Mrs Tan Ching Yee, Chief Executive Office Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore Speech - Media Conference on IDA-Hewlett Packard Collaboration Adaptive Enterprise @ Singapore, IDA Office 14th Floor
Mrs Tan Ching Yee, Chief Executive Office
Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore
Speech - Media Conference on IDA-Hewlett Packard Collaboration Adaptive Enterprise @ Singapore, IDA Office 14th Floor
Singapore, 23 March 2004
Good Morning
Mr Tan Choon Seng, Vice President & Managing Director, South East Asia & Singapore, Hewlett-Packard
Members of the media
Introduction
1. Two weeks ago at IDA's distinguished speaker series featuring Carly Fiorina, Chairman and CEO, HP, some of you may have heard that IDA and HP were in discussion on how we can collaborate on Grid and Utility Computing. Today, I am pleased to give you an update on what we had been brewing.
2. CIOs all over the world are under pressure to deliver more and better performance for less money. And user requirements keep changing as businesses change. The challenges of doing more with less, and responding faster than before, have spurred top technology companies to think of a better way to help businesses use IT.
3. Different companies call their responses differently, and have somewhat different ways of providing a solution. But it would be fair to say that all have elements of optimising the usage of every $1 of IT capital investment, often through the deployment of grid-based technologies and the delivery through sale of services rather than sale of hardware.
4. HP's response is its "Adaptive Enterprise" strategy that synchronises business and IT to capitalise on Change.
5. We are poised for exciting times ahead. While grid computing has been used successfully in the research and education community, the use of such technology and complementary business models is just being tested in the marketplace. IT companies and users have to figure out appropriate ways to deal with issues like data integrity and privacy, billing and business models, and so on. IDA, as an industry development agency, is therefore happy to work with industry partners like HP to develop capabilities in this emerging area. We would like Singapore to learn about and have hands-on experience of this new field. We want Singapore Infocomm enterprises and professionals to be equipped with new skills and expertise, in preparation for the new wave.
Adaptive Enterprise @ Singapore
6. IDA and HP's strategic collaboration in grid and utility computing is aptly called Adaptive Enterprise @ Singapore. The vision is to enable Singapore-based enterprises to realise the benefits of adaptive technologies such as grid and utility computing to achieve revenue growth and productivity gain.
7. The Adaptive Enterprise @ Singapore collaboration will span over three years with a projected investment of up to S$22million. The collaboration has 3 pillars or focus areas. They are :-
a. Research & Development
b. Vertical Clusters Test Bedding
c. Enterprise & Manpower Development
8. Let me start with R&D, our aim is to combine the talents of the Singapore Infocomm research community in the Research Institutes (RIs) and Institutes of Higher Learning (IHLs) with that of HP Labs and their partners to create new IP in grid computing for possible commercial exploitation. A research committee is being set up, comprising IDA, HP, National Grid Office (NGO) and the RIs and IHLs. The committee will shape common research agenda, drive IP creation and guide IP usage with the industry.
9. The NGO is also spearheading the development of an operational grid cyber infrastructure to connect Singapore's National Grid Pilot Platform and the CERN - the European Organisation for Nuclear Research - which runs one of the largest operational Grids in the world. This will provide a powerful platform to establish international research collaboration and help Singapore tap on global expertise.
10. The second pillar will focus on establishing Asia's first test bed environment for HP's grid and utility computing technologies in new growth sectors. This will enhance Singapore's positioning as a "digital living lab".
11. I am also happy to say that we have identified a specific project to go onto this test bed - the "Games Bazaar". Our partners are HP and SingTel EXPAN. As part of IDA's Digital Exchange strategy to position Singapore as key distribution hub for digital content, IDA is keen to attract Games Service Providers (GSPs) to host online games in Singapore and to localise and adapt the games for gamers in the Asia Pacific region. These Games Service Providers need to be able to set up quickly in Singapore, test if the games are attractive to gamers, and make the necessary localisation and other modifications. The "Games Bazaar" offers a scalable, quick time-to-market and cost efficient hosting environment. So GSPs can better focus on the business, rather than worry about the hosting environment or the underlying technology.
12. The third pillar will be on Enterprise and Manpower Development. We are in discussion with HP to leverage on its participation in the Infocomm Local Industry Upgrading Programme (iLIUP) and Overseas Development Programme (ODP) to help local companies develop new products and services in the grid computing area and possibly also to penetrate overseas markets. While discussions are still in progress, we hope to be looking at nearly S$10 million worth of new revenues (comprising both domestic and export) to be generated for HP's local partners. We will also work with HP to ensure that local Infocomm manpower acquire skills in this new area. Once details are available, we will be happy to share with you.
Conclusion
13. In closing, I would like to quote George Bernard Shaw who once said "The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself." To survive in this ever changing climate, one not only has to be reasonable but be highly agile to react, and to triumph!
14. Today's update is the first step of this new journey that we are embarking on. I hope that these first steps will lead to stronger and more enduring collaborations between HP and Singapore.
15. Thank You.
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