The Industry Briefing on Hall of IT

Mr Stephen Yeo, Chief Executive National Computer Board Speech - The Industry Briefing on Hall of IT

Mr Stephen Yeo, Chief Executive
National Computer Board
Speech - The Industry Briefing on Hall of IT
Singapore, 6 January 1997

Dr Chew Tuan Chiong, Director, Singapore Science Centre, distinguished guests, ladies and gentleman.

We are very grateful that you have taken time to join us here this evening for an exclusive briefing session for Chief Executive Officers in the Information Technology (IT) industry and potential sponsors.

Last year the Singapore Science Centre (SSC) and the National Computer Board (NCB) talked about setting up a world class permanent IT exhibition at the Singapore Science Centre. Given the pervasiveness of IT in our lives today and also Singapore being acknowledged as one of the more sophisticated exploiters of IT in the world, we thought it would be rather odd NOT to have IT represented in our Science Centre. Actually there are some IT exhibits which were set up by the NCB, SSC and Singapore Telecommunications in 1988. We think this is a good opportunity to review these and I am quite sure some of these can be graduated to the museum.

So after brainstorming with various quarters and industry, we have proceeded with plans to bring about a Hall of IT at the Science Centre, to be opened hopefully by the end of this year. This new exhibition will occupy some 700m sq. The plan is to stage it for a minimum period of five years, and assess if a major revamp in concept is needed after that. During the 5 years some 10% of the exhibits will be updated or upgraded each year. The Hall of IT serves to showcase the vital role of IT in our daily lives. The initial thinking is to include four themes: IT at home, in the classroom, at work and on the move. This permanent showcase can help to demystify the technology by explaining and presenting concepts in engaging and even entertaining ways. The Hall of IT is intended to encourage exploratory learning for students, which makes up 70% of the one million annual visitors to the SSC.

So where do you come in? On behalf of NCB and SSC, we wish to invite you to participate by being a corporate sponsor for the Hall of IT. Sponsorship can come in many forms; providing exhibits, financial sponsorship or any other mode of collaboration. There will be presentations on the concept of the Hall of IT as well as the sponsorship and the partnership opportunities later this evening. At the same time, we are open to your views and suggestions in making the Hall of IT a sensory experience for each and every visitor.

Ladies and gentlemen, thank you once again for your attendance this evening. We look forward to your support of this key initiative we are embarking on in 1997.

Thank you.