2010 was a good year for the infocomm sector in Singapore. The infocomm industry revenue grew by 12.2 per cent to reach S$70.39 billion. Export revenue increased by about 15 per cent to reach S$46.6 billion, constituting 66 per cent of total infocomm industry revenue. The growth in the sector was reflected in the job market as well. We saw an increase in the demand for infocomm manpower as total infocomm demand grew by almost 10 per cent.
Singapore continues to receive international recognition and this affirms our efforts to build a vibrant infocomm ecosystem and to harness infocomm for social and economic development. Singapore was placed second in the Global IT Report in 2011, published by the World Economic Forum and INSEAD, which measured the impact of ICT on the development process and competitiveness of nations. For the third year running, we topped the Waseda University World e-Government Ranking for our efforts in planning and implementing e-Government in Singapore.
The global infocomm landscape continues to change at an unprecedented pace. In recent years, game-changing technologies such as cloud computing and data analytics plus the proliferation of mobile devices have brought about more opportunities for businesses and at the same time, more challenges for them to contend with. Consumers are better informed of alternatives and more discerning than ever before. We have seen social media play a big role in reshaping political and social developments across the globe. In this context, Government and organisations will have to innovate to communicate better, to meet customers’ and constituents’ needs more effectively and offer new business models and services.
Our role is to ensure that Singapore has a conducive environment to catalyse innovation, development of new business models and strategic collaboration across major sectors and segments of society. Toward this end, we seek to put in place key enablers — a secure, trusted and resilient infocomm infrastructure, a thriving and vibrant infocomm industry, highly skilled infocomm manpower and progressive infocomm policies.
The deployment of the Next Generation Nationwide Broadband Network (Next Gen NBN), which underpins a secure, trusted and resilient infocomm infrastructure, is on track. As the all-fibre network continues to be rolled out to homes, schools, government buildings, businesses and hospitals, commercial services have been launched and Retail Service Providers have seized the opportunity to introduce ultra-high speed broadband access and value-added services such as online storage, high-quality video-based applications and cloud-based software-as-a-service solutions to businesses and end users. To further strengthen and secure Singapore’s infocomm infrastructure, a whollyowned subsidiary, Assurity Trusted Solutions Pte Ltd, was set-up to be the National Authentication Framework (NAF) operator for 2nd Factor Authentication (2FA). Having a strong authentication system will facilitate more secure online transactions.
To build a vibrant infocomm industry, we will need to grow capabilities and encourage productisation, generate demand and extend our footprint overseas. This will contribute to the infocomm industry revenue and help spur economic growth. To enable the industry to thrive, manpower and talent are key ingredients. IDA has announced a four-year roadmap to chart the course for a more agile and sophisticated infocomm workforce. The Infocomm Manpower Development Roadmap v2.0 (MDEV 2.0) will develop talent with deep infocomm skills and the ability and agility to exploit infocomm to enable industry shifts; develop a greater share of infocomm talent; and ensure Singapore’s infocomm manpower profile meets the needs of industry. With MDEV 2.0, we hope that Singapore’s position as a global hub will be further strengthened and that our infocomm manpower continues to remain competitive and keep pace with the changing infocomm landscape.
With the advent of new technologies, changing business models and evolving market practices, the industry will need to operate in a more complex environment. At IDA, we are cognizant of the complex issues that come with convergence of IT, communications and media and how this will impact industry and consumers. We need to continually develop progressive infocomm policies to support the business environment. We have continually assessed the technology, economic and social changes so as to respond in a timely fashion. We have to ensure that the infocomm market remains vibrant, with consumers enjoying a wide range of choices. We made revisions to the Telecom Competition Code after the second triennial review of the Code. While the fundamentals of the Code remain sound, relevant and consistent with international best practices, the amendments will further enhance consumer protection and promote competition in telecom markets in Singapore.
This year, we mark three decades of e-Government implementation. For the next phase of e-Government in Singapore, we hope that besides leveraging on emerging technologies, we can tap on the wisdom of the crowd to collaborate and co-create new solutions with the people and private sectors. We hope that this will enhance service delivery and bring higher-value services to businesses and citizens. Government will also need to embrace new media and innovate in this space, to evolve its governance model. Going forward, I am sure that the next e-Government masterplan will afford us even more opportunities to build new capabilities and catalyse innovation in different aspects of the infocomm industry.
Our experience has put us in good stead to tap into opportunities overseas. IDA International Pte Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of IDA, has helped several foreign governments to develop infocomm capabilities and drive the implementation of government e-services in these countries. We are perceived as a global leader and our advice is sought after. Our work overseas has in turn generated new insights for governance and for industry development. For example, the importance of productisation in order to scale successfully to global markets has been brought home by our e-Government export experiences.
I would like to thank our Board members for their wise counsel and strong commitment to IDA. They have generously given their time and expertise to help IDA better shape our programmes, identify new opportunities and challenge our assumptions. In particular, I would like to express my deepest appreciation to our Board members, Mr Christopher Chia and Mr Lawrence Wong, who have recently stepped down, for their contributions over the past few years. To the management and staff of IDA, I like to thank you for your dedication and effort. I would also like to express my appreciation to our industry partners for their continued support and extend my best wishes to all of you for another successful year ahead.