IBM raises Jurong to become Singapore’s next business capital

How much could a US$50-million grant do?

Sinagpore’s Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA), Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB), and IBM are pleased to announce that the Jurong Lake District has been selected as one of the recipients for the IBM Smarter Cities Challenge grant for 2012.

Launched in 2011, the Smarter Cities Challenge is a three-year, 100-city, US$50 million philanthropic initiative that funds in-person engagements by teams of top IBM experts, who study and then make detailed recommendations addressing locally important urban issues.

Jurong Lake District is a 360ha mixed-use district in western Singapore and is intended to support the city’s economic growth for the next 10 to 15 years. It will be the largest commercial node and regional centre outside the central business district, and will become one of Singapore’s new sustainable high-density districts. Developed as a smart district, Jurong Lake District will use resources more efficiently, optimise land, and enhance the quality of life for its workers, residents and visitors.

Jurong Lake District was selected based on the country’s ability to clearly articulate strategic issues with tangible impact on the lives of citizens, and which can potentially and reasonably be acted upon. Also considered is the nation’s track record of innovative problem solving, and commitment to the use of technology and open data.

Smarter cities challenge
The Smarter Cities Challenge grant will allow URA, EDB and their partner agencies, to work with a team of IBM experts to explore innovative solutions to enhance Jurong Lake District as a smart, sustainable, and connected high-density district. URA, EDB, and their partner agencies, look forward to working with the IBM team in the later half of this year when a team of specially selected IBM experts from different smarter city disciplines will immerse themselves for three weeks in local issues and provide city leaders with recommendations to support the objectives of the Jurong Lake District initiative in building a smarter business city marked by better delivery of municipal services, more citizen engagement, and optimised use of resources.

“URA has been paying close attention to designing our new growth areas to be liveable, environmentally-friendly, and inclusive. With the Smarter Cities Challenge grant, we hope to work with IBM to find smarter solutions to strengthen these goals for the Jurong Lake District,” said Ng Lang, Chief Executive Officer, URA.

“As one of Asia’s most liveable cities, Singapore is leading the way in sustainable development by boldly tackling challenges common across many of today’s urban centres, especially in Asia,” said Beh Swan Gin, Managing Director, EDB. “The Jurong Lake District project represents an exciting opportunity to realise our vision of Singapore as a ‘living laboratory’ where companies and research institutes can collaborate with the government to create, prove, demonstrate, and commercialise innovative urban solutions in a real-life environment.”

"Each of the 33 global cities selected is different. But in all of them, there is one clear similarity: a strong commitment by the city’s leadership to put in place the changes needed to help the city make smarter decisions," said Ms Janet Ang, Managing Director of IBM Singapore. “IBM has been in Singapore since 1953 and we remain fully committed to our partnership. We are particularly pleased that the Jurong Lake District has been awarded this grant and we look forward to working closely with the Singapore team to create an innovative approach to city building that will help Singapore’s goal of maintaining our global city status. IBM will leverage our proven heritage of innovation and the many smarter cities engagements to support Singapore’s objectives.”

The IBM Smarter Cities Challenge is an outgrowth of IBM’s Corporate Service Corps grant programme, in which IBM deploys teams of experts to cities around the world to work on projects that intersect business, society and technology for worthy outcomes. This challenge is sponsored by IBM’s Corporate Citizenship Programme and IBM’s International Foundation.