6 March 2010 - Address By Mr Lui Tuck Yew, Acting Minister, For Information, Communications And the Arts At The Launch Of The Singapore 2010 Odyssey, Cathay Cineleisure Orchard Foyer
Address By Mr Lui Tuck Yew, Acting Minister, For Information, Communications And the Arts At The Launch Of The Singapore 2010 Odyssey, On Saturday, 6 March 2010, 2.25pm, Cathay Cineleisure Orchard Foyer
RADM(NS) Ronnie Tay
Chief Executive Officer of the Infocomm Development Authority of S’pore,
Mr Goh Kee Nguan
Chief Executive Officer of the Singapore Youth Olympic Games Organising Committee,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Girls and Boys,
Good afternoon.
Role of ICT in Singapore 2010 Youth Olympic Games
1. Thank you for joining me this afternoon to launch the Singapore 2010 Odyssey. With just five months to go before Singapore hosts the first-ever Youth Olympic Games, the Singapore 2010 Odyssey is set to encourage more people to gear up for this inaugural event and be part of the Games.
2. During the Singapore 2010 Youth Olympic Games, the athletes and key team officials will be able to enjoy the "Digital Concierge for Singapore 2010" application via smart phones. This application will enable athletes and officials to obtain personalised competition schedules, results, and information on the Culture and Education Programme.
3. The Organising Committee has also leveraged on digital media to engage youth around the world through social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook and YouTube.
A Platform for the Youth Generation
4. The Singapore 2010 Odyssey is a three-dimensional virtual world modelled after the Singapore 2010 Youth Olympic Games and the ideals of the Olympic Movement.
5. Each user assumes a customised avatar which allows him or her to get immersed in a computer-generated environment mirroring the Games venues and a futuristic world set in the year 3010. Through online games, multimedia content and activities linked to real-world events in Singapore, youths from around the world can get connected and interact with each other.
6. One of the features I am excited about is the function which allows users to contribute content. Youths can bring their ideas to life in the virtual world and share their creations with users around the world. More than 3,000 registered users signed up during the beta phase of the platform, and these beta users provided valuable feedback to make the environment even better.
Enhancing Development of Singapore's ICT Industry
7. This development of the first virtual world based on an Olympic event is jointly developed by a consortium of Singapore companies with international partners. The consortium is led by ST Electronics with Activate, NextGen, New Media Express, Crystal Graphics, Sohu, Fujitsu and Hipihi as its members, and ably supported by the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore. I hope it will inspire digital media companies and local games developers to come up with more innovative "Made by Singapore" digital media products and services for the global market.
8. The success of Singapore 2010 is not dependent on a virtual world or an avatar, but what we do in the real world. We need to show how welcoming we are, and how enthusiastic our support for the Games can be. One of the things that stood out about Singapore's bid was how people from all walks of life championed for the Youth Olympic Games to come to Singapore. We depend on everyone to support the Games at the different venues, and create the best ever Youth Olympic Games.
9. I would like to encourage all of you to be a part of this exciting, new Singapore 2010 Odyssey. Thank you.
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