New Ground-Up Community Initiatives To Help Another 20,000 Singaporeans Be Digitally Ready
SINGAPORE – 19 MAY 2019: About a year after the Digital Readiness Blueprint launch, Singapore has seen over 450 organisations pledge support for the digital readiness movement, about 3,000 volunteers participating across various Digital Readiness initiatives, and more than 300,000 seniors engaged to be digitally ready through the Silver Infocomm Initiative. At the SG:Digital Wonderland event, Singaporeans saw prototypes by the latest ground-up partner and Our Singapore Fund for Digital Readiness awardee, which will seek to engage over 20,000 people to learn about and build assistive devices.
Training others Through “We Hack Care” workshops and “Tech for Good” Festival
Non-profit organisation Engineering Good has been awarded Our Singapore Fund for Digital Readiness for their project that consists of “We Hack Care” workshops and “Tech for Good” Festival. This ground-up project aims to teach participants regarding disabilities, inclusion, engineering concepts and assistive technology, thus encouraging digital participation and promoting inclusivity to people with disabilities, in line with Singapore’s Digital Readiness Blueprint.
These “We Hack Care!” community workshops will teach people to “hack” effective assistive technology devices for disadvantaged members of the community at a lower-cost, thus making these aids accessible to those who need them the most. Examples of such prototype devices including switch-adapted toys for children with special needs were on display at SG:Digital Wonderland.
Engineering Good will also run a six-month long “Tech For Good” (TFG) competition culminating in a one-day festival, that brings different communities together to make, hack, code, and use technology to do good. Engineering Good also hopes to bring VWOs and other social sector partners together with volunteers to come up with solutions that empower people with disabilities.
Inaugural Youth Innovations Awards
Other digital participation activities at SG:Digital Wonderland included the inaugural Youth Innovation Awards. The Awards brought together 20 teams, from local institutes of higher learning as well as from Brunei, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Vietnam, to showcase their solutions to real world problems such as an anti-drunk driving solution and a blockchain-based food safety app. The winner of the Best of Show award was the On-Demand Autonomous Scooter Service by Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University.
Formerly known as Tech Saturday (Upsized!), the SG:Digital Wonderland event, held on 18 to 19 May at Suntec Convention and Exhibition Centre, is even bigger than before. This year’s event spans three halls this year at the Suntec City Convention Centre, with more than 70 different exhibits, hand-on activities, workshops and interactive displays covering technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), mixed reality, and the internet of things (IoT) to exhilarate and amaze both children and adults. The free event sought to demonstrate the importance of technology and inspire participation with technology and all things digital in its visitors.
Visitors were able to experience fun-filled workshops, pilot drones and enjoy interactive try-outs of new technology that remain the hallmark of the event. This year, the activities were divided into three main zones - Discover, Experience and Innovate – to reflect the different ways participants can engage technology. This includes key activities such as IMDA Lab on Wheels’ Cyber Security Investigation experience, the AR Dodgeball, the Youth Innovation Awards, the Lockheed Martin Code Quest coding competition. eSports fans were also treated to the Mobile Legend Bang Bang Clash of Southeast Asia (SEA) Champions 2019. This was an invitational that saw top teams from the region like Malaysia, Philippines, Indonesia and Myanmmar compete against EVOS, the Singapore team that has been nominated to represent Singapore in the medal event in this year’s SEA Games in Philippines.
“Visitors to SG:Digital Wonderland were able to interact with new technologies like augmented reality and artificial intelligence in very accessible settings, such as through games, interactive simulations, student prototypes and by trying the latest tech products. This adds to our efforts to bring the benefits of technology and the digital economy to Singaporeans, to help every citizen become a connected citizen,” said Ms Koh Li-Na, Assistant Chief Executive, Digital Readiness Cluster, IMDA.
Related Resources:
Annex A: “We Hack Care” and “Tech for Good” Festival by Engineering Good Fact Sheet (316.90KB)
Annex B: Our SG Fund for Digital Readiness Fact Sheet (235.98KB)
Annex C: Youth Innovation Awards (321.19KB)
Annex D: SG:Digital Wonderland Fact Sheet (479.87KB)
ISSUED BY THE INFOCOMM MEDIA DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY
About Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA)
The Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) leads Singapore’s digital transformation with infocomm media. To do this, IMDA will develop a dynamic digital economy and a cohesive digital society, driven by an exceptional infocomm media (ICM) ecosystem – by developing talent, strengthening business capabilities, and enhancing Singapore's ICM infrastructure. IMDA also regulates the telecommunications and media sectors to safeguard consumer interests while fostering a pro-business environment, and enhances Singapore’s data protection regime through the Personal Data Protection Commission.
For more news and information, visit www.imda.gov.sg or follow IMDA on Facebook IMDAsg and Twitter @IMDAsg.
For media clarifications:
Jasmine Xu (Ms)
Senior Executive, Communications and Marketing, IMDA
Email: Jasmine_XU@imda.gov.sg
Farah Yaasmeen MOHD NORHELMY (Ms)
Assistant Manager, Communications and Marketing, IMDA
Email: Farah_Yaasmeen_MOHD_NORHELMY_from.TP@imda.gov.sg
Christopher KOH (Mr)
Senior Manager, Communications and Marketing, IMDA
Email: Christopher_KOH@imda.gov.sg
.webp)