Orient - The Official Magazine of the British Chamber of Commerce Singapore
Understanding Singapore’s Technology Aspirations
Lucy Haydon, Editor, Orient Magazine
When you think of technology, what comes to mind? The latest gadget you are coveting? Or the new SaaS tool that you've created for your clients? Revolutionary technology means different things to different people, yet without the creative space to innovate, develop and test ideas, evolution cannot take place. In this article, our Editor reviews the technology and investment ecosystem in Singapore.
To put Singapore's digital expectations into context, we begin by considering the nation's level of digital use, which provides such a highly connected testbed for new products and services in the region. In We Are Social's annual research released in January of this year(1), internet users had increased by 5.3% since 2019, reaching 5.14mn. 84% of Singaporeans are now online, spending an average of 7 hours per day connected. 1.5x the total population (8.56mn) have mobile connections, which account for over half of all web traffic - an increase of 1.7% on the previous year. In fact Singapore came fourth of 79 countries in the Global Connectivity Index 2019(2). The average Singaporean spends over US$3,000 per year using digital payments - a total value of US$12.31bn in consumer payments made digitally. Social media use has reached 79% penetration, with 4.60mn social users, a 1.6% increase since 2019.
This year, the SG Digital Office has been launched to accelerate further digital adoption in the community post COVID-19. With a goal to equip people and business with the digital tools and skills they need for the new world post-pandemic, the SDO has prioritised the senior community and local stallholders at launch. Singapore’s technology aspirations are published within the Digital Economy Framework for Action and the Infocomm Media Industry Transformation Map (ITM). To achieve the published goals, listed below, the framework drilled down into talent development, R&D, the local infrastructure and governance. - To digitalise every industry and business, raising productivity and efficiencies as a way to grow the economy. - To sharpen the nation's competitive edge by supporting companies to leverage on digital technology. - To transform the infocomm media industry to be a key driver of the economy and with a secondary aim of adding 13,000 jobs by the end of this year. For the latter goal, the Infocomm Media Development Agency (IMDA) focused on four key areas for the development of the nation's technology expertise. The ITM focused on helping sectors to adopt technology, exploring growth in the four identified areas, and building local talent. Artificial Intelligence Specifically, Singapore is looking to develop niches within the research and development of AI, building local capabilities