GITR: Singapore's digitisation agenda seeks to increase competitiveness in targeted sectors while promoting social welfare.

For the fourth year running, Singapore has placed second in the world in harnessing the power of infocomm technology (ICT) to boost productivity and increase social development.

The ranking was made by the 12th edition of the Global Information Technology Report (GITR) . Released by the World Economic Forum, it has been analysing the use of ICT to nurture economic growth in 144 countries via its Networked Readiness Index (NRI).

The NRI is determined by four sub-indexes that affect the Networked Readiness of the economy and society, namely political and business environment , hardware and soft skill readiness, usage of ICT,  and social and economic impact of ICT. Each sub-index comprises a total of 10 pillars, which include Internet access and the availability of venture capital, as well as mobile phone subscriptions and even adult literacy. Indicators within the pillars, such as patent applications and e-government services, are used to gauge the impact of digitisation.

Making steady progress, Singapore bettered its NRI score of 5.59 last year with 5.96 out of seven, just missing the 1st ranking by 0.02 points. Finland took top position while last year’s leader, Sweden, was pushed into third spot. Besides improving its score, Singapore also came out tops in a record four pillars.

“Singapore shows the way in the environment sub-index, earning the top spot in both the political and regulatory environment pillar and the business and innovation environment pillar,” said the report. “The extreme efficiency and business friendliness of its institutional framework, strong intellectual property protection, intense competition, and high university enrollment rate led to these outstanding outcomes.”

In addition, the Republic topped the government usage pillar, achieving the maximum possible score on the UN’s Government Online Services Index. Much of Singapore’s improvement could be attributed to its steady progress in the area of whole-of-government implementation (for example, promoting citizen-centric design in e-service and portal development) and the usage of multi-channel service delivery (for example, the launch of the mGov@SG site, and the continuous implementation of mobile applications).  Singapore also topped the Social Impacts pillar and took 3rd place in the UN’s e-Participation Index. Singapore’s good performance in the e-Participation Index could be attributed to the progress of the REACH portal with its enhanced usability and feedback channels.  As an e-engagement platform, REACH allows citizens to use their Facebook IDs to login to the portal and recommend discussion threads. The portal also features the results of public consultations and government responses to citizen feedback.

The report also praised the iN2015 masterplan, Singapore's ambitious 10-year blueprint to use ICT to boost economic performance and build a highly-connected society, calling it far-sighted and comprehensive. iN2015’s multi-pronged strategy is to develop a world-class ICT industry, a competitive workforce that is skilled in ICT, and to create an ultra-high speed ICT infrastructure. The infrastructure is already taking shape through the Next Generation Nationwide Broadband Network, which was deployed to 95 per cent of homes and businesses by the end of last year, as well as the Wireless@SG programme. Wireless@SG provides free public access to Wi-fi connectivity until March 2017, and will also offer progressively higher access speeds of up to 2 Mbps.

“Singapore’s digitisation agenda seeks to increase competitiveness in targeted sectors while promoting social welfare,” said GITR. Given the importance of ports to the country's export-driven island, it gave the example of how the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA) and the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore jointly launched WISEPORT, the world’s first port WiMax (a fast wireless standard) network that provides coverage within 15 km of Singapore's southern coastline.

Singapore is also on top of its game when it comes to preparing for future ICT challenges and opportunities.

GITR identified big data as a key area to look out for, with the potential to spur innovation and growth and to give governments a deeper insight into their citizens’ needs. The impact, however, is contingent on creating the right labour market conditions for big data–driven growth.

In view of this, GITR noted that IDA has established a High-Performance Analytics Centre of Innovation, the first of its kind in Asia. Its role is to train professionals in data management and analytics, and to generate intellectual property through co-development with institutes of higher learning.

Besides the analytics centre, IDA has other plans in motion to build strong innovation linkages between the public, private and people sectors. Speaking at the Singapore Infocomm Technology Federation’s ICT Business Summit 2013, Mr Ronnie Tay, Chief Executive Officer of IDA, explained how IDA was aware of the need for an approach based on experimentation and risk-taking to enable the development of new concepts.

One such initiative was the Smart Cities Pilots & Trials Programme in the Jurong Lake District (JLD), a new growth area identified in the Urban Redevelopment Authority's Master Plan. Working with other agencies, IDA will deploy connectivity-enhancing infrastructure and sensors in JLD and enable access to real-time data and pervasive ICT connectivity. This would improve the quality of life for residents, as well as bring about more efficient operations and informed planning for government agencies and user organisations.

Another initiative under way is a Software-as-a-Service (Saas) Call for Collaboration (CFC) to create SaaS solutions aimed at sectors that are currently out of the purview of traditional SaaS offerings. To date, 13 proposals have been awarded that target six sectors, which are early childhood, real estate, F&B, travel, private education and real estate.

With such projects ongoing, Singapore is on course to further its social and economic development using ICT, and the GITR accolade comes as a welcome validation that the country is on the right track.