Dell's investment, jobs pledge can help grow S'pore as global innovation hub: Chan Chun Sing

DELL Technologies has pledged to invest over US$50 million and create more than 160 job opportunities in Singapore through its new Global Innovation Hub (GIH). This could help grow the city-state as a global technology and innovation hub, said Trade and Industry Minister Chan Chun Sing.

"(The hub) will help catalyse and drive new innovations, as well as deepen collaboration between Dell and local players to uplift our local tech ecosystem. In the longer term, these technological innovations can augment Singapore's technological capabilities and even be marketed overseas," said Mr Chan at the launch of Dell's GIH on Monday morning.

The GIH could contribute about US$50 million to the Republic over three years, of which US$23 million will be invested in 2021, the company said. These investments - which are supported by the Digital Industry Singapore - will go towards developing digital experiences as well as improving research and development (R&D) capabilities.

Dell also plans to hire more than 160 Singapore-based designers, developers and strategists to drive its R&D programmes. It noted that about 75 per cent of these job openings have already been filled, and the hiring process will be completed by this year.

The PC maker and its partners have also committed to training over 3,000 fresh graduates and mid-career individuals and students in areas such as cloud computing, data protection and big data analytics under the Dell Academy. This will be partly supported by the SGUnited programmes, said the company.

Mr Chan added that the government will continue to support information and communications technology (ICT) firms like Dell in training and reskilling locals, since this could in turn help companies to "attract, recruit and retain good workers", ensuring a competitive labour market in the city-state.

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Dell's innovation hub was set up to develop its capabilities in emerging areas of technology, including augmented reality, cybersecurity, cloud and edge computing. This hub will also house a hardware prototyping lab dedicated to product design and innovation, and an artificial intelligence (AI) experience zone to spur AI education and adoption, said the company.

Amit Midha, Dell Technologies' president for Asia-Pacific, Japan and Global Digital Cities, said: "We're very excited to unveil our global innovation hub as part of this initiative that will allow us to ideate, experiment and co-create meaningful digital solutions for our global customer and partner ecosystem."

The hub - a key innovation centre outside the company's US headquarters - is also home to a specialised team responsible for enhancing user experiences through innovation, said Dell. Additionally, the GIH will accommodate existing R&D facilities in Singapore, such as the Singapore Design Centre, which is responsible for global product design and development for products such as monitors and client peripherals.

Mr Chan noted that the government will continue to support and invest in such capabilities, ensuring that Singapore is "able to distinguish ourselves on the global stage even amid the pandemic".

He added that Dell's choice to place its hub in Singapore is testament to the importance that companies place on competent and trusted governance for their investments, "especially amid the challenging global situation".

Mr Chan said: "Singapore's commitment to keep our borders open, maintain external connectivity and ensure business continuity provides companies confidence to choose Singapore to locate and expand their investments."

With a "clear regulatory system and strong intellectual property regime", companies have a reassurance that their investments will be protected, especially for high-value and knowledge-intensive sectors and products, said the minister. He added that Singapore-based companies can also leverage the access to a skilled workforce - both local and global - to help them grow.

"It will be critical for Singapore to maintain these hard-fought advantages, especially given the uncertain pace of global economic recovery in the coming years," said Mr Chan.