WHILE Information, Communications and the Arts Minister Lee Boon Yang's speech at this year's imbX mega trade show may not have had the 'Big Bang' impact it delivered last year, his report card on the state of Singapore's infocomm industry was impressive nonetheless. The minister revealed that the industry registered a 20 per cent increase in revenue last year to hit a record $45.4 billion, welcome evidence that this economic engine is firing once again. Now the challenge is to fine-tune the engine so that it is firing on all cylinders.
Make no mistake, this is a race at the highest level. Countries around the world have embraced infocomm technology (ICT) with the eagerness of Latin lovers. And with good reason; the latest technology, wired and wireless, has levelled the corporate playing field as never before. This recognition that the world is indeed flat, and that the strategies that served Singapore well in the 20th century are no longer as effective in the 21st, prompted a national rethink that coalesced in a technology masterplan dubbed iN2015. The plan was announced at last year's imbX show with much fanfare and the fruits of the focused initiative are showing now. Plans for a nationwide next-generation ultra high-speed network are well on track.
Adoption of broadband wireless technology on handphones and other mobile devices has exceeded expectations. Last year the industry employed almost 120,000 people, a new high. So what can, and should, be done better? For a start, minimise, if not eliminate, the digital divide. In business this means helping the smallest and most vulnerable firms, the 'S' in the SMEs who make up the vast majority of Singapore companies.
This is precisely what the government, fronted by Singapore's Infocomm Development Authority, aims to do in the latest set of initiatives announced this week. The less tech-savvy among the country's small and medium-sized enterprises will be given help on using business tools ranging from e-mail to Internet telephony to security software, and even setting up their own websites. More money will be made available to fund innovative tech projects by SMEs.
More broadly, there is a need to grow the highest-value parts of the industry. Software falls into this category, as do the higher-level services. But that growth is not evident in the latest numbers; hardware continues to account for more than half the industry's revenues and more than two-thirds its exports. Efforts also need to be stepped up to grow Singapore's pool of intellectual property, and encourage young graduates to consider careers in the highly promising interactive and digital media (IDM) industry.
The good news is that the engine is whirring. What's needed is the fine-tuning, so that the infocomm industry can whiz ahead, like the Formula One supercars which are set to roar through downtown Singapore next year.
