The Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA) turned 10 in 2009 - a year which saw the agency taking its industry outreach efforts to the next level with the launch of major engagement platforms such as the Next Generation Broadband Forum, the iGov Global Exchange and the Infocomm Industry Forum.

Infocomm Industry Forum

The Start-Ups Track of the Infocomm Industry Forum attracted a strong turnout.

The inaugural Infocomm Industry Forum was held on 30 November 2009. The event, which attracted over 600 industry leaders, CXOs, senior government officials, venture capitalists and entrepreneurs, was focused on the theme “Fostering Innovation in the Infocomm Ecosystem”.

Presenting their views on this were 16  local and international experts. One of them was Mr Peter Lacy, Managing Director, Sustainability Practice, Accenture EMEA and Latin America, who said, “The idea of bringing this many people together to really discuss how Singapore can drive innovation in the ICT sector is fantastic, because ultimately that innovative process is going to take clusters of different actors.”

The Infocomm Industry Forum culminated with a cocktail reception to mark the 10th anniversary of IDA, which was formed on 1 December 1999 with the merger of the National Computer Board and the Telecommunication Authority of Singapore.

iGov Global Exchange

In June, Singapore hosted the iGov Global Exchange which brought together close to 600 leading e-Government experts from 40 countries to discuss opportunities and challenges in developing successful e-Government programmes in an increasingly connected world. The Guest-of-Honour and keynote speaker for the forum is Mr Goh Chok Tong, Senior Minister of the Republic of Singapore.

Themed "Integrating Public Services, Engaging Citizens", the iGov Global Exchange was jointly organised by the Ministry of Finance and IDA on behalf of the Singapore government's iGov Council, in partnership with the Singapore Exhibition Services. The event, which was held concurrently with the annual Infocomm Media Business Exchange (imbX), took place from 15 to 19 June 2009.

Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong delivered the keynote address at the iGov forum.

The iGov Global Exchange comprised three key components - a full day iGov Forum featuring senior government officials and industry speakers; an iGov Exhibition demonstrating international success stories and e-Government projects; and site visits to selected Singapore government agencies and infocomm companies.

The week-long event enabled participants to experience first-hand the latest e-Government concepts and solutions, and presented opportunities for e-Government collaboration with an international audience. It also provided an open platform for governments and industry players around the world to demonstrate their achievements and innovations in e-Government, thereby facilitate mutual learning and sharing among participants.

Mr Patrick Thng, Head of Technology, Treasury Financial Technology, World Bank, said, “This event is very significant in bringing both the private sector as well as the public sector to network especially on applications that impact the public.”

Agreeing, Dr Abdulrahman Al-Motrif from King Saud University, Saudi Arabia, described the iGov Global Exchange as a marvelous opportunity for those who were interested in keeping abreast of the latest developments in e-government. “I’m here to catch up and learn more about the implementation of new technologies in the educational field,” he said.

Next Generation Broadband Forum

A panel discusses the issues surrounding the deployment of next generation broadband.

Also taking place at imbX this year was the Next Generation Broadband Forum, a two-day event focused on the challenges in developing the next generation broadband network at a national level. Speakers included Mr Zhao Houlin, Deputy Secretary-General, International Telecommunications Union; Mr Jonathan Dharmapalan, Managing Partner, Global Telecommunications Centre, Global Emerging Markets, Ernst & Young; Mr Art Price, Chairman and CEO of Axia Netmedia Corporation and Mr Ricky Wong, Co-founder and Chairman of City Telecom (HK) and Hong Kong Broadband Network.

In conjunction with the Forum, a Next Generation Broadband Forum Regulatory Exchange was organised by IDA to facilitate discussions and exchange of ideas among policy makers and regulators on their key considerations for next generation networks. Speakers at the Regulatory Exchange included representatives from Australia, European Commission, Sweden, Hong Kong and Singapore.

Digital Marketplace Forum

The Digital Marketplace brings together various members of the digital media ecosystem.

2009 also saw smaller industry-engagement platforms evolve. An example was the Industry Roundtable hosted by IDA under its Digital Marketplace Programme, which morphed into a full-fledged Digital Marketplace Forum held at the sideline of the 2009 Asia Television Forum in December.

The Digital Marketplace Programme itself has continued to grow. Launched in June 2008, the focus was to establish Singapore as a trusted hub for managing and distributing digital content, to anchor business-to-business media service providers as well as business-to-consumer content owners and aggregators in Singapore, encouraging them to develop their operations locally and building value-added services and capabilities to strengthen the ecosystem here.

Calls for Collaboration

Besides roundtables and forums, IDA has also continued to engage with the industry and create opportunities for infocomm players to work together on specific projects by issuing Calls for Collaboration (CFCs) in areas ranging from contactless payment and geospatial applications to the Digital Concierge initiative and TradeXchange.

For example, in March 2009 , Singapore Customs, Economic Development Board, SPRING Singapore and IDA issued a CFC inviting companies in the trade and logistics sectors to form consortia to integrate their key trade and logistics IT systems, business processes and data through TradeXchange.

TradeXchange provides a neutral and secure IT platform that enables the seamless exchange of information within the trade and logistics community. By integrating the IT systems, business processes and data through TradeXchange, it is envisaged that the businesses will enjoy greater operational efficiencies, clearer supply chain visibility, faster shipment turnaround and higher productivity due to more timely exchange of information and documents with partners in the value chain.

In another CFC issued in the area of Tourism, Hospitality and Retail in June 2009, companies were invited to submit proposals under the Digital Concierge initiative to develop and deploy informational, transactional, m-commerce and location-based mobile services, as well as common content and functionalities that are reusable by multiple mobile services.

The Digital Concierge is one of the key programmes in IDA’s 10-year Intelligent Nation Masterplan. It offers locals and tourists access to useful information and services on their mobile phone.