Businesses, workers well positioned to ride digital wave: DPM Heng

Singapore

WITH the progress that Singapore's Smart Nation Initiative has made since its launch in 2014, businesses and workers are now in a good position to ride on the digital wave, said Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat on Thursday.

The country's tech sector remains a "bright spot", and the government is making use of the industry transformation maps to help each sector on its digitalisation journey, he said at the launch of the Smart Nation & U festival.

The two-week long event is organised by the Smart Nation and Digital Government Office and the National Trades Union Congress.

In his speech, Mr Heng, who is also Finance Minister, said that technology and a growing digital economy will create many new opportunities and good jobs for people in the coming years.

He said that Singapore's start-up ecosystem continues to thrive, having nurtured several unicorns and being attractive to a growing venture capital industry. Many global tech companies also have a presence in Singapore, he said.

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"Under our Research, Innovation and Enterprise 2025 plans, the digital economy is a key research and development focus for the next five years," said Mr Heng.

Through continued investments in sectors such as quantum computing, artificial intelligence, data science and deep tech, Singapore will continue to retain its status as a vibrant innovation hub, he said.

And to ensure that workers are not left out of the move towards technology, upskilling and being open to adopting digitalisation will be critical, said Mr Heng.

Exposing the workforce to important skills such as coding will be a key factor to boost digital literacy and readiness for the future as well.

"We must continue to raise awareness of the potential of digital technology, and grow this momentum to build a more digitally inclusive society," said Mr Heng.

The Smart Nation and U festival runs until March 26, and comprises a series of industry panel discussions, jobs and skills fairs and webinars relating to tech upskilling. The public can also learn more about tech jobs and skills at the festival.