The Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA) and Singapore Infocomm Technology Federation (SiTF, www.sitf.org.sg) have launched the Infocomm Singapore Centre (ISC) in Shanghai, China, to facilitate partnerships between Singapore and Chinese Infocomm companies.

This involves the joint development of key market segments and improving market access for Singapore's infocomm companies into the competitive Chinese market.

"The Chinese infocomm market presents immense opportunities for Singapore to export our infocomm innovations and solutions. In fact, many of the infocomm solutions developed by Singapore infocomm companies have been tried, tested and implemented in Singapore and they can be readily adapted and exported to China," said Mr Pek Yew Chai, Chairman of SiTF.

According to recent reports by IDC, the total IT spending in China is projected to have grown 16.4 per cent to reach about US$46 billion in 2007. China now accounts for 32 per cent of the Asia Pacific regional IT market, excluding Japan.

The Infocomm Singapore Centre will support efforts to market and brand Singapore's infocomm exports in these external markets. "Singapore infocomm companies possess good infocomm knowledge and expertise in various areas such as e-Government, healthcare and logistics, and there is strong demand for such knowledge in many countries today," said RADM(NS) Ronnie Tay, Chief Executive Officer of IDA.

Launching the Infocomm Singapore Centre: (From left) Mr Pek of SiTF, Vice Chairman of the Shanghai Municipal Informatisation Commission Mr Shi Xing De and RADM(NS) Tay.

"Over the years, through participating in government as well as industry infocomm projects locally, Singapore infocomm companies have achieved an impressive track record in the development, integration and deployment of effective infocomm solutions and developed deep domain knowledge, technical capabilities and experiences across various industry sectors," he added.

To commemorate the launch of the Infocomm Singapore Centre, IDA and the Shanghai Informatisation Council jointly hosted the Infocomm Singapore e-Government Summit. The Summit brought together e-Government experts from Singapore and Shanghai to share their views on building an integrated e-Government that will bring about greater convenience to the citizens.

Ms Ong Lih Ling, Centre Director for the Singapore eGovernment Leadership Centre presented a keynote address on Singapore's e-Government journey in the past 27 years and the latest e-Government masterplan, the iGov2010 .

IDA first set up an office in Shanghai in 2001. Since then, it has been actively identifying and facilitating partnerships between Singapore Infocomm companies and their Chinese counterparts.

An example of a Sino-Singapore collaboration is the partnership between Singapore's GT&T and a Chinese bus operator to help the International School in Shanghai to track the growing number of school buses. GT&T is a leading developer of wireless mobile data and RFID technologies. The innovative track and trace solution uses global positioning system to help parents keep track of the children's whereabouts.

In another collaboration, Singapore's leading e-Government solutions provider CrimsonLogic developed the Public eServices platform for the Tianjin Information Office's e-Government Service Centre. This e-Government platform earned Tianjin the 3rd place, after Shanghai and Beijing, in the Central Government's ranking of effective e-Government public service platforms. This accolade is a significant milestone for CrimsonLogic, which has been chosen by the Tianjin Government as its sole partner for all future e-Government developments.