to solving problems. Thanks to FIBARO system, pupils and students independently build their potential in a form of a particular profession of the future
– adds Krzysztof Banasiak.
According to IDC research company’s forecasts, the average annual growth rate in the global smart home market is expected to reach 18.5% and the total number of devices sold will reach 939.7 million[1]. This means high demand for qualified installers. Introduction of the Internet of Things into universal education is therefore justified. Until now, FIBARO has trained and certified nearly 2300 installers in Poland as part of its own activities.
[1] https://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=prUS43701518, access 18.03.2019