Nine companies have come forth to sponsor Singapore@Work 2000, a television programme spearheaded by the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA) and co-organised by Singapore Productivity and Standards Board (PSB) with the support of eight chambers of commerce and IT associations. This was...
Singapore, 28 June 2000 | For Immediate ReleaseNine companies have come forth to sponsor Singapore@Work 2000, a television programme spearheaded by the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA) and co-organised by Singapore Productivity and Standards Board (PSB) with the support of eight chambers of commerce and IT associations. This was announced today at the Singapore@Work 2000 Memorandum of Understanding signing ceremony held at the Singapore International Convention & Exhibition Centre.
Focused on local enterprises and how their adoption of e-commerce has improved their productivity and efficiency, each programme in the eight-part series will showcase how business has changed, examples of some of the best business practices and interviews with companies that have adopted e-commerce and succeeded. The television series will take a look at the experiences of local enterprises in their adoption of e-commerce across the various aspects of business functions. Some of the areas that have been identified for coverage include infocomm technology, marketing and sales, procurement, finance, warehousing and logistics, management, human resource and legal.
The programmes will also highlight the various services and schemes provided by Government agencies and industry partners, which bring about cost savings and improvements in operational efficiencies to companies and organisations who have incorporated or are embarking on e-commerce. Some of these schemes include the Local Enterprise Computerisation Programme (E-Commerce) and service bureau schemes developed by infocomm vendors.
"Singapore@Work 2000 is aimed at getting local enterprises to consider their long-term viability in the face of the New Economy, and to examine ways by which they can adopt e-commerce as relevant to their business operations. Forming part of an overall IDA initiative to catalyse action on the part of local enterprises, the series of eight programmes will demonstrate how others have already started on the path to transform their companies to compete more effectively in the New Economy marketplace," said Dr Kaizad Heerjee, Assistant Chief Executive, Online Development, IDA.
Added Mr Lee Suan Hiang, Chief Executive of PSB, "Through Singapore@Work 2000, PSB aims to promote e-commerce to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and encourage more of them to adopt it as a key business strategy to improve their competitiveness. PSB's goal is to e-enable 32,000 local SMES or 1 in 3 local SMEs with e-commerce transactions by 2003."
To debut on August 23, 2000 on TCS 5, the half-hour programme will also be repeat telecast over Channel News Asia starting from November. A Chinese version will be telecast over TCS 8 in October. The details are as follows:
| TCS 5 | TCS 8 | Channel News Asia |
|---|---|---|
| Date: 23 Aug - 11 Oct 2000 |
Date: 7 Oct - 25 Nov 2000 |
Date: 24 Nov 2000 - 12 Jan 2001 |
| Day: Every Wednesday |
Day: Every Saturday |
Day: Every Friday |
| Time: 7:00 pm - 7:30 pm |
Time: 7:00 pm to 7:30 pm |
Time: 7:30 pm - 8:00 pm |
The new season of Singapore@Work 2000 builds upon the successful series which the then National Computer Board presented over TCS 5 and TCS 8 in 1998. Feedback on the series indicated that the programme was very useful and effective in showing local enterprises that e-commerce is not confined to only multi-national corporations but that it can materially impact, in a very positive manner, even for the operations of a local enterprise. Moreover, because television is a medium which offers such broad reach, the Singapore@Work series also helped communicate to workers that the workplace is fast changing and that there is a need to be continually learning and acquiring new skill sets.
Singapore@Work which started out as a television programme to encourage local enterprises to adopt e-commerce to stay competitive has also resulted in a casebook for business administration students at the National University of Singapore (NUS).
Early this year, second, third and fourth year students from the NUS business administration faculty, including the Masters level students, are using a casebook comprising fourteen case studies from the 1998 Singapore@Work as part of their curriculum to enhance their understanding of how e-commerce can help local enterprises improve their business competitiveness.
"For once, we have local case studies that students can better relate to than those of US companies typically cited in the text books. Being local, the case studies bring home to the students, the specific difficulties that local companies face in adopting IT, and how the companies successfully overcame these difficulties. With this documentation, we can also follow-up with the companies to find out how they are faring," said Dr Thompson Teo, Lecturer, Department of Decision Sciences, Faculty of Business Administration, NUS.
The forthcoming season of Singapore@Work 2000 is produced by the Current Affairs division of Media CorpNews. The nine sponsors for the television series are:
- BMC Software Asia Pacific Pte Ltd
- IBM Singapore Pte Ltd
- JustLogin.com Pte Ltd
- Keppel TatLee Bank Ltd
- National Computer Systems Pte Ltd
- Singapore Telecommunications Ltd
- Stratech Systems Pte Ltd
- Sun Microsystems Pte Ltd
- WizOffice.com Ltd
Singapore@Work 2000 is also supported by the Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce & Industry, the Singapore Confederation of Industries, the Singapore Indian Chamber of Commerce & Industry, the Singapore International Chamber of Commerce, the Singapore Malay Chamber of Commerce & Industry, the Association of Small and Medium Enterprises, the Association of IT Consultants and the Singapore Information Technology Federation.
About Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore
The Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA) is a dynamic organisation with an integrated perspective to developing, promoting and regulating info-communications in Singapore. In the fast-changing and converging spheres of telecommunications, information and media technologies, IDA will be the catalyst for change and growth in Singapore's evolution into a vibrant global info-communications technology centre. For more information, please visit www.imda.gov.sg.
About Singapore Productivity and Standards Board
The Singapore Productivity and Standards Board's (PSB) mission is to raise productivity so as to enhance Singapore's competitiveness and economic growth for a better quality of life for our people. PSB's focus areas are upgrading small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), promoting productivity and innovation, and developing standards and metrology.
For media clarification, please contact:
Ms Jennifer Toh
Assistant Manager, Corporate Communication
Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore
Tel: (65) 6211-0508
Fax: (65) 6211-2227
Email: jennifer_toh@imda.gov.sg
Ms Julia Lai
Citigate Dewe Rogerson, i.MAGE Pte Ltd
Tel: (65) 6534-5122
Fax: (65) 6534-4171
Email: julia.lai@citigatedrimage.com
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