Australia and Singapore signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on co-operation in information and communications technology on 22 February 1999. Signed by the Deputy Prime Minister of Singapore, BG (NS) Lee ...
Singapore, 22 February 1999 | For Immediate Release
Australia and Singapore signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on co-operation in information and communications technology on 22 February 1999. Signed by the Deputy Prime Minister of Singapore, BG (NS) Lee Hsien Loong, and Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Trade of Australia, The Honourable Tim Fischer, the Australia-Singapore IT MOU is part of Singapore's continuing effort to foster close collaboration with IT-advanced countries to enhance competitive advantages in the strategic IT and communications industry.
The areas of co-operation under the MOU include enabling physical connectivity, accelerating commercial and industry exchange, encouraging trade and investment in information and communications, coordinating electronic commerce policies, promoting information exchange on resolving the millennium bug issues, and cultivating research and development.
Ten joint initiatives between Australia and Singapore have been put in place under this MOU thus far. Three of these initiatives are already underway and the agreements for the other seven initiatives were also signed today. (Please see attached for details of the initiatives). The agreements among both governments, associations and companies, are estimated to be worth S$50 million.
"Australia and Singapore have much in common and much to gain from co-operation over a wide range of information technology issues." said Ms Glenys Roper, Chief Executive, Office for Government Online, representing Australia's Department of Communications, Information Technology and the Arts.
"The wide use of IT, especially the Internet, will become the defacto way of reaching global markets in the 21st Century," said Mr Stephen Yeo, Chief Executive, National Computer Board, "This MOU allows Australia and Singapore to ride on this global technology to be global players."
Today's signing also includes the establishment of a Joint Australia-Singapore Information Technology Council. The Council will be co-chaired by the Chief Executive of the Singapore National Computer Board and the Secretary of the Australian Department of Communications, Information Technology and the Arts. The council will oversee co-operation under the IT MOU and identify new areas of co-operation. The council will meet annually and report to the Singapore-Australia Joint Ministerial Council.
Other similar Government-to-Government co-operation that Singapore has established include the Canada-Singapore Information and Communications Technology Agreement, signed in November 1997, and the Thailand-Singapore Information and Communications Technology Agreement, signed in February 1999.
The signing of this MOU is in conjunction with the Second Singapore-Australia Joint Ministerial Committee Meeting.
Jointly released by the National Computer Board, Singapore, and Office for Government Online, Australia
For clarifications, please contact:
AUSTRALIA
Mr Bob Howie or Mr Ashley Cross
Manager, Policy Coordination Market Access Facilitator
Office of Government Online Information Industries Taskforce
Tel: +61 2 62714853 Department of Foreign Affairs & Trade
Fax: +61 2 62714899 Tel: +61 2 62612192
Email: bob.howie@ogo.gov.au Fax: +61 2 62612696
Email: ashley.cross@dfat.gov.au
18 June 1999
AUSTRALIA-SINGAPORE AGREEMENTS
Backgrounder
The seven subsidiary MOUs signed on 22 February 1999:
Australia's Department of Communications, Information Technology and the Arts and National Computer Board, Singapore established a channel of communication to facilitate the sharing and exchange of information on millennium bug issues
Australian Computer Emergency Response Team (AusCERT) and Singapore Computer Emergency Response Team (SingCERT) agreed to collaborate on computer incident resolution, information sharing and staff training. Both teams will also foster stronger working relationships through joint seminars and workshops. A Computer Emergency Response Team is a one-stop center for security incident response. It facilitates the detection, resolution and prevention of security-related incidents on the Internet.
Garner Maclennan Group, and Cartwright Williams and Online Technology Consortium signed an agreement to set up a joint venture business to provide interactive marketing of technology and simulcast services and to deploy services on Singapore ONE.
Tradehub Private Ltd and Asia Manufacturing Online and Silkroute Ventures Pte Ltd signed a letter of intent to combine their skills, expertise and technology to assist companies to streamline their supply chains, reduce costs and improve access to new markets by linking buyers and sellers into real-time trading communities. This collaboration involves E-commerce projects, joint technology development and co-marketing alliances.
Baltimore Pty Limited and Lyrech International Pte Ltd signed an agreement to form a strategic technology alliance to provide secure business-to-business electronic commerce solutions on a global basis by combining Lyrehc's business-to-business e-commerce solutions with Baltimore's Public Key Infrastructure products.
Baltimore Pty Limited and CET Technologies Pte Ltd signed an agreement to jointly develop security products for businesses-to-business electronic commerce. The first project planned is to integrate Baltimore's Public Key Infrastructure technologies into CET's DigiSAFE virtual private network product.
Acadel and Kent Ridge Digital Labs signed an agreement to set up a joint venture business to provide Asian multilingual translation services.
Telstra and Optus and the Telecommunication Authority of Singapore, together with Cyberway Pte Ltd, Pacific Internet and SingNet Pte Ltd. A 4Mbps link is currently operational between Australia and Singapore. This high-speed link enhances the sharing of Internet content and facilitates business collaborations between both countries. The link will be upgraded subsequently when Internet traffic between both countries increases.
Australian Bureau of Statistics and Department of Statistics, Singapore, have established a working group to co-operate on the development of electronic commerce statistics. It aims jointly devise a methodology to produce internationally comparable e-commerce statistics.
Australia Information Industry Association (AIIA) and Singapore Information Technology Federation (SITF) have agreed to undertake collaborative activities between the associations and their members aimed to advance trade, investment, business and technology partnerships of both countries.
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