The roadmap is aimed at boosting productivity in software development, system integration and IT consultancy.

The Singapore Government has set aside S$46 million over the next five years to execute Singapore's Infocomm Industry Productivity Roadmap. This was announced by Mr Lui Tuck Yew, Minister for Transport and Second Minister for Foreign Affairs, at the Asia Pacific ICT Summit (APICTS) 2012 on 13 March 2012.

Established by the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA) with the support of the National Productivity and Continuing Education Council, the roadmap will help local infocomm companies to acquire new capabilities and resources to remodel their business; access cost-effective shared resources; build up specialised skill sets, and extend their market outreach, said Mr Lui.

The roadmap is aimed specifically at boosting productivity in the software development, system integration and IT consultancy sub-segments of the infocomm industry, where labour productivity has been found to be lower than the national average.

A study by the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy in 2011 showed that infocomm companies in these sub-segments have been pursuing a labour-led growth model compared with their counterparts in key markets such as the United States (US).

The three sub-segments collectively make up 35 per cent of total enterprises and 40 per cent employment in the infocomm industry. According to IDA, key to boosting their productivity will be to help them transition towards product- or cloud-based business models which will allow them to scale quickly and serve global customers more efficiently without the need for a proportionate increase in manpower.

Elaborating on the roadmap at APICTS 2012, IDA’s Chief Executive Officer Mr Ronnie Tay said the agency is looking to help local companies in the infocomm industry acquire new capabilities and resources to remodel their business for productivity growth.

The first key thrust of the roadmap is to help local infocomm enterprises re-engineer their solutions so that they can sell their products globally through third-party system integrators or directly through the cloud, said Mr Tay. This can allow a small company to serve a larger global market more efficiently without requiring a corresponding increase in manpower.

The second thrust is to provide cost-effective access to shared resources to help local infocomm enterprises develop products faster and more efficiently. Examples of shared services or resources include manpower-as-a-service, software tools and resource templates. IDA will also be refining its iSPRINT incentive scheme, which supports small and medium enterprises in technology adoption, to assist local infocomm enterprises in adopting software tools that can enhance their productivity.

The third thrust of the roadmap is to train a pool of infocomm professionals with specialised skills to drive productivity initiatives. Examples include product management and global outsourcing management skills.

The fourth and final thrust is to help local infocomm enterprises to enlarge their market space. To address this, IDA is providing mentorship through in-market experts in key markets such as US and China. “With guidance on their market strategies and product offerings, local infocomm enterprises can better grow their business through leveraging on new product models,” said Mr Tay.

In line with the Infocomm Industry Productivity Roadmap, the Singapore Infocomm Technology Federation (SiTF) is working with IDA to explore the setting up of a Productivity and Productisation Programme Office to help ICT vendors improve productivity through training, productisation and aggregated purchase of productivity tools. Mr Vijoy Varghese, organising chairman for APICTS 2012 and Honorary Secretary of SiTF, said the initiative will not only help companies to beef up productivity but also to be more competitive in the long run.

Over the next five years, the Infocomm Industry Productivity Roadmap is expected to benefit more than 1,100 infocomm local enterprises, train 10,000 infocomm professionals and raise the value-add per worker of the three target sub-segment by 7 per cent compound annual growth rate (CAGR) from S$79,451 to S$105,434.