Punggol Digital District to house global companies; over 2,000 tech-related jobs to be created: Gan Kim Yong

BOSTON Dynamics, known for its robot dog Spot, is among the first batch of global companies which have confirmed their location in the upcoming Punggol Digital District (PDD).

The PDD is set to be Singapore's global hub for smart businesses and is expected to create over 2,000 tech-related jobs. These range from fraud hunters, data analysts and solution engineers, to artificial intelligence and blockchain developers, said Minister for Trade and Industry Gan Kim Yong at the "Punggol Digital District - Connecting Smartness 2021" event on Wednesday.

Other companies which have confirmed their place in the PDD include Delta Electronics Int'l (Singapore), Singapore's Group-IB and Chinese conglomerate Wanxiang.

"Each of these companies bring different expertise to the mix, including robotics and engineering, electronics and automation, cybersecurity and blockchain technology," Mr Gan said, adding that these companies have plans to set up base in Singapore.

The ecosystem will be further strengthened by the Cyber Security Agency of Singapore, Government Technology Agency and a network of tech associations.

Boston Dynamics, which is based in the US, will partner local startup dConstruct Technologies and the Singapore Institute of Technology (SIT) on learning and applied research of robotics systems.

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SIT students will be able to use the Spot robot and dConstruct's software programming tool to develop robotics solutions for improved campus experiences.

Meanwhile, Delta Electronics - which is wholly owned by Taiwan-headquartered Delta Group - will integrate its smart solutions and automated container farm into PDD's open digital platform, allowing for remote monitoring and data analytics of environmental and machine metrics. The company has plans to set up a regional headquarters in Kallang by 2022, in addition to a satellite office at PDD.

Singapore-based Group-IB, an international threat hunting and cyber intelligence company which is also a partner of Interpol, will tie up with SIT to develop a virtual environment to stress-test applications, solutions and systems against cyber threats.

Meanwhile, Wanxiang - which is in the line of automotive components manufacturing and sales - is partnering blockchain accelerator Tribe to launch a blockchain makerspace and incubation programme at PDD.

Wanxiang will also partner local training provider AGB Education Centre to launch a series of programmes focusing on knowledge, training and certification in key technologies for the digital economy.

Singapore announced the masterplan for the PDD three years ago as the choice location for technology players. The district will allow companies to gain convenient access to industry partners, academic expertise and industry-ready talent.

SIT will be co-located with these businesses, benefiting students with a "full-fledged applied learning environment" while bringing talent to these businesses.