ITM programme needs to improve measurability and accountability

SINGAPORE'S Industry Transformation Maps (ITMs) need better measurability and accountability, given their core role in the nation's economic restructuring plans.

In the course of Singapore's long-term economic planning over the past couple of years, one key insight that has emerged has been that of an uneven landscape ahead. If changes in demographics, markets and technology mean starkly different things to different industry sectors, then a top-down, one-size-fits-all economic strategy might not be the best way to land Singapore on the right side of those changes.

The solution has therefore been to create strategies customised for each industry. A total of 23 industries belonging to six broader clusters, which account for about 80 per cent of Singapore's gross domestic product, were shortlisted to receive ITMs, which are created through collaborations between industry and government agencies.