Page 60 - ITU-T Focus Group Digital Financial Services – Executive Summary

• Vibrant Innovation Ecosystem
Singapore hosts more than 500 start-up companies, with nearly 100 startups residing in close
proximity in Block 71, Ayer Rajah Crescent, slated as the heart of Singapore’s technology start-up
ecosystem. With built-in intellectual capital at the National University of Singapore (NUS), the
government is helping fund this innovation boom by creating policies that serve to ease the start-
up process as well as connecting researchers and inventors with investors and providing matching
grants. For example, for every S$1 invested, the National Research Foundation will add S$5, up to a
maximum of S$500,000. All this spurs innovation and entrepreneurs can get matching grants of up
to S$50,000. In addition, Singapore is almost the perfect laboratory for testing smart technology
concepts. For example, due to its water scarcity, it is now a leader in desalination and filtration
systems.
• Business Environment
Singapore’s business-courting apparatus, the Economic Development Board (EDB), created an
enticing environment for foreign business and world-renowned companies like Texas Instruments,
Hewlett-Packard and General Electric to come set up. In more than one way, Singapore has rapidly
evolved from borrowing innovation to attracting and seeding the brains to create it. Working under
this expanding business environment, Singapore has integrated smart planning into its ICT and other
technology and business related areas. This is also evident in its innovation of advanced material
manufacturing and green buildings among many others. For example, Sky Greens is the world’s first
ever low-carbon, hydraulic water-driven vertical farming system. It occupies one hectare and yields
more than 10 times the amount of crops as conventional cultivation at just the fraction of the cost.
This is just one example of a Singaporean success story that benefitted from government support,
corporate matchmaking and diffusion of capital.
• Creative Communities
Singapore’s skilled workforce is a shining example that ranges from arts to sciences. With a high
number of millennials running entrepreneurship enterprises, Singapore is quickly becoming a
creative hot spot for young professionals. By encouraging projects and initiatives that span across
sectors and not just tech-related fields, the country wants to build its workforce to inculcate the
idea of smart working into its relatively diverse workforce.

BOX 1 – ITU and Singapore Smart City Pilot Project

ITU Smart City Pilot Project in Singapore
The city of Singapore has entered into a unique partnership with ITU, which is the United Nations
specialized agency for information and communication technologies. This collaboration involves the
implementation of the ITU key performance indicators (KPIs) for smart sustainable cities in Singapore, in
line with its Smart Nation initiative.
This pilot project will allow Singapore to measure its progress vis-à-vis its smart city goals and will
determine the level of smartness and sustainability of the city. The results from this pilot project will be
utilized by the Advisory Board for Smart Sustainable Cities, which consists of 16 United Nations Agencies,
to upgrade the existing KPIs and create the first Global Smart Sustainable City Index. This index is expected
to serve as the universal basis for assessing smart and sustainable city transitions worldwide, thereby
allowing urban stakeholders to accurately deduce the extent to which their city can be referred to as a
smart sustainable city.

3 Conclusions

Within 50 years, Singapore has not only evolved into one of the world’s wealthiest nations, but also one of
the most business-friendly countries, with a government that fosters growth and innovation. The city has
done so by using and capitalizing on its well-integrated, well-educated and forward-looking population. It has
also brought and invested in talent (local and international) from various fields to help grow its industries.
Keeping the citizens and stakeholders in mind is an important factor for the building of any smart city or
nation. Accordingly, Singapore has invested in the liveability of a nation and created world-renowned living
standards for its citizens. This has not only improved local economic and social growth, but also attracted top
talent from around the world.

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