Covid-induced digital push will transform Singapore's SME sector for the better

CLICHED it may be, but the saying "behind every setback is an opportunity" would be apt for the digitalisation gains that have accrued to industry over the past year.

Digital transformation has been the success story of 2020, a year in which the novel coronavirus wreaked havoc on economies all over the globe, including Singapore's. It has been estimated that pandemic-induced lockdowns and work-from-home (WFH) norms have accelerated the digital transformation journey of companies by an average of five to seven years in different industry verticals across the world. For many businesses, digitalisation has become a matter of survival.

Singapore's vital small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) sector has also rapidly digitalised over the past year. Empirical evidence suggests that SMEs here have seen three to five years' digital progress in 2020, in line with global trends. This is good news as SMEs are a vital cog in the domestic economy, accounting for close to half of gross domestic product (GDP) and employing around 65 per cent of the workforce.