 |
| Always on
the go, Singaporeans take advantage of strategically
located e-hubs like this one in Changi Airport. |
| Courtesy Civil Aviation
Authority of Singapore |
 |
| IDA programs
encourage IT users of all ages. |
| Courtesy Singapore Tourism
Board |
Standing head and shoulders above the rest, Singapore
has been repeatedly touted as one of the most technologically
savvy countries in the world. This achievement is
no doubt thanks to Singapore’s Infocomm Development
Authority (IDA), which has encouraged forward thinking
policies and product and service innovation. As
a result, Singapore’s citizens and business
community have catapulted to the forefront of information
society evolution.
“If the world is a network,” explains
Trade and Industry Minister, George Yeo, “and
you need to plug in at the most convenient point,
where the bandwidth is greatest, it would be Singapore.
We are your most convenient plug-in point in Southeast
Asia.”
Singapore has developed a world-class information
technology (IT) infrastructure. Singapore ONE, an
island-wide broadband network, connects 99 percent
of the nation’s households, schools, and businesses.
Over 60 percent of Singaporean households own computers,
and nearly 50 percent of the population reports
accessing the Internet from home. Classrooms average
one computer for every two students. Soon even taxi
passengers will be able to access the Net while
en route. CityCab is currently equipping its taxis
with mobile web-surfing devices.
Internet dial-up, international direct dialing
and monthly broadband access rates ($20 - $40) are
among the lowest in the world. In addition to ADSL
(Asymetric Digital Subscriber Line), cable, and
fibre access options, widespread wireless broadband
access will soon be a reality.
The country’s fixed-line telecommunications
penetration rate, at just under 50 percent, was
surpassed by mobile phone penetration rates in September
2000. Today, nearly 75 percent of Singaporeans are
mobile phone subscribers.
Thanks to an extensive submarine cable system,
overall capacity has reached 21 terabits per second,
“enough to transport the data found in numerous
New York City telephone books in a split second,”
says Khoong Hock Yun, assistant chief executive
of IDA.
Singapore’s phenomenal information society
growth owes a lot to the efforts of the IDA, a hybrid
agency that combines the regulatory authority of
the U.S.’s FCC (Federal Communications Commission)
with the developmental focus of industry associations.
IDA’s goal is to spur private sector innovation
and ensure the provision of new products and services.
To illustrate the multiple hats IDA wears, consider
that when three licenses for 3G mobile applications
infrastructure deployment were issued in April of
last year, two thirds of the roughly $180 million
earned from the auctions was redirected back into
industry grants for the development of innovative
wireless products and services.
The telecommunications industry was fully liberalized
by the IDA in April 2000, two years ahead of the
original schedule.
The IDA also coordinates Singapore’s award-winning
e-government program. A March 2002 Gallup poll found
that two out of three people who had “dealt
with the government” in the past year had engaged
in e-services.
Singapore’s eCitizen portal, online since
April 1999, now offers more than 570 e-services,
presented in a user-friendly manner that follows
along a progression-of-life theme. For instance,
after the education stage comes employment, which
leads citizens to the option of filing taxes online.
As an extra bonus, the Singaporean government allows
an additional two-week grace period for online filers,
thereby stimulating increased demand. Half of all
Singaporeans filed their taxes online in 2002.
The Singaporean Supreme Court is also actively
encouraging, and in some cases mandating, dissemination
of technology. With the aid of the latest in information
and communication technology equipment, lawyers
no longer need to attend pre-trial sessions in person.
They can also submit documents for a judge’s
review and confer with imprisoned clients, all online.
The Government Electronic Business Portal, www.gebiz.gov.sg,
has been stimulating demand for government-to-business
transactions. To date, more than $327 million in
e-transactions have been conducted through this
site.
While two thirds of Singaporeans are already PC-literate,
reaching out to typically marginalized members of
society has also been a priority for the IDA. Internet
courses introduce new users to the World Wide Web
and online transactions. These courses are available
for as low as $1, and have become extremely popular
among senior citizens. “Even my own mother
is surfing the web now,” says Khoong.
Following the Masterplan for IT in Education, teachers
receive considerable training on how to infuse technology
into the classroom, and across all subject matter.
Parents who would not normally venture online are
encouraged to view their child’s multi-media
school projects.
The strong IT culture has attracted foreign e-commerce
companies to Singapore.
One example is Freemarkets Asia Pte. Ltd (www.freemarkets.com).
Based in Pittsburgh, PA, Freemarkets operates a
sort of e-Bay in reverse where the bidding is between
sellers (suppliers) rather than buyers (manufacturers).
By auctioning components contracts online to multiple
suppliers, Freemarkets’ customers average savings
of 17 percent.
Daryl Rolley, Managing Director of Freemarkets
Asia, says that, in addition to its $100 billion
economy and great airport, the company chose Singapore
for its “world-class IT infrastructure.”
According to Bruce McConnell, president of Washington,
D.C.-based high-tech policy consultancy McConnell
International, "Singapore's information society
stands as a beacon to the rest of Asia, and is rapidly
emerging as a global hub for electronic commerce."
In Khoong’s view Singapore is a “reference
market for the rest of Asia” and a “living
lab” that shows how smoothly technology can
work if government policies and IT innovation are
coordinated and laws can evolve more easily in response
to changing technological needs.
“And if you have a project that covers just
three million users [the size of Singapore],”
he says, “you can get to profitability very
fast.”For more information on the IDA’s
programs and initiatives, see www.ida.gov.sg.
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