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Singapore is well-positioned to be a living lab for smart cities solutions

New Board Members for A*STAR

Mr S Iswaran, Minister, Ministry for Trade and Industry, spoke today on the impact of technological innovation

Technological innovation in recent decades, especially in ICT, has created enormous value in the global economy.

In the past Singapore has invested heavily in R&D, and built up an innovation ecosystem comprising public sector agencies, MNCs, large local enterprises, SMEs, startups, research institutes and institutes of higher learning and continues to do so.

Government expenditure in R&D has risen from $2 billion in the first half of the 1990s, to $16 billion in the first half of the current decade.  The number of research scientists and engineers in Singapore has also risen from 5,000 in 1991 to 32,000 in 2013, forming a strong core of experts whom the economy can rely on to take advantage of the opportunities arising from technological innovation.

singapore nation

As a small city-state, Singapore has had to develop innovative solutions to overcome acute resource constraints, such as land scarcity and the lack of natural resources.  For instance, in 1998, Singapore developed the Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) system to ease road congestion by influencing drivers’ road usage patterns. Several major cities, including London and Stockholm, have studied Singapore’s ERP system to address urban congestion. Singapore transport authorities are studying models for the next generation of the ERP system.

Singapore is recognised as a global city and living laboratory, where companies can partner public agencies to develop, test and commercialise smart cities solutions.

He gave examples of leading international energy and public utilities companies EDF, a French Electricity Company and Veolia have established Centres of Excellence in Singapore, and are working with the Housing Development Board to develop a complex systems modelling tool.  This tool uses 3D simulation to visualise and test building plans in a virtual environment to help town planners design optimal living conditions.

Smart cities solutions have the potential to transform cities, improve the living environment for citizens, and create new and fulfilling jobs.  New capabilities and skill-sets will be required to support the development of industry that creates solutions for smart, or smarter, cities.

Data analytics has been identified as one such important capability. The government has been actively partnering companies, universities and research institutions to train Singaporeans in data analytics, with the aim of nurturing a pool of 2,500 multidisciplinary analytics professionals by 2017.

EDB has partnered IBM and the National University of Singapore (NUS) to establish the NUS-IBM Centre for Business Analytics, whose Master’s program is now in its second intake, with 28 students from more than 10 different industries.  Currently, this is one of four masters and five  programs for data analytics in Singapore.

Singapore has also invested in research programs to support the development of smart cities solutions.  For example, the Singapore–MIT Alliance for Research and Technology (SMART) Centre undertakes research on Urban Mobility, Low Energy Electronics, Environmental Sensing and Modelling.

“I am pleased to share that autonomous vehicles (AVs) developed by SMART and NUS have been plying public roads in our One-North district since October, in a one-year trial. This project aims to address the “first and last-mile problem” in our transportation system.”

PARTNER

Qlik’s vision is a data-literate world, where everyone can use data and analytics to improve decision-making and solve their most challenging problems. A private company, Qlik offers real-time data integration and analytics solutions, powered by Qlik Cloud, to close the gaps between data, insights and action. By transforming data into Active Intelligence, businesses can drive better decisions, improve revenue and profitability, and optimize customer relationships. Qlik serves more than 38,000 active customers in over 100 countries.

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CTC Global Singapore, a premier end-to-end IT solutions provider, is a fully owned subsidiary of ITOCHU Techno-Solutions Corporation (CTC) and ITOCHU Corporation.

Since 1972, CTC has established itself as one of the country’s top IT solutions providers. With 50 years of experience, headed by an experienced management team and staffed by over 200 qualified IT professionals, we support organizations with integrated IT solutions expertise in Autonomous IT, Cyber Security, Digital Transformation, Enterprise Cloud Infrastructure, Workplace Modernization and Professional Services.

Well-known for our strengths in system integration and consultation, CTC Global proves to be the preferred IT outsourcing destination for organizations all over Singapore today.

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Planview has one mission: to build the future of connected work. Our solutions enable organizations to connect the business from ideas to impact, empowering companies to accelerate the achievement of what matters most. Planview’s full spectrum of Portfolio Management and Work Management solutions creates an organizational focus on the strategic outcomes that matter and empowers teams to deliver their best work, no matter how they work. The comprehensive Planview platform and enterprise success model enables customers to deliver innovative, competitive products, services, and customer experiences. Headquartered in Austin, Texas, with locations around the world, Planview has more than 1,300 employees supporting 4,500 customers and 2.6 million users worldwide. For more information, visit www.planview.com.

SUPPORTING ORGANISATION

SIRIM is a premier industrial research and technology organisation in Malaysia, wholly-owned by the Minister​ of Finance Incorporated. With over forty years of experience and expertise, SIRIM is mandated as the machinery for research and technology development, and the national champion of quality. SIRIM has always played a major role in the development of the country’s private sector. By tapping into our expertise and knowledge base, we focus on developing new technologies and improvements in the manufacturing, technology and services sectors. We nurture Small Medium Enterprises (SME) growth with solutions for technology penetration and upgrading, making it an ideal technology partner for SMEs.

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HashiCorp provides infrastructure automation software for multi-cloud environments, enabling enterprises to unlock a common cloud operating model to provision, secure, connect, and run any application on any infrastructure. HashiCorp tools allow organizations to deliver applications faster by helping enterprises transition from manual processes and ITIL practices to self-service automation and DevOps practices. 

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IBM is a leading global hybrid cloud and AI, and business services provider. We help clients in more than 175 countries capitalize on insights from their data, streamline business processes, reduce costs and gain the competitive edge in their industries. Nearly 3,000 government and corporate entities in critical infrastructure areas such as financial services, telecommunications and healthcare rely on IBM’s hybrid cloud platform and Red Hat OpenShift to affect their digital transformations quickly, efficiently and securely. IBM’s breakthrough innovations in AI, quantum computing, industry-specific cloud solutions and business services deliver open and flexible options to our clients. All of this is backed by IBM’s legendary commitment to trust, transparency, responsibility, inclusivity and service.

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