17 August 2005 - Speech By Mr Khoong Hock Yun, Assistant Chief Executive, Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore At Launch of the Nanyang Polytechnic - Oracle Grid Innovation Centre (NOGIC), Nanyang Polytechnic, School of Information Technology.
Speech By Mr Khoong Hock Yun, Assistant Chief Executive, Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore At Launch of the Nanyang Polytechnic - Oracle Grid Innovation Centre (NOGIC) on 17 August 2005, Nanyang Polytechnic, School of Information Technology.
Mr Lin Cheng Ton, Principal/ CEO, Nanyang Polytechnic,
Mr Stanley Chew, Managing Director, Oracle Singapore,
Distinguished guests,
Valued partners,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
1. A very good morning to everyone. Today, I am happy to see the collaboration between two industry giants, Oracle - a long-time friend of IDA and Singapore who has been running its Asia Pacific business from here since 1988 and has grown to be one of the largest software companies in Singapore - and Nanyang Polytechnic - one of Singapore's leading Institutes of Higher Learning - who have come together to nurture and train local infocomm professionals in Grid Computing, and to promote its adoption among the local industry clusters, though the Nanyang Polytechnic - Oracle Grid Innovation Centre, or NOGIC.
Extending the Business Benefits of Grid Technology
2. The Infocomm industry is a key growth enabler and will remain an important industry for Singapore. It employed over 100,000 people and generated $34 billion dollars in revenues last year. This is about 6% of Singapore's GDP. We cannot ignore the importance of the industry as it is also a key enabler of other important sectors, such as life sciences and financial services.
3. Technology has the potential to not only better lives, but to generate economic and business benefits. We need to constantly look at how new technologies can help grow and transform key economic clusters, such as Manufacturing and Logistics, Healthcare, Education, Finance and Digital Media. In fact, technology has increasingly become a key differentiator for many companies to stay competitive in a globalised business environment.
4. Today, Grid Computing is helping businesses reduce IT costs and improve ROI, specifically return-on-assets, by allowing computing resources to be better standardised and pooled together. In the not too distant future, businesses may even be able to leverage utility-computing service providers who will provide computing resources on a pay-per-user basis.
5. There is great optimism regarding the growth potential of grid computing. According to an IDC report released in April 2004, the global Grid market is estimated to be worth US$12 billion by 2007. Singapore needs to be ready for a slice of this lucrative pie, and we need to actively promote Grid for the benefit of the industry. In Singapore, we have already seen proofs-of-concept and pilots in sectors like finance, manufacturing, digital media and government and we need to continue this momentum.
6. I am confident that initiatives like NOGIC can help extend the clear business benefits of grid technology beyond early adopters, like research institutes, to the other industry sectors. NOGIC will boost the industry's grid technology capabilities, and offer local industries cost effective grid-computing enabled business solutions.
Developing Local Capabilities for the New Economy
7. IT is pervasive in our everyday lives and its opportunities are often beyond our imagination. According to IDA's Manpower Survey 2003, the demand for infocomm manpower jobs is expected to rise from 3.84 per cent in 2004 to 4 per cent in 2005. Grid-related activities, in particular, will continue to ramp up over the next three to five years, and so will the demand for grid-skilled professionals. On IDA's part, we are looking at how Singapore can continue to ramp up on our manpower capabilities through the iN2015.
8. NOGIC, aligns well with Enterprise-g@Singapore, a 3-year collaboration between IDA and Oracle launched in July last year to promote the development and adoption of enterprise grid computing. More specifically, it is in line with the objectives of the Enterprise-g Manpower Programme, or g-Map, which aims to develop the capabilities of infocomm professionals in Grid Computing from the foundation to the Architect level.
9. I would like to congratulate Oracle and Nanyang Polytechnic on the timely launch of NOGIC and I look forward to seeing it produce many more innovative business applications based on Enterprise Grid Computing, that have the power to transform our industry, help Singapore in our economic growth and improve our lives!
10. Thank you.
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