The deployment of a robust and reliable Next Generation National Infocomm Infrastructure (Next Gen NII) lays the foundation for delivering the benefits of infocomm to the society as a whole and to various sectors of the economy. In Singapore, about 82 per cent of households already have access to broadband, according to the 2010 Annual Survey on Infocomm Usage in Households. Among businesses with 50 or more employees, the proportion with broadband access stands at over 99 per cent, according to findings from the Annual Survey on Infocomm Usage By Enterprises for 2010 .

Delivering broadband everywhere
The Next Generation Nationwide Broadband Network (Next Gen NBN) - the wired network of the NII – will give broadband connectivity a further boost, delivering pervasive, competitively-priced broadband speeds of up to 1 Gigabit per second (1 Gbps).

As of August 2011, coverage of the Next Gen NBN has reached 75 per cent nationwide and is on track to achieve its target of 95 per cent coverage by mid-2012. More than 880,000 homes and occupants in over 19,000 buildings can now subscribe to over 30 fibre-based broadband access plans offered by more than six service providers. Some of these plans are packaged with value-added services such as online storage, video chat and web hosting.

To assist homeowners in connecting different parts of their house to the Next Gen NBN, the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA) has introduced Home Networking Clinics at the Infocomm Experience Centre (iExperience) located at Esplanade Xchange. It has also produced a Home Networking Guide, which offers a summary and comparison of common home networking options, as well as recommendations and installation tips.

On the wireless front, Singapore's nationwide Wi-Fi programme Wireless@SG now covers an estimated 7,500 public Wi-Fi hotspots in high human traffic areas in Singapore. Usage hours have also increased more than six times since the service was launched in December 2006.

In other communications milestones, Singapore's mobile phone penetration rate rose to 145.5 per cent as of March 2011, compared to 102.8 per cent five years earlier. IDA has also allowed the three mobile operators to deploy Long Term Evolution (LTE) technologies on their existing Wireless Broadband Access and 2G mobile telephony bands, to boost the speed and capacity of their mobile networks.

Securing the infrastructure
With the rollout of the Next Generation NII on track, the focus is now ensuring that the infrastructure is secure. In line with this, a new Secure and Resilient Internet Infrastructure Code of Practice was issued in February 2011 for compliance by designated Internet Service Providers (ISPs).

The Code defines a set of specific security controls and outcomes to ensure that sound security is in place to deal with current and emerging cyber threats. It requires the sharing of cyber threat information and allows ISPs and IDA to make more informed decisions, so that early warnings to emerging cyber threats can be developed and appropriate pre-emptive measures can be taken. The ISPs are required to implement specific controls progressively and achieve full compliance by 2013.

Public awareness programmes such as the Cyber Security Awareness Day have also been introduced to promote adoption of essential cyber security practices.  Held on 13 April 2011, the inaugural Awareness Day garnered more than 300,000 pledges from the people, public and private sectors to change their passwords to stronger ones. The event took place alongside the annual Information Security Seminar, which was jointly organised by IDA, the Association of Information Security Professionals and the Cyber Security Awareness Alliance.

Establishing trust in transactions
Another major security-related programme introduced in 2011 was the setting up of a National Authentication Framework (NAF) operator to offer service providers and consumers a convenient, trusted and cost-effective means to secure their online transactions using Second Factor Authentication (2FA). Assurity Trusted Solutions Pte Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of IDA, began rolling out its services in December 2011. Its two-factor authentication (2FA) security device, OneKey, includes three security functions - one-time password, challenge-response, and transaction signing.

"OneKey is the result of 14 months of intensive development with ST Electronics and other vendors. The launch of the two-factor authentication device on 12 December 2011 ushered in a new era of enhanced security and convenience for consumers of public and private sector online services."

- Mr Chai Chin Loon, Chief Operating Officer, Assurity Pte Ltd

"I am really excited about this new national initiative to consolidate all 2FA tokens into a single device. I now hold nine tokens for both my personal and corporate banking. It is such a nightmare especially when I am overseas and have to make payment approvals and fund transfers! Now I can have the option of carrying just OneKey."

- Ms Rachel Lee, Managing Director, SC Auto Industries

Creating a Shared Services Hub
The Next Gen NBN puts Singapore in a strong position for exploiting the benefits of cloud computing – the delivery of computing resources and software as cloud services over the Internet.

One of IDA’s goals is to establish Singapore as a Shared Services Hub. To achieve this vision, IDA supports specific lighthouse projects that will illustrate and promote the use of the cloud computing infrastructure in various industry verticals.

It issued its third call for innovative cloud-based project proposals in May 2011, with an emphasis on industry verticals such as digital media, life sciences, manufacturing, financial services, retail and tourism and education, as well as specific sectors such as transportation and construction. This call followed two earlier calls in 2010. A total of 35 project proposals were awarded cloud resources worth over S$500,000.

Under this third call, companies can also tap on a programme by IDA and the Agency for Science, Technology and Research, to make use of technologies made available by the Institute for Infocomm Research and Exploit Technologies under a short-term, no-fee evaluation licence grant. A fourth call was subsequently issued in October 2011, and will close on 9 January 2012.

IDA has also embarked on several initiatives to raise awareness of cloud computing and increase its adoption among businesses in Singapore. In 2011, it co-organised CloudAsia for the first time, in collaboration with Informa Telecoms & Media Asia. The event, which took place from 30 May to 2 June 2011, attracted about 250 delegates from across the cloud computing ecosystem – telecommunication companies, technology suppliers, cloud service providers and end-user organisations. Building on this success, CloudAsia 2012 will be held from 14-17 May 2012.

At CloudAsia 2011, IDA also launched a Cloud Booklet that provides information on the cloud ecosystem and cloud initiatives in Singapore, cloud adoption case studies and directories of cloud players such as cloud service providers, software-as-a-service offerings and cloud technology companies.

Between March 2011 and January 2012, IDA also organised the IDA-NLB Public Talk Series on Cloud Computing, which comprised 10 sessions and covered topics such as data privacy, business analytics in the cloud, private clouds, data as a service and cloud computing security.