Mr Seah Chin Siong: We want to put the Singapore stamp on every part of the world.

Mr Seah Chin Siong, Chief Executive Officer of IDA International, discusses the company’s charter and how it is working with no less than 15 countries, engaging with 30 to 40 countries and building new relationships in Central Asia, Latin America and Africa - all within just two-and-a-half years of its formation.

Can you briefly describe the role of IDA International?
Our charter is two-fold. Firstly, we want to share Singapore e-government’s success stories with our foreign government friends. The successful adoption of ICT in Singapore has transformed the country and made it highly competitive. The Global Competitiveness Report 2011-2012 ranked Singapore as the second most competitive nation in the world. We definitely have something to offer our friends, be it in governance, healthcare, education, transport, tax, trade or logistics. We hope to transfer the insights and learning gleaned from our 30-year ICT journey to other countries.

Secondly, IDA International hopes to expose our local ICT industry to the global landscape and offer a platform where they can venture overseas in a more coherent, integrated fashion.

What can Singapore offer the world in terms of ICT?
Countries around the world are looking at ICT to deliver better social and economic outcomes, just like what Singapore has done. It does not matter whether it is a nation with a population of 200,000 or 180 million. While some countries may have reservations as to whether or not the Singapore model can apply to their country with a vast land mass, after some exploration, they find that the main touch point for their people is at the city level, which is like Singapore. We therefore work closely with the city mayors and governors.

In terms of ICT, Singapore has been described as a classroom for city leaders, where they can see how ICT has been deployed for themselves. Alternatively, it has also been described as an office for multinational companies and ICT companies, as the country is digitised and easy to do business in. It is also a laboratory, where all kinds of innovation are being tried, from smart grid to smart city and smart government.

Who are your customers?
Governments all over the world come to us regardless of size and political affiliation. Singapore is a friendly and neutral nation. We have engagements with Kazakhstan and Bhutan, as well as the sunny islands of Trinidad and Tobago, populous China and Brazil and oil-rich Saudi Arabia. Most of them approach us either through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Trade and Industry, International Enterprise Singapore or IDA. Many have heard of Singapore and their interest is piqued and they want to find out more.

What are the main opportunities for Singapore infocomm companies?
Many of our companies are small and medium-sized, each with a different specialty. It is important that we all work together and create a loose federation of companies, with a proven track record. This will enhance the competitive advantage of our local companies. In the long run, we believe that we can, by sustaining this initiative, create very competitive local ICT companies in the global arena.

Where does IDA International want to take Singapore infocomm?
Singapore has a deep infocomm knowledge base, straddling network infrastructure, logistics, healthcare, transport, revenue and customers, education, security, government CRM and many more areas. We tailor our solutions to the individual needs and requirements of a country. For example, we have helped the Bahamas government launch seven e-services, and we are helping the Brazilian government review its coastal logistics and recommending ways to create a viable alternative for land logistics by using their coastal ports.

In the last two-and-a-half years, we have engaged many governments and found that our experience can be replicated across the board. The next stage of our journey will be in executing large projects, and finding industry partners to implement them. We want to put the Singapore stamp on every part of the world.