Budget 2021: Mature firms to get co-funding for adoption of digital solutions and tech

THE Singapore government is setting aside S$1 billion for a string of new schemes and enhanced support to co-fund mature enterprises' adoption of digital solutions and new technologies.

It will also enhance the Productivity Solutions Grant - Job Redesign by raising the government co-funding ratio to 80 per cent, from 70 per cent previously, till end-March 2022. This is to help businesses redesign jobs.

Mature enterprises, ranging from micro to large firms, should invest in new and emerging technologies to sharpen their competitiveness, Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat said on Tuesday while unveiling Budget 2021.

A new Emerging Technology Programme will therefore co-fund the costs of trials and the adoption of frontier technologies such as 5G, artificial intelligence and trust technologies.

This will help businesses commercialise their innovations and diffuse technology downstream, said Mr Heng, who is also Finance Minister.

A fresh initiative will also provide access to professional IT consultancies. Called the chief technology officer or CTO-as-a-Service initiative, it will help firms identify and adopt digital solutions.

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In addition, a new Digital Leaders Programme will support promising firms in hiring a core digital team and in developing and implementing their digital transformation roadmaps.

Beyond these new schemes, the government will also extend to end-March 2022 the enhanced support levels of up to 80 per cent for existing enterprise schemes.

These existing initiatives include the Scale-up SG programme, Productivity Solutions Grant, Market Readiness Assistance, and Enterprise Development Grant.

On the increased funding to redesign jobs, Mr Heng said Singapore must leverage technology to develop senior-friendly workplaces.

"In the coming years, a critical part of business transformation will be in job redesign," he added. With technological advances, many physically demanding or repetitive tasks can be better done by machines.

These moves, to co-fund the transformation of mature enterprises, are part of a suite of capital tools announced under this year's Budget. The government is looking to catalyse a wide range of capital to co-fund and enable businesses to innovate, transform and scale.