The government of Singapore is drawing up a 10-year master plan, ICT21, aimed at making the city-state a global information and communication technology (ICT) capital in the new electronic world. Communications minister Yeo Cheow Tong announced the plan at the opening of CommunicAsia99. Our vision is to transform Singapore into a dynamic and vibrant global ICT capital with a thriving and prosperous net economy by the year 2010, he said.
The country’s entire ICT community, including industry, professional bodies, research and education institutions, the Telecommunications Authority of Singapore, the National Computer Board and relevant government agencies, will collaborate on the master plan which is due for completion by year end and publication early next year.
A recent report from the Department of Statistics estimated that the ICT sector (comprising manufacturing, wholesale and retail trade, telecoms, computer-related services and business information and technology services) accounted for S$26bn ($15.3bn), or 20% of Singapore’s gross domestic product in 1996. The new plan, Yeo said, aims to develop the ICT sector as the key to the economy. Over time, the concept of e-citizen and e-government will become a reality, he said.
