To compete in today’s economy, it is necessary for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to grow and evolve into better-managed and more productive businesses, said Mr Edwin Low, Director of the SME Infocomm Enabler Division at the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore. “SMEs today face two major economic challenges: shortage of labour and rising costs. For most SMEs, ICT can be an easy and effective way to mitigate and manage these issues.”

According to the 2011 SME Development Survey, 77 per cent of companies that adopted technology experienced positive, measurable benefits such as increased productivity, better cost efficiency and wider market reach. “Hence, knowing how to effectively harness infocomm to meet business demands is no longer a nice-to-have option, but an essential part of every company’s toolkit for success,” he said.

IDA’s strategy for driving SMEs’ infocomm adoption can be broadly described as a three-prong approach:

• Bridging the perception gap among SMEs on the value of infocomm;
• Enabling more SMEs to get started by making ICT affordable and accessible through iSPRINT ; and
• Increasing the sophistication of ICT usage among SMEs so that they will leverage ICT in more impactful ways and in more parts of their business.

“At IDA, we have consistently educated SMEs on the benefits of infocomm through a variety of ways,” said Mr Low. These include using mass outreach channels such as TV and the newspapers, and collaborating with industry associations and government agencies to conduct one-on-one IT clinics, sector-specific IT seminars and exhibitions.

A recent example of an outreach effort is the four-part TV series Project-i, which relates stories of real-life companies that have undergone an IT makeover. “By showing the before-and-after transformation of each company, it brought home the message of the difference infocomm technology can make to a company’s operations in terms of productivity, effectiveness and the eventual bottom line,” said Mr Low.

In other ongoing efforts, two SME Infocomm Resource Centres have been set up to help SMEs with the “What, How and Whom” of implementing their ICT projects. SMEs can tap on the centres to learn IT best practices and get advice on how to get started.

To help SMEs defray the initial investment costs of adoption, IDA provides funding for SMEs’ infocomm projects through its S$85.5 million iSPRINT grant. In the past two years, it has also rolled out new initiatives such as the iSPRINT Packaged Solutions (“green lane” approval for prequalified solutions), higher quantum of support for first-time IT adopters, as well as expanded the scope of support to include specialised hardware and software. In addition, IDA supports impactful sector projects which address sector-level business needs while aggregating common demand to enjoy economies of scale.

In the months ahead, SMEs and ICT companies can also look forward to more Calls for Collaborations and various sector transformation projects in the pipeline.

“Through the above multi-pronged strategy, we hope to proliferate ICT adoption and meaningfully enhance the operations of our local SMEs,” said Mr Low.