Over 1,300 SMEs adopted digital solutions through Tech Depot

MORE than 1,300 enterprises have adopted over 50 technology solutions in areas such as customer management and analytics through Tech Depot to date, said Minister for Trade and Industry Chan Chun Sing on Tuesday.

Tech Depot provides a centralised listing of readily adoptable technology solutions that are developed and pre-qualified by A*Star, Enterprise Singapore, and the Info-communications Media Development Authority (IMDA) on the SME Portal.

"These businesses are already seeing benefits, with an average of 25 per cent productivity improvement following implementation of the solutions," he said.

Mr Chan was speaking at the opening address of the SME Technology and Innovation Day at Resorts World Convention Centre.

In his speech, Mr Chan listed several ways on how Singapore can position itself as a "global Asia node of technology, innovation and enterprise" to maintain a vibrant and competitive economy, in which SMEs in particular have an important role to play.

The first is to design products and services for the Asean market and the world, and not just for our domestic market, he said.

"Our strategic geographical position puts our companies in an excellent position to seize the business opportunities in Asean," he added.

Second, for local companies to compete successfully in Asean, innovation must be Singapore's core competitive advantage, he continued.

Under the Research, Innovation and Enterprise 2020 Plan (RIE2020), the government is investing up to S$19 billion to support public sector research and development (R&D) from 2016 to 2020 to ensure to capture opportunities from digitalisation and other emerging technologies, he said.

Third, to remain relevant as a global Asia node within Asean, Singapore must strive to be the location of choice for startups and SMEs to incubate, pilot and scale up new business models and technologies, said Mr Chan.

One key area where Singapore can differentiate from competitors is through its regulatory agility, where regulators, economic agencies and industry players can work together to experiment with new business models, products and solutions, he added.