28 April 2005 - Opening Address By Mr Chan Yeng Kit, Chief Executive Officer, Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore At Industry Briefing on Business Opportunities for IT in the Public Sector 2005, Suntec International Convention and Exhibition Centre.
Opening Address By Mr Chan Yeng Kit, Chief Executive Officer, Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore At Industry Briefing on Business Opportunities for IT in the Public Sector 2005 on 28 April 2005, Suntec International Convention and Exhibition Centre.
Good morning, ladies and gentlemen.
1. A very warm welcome to this Industry Briefing on "Business Opportunities for IT in the Public Sector".
Infocomm Industry Outlook
2. The general business outlook for 2005 is positive. According to projections from the Ministry of Trade and Industry, Singapore's GDP is projected to grow between 3% and 5% in 2005. For the infocomm industry, IDC predicts that the worldwide spending will grow 6%, from US$965 billon in 2004 to cross US$1 trillion in 2005. For the Asia Pacific region, excluding Japan, an even higher growth of 10% has been projected.
3. Based on IDA's latest survey, our infocomm industry is projected to grow by 7.4% over last year. Hence, the infocomm industry remains an important engine of growth in Singapore.
Public Sector is a Major User and Early Adopter
4. The Singapore Public Sector continues to be a major ICT user and early adoptor of innovative technologies. In Financial Year 2004, the public sector awarded S$610 million worth of contracts for IT products and services. In Financial Year 2004, the public sector spent about S$1.6 billion on IT. This worked out to 4.5% of all government expenditure.
5. I am pleased to announce that S$2.2 billion worth of IT tenders will be called by the Singapore Government in Financial Year 2005.
6. Of the S$2.2 billion, the tender for the Standard ICT Operating Environment alone is worth S$1.5 billion. A Standard ICT Operating Environment will greatly enhance the operating efficiency in government. It will reduce the time needed to deploy new ICT services in government, improve our ability to respond to ICT security threats, and most importantly, make it easier to operate and maintain our desktops and networks.
7. The Standard ICT Operating Environment will be designed and implemented in phases from 2005 to 2009. An open tender for the management and operations of the Standard ICT Operating Environment will be called in 2005.
Industry Briefing on Infocomm Business Opportunities
8. The industry briefing on infocomm business opportunities in the public sector is the single most important IT procurement briefing by the Singapore public sector. Organised by the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore, and actively supported by other government agencies, this briefing aims to increase the industry's awareness of pipeline IT projects in the public sector.
9. By sharing our pipeline IT projects with industry, we hope to better prepare the industry for responding to our tenders. We also hope that the industry will engage our agencies early by sharing technology trends, innovative product and service offerings, and suggestions on new possibilities.
Toast to Government-Industry Partnership
10. In the World Economic Forum Global Information Technology Report 2004-2005, Singapore was ranked Number 1 in the overall Networked Readiness Index. We believe that government-Industry partnership is essential for Singapore to remain as an innovative leader in ICT adoption.
11. Over the last 25 years, from the Civil Service Computerisation Programme to e-Government, we have benefited from the ideas, innovations and capabilities of the ICT industry. Similarly, many homegrown infocomm companies have built on their experience and track record in Singapore Government, and replicated their successes overseas. I hope this government-industry partnership will continue to bring successes to the Singapore Government and the ICT industry.
Conclusion
12. Today's briefing would not have been possible without the strong support from government agencies. I would like to thank my colleagues from the Ministry of Home Affairs, Ministry of Defence, Ministry of Education and Ministry of Manpower for speaking at this briefing. As the major IT buyers in the public sector, their presentations promise to be interesting and useful to the IT industry.
13. Besides getting early information on the key IT projects and tenders, I hope you will enjoy networking with the speakers, the CIOs and IT managers in the public sector, and the industry players. I wish you an interesting and fruitful session.
14. Thank you.
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