NEC to plough over S$100m into Asia-Pacific, largely for R&D
Singapore
INFORMATION technology (IT) and network technology solutions company NEC Corporation on Thursday said it is investing more than S$100 million in the Asia-Pacific region over the next five years, mainly for research and development.
At the heart of this investment is the set-up of its first Advanced Centre for Experimentation (ACE) in Singapore, to boost the company's global research and development (R&D) strengths.
Operated by NEC Laboratories Singapore (NLS), the facility allows co-creation of solutions and provides a "living lab" for proof-of-concepts - evidence that a potential solution can be successful - in areas such as public safety, transportation and healthcare.
By performing experiments linked to facial recognition, and crowd analytics, NEC aims to "grow a digital platform allowing the government and enterprises to use our analytics to provide them with necessary and accurate information and prescription of actions", according to Mervyn Cheah, head of NLS.
At a press conference, NEC said some of the solutions that NLS has created include a mobile surveillance system that enhances existing body camera technology to include facial recognition capabilities. It is also using crowd analytics to assess crowd behaviour for city planning, and optimising public transportation. This is done through machine learning, unlike the previous traditional method of manual counting.
Tetsuro Akagi, senior vice-president of NEC Corporation and chief executive officer of NEC Asia Pacific, said: "The establishment of the ACE is a significant milestone for us as it is the first of its kind for NEC globally. This experiment facility underscores NEC's strong commitment to business in Asia Pacific."
Low Yen Ling, Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Trade and Industry, said encouraging partnerships in Singapore's ecosystem will enable innovation for the digital economy - a key driver for growth - with the centre "being a good example of how our industry partners can collaborate to develop new digital solutions".
NEC and the Economic Development Board (EDB) also launched the NEC Talent Development Programme last year, a four-year flagship talent programme that aims to identify 26 high-potential fresh graduates from local universities, and equip them with the necessary technical and soft skills to become future managers at NEC. It is another first for NEC to embark on such a talent training initiative for fresh graduates.
Ms Low added that NLS has plans to train more than 50 individuals in research, data science, and engineering roles over the next three years.
"These individuals will be tasked to work with end-user clients to architect new solutions, or to further enhance NEC's cutting-edge technologies," she said.
