Singapore has seen a remarkable evolution in the last half-century into a global hub, driven by rapid growth in trade, manufacturing and, most recently, the financial sector. The city-state is now on the cusp of an exciting fourth industrial revolution as its digital economy takes off.
To incubate promising new startups, and support enterprises and public sector agencies to accelerate industry innovation by leveraging technologies such as the cloud, the Singapore government’s Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) recently announced its collaboration with Amazon Web Services (AWS) to launch a Joint Innovation Center (JIC) in Singapore. The AWS-IMDA JIC will be at IMDA's PIXEL Innovation Hub and support Singapore-based technology companies with access to the latest AWS technologies and resources, to create and scale innovative solutions.
Joint innovation for better citizen services
The launch of the AWS-IMDA JIC @ PIXEL will be AWS’s first JIC in Southeast Asia, serving as an innovation hub for enterprises, startups, and governments in Singapore and Southeast Asia. The center will be ready in mid-2023, and will serve as an extension of AWS Singapore’s Cloud Innovation Centre (CIC), as well as IMDA’s PIXEL and Open Innovation Platform (OIP) initiatives.
This collaboration aims to advance digital innovation in Singapore by building innovation capabilities and market access opportunities for startups and enterprises using digital technology. With the AWS Singapore CIC, startups and established companies on the island will gain access to more than 200 fully featured AWS services to bring their solutions to life.
Partnerships for growth
Part of this program includes accelerated dedicated support from the AWS Partner Network (APN), giving IMDA Accredited and IMDA Spark companies direct connections to AWS’s customers and partners across all sectors, including enterprises and public sector agencies in government, education, and healthcare. The AWS-IMDA JIC will also showcase AWS Partners’ technology, facilitate business activities like meetings, workshops, and training sessions, and make other PIXEL facilities like specialized labs and equipment available to JIC participants, AWS, and the OIP.
To accelerate innovation on the cloud, IMDA had launched a sandbox environment under the Tech Acceleration Lab (TAL) in 2021 to allow IMDA Accredited and IMDA Spark companies working on government projects to trial new products and services in a controlled Singapore’s Government on Commercial Cloud environment. Under the JIC, AWS and IMDA are collaborating to offer these companies tech advisory for cloud deployment, and an independent and secured sandbox environment to enable IMDA Accredited and IMDA Spark companies to conduct proof-of-concept projects with customers and prospects from both public and commercial sectors in Singapore.
Cloud-enabled future for citizens
“IMDA is excited to collaborate with AWS to set up its first JIC in Southeast Asia at IMDA PIXEL, which will serve as a strong platform for startups, enterprises, and governments to innovate digitally," said Justin Ang, Assistant Chief Executive, IMDA.
"We are delighted that IMDA is recognised as a key community enabler within Singapore and the region, and PIXEL as an innovation hub for all types of partners to connect and build world-class products for global markets. We look forward to bringing AWS’s resources and networks to our Singapore-based companies under our IMDA Accreditation and IMDA Spark programmes to further accelerate their growth.”
Elsie Tan, Singapore Country Manager, Worldwide Public Sector, AWS, said: “To nurture innovation among startups, enterprises, and public sector agencies, it is critical to create an environment that brings together the latest technology with a network of supportive partners.
“We recognize the quality and growth of the companies under the IMDA Accreditation and IMDA Spark programs and are excited to collaborate with IMDA to establish the AWS-IMDA Joint Innovation Center @ PIXEL, to accelerate innovation and drive growth for enterprises and startups in Singapore and across Southeast Asia. AWS is committed to providing local businesses with access to AWS technologies to help them experiment with solutions, bring new innovations to market, solve real-world challenges, and transform industries.”
AWS JICs have been established to drive innovation in diverse sectors, including aviation. AWS and Intel have collaborated with India’s third-largest airport Bengaluru (BLR) to establish a JIC to drive the development and adoption of digital solutions in aviation and other sectors. Once implemented, these solutions can be scaled to other airports in India and globally.
This initiative from AWS and IMDA will help nurture Singapore’s burgeoning tech space, promote cloud technology across industries, and introduce successful innovations that help the government better serve its citizens. Governments worldwide are turning to the cloud for solutions to a wide spectrum of common social challenges, and Singapore’s ambitious role in the fourth industrial revolution is rapidly gaining importance and credibility.
Pictured in main image, from left to right: Francis Goh, Digital Innovation Leader, ASEAN Cloud Innovation Center, AWS; Elsie Tan, Singapore Country Manager, Worldwide Public Sector, AWS; Peter Moore, Regional Managing Director for Worldwide Public Sector, Asia Pacific and Japan, Amazon Web Services; Lew Chuen Hong, Chief Executive, Infocomm Media Development Authority, Singapore; Ng Kaijie, Director, Innovation, Infocomm Media Development Authority, Singapore; and Edwin Low, Enterprise & Ecosystem Development Division, Infocomm Media Development Authority, Singapore, giving a thumbs-up at the Infocomm Media Development Authority, Singapore’s PIXEL Innovation Lab.
