Dated: 20 June 2007
The Media Development Authority of Singapore (MDA) successfully concluded the second meeting of its International Advisory Panel (IAP) over 18 and 19 June. The IAP reviewed and commended Singapore’s progress in developing itself as the centre for the making, trading and financing of media. The IAP members encouraged Singapore to leverage on its strengths in education, medicine and science to explore growth opportunities in the new media landscape.
The IAP recommendations will boost MDA’s updated version of the Media 21 plan, the Media Fusion 2015 masterplan which is in process. The new Media Fusion 2015 masterplan aims to create 10,000 new jobs and value-added contribution of S$10 billion by the year 2015. It is geared to propel Singapore’s media industry forward in the digital age, as part of the creative economy and aligned with the growth formula of World•Singapore.
Dr Tan Chin Nam, Chairman of MDA, and Chairman of the IAP, said, “The second IAP meeting provided a calibration of the progress of Singapore‘s media industry. We have benefited from some of the best brains in the industry. The insights offered by the IAP will come in useful as we hone Media Fusion 2015, of which a key strategic thrust is to catalyse the Interactive and Digital Media (IDM) sector. ”
The IAP discussions were set against the backdrop of the advent of Web 2.0 and the rise of online user-generated content and networking communities. The IAP recommended the creation of an integrated strategy for the new media age that includes the re-purposing of media content for different formats, platforms and versions. Apart from the traditional film and TV industries, the music and publishing sectors were identified as potential growth areas for Singapore.
To tap on the unbridled creativity of young people, that have played a key part in many successful Web 2.0 applications, the IAP recommended that Singapore actively fosters an environment that offers opportunities for individuals, especially the young, to innovate and test-bed their ideas. The IAP commended the i.JAM initiative which encourages the generation of breakthrough ideas and projects from the public, as a step in the right direction to stimulate bottom-up innovation amid a peer-sharing climate.
i.JAM is one of four strategies mooted by the IDM Research and Development Programme Office (IDMPO) set up last year within the MDA to drive and coordinate cross disciplinary and multi-agency efforts to spur the growth of the IDM sector in Singapore.
The IAP also highlighted Singapore’s robust and trusted Intellectual Property regime as its key asset in developing as a global player in the IDM space. Singapore should not only attract companies to park their intellectual properties here, but create a conducive media ecosystem that will facilitate Singapore companies to co-create and co-own these intellectual properties. In addition, the IAP recommended that Singapore exploit its traditional strengths in education, medicine and science by enhancing the use of embedded IDM applications in these fields.
For the full list of the IAP 2007 Recommendations, please refer to Annex B.
During the two-day IAP meetings, five IAP members formed an
International Review Panel (IRP) to review some 50 research proposals submitted by local institutes of higher learning to the IDMPO.
At the close of the meetings, the IRP recommended 15 proposals for funding. These proposals, which cover topics such as games, computer graphics and image processing, virtual augmentation and mixed reality, are expected to receive an estimated funding of S$20 million.
Since the start of efforts to catalyse the IDM sector, there has been much activity in the digital media space here. A game lab called GAMBIT (Gamers, Aesthetics, Mechanics, Business, Innovation, Technology) has been set up together with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to enable collaborations between Singapore students and researchers, and MIT researchers and game industry professionals on game projects. Additionally, Singapore's IDM R&D efforts have attracted international Web 2.0 companies such as EON Reality Inc, the world’s leading interactive 3D software provider, to set up office here.
In addition to the proposals reviewed by the IRP from the institutes of higher learning, some 25 industry projects have been secured in the areas of Animation, Games and Effects;“On-the-Move” Technology;and Mediary Services. Since its launch in May 2007, the Microfunding Scheme has attracted more than 40 proposals from individuals with breakthrough IDM ideas.
Please refer to:
Annex A for the full listing of the IAP and IRP members
Annex B for the Recommendations from IAP 2007
Annex C for Quotes from IAP 2007 Members
For more information, please contact:
Chia Pei Siang
Manager, Communications
Media Development Authority
Tel. : +65 6837 9010
Fax : +65 6336 4142
Email : chia_pei_siang@imda.gov.sg
Phoebe Seow
Assistant Director, Communications
Media Development Authority
Tel. : +65 6837 9369
Fax : +65 6336 4142
Email : phoebe_seow@imda.gov.sg
Media Development Authority of Singapore (MDA)
The Media Development Authority of Singapore (MDA) was formed on 1 January 2003 to champion Media 21, a blueprint to transform Singapore into a global media city. Media 21 seeks to create a vibrant media environment by establishing Singapore as a media exchange, exporting Made-by-Singapore content, internationalising local media companies, nurturing local media talent and developing digital media. More information on MDA can be found on www.mda.gov.sg
ANNEX A
Members of the MDA International Advisory Panel 2007
1. Dr Tan Chin Nam (IAP Chairman)
Permanent Secretary of Singapore’s Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts, and Chairman of MDA
2. Mr Andrew Craissati
Chairman and Chief Executive, Transpac Media Limited
3. Mr Greg Coote
Co-Executive Chairman, Anytime
4. Dr John Kao*
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Kao &Company
5. Dr John Seely Brown*
Visiting Scholar, University of Southern California
6. Professor Dr.-Ing. José L. Encarnação*
Professor of Computer Science at the Technische Universität Darmstadt and head of the Interactive Graphics Research Group (TUD-GRIS)
Chairman of the INI-GraphicsNet Foundation in Darmstadt
Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Computer Graphics Center
7. Dr Kees A. Schouhamer Immink*
President &CEO, Turing Machines Inc.
