Getting smarter in a data rich future

SINGAPORE has always prided itself on being an adaptive and nimble economy - enough to keep up with the ever-shifting global sphere. With digitisation now one of the main drivers for economic and social advancement, there has been a call to action by the government for Singaporeans to acquire and develop new skills, especially those that build on the country's Smart Nation vision.

As one of the four Asian Tigers, Singapore has also been recognised for its highly educated and productive workforce. However, with technology becoming more pervasive and with competition from developing nations, Singapore can ill afford to rest on its laurels. Instead, we need to constantly innovate and discover new, disruptive business models and develop the workforce to stay ahead of the curve.

This has been reiterated by the Committee on the Future Economy (CFE), which has highlighted seven strategies for Singapore to successfully grow. Among these recommendations, it is noted that data analytics will continue to become an important source of comparative advantage and the skills required to maximise its use will prove increasingly beneficial for every individual, business, and industry out there. But why is it so important for both Singapore and the average Singaporean? And what do we need to get there?

Data as a valuable commodity

For some time now, industries across the globe have grown to recognise data as one of the most important assets for business success. With 53 per cent of Asia-Pacific (excluding Japan) organisations considering big data and analytics as a key enabler for their businesses, leveraging on big data for better decision making continues to be the big focus among many in the region.

With data analytics, companies of all sizes now have the means to better understand customer behaviour, their finances, brand perception, and so much more, overall enabling them to make decisions that improve their business.

We have already seen several multinational corporations tap the power of data to improve their business decisions and services, but now even smaller enterprises are jumping on board. Edge Digital, a Singapore-based digital marketing startup, incorporated data analytics in its daily research work and increased speed to insight (when responding to clients) from days to minutes.

This is just one example of non-traditional companies leveraging data to greater heights - essentially, every organisation and individual has something to gain from doing so and needs the right resources to make it happen.

The talent focus

Beyond the importance of data analytics, the CFE report stresses the value in being able to use it productively as well as the need for a spirit of learning in Singapore. There is no doubt - in order to reap the full benefits offered by data, we first need the talent that can understand and work with it.

Like how Office applications have become a basic skill in the list of tools that employees are expected to be proficient in, data computing and data analytics skills are now being added to that same list as more businesses seek to hire and train individuals with these skills.

In Singapore, initiatives such as the SkillsFuture scheme that encourages Singaporeans to pick up new skills at any point in their career, as well as the various new IT-driven courses and subjects offered by local academic institutions, have already begun to drive the nation's talent transformation. With these and more, citizens will continue to be given opportunities to refine their skills and drive Singapore's development.

Yet, there will be an inevitable lead time for Singapore to fully develop and establish a talent pool that is proficient with big data and analytics. In fact, analysts have identified the lack of data-skilled talent as one of the biggest challenges for organisations in the Asia-Pacific.

Closer to home, we see this shortage apparent as businesses need 30,000 more professionals for this field; a number that continues to grow. There is still very much a data talent crunch that exists and the onus is on all of us to work towards filling the gap.

Working together towards a smarter future

Trying to tide over this shortage during the interim period of transformation will be no small challenge. But national initiatives, the right technology, and the willingness of companies and individuals to embrace innovation and change will serve to bring us towards a more intelligent future.

With data analytics and skills being identified as a goldmine of sorts, it will take the collaborative effort of educators, leaders, and the community to be able to tap the riches afforded, to both prosper and stay relevant.

Many overlook the fact that easy to use, self-service data analytics tools can help ease the shift towards a data-smart nation. From a technology perspective, this may be the solution for organisations of all sizes and types.

However, of all the players, citizens hold the greatest importance as it falls to each individual to keep up and embrace new skills on the journey of lifelong learning. It is critical for us all to do so as the nation's success is riding on it.