New Orleans, September 21, 1999 - The World Teleport Association (WTA) and Telecommunications Magazine today presented Singapore with the first-ever "Intelligent City of the Year" award at the Intelligent Cities, Buildings ...
Singapore, 21 September 1999 | For Immediate Release
Eye Towards the Future Garners "Intelligent Island" Another Industry Honour
New Orleans, September 21, 1999 - The World Teleport Association (WTA) and Telecommunications Magazine today presented Singapore with the first-ever "Intelligent City of the Year" award at the Intelligent Cities, Buildings and Transportation Conference. The award recognises Singapore's visionary IT 2000 master plan and highlights several of Singapore's key IT initiatives. These include SingaporeONE, the world's first nation-wide broadband network, as well as widespread efforts to promote the Republic as an Asian electronic commerce hub.
As defined by the WTA, an Intelligent City views bandwidth as the new essential utility, as vital to economic growth and public welfare as clean water and electricity. According to this concept, the government has a responsibility to ensure the community has access to advanced information and communication services. Additionally, Intelligent Cities work towards positioning their citizens, businesses and public-sector to prosper in the Information Age. They embrace the growth industries of tomorrow and work to create the advanced infrastructure of telecommunications and IT needed to gain a competitive edge in attracting these growth industries that create a knowledge-based economy.
The IT 2000 plan was singled out for praise by the WTA. Spearheaded by Singapore's National Computer Board, IT 2000 outlines a decade-long strategy that emphasises the importance of massive infrastructure investment and IT training, and has helped transform the city-state into an Intelligent Island. Designed to expand Singapore's role as a finance, communications and information technology hub, IT 2000 has been an integral factor in Singapore's emergence as one of the world's leading economies, as well as its development into one of the key world-wide centres for business and IT.
"As the majority of the world's leading cities are actively seeking to enhance their IT and business competitiveness, to be recognised as the Intelligent City of the year is indeed a tremendous honour," said Michael Yap, Chief Executive of Singapore's National Computer Board. "In Singapore, we share the WTA's belief in the potential of broadband, and are committed to realising the tremendous business and social benefits it has to offer."
Selection for the Intelligent City Award is based equally on technological and social requirements. An Intelligent City must demonstrate a comprehensive IT strategy that utilises a broadband network as its backbone, and must also have a number of businesses actively taking advantage of broadband technology. Additionally, the social benefits enabled by broadband are also a key factor, as an Intelligent City is equally focused on improving a city's overall quality of life. Nominations are based on recommendations from WTA members, analysts, consultants and industry players. Finalists are selected by a committee of WTA members, who then choose the entrant that showcases the best of breed and is a role model for future Intelligent Cities.
"As the world rebuilds and redefines its own infrastructure and its own needs, cities like Singapore are fast emerging as places where citizens can become agents of change by participating and embracing technologies in their own day-to-day lives," said Robert T. Bell, Executive Director, WTA. "This award recognises Singapore's unique contribution to the global concept of the Intelligent City and demonstrates to other cities the enormous positive business and social benefits available through the adoption of new technologies."
Singapore - Recent Honours
In addition to the WTA Award, Singapore was also recently named the world's most competitive economy for the fourth successive year by the Swiss-based World Economic Forum in their 1999 Global Competitiveness Report. The annual Report is a ranking of the world's largest economies based on their competitiveness with an analysis of their comparative strengths and weaknesses.
Further highlighting Singapore's overall competitiveness, The Intelligent Island was recently been awarded the "all-green rating" from the Global 2000 Co-ordinating Group, one of the world's leading Y2K Watchdog Groups. Singapore was the first of only two countries to receive the organization's top rating across a series of six key components gauging a nation's Y2K readiness: Financial Services Firms, Clearing and Settlement Organizations, Telecom Providers, Transport Systems, Basic Utilities (Energy & Water) and Government.
ISSUED BY CORPORATE COMMUNICATION DIVISION
INFOCOMM DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY OF SINGAPORE
About the National Computer Board
The National Computer Board is the Information Technology authority in Singapore. It spearheads the realization of IT2000, a masterplan that seeks to transform Singapore into an Intelligent Island, where IT is pervasive in every aspect of society - at home, work and play.
About the World Teleport Association
The World Teleport Association is a non-profit, non-political trade association of teleports and their development partners in over 20 nations around the world. WTA's mission is to promote the understanding, the development and the use of teleports in order to promote business and economic development, locally, regionally and world-wide. Headquartered in New York, the organisation was formed 15 years ago.
About Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore
The Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA) is a dynamic organisation with an integrated perspective to developing, promoting and regulating info-communications in Singapore. In the fast-changing and converging spheres of telecommunications, information and media technologies, IDA will be the catalyst for change and growth in Singapore's evolution into a vibrant global info-communications technology centre. For more information, please visit www.imda.gov.sg.
For media clarification, please contact:
Ms Jennifer Toh
Assistant Manager
Corporate Communication
Tel: (65) 211-0508
Fax: (65) 211-2227
Email: jennifer_toh@imda.gov.sg
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