Unleashing Potential In Singapore

Picture this vision - By 2006, 50% of households in Singapore will be on broadband with consumers enjoying a wide range of 3G services. Innovative projects worth S$100 million will be undertaken over the next three years as Singapore gears up to be the Digital Living Lab, creating innovative Infocomm products and services. It is also expected that 3,000 jobs will be created through collaborative industry projects within these three years. And by 2012, the Infocomm industry will contribute 10% towards Singapore's GDP2. These are a few of the key targets outlined in the vision of Connected Singapore, presented by the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA) to a group of industry leaders today.

Launched by Mr David Lim, Acting Minister for Information, Communication and the Arts (MITA), Connected Singapore aims to bring Singapore's Infocomm development to new heights, including more pervasive connectivity among the people and businesses through Infocomm technology, and revitalising the Infocomm industry.

To launch a new wave of growth, Minister Lim said, " We must go beyond a government driven process, to a new industry-government partnership. Industry investment and enterprise must be the new driver, with the government providing support to bring clear and sustainable benefits to industry. We must encourage big businesses and smaller start-ups to work closely together, to deliver value to customers, and to build strong niches for local industry. And we must go beyond our shores, to the region and beyond, to grow markets, build our companies, and ultimately, create good, challenging and meaningful jobs for the ICT industry in Singapore."

In presenting Connected Singapore, Mr Leong Keng Thai, Acting CEO of IDA, said, "IDA's intent remains to harness the power of Infocomm technology to create new business opportunities, well-paid jobs and superior consumer value and experiences. We have a process in place to help us achieve this, but from time to time we need to fine tune the process to take in the rapidly changing technological and economic environment, both locally and internationally."

To focus its infocomm industry development efforts, IDA identified five specific clusters in the infocomm sector that offer high growth potential, or 'good bets', for Singapore in the next one to three years. They include Value Added Mobile Services; Infrastructure for Wireless and Wired Networks; Multimedia Processing & Management; Web Services & Portals; and Security & Trust Infrastructure.

IDA will also work with the industry to encourage more entrepreneurs to take full advantage of the new networks and capabilities, and will look into how to better seed and support start-ups and help companies grow beyond Singapore. As announced by Minister Lim, IDA, through the Overseas Development Programme (ODP) aims to nurture 50 globally competitive local companies to achieve export revenue of more than $50 million through partnerships with MNCs over the next 2 years (See Annex A on the ODP programme).

To realise the Connected Singapore vision, there will be four broad strategies. The first is to leverage on existing network readiness and capabilities for wireless pervasiveness, develop contents and promote Infocomm literacy. The second is to develop Singapore as a leading global digital distribution and trading center. The third is to grow new economic activities and create jobs in Infocomm through developing innovation capabilities, encouraging technology development and expanding access to overseas markets. The fourth is to help businesses and government agencies use Infocomm to re-engineer key business clusters and government services. (See Annex B on details of the four strategies).

To support the four strategies, IDA will invest in capability development including Infocomm manpower and among local enterprises. This is done through training programmes, competency centers and the Infocomm Local Industry Upgrading Programme (iLIUP). IDA will also continue to take the lead in charting the technology landscape in Singapore and identify emerging technologies to give Singapore the competitive edge in future business opportunities. Most importantly, IDA will continue to look into pro-business regulations and policies in the industry.

Said Mr Leong, "While IDA adopts the role of master planner for the strategies and acts as catalyzing agent and facilitator for the initiatives, the success of each program is heavily dependent on the participation of industry and citizens. It is hoped that these programs will spur every sector of the economy and population to identify how infocomm can specifically fit in and benefit their lives and businesses."