Singapore Government Press Release
Media Division, Ministry of Information & The Arts, #36-00, PSA Building, 460 Alexandra Road, Singapore 119963, Tel: 3757794/5
SPEECH BY RADM (NS) TEO CHEE HEAN, MINISTER FOR THE ENVIRONMENT, SECOND MINISTER FOR DEFENCE AND CHAIRMAN, NATIONAL INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY COMMITTEE, AT THE NATIONAL IT FORUM ON TUESDAY, 26 NOVEMBER 1996, AT 9.00 AM, AT THE NCB AUDITORIUM
"PLUGGING INTO THE DIGITAL ECONOMY - SINGAPORE AS AN IT MEGA-HUB"
Today, we are witnessing the dawn of a new digital economy characterised by the high-speed transmission of digital content over the information superhighway. This digital economy is not constrained by geographical boundaries or time. It is truly global - every company with access to the Internet or other online services can potentially have the world as its market.
It is not surprising then that the United States and other countries in Europe and Asia have announced initiatives to develop IT applications, networks and legal frameworks to support a digital economy.
ActivMedia, a US-based Internet market researcher, estimated that revenues from corporate electronic commerce are expected to increase four-fold, from US$2.8 billion this year. Another market researcher, Forrester Research, projected that retailing and merchandise sales on the Internet could climb to US$6.6 billion by the year 2000, up from US$518 million this year.
With new technologies come new ways of doing business. The economics of today's business model will change dramatically as a result of the digital revolution. For example, Business Week, in its 10 June 1996 issue, reported that companies in the US could reduce the costs of processing a purchase order from US$150 to as little as US$25 by going electronic.
The new digital economy offers tremendous potential for a small nation like Singapore. It enables us to tap on the resources around the world to augment our limited land and manpower resources to compete in the league of developed nations. It is an industry where we can develop a competitive advantage as it does not depend on the availability of cheap land, access to natural resources, or vast energy resources.
The Government has committed to making Singapore the IT Mega-Hub of the Asia-Pacific region in five years, under the IT2000 plan.
The IT Mega-Hub will be a dynamic and thriving centre of IT activities and services in the region, creating new business opportunities for Singapore.
For Singapore to succeed as the IT Mega-Hub of the Asia-Pacific, it must have the following:
Components of the IT Mega-Hub
The IT Mega-Hub will comprise a number of hubs, each focusing on a particular suite of activities, for example, information and communications, electronic commerce and IT innovation.
I am glad to note that Singapore has made some progress towards building an Information and Communications Hub, an Electronic Commerce Hub and an IT Innovation Hub.
As an information and communications hub, Singapore plays the role of an information broker to make available relevant content to meet the needs of local, regional and international consumers. Singapore can provide a one-stop service for rich, localised content through Singapore ONE (One Network for Everyone), which represents our next generation information infrastructure. Singapore can also provide intelligent information search and retrieval facilities for consumers to obtain the information they want in a timely manner.
In this regard, I am pleased to launch two new information services today, namely TiARA and Singapore Connect.
TiARA, the joint initiative of the National Library Board and the National Computer Board, provides users a one-stop access to information at multiple libraries and electronic databases from the convenience of homes, schools, libraries or offices. It is the first of its kind in the world.
To make information access affordable to all Singaporeans, we have obtained national licences from leading information providers such as Knight Ridder's Dialog, Reuters Business Alert Services, Datapro Daily, Cambridge Scientific Abstracts and the Information Access Company. Many renowned information providers have also expressed interest to host their content in Singapore, with Reed Elsevier Science being the first to do so. We have set in place a Content Hosting Assistance programme to help information providers start up their operations in Singapore.
Singapore Connect, a joint effort between the National Computer Board and the Productivity and Standards Board, is a one-stop information service for small and medium enterprises. When fully operational, the SME website on the Internet will host a comprehensive business directory to help SMEs look for partners, both local and overseas. There is also an electronic bulletin board that will facilitate the exchange of ideas and information as well as support the buying and selling of services and products. 80,000 SMEs are already listed on the website, with plans to expand it to include 200,000 registered companies in two years' time.
In the future, Singapore Connect will be linked to the Global Information Network for SMEs initiated by the G7 countries as well as to a similar initiative by the APEC ministerial conference.
As an electronic commerce hub, Singapore plays the role of a secure and trusted node where electronic commerce transactions from around the region are processed. We are among the first few countries in the world to take the bold step of embarking on electronic commerce on the Internet. We have set up an Electronic Commerce Hotbed (ECH) to pilot electronic commerce applications and to address the security, legal and regulatory concerns.
I am pleased to announce the availability of two new services that will accelerate the adoption of electronic commerce in Singapore. These are the Electronic Commerce (EC) Home Page and the Infrastructure for Electronic Identification (IEI).
The EC Home Page provides a single point of access to secure electronic commerce applications. To date, about 30 applications are available, some of which can fully support secure electronic payment. By the end of next year, 100 applications will be available.
A user can visit these electronic shop-fronts, order items he wants and make payment online. The applications available today support a wide range of merchandise: from clothes, cakes and flowers to computer parts, music CDs, and hotel and resort reservations. Users can now carry out business transactions, buy and sell with confidence, knowing that their payment information will not be intercepted or stolen.
The EC Home Page also provides information on the services and technologies that are available to support new players in electronic commerce. Information on funding and incentive schemes are also available to assist developers of new and innovative services.
Apart from providing the enabling technologies, the Government is also looking into the policy and legal framework governing electronic commerce. A high-level EC Policy Committee chaired by the Monetary Authority of Singapore, with members from several government agencies, has been formed to address the policy and regulatory issues.
The Infrastructure for Electronic Identification (IEI) is a nationwide system for establishing and authenticating the identities of users communicating in a network environment, without prior face-to-face contact between the users. Each user is given a unique electronic ID, which is the electronic analogue of the NRIC in the physical world. Electronic IDs provide the foundation for many security services such as secure message exchanges and digital signatures.
Come March next year, a pilot implementation that makes use of electronic IDs to communicate over open networks such as the Internet will be ready. This will make Singapore one of the first few countries in the world to pioneer a national electronic identification system.
The IEI will be used for both Government and private sector applications such as electronic form submission systems, electronic procurement systems, electronic information systems, and electronic shopping and commerce, where the user needs to be identified to the system.
As an IT innovation hub, Singapore provides a conducive environment for technology developers and innovators to use Singapore as a testbed and pilot site for their products and applications. The Government has packaged attractive incentives under the Innovation Development Scheme and various R&D schemes to co-share with the private sector the risks of experimentation and to attract leading technology companies from overseas to invest in Singapore. The technologies transferred into Singapore will in turn help to upgrade the local IT industry, transform the way we work and do business, and make our economy more competitive.
The Singapore ONE initiative provides an excellent platform to pilot innovative broadband and multimedia applications that reach out to homes, schools and offices. Together with Singapore's reputation in medicine and education, for example, we can extend innovative services such as telemedicine and distance learning to the region.
The digital economy is the way to Singapore's future growth. We must develop our information infrastructure, IT industry and supporting services to capitalise on the many opportunities that are coming our way. The positioning of Singapore as the IT Mega-Hub of the Asia-Pacific will enable us to provide value-added services to the region and to generate new businesses. To succeed, the National Computer Board must work in concert with other government agencies, the IT industry and the user communities. I urge all of you to give NCB the support to realise our vision for Singapore.