Khoong Hock Yun, Assistant Chief Executive, Infocomm Development, IDA Singapore - Press Statement Media Conference on PATH Assessment Centre, Raffles City Convention Centre ...
Khoong Hock Yun, Assistant Chief Executive, Infocomm Development, IDA Singapore - Press Statement
Media Conference on PATH Assessment Centre, Raffles City Convention Centre
Singapore, 4 October 2001
The Wired with Wireless programme was introduced by IDA in October last year, with the aim of jumpstarting the development of the wireless industry in Singapore. There are 7 strategic thrusts under the programme some of which include fostering a conducive environment for technology development, encouraging pilots and trials to promote wireless innovation, providing thought leadership, building specialist knowledge and skills, enabling market development and promoting consumer adoption.
In May this year, IDA announced the first initiatives under the Wired with Wireless Programme. The two initiatives, Pilot And Trial Hotspots (PATH) and Overseas Business Centres (OBC), were launched with the aim to promote continuous wireless technology proliferation and the development of exportable products and services for Singapore-based companies. One of the project for PATH was a Call For Collaboration by IDA to develop mobile payment solutions for Singapore. That resulted in the three mobile operators namely SingTel, M1 and Starhub coming together to provide a common infrastructure as a platform to deploy the selected mobile payment solutions.
I am therefore delighted to announce another milestone for the Pilots and Trials Hotspots initiative. This encompasses the setting up of PATH Assessment Centres with the appointment of Ericsson Cyberlab as the first PATH Assessment Centre.
IDA is pleased to have Ericsson share in our vision to transform Singapore into a living lab and business accelerator for wireless developments in Asia. We have seen a need to streamline the assessment activities so as to expedite the release of funds to the developers with innovative application concepts, and doing so will allow them to promptly embark on the development of trial applications.
Both the IDA and Ericsson recognise that the accelerated deployment of Mobile Internet applications will only strengthen Singapore as a regional infocomm hub. We believe that with Ericsson and pioneering players in the PATH scheme already trailblazing the use of a collaborative framework, Singapore is definitely poised to be a vibrant centre for wireless development in Asia. This is the first in a series of assessment centres to be announced.
Acting as an Assessment Centre, Ericsson Cyberlab will be able to provide application developers with access to new terminals, telecommunication service providers, marketing and branding channels and go-to-market partnerships. Their worldwide knowledge base provides them with specific expertise on applications delivered over their infrastructure.
PATH applicants working with Ericsson Cyberlab can expect to benefit from their consultancy and project expertise in order to ensure the robustness of developed applications and close support on mobile technologies. Ericsson Cyberlab acting as an Assessment Centre would be expected to recommend quality applications and developers for support under the PATH initiative.
We hope to build a community of wireless technology players that have proven themselves to be at the vanguard of Singapore's vision to develop the infocomm industry. In this we encourage them to take a leadership role in fostering innovation and wish them continued success in making Singapore the preferred location for launching wireless technologies into Asia and the world.
Thank you.
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