IDA inks deals to boost tech sector

Big-time companies jump on Smart Nation bandwagon.

The Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA) today announced new partnerships to bolster the capabilities of the technology industry, as part of its ongoing efforts to build a Smart Nation.

In his CommunicAsia Summit Visionary Address, Mr Steve Leonard, Executive Deputy Chairman, IDA, shared several initiatives which seek to further boost the Singapore tech talent pool.

The efforts are directed at boosting Singapore’s tech talent pool, and will feature Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), a regional competition for students, and several scientific collaborations for real-world solutions.

“Companies of all sizes in various countries have signalled their excitement to be part of this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to 'experiment and explore' with us. The positive feedback so far has been amazing, and we've only just begun. We think some very cool tech startups will be born out of what we want to create as a Smart Nation," said Steve Leonard, Executive Deputy Chairman of the IDA, in his CommunicAsia Summit Visionary Address.

Four large enterprises – Motorola, Starhub, Microsoft and Razer – have come on board, and will be reaching out to local tech companies to be part of their team.

Here’s more from the IDA:

IDA will be working with leading providers for Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) to offer easily accessible and high-quality learning.

The first focus training area will be on Data Sciences & Analytics, and IDA will be tapping on Coursera MOOC platform's data sciences specialisation provided by Johns Hopkins University.

Working with open source software company Red Hat, IDA Labs will be co-organising a regional competition for students to develop smart homes solutions.

Themed "Smart Living, Smart Homes", the competition will kick off in July 2014, and will be looking to reach out to students in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, South Korea and the Greater China region.

Separately, IDA Labs will be working with the Institution of Engineers Singapore (IES) to bring together engineers from various disciplines to build technology that can solve real-world problems.

At the event, the S$15 million Partnership for Capability Transformation for the Infocomm Sector (iPACT) programme was also launched. iPACT will bring large enterprises and local tech companies together, to enable knowledge transfer, capability upgrading, co-development, and test-bedding.