UNDER the Intelligent Nation (iN2015) infocomm masterplan, an Infocomm Resource Marketplace is envisioned whereby businesses, large and small, will be able to share, buy and sell infocomm resources such as software, computing, and storage.

This platform enables businesses to offer more innovative services using new business models.

To this end, the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore has for a start, supported the establishment of commercial grid service providers as well as the Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) incubation centres.

Small-and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) will be able to access software, hardware, storage and other infocomm services on a utility basis.

The users pay for what they consume, without hefty upfront investment in software and hardware. Such an approach is expected to make the adoption of infocomm by SMEs more affordable.

With the reduction of equipment such as hardware, the demand for in-house infocomm capability is also minimised, freeing the SMEs to focus on their core business.

This article was first published in The Business Times on September 23, 2008.