Keeping pace with today's economy

BY JONATHAN HO

IN THE fourth industrial revolution - or as many call it, Industry 4.0 - rapid advances in technology are upending business models, blurring lines between industries and companies, and demanding an entirely new way of thinking about business. At the same time, small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) owners are looking for opportunities to regroup and to build up their company's capabilities in anticipation for the future. Companies are also sending their workers for training and reviewing their internal business processes to improve productivity, innovate and upgrade capabilities.

The Singapore government has been proactive in its initiatives to help SMEs, actively educating and providing tools for companies to scale up capabilities, and in gloomy economic conditions, to navigate their way out of the challenging economic environment. While many SME owners are aware of the host of government assistance schemes in Singapore, they have difficulty in determining which schemes are most relevant to their needs.