GOVTECH SINGAPORE:
THE SMART NATION
Rapid urbanization and industrialization of APAC countries like Singapore has created fertile ground for IoT adoption.
The Singapore government pledged $1.73 billion over four years to future-proof the economy and help local enterprises "go digital." In order to bring such plans to fruition, the Government Technology Agency of Singapore (GovTech) launched the Smart Nation programme in 2014.
"Whether it is a traffic police network, or police cameras, or the water authority cameras tracking drains, or cameras in our housing estates watching lifts and security, you can pull all of the pictures together and get one integrated data source for the whole country.”
Lee Hsien Loong,
Prime Minister of Singapore
A number of major projects are underway, notably the creation of an integrated national sensor network which utilizes connected devices to gather data on all aspects of urban living and city planning, including law enforcement networks, utilities, and surveillance.
A national digital identity system designed to replace SingPass, which at present does not go beyond ID recognition for government services, is also underway. Singapore hopes to emulate Estonia, which operates an ID system that pulls together services, ranging from banking to healthcare, for citizens to access in one digital space.
$1.73 billion
pledged to future-proof Singapore’s economy
E-payment adoption and crowd-based mobile apps are also being driven to transform Singapore into a smart nation.
GovTech’s Pulse of Economy scheme is also of note. The government is drawing upon real-time city data, such as electricity usage rates and the number of people alighting at bus stops in business districts, in order to ascertain levels of activity and what areas need to be improved for economic growth.