8. Mr Paul Saffo*
Technology Forecaster and Consulting Associate Professor,
School of Engineering, Stanford University
9. Mr Shekhar Kapur
Filmmaker and Director
10. Mr Youngsuk Chi
Vice Chairman, Elsevier
Note
* Members of the IDM International Review Panel
ANNEX B
Recommendations from IAP 2007
1) Create an integrated strategy for the new media age that includes the re-purposing of media content for different formats, platforms and versions. Apart from the traditional film and TV industries, the music and publishing sectors are potential growth areas for Singapore.
a. For the music sector, Singapore needs to explore ways to extract revenue through new platforms and applications to offer niche content for today’s increasingly sophisticated market.
b. Leverage Singapore’s strengths in Education, Medicine and Technology to develop published content for the world.
2) Position Singapore as a conducive place for the co-creation of intellectual property by putting in place an ecosystem that brings creative talent from all over the world to develop their ideas here.
3) Leverage on Singapore’s strategic role as a gateway between East and West to become a centre for globally integrated enterprises.
4) Foster an ecosystem that breeds talent for the media industry and invest in the future by building comprehensive talent development initiatives for the young. Encourage more bottom-up knowledge creation and collaborations, and new enterprise formations.
5) Enhance the use of interactive digital media technologies, tools and applications in professional media in sectors like education, medicine and science.
6) Continue to invest in building up media infrastructure in order to attract world-class media talents and companies.
7) Enhance Singapore’s reputation as a vibrant media city by creating a hospitable environment for creative talents to meet and exchange ideas here.
8) Identify a few national-level projects using IDM as an integrative platform.
ANNEX C
Quotes from IAP 2007 Members
“I am greatly enthused by the progress made by the MDA, and by the innovative ideas that I heard about that are being implemented. I am sure that with the passions and applications that I see here, Singapore will soon emerge as the Creative Soul of Asia.”
- Mr Shekhar Kapur, Filmmaker and Director
“Singapore is a natural media hub. It has all the pieces required to attract commercial partners – and to build an indigenous media sector. The challenge is no longer collecting the pieces, but connecting the pieces in a way that enables dramatic, exponential innovation.”
- Mr Paul Saffo, Technology Forecaster and Consulting Associate Professor, School of Engineering, Stanford University
“I applaud the MDA’s disciplined efforts to help Singapore develop a creative ecosystem. Different segments of media can be nurtured within this creative ecosystem with the aim of making Singapore a global leader. In a decade or two, Singapore can transform itself into a nation with not only a robust economy, but a vibrant creative soul as well. “
- Mr Youngsuk Chi, Vice Chairman, Elsevier
“Innovation is the new currency of global competition. Digital media comes from the capability to innovate. And Singapore has the potential to fill the sweet spot of digital media.”
– Dr John Kao, Chairman &Chief Executive Officer, Kao &Company
“Singapore is well positioned to shape the New Media by honoring Asian sensibilities while driving grassroots innovation and thinking ‘out-of-the-box’. In this new world, recreation becomes re-creation.”
– Dr John Seely Brown, Visiting Scholar, University of Southern California
“I live and work in Los Angeles, the motion picture, television and digital capital of the world and am always surprised (and delighted) at the ‘noise’ I constantly hear about Singapore. No doubt the fine work of the MDA has changed the face of Singapore in the media industry. Now, viewed up close over the past two days, the realities as distinct from the pan-Pacific ‘noise’ in Hollywood are evident and great. MDA’s guidance and support in the digital media space has positioned Singapore’s skills-set to ride a wave of prominence into the next decade.”
– Mr Greg Coote, Co-Executive Chairman, Anytime
“Under Dr Tan’s leadership, MDA continues to show strong commitment, support and value to the local media industries. As the global market becomes smaller and without borders, and as the forms of media continue to blur, I am sure the MDA will fully live up to the new and increasing challenges.”
- Mr Andrew Craissati, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Transpac Media Limited
“Singapore needs a new engine of growth, and media could be a valuable option. “
– Dr Kees A. Schouhamer Immink, President &CEO, Turing Machines Inc.
“Singapore is for several reasons, a very important and natural international gateway for technologies and innovation. I think that Singapore has all the ingredients needed to play a major role in digital media for the future. This should be based on stable and reliable mediary services (financing, making and trading), on top of advanced R&D and well-chosen problem-solving and application domains. Singapore has a very good chance to grow in this area into a major player of global value, specially based on the strategy and actions developed and under planning by MDA.”
- Professor Dr.-Ing. José L. Encarnação, Professor of Computer Science at the Technische Universität Darmstadt and head of the Interactive Graphics Research Group (TUD-GRIS)
Chairman of the INI-GraphicsNet Foundation
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