Singapore hatches new plan to boost local ICT firms' competitiveness

Involves developing cloud-enabled technologies.

In a release, the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA) and A*STAR Data Storage Institute (DSI) announced that they have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) today to jointly develop innovative cloud computing-powered technological solutions for the benefit of local ICT companies.

The collaboration is said to promote and accelerate the adoption of cloud-based technologies by local ICT companies through solutions that will enhance efficiency and productivity based on industry needs.

Solutions provided will build upon the foundations laid by the Next Generation Nationwide Broadband Network (Next Gen NBN) and IDA’s cloud computing infrastructure.

The partnership also aims to simplify and facilitate the collaboration process between industry and technology providers.

ICT companies are able to develop cloud-based solutions through IDA’s Technology Evaluation Programme (TEP) and leverage on DSI’s research & development capabilities to develop solutions for data protection, real-time computing and high performance, low cost systems for cloud storage based on capabilities such as hybrid drives for large scale storage and high performance data systems with next generation non-volatile memory.

“The adoption of cloud computing is radically transforming the technological landscape and the ability to achieve greater affordability and on-demand scalability. A green and secured foundation in cloud architecture remains critical in staying ahead of this digital paradigm shift,” said Dr Pantelis Alexopoulos, Executive Director of A*STAR DSI. “We are committed to a long term vision in improving cloud services and endeavour to support the ICT industry by taking this step forward.”

“A crucial factor for increasing the success of Singapore-based information technology companies is for them to constantly differentiate themselves from their competitors through innovative solutions. IDA will help technology companies pursue innovative new products by better exploiting some of the great R&D outcomes generated in Singapore,” said Mr Steve Leonard, Executive Deputy Chairman of IDA. "We will also explore ways we can more actively use tools such as 'crowdsourcing' and 'crowdtesting' platforms to increase collaboration among our local startups, research institutions, and universities.”