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Singapore: new initiatives for media and infocomm talents and eco-system
IMBX opens with news that Asia leads the way in broadband take-up
by Ek Heng, Asia-Pacific Correspondent
Singapore announced new initiatives as its Acting Minister for Information, Communications and the Arts (MICA) Lui Tuck Yew declared open the four-day CommunicAsia telecom, enterprise IT and broadcast exhibition and conference. With the tremendous growth of interactive media, among others, the event, better remembered as CommunicAsia, has been staged under the Infocomm Media Business Exchange (IMBX) label from five years ago.
Building on the infrastructure investments, including next generation 1Gbps broadband, Singapore is stepping up the pace in developing talents and the ecosystems for the infocomm and interactive media sectors, the minister announced.
Sharing insights of the upcoming 1Gbps infrastructure, he said that commercial services can be expected by the first half of 2010, while 60 percent of homes and offices will be linked up by then with nationwide coverage by 2012.
Singapore’s media blueprint
At the event, Yew announced the launch of a national media blueprint - Singapore Media Fusion Plan (SMFP) - aimed at building on the previous Media 21 blueprint. Singapore has allocated S$230 million (US$160 million) to implement the SMFP. One track of the initiatives is aimed at strengthening the media ecosystem to fuel the creation of innovative content and services with global appeal.
Towards this end, industry and overseas collaborations are important aspects of the program. One example, the minister said, is a partnership between the Media Development Authority (MDA) and SingTel to provide a high speed link for a media hub, known as Mediapolis@one-noprth, with the incumbent telco’s Broadcast Innovation Centre (BIC). Using satellite and terrestrial connections, the BIC serves as an external gateway facilitating the distribution of rich contents to over 40 overseas media centers. Media companies are, therefore, well placed to use Singapore for proof-of-concept testing and evaluation, as well as to facilitate worldwide access for Asian contents.
Ecosystems and manpower
Another initiative being forged is the Future TV alliance in Singapore. Major players in the interactive digital media have joined the alliance to leverage one another’s capabilities and help drive innovation. Together with the MDA, the alliance is inviting proposals from Singapore technology and media companies to submit ideas to create a vibrant visual media sector with value-added products and services. It affords opportunities for start-ups, for example, to capitalize on resources of members within the alliance.
Along the same lines, Singapore has signed a memorandum of understanding for collaborations with Sweden’s city of Gothenburg. Companies from both countries are now provided with fast-track access to collaborate and tap one another’s expertise and market knowledge in the interactive digital media space.
The other objective of SMFP is to develop world-class talents to support a thriving industry. As such, the SMFP is adding overseas training opportunities for up to six months for 40 talents with well known names in the US media industry. These additional opportunities are provided within the media and training attachment (META) program announced earlier this year.
The minister also announced two new manpower initiatives with a S$20 million (U$14 million) budget to provide for the infocomm training and attachment program (iTAP) and the infocomm leadership and development program (iLEAD). In view of the unfavorable economic climate, iTAP is dedicated to help fresh graduates and infocomm professionals gain employment and industry experience while iLEAD will see up to 1,000 people in the industry benefiting from the program, according to the minister.
Broadband uptake remains high
On the first day of IMBX, the Broadband Forum released the Q1 2009 global broadband and IPTV statistics which show Asia leading the way in growth for both sectors. Despite the global recession, the report prepared by industry analyst Point Topic reveals that there are 429 million broadband lines worldwide. Out of 112 countries tracked for the report, 20 reported growth above 10 percent while only 2 showed a reduction.
Registering a growth of 4 percent, Asia leads the world with China having the highest number of broadband lines at 88 million with other fast growing countries in Asia being India, Sri Lanka, Philippines, Vietnam and Singapore.
Asia is again a major factor contributing significantly to the continued IPTV success story for the region to have nearly seven million lines. Comparing Q1 09 with 2008, South and East Asia grew by a phenomenal 91 percent from 2 million to 3.9 million.
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