In his speech, RADM(NS) Tay outlined the many opportunities that lie ahead for the infocomm industry here.

In the third quarter of this year, IDA is expected to award the contract for building and operating the passive infrastructure layer of the Next Generation National Broadband Network, a project, which comes with S$750 million in grants. Also in the pipeline is a Request-For-Proposal (RFP) for the operating company that will deploy switches and routers that regulate traffic flow on this network. The winner will be announced early next year.

Besides the physical infrastructure, IDA also has an ongoing Expression of Interest exercise to encourage companies to come forward with innovative ideas for services and applications for the new broadband infrastructure.

RADM(NS) Tay: The industry can certainly look forward to continued Government investment in infocomm.

To address the infocomm needs of small and medium enterprises (SMEs), IDA has invited the infocomm industry to provide one-stop infocomm solutions and end-to-end infocomm packages to help them operate more efficiently and growth
their business.

Another infocomm boost for SMEs - which currently number over 135,000 in Singapore – will come from the Call-For-Collaboration (CFC) to extend high performance computing, storage and software facilities to businesses. The CFC will bring together Grid service providers and independent software vendors to provide infocomm resources on a pay-per-use basis, giving SMEs access to high-end computing services and solutions while avoiding hefty hardware and software costs.

Looking beyond our shores, IDA's Inforcomm Enterprise Programme aims to boost the capabilities of infocomm local enterprises (iLEs) in implementing big projects, with an eye to going abroad. Other ongoing initiatives like the infocomm Local Industry Upgrading Programme (iLIUP) and the Overseas Development Programme (ODP) will continue to link up iLEs with multinational corporations, enabling innovative local players to tap on the expertise of the larger companies in capability building as well as in international marketing and distribution. There are currently 17 MNCs participating in the two programmes. RADM(NS) Tay noted that over the last three years, iLIUP has helped iLEs generate S$75.3 million in revenue while ODP has helped generate S$49 million in export revenue.

Another sign that such initiatives are paying off is the interest that MNCs are showing in our iLEs, noted RADM(NS) Tay. India's AurionPro Solutions recently acquired Integro Technologies, while pan-Asian music provider Soundbuzz has been acquired by Motorola. British Telecom has also proposed a takeover of leading IT services provider Frontline Technologies.

In the public sector, e-Government initiatives proceed apace. Last month, the Ministry of Education called for a pre-qualification tender exercise to shortlist potential service providers for the SOE (Standard ICT Operating Environment) for Schools project.

The Ministry of Education also plans to expand the FutureSchools@Singapore programme to enable up to 15 schools to harness the capability of infocomm to enhance learning by 2015.

"The industry can certainly look forward to continued investment in infocomm by the Government," said RADM(NS) Tay.

With IDC forecasting that ICT spending in the Asia Pacific (excluding Japan) will grow by 10 per cent from 2007, Singapore's infocomm industry can expect to have another busy year, he said. "Besides the Singapore market, the demand for infocomm products and services is also worldwide, and our infocomm companies certainly have much to offer."

The biennial National Infocomm Awards (NIA) are back! Jointly organised by the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA) and the Singapore infocomm Technology Federation (SiTF), the NIA is the definitive award for the Singapore infocomm industry.

The National Infocomm Awards serve to establish a brand name for infocomm leaders in Singapore.

The NIA provides a platform for recognising innovative products and services from infocomm companies in Singapore, and gives recognition to private and public sector organisations which have harnessed infocomm technology to enhance their business. The Awards serve to establish a brand name for infocomm leaders in Singapore, and inspire industry players to pursue the world-class benchmark set by the winners.

This year, a new sub-category has been created
to recognise the efforts of small and medium enterprises (SME) in using infocomm
innovatively to achieve business gains and
economic competitiveness.

"Infocomm innovation has a long history in Singapore and the success stories are many. Organisations that have been at the forefront have been transformed and lifted to greater heights. We want to recognise this excellence in infocomm innovation with the National Infocomm Awards, the industry’s highest accolade. The Awards are a tribute to the innovators and we hope they will inspire others too," said RADM(NS) Ronnie Tay, Chief Executive Officer, IDA.

There are three categories for the Awards. They are:

a) Most Innovative Use of Infocomm Technology (Public Sector)
This category recognises public sector organisations that have invested in innovative deployment of infocomm technologies and reaped significant improvements in productivity and overall competitiveness.

b) Most Innovative Use of Infocomm Technology: Private Sector - General, Private Sector - SME
This category recognises private sector organisations that have invested in innovative deployment of infocomm technologies and reaped significant improvements in productivity and overall competitiveness.

c) Most Innovative Infocomm Product/Service
This category recognises organisations registered in Singapore that have developed innovative infocomm product(s) or high quality infocomm service(s) in Singapore. The winning product or service should have conclusively demonstrated an important contribution to improved productivity
and/or profitability.

"For Singapore to maintain its competitive edge and remain relevant, we need to constantly tap on the spirit of innovation and entrepreneurial foresight to compete among the best in the world," said Mr Pek Yew Chai, Chairman of SiTF. "Awards of such nature will further enhance the innovations of the ICT industry. We are very excited with such efforts and will work closely with IDA to create even more new opportunities to grow the industry."

Nominations, which are to be made online at the Awards web site www.nia.org.sg, will close at noon on 20 May 2008.

No category captures the potential and the aspirations of Singapore's indigenous infocomm industry as much as the National Infocomm Award's Most Innovative Infocomm Product/Service accolade. As nominations open for this year's Awards, three past winners talk about their post-Award journeys.

Activate Interactive (2006 winner)

Mr Wou: The award has helped us gain the trust of our overseas partners.

Recent breakthroughs
Games developer Activate Interactive (www.activate.com.sg) has continued to break new ground since winning the NIA in 2006. Last year, it was appointed by China Unicom to be its mobile games platform developer and master content provider in China, reaching out to its more than 100 million subscribers directly.

It also developed a multiplayer online community for Levis, which was a hit in Hong Kong and China, developed and launched online games for MTV in
six Asian countries, launched a Windows Live game for Microsoft in five Asian countries and clinched
the contract to develop PC and mobile games for
LTA Singapore.

Activate also successfully launched its own Azurex War mobile multiplayer game in China, attracting more than 2,000 new players each day. In addition, it has rolled out its PC-mobile community game MigoCity globally, in both English and Chinese versions.

Going forward
Going forward, Activate will be focusing on expanding its markets, especially in Asia, said its Chief Executive Officer Mr Leslie Wou. "Besides developing games internally, we are also publishing more games from content provider partners globally," he said.

A few words on the National Infocomm Awards
According to Mr Wou, winning the NIA in 2006 has really helped the company to raise its profile both locally and internationally. "The national-level award has helped us gain the trust of our overseas partners such as China Unicom and Disney Mobile," he said. "The publicity has also created a lot of sales leads and opportunities for us. IDA has even invited us to showcase our products in their CommunicAsia booth, which was a beneficial marketing move."

e-Cop (2004 winner)

Mr Lim: We will continue to stay ahead of the curve in technology development and innovation.

Recent breakthroughs
Since winning the National Infocomm Award in 2004, e-Cop (www.e-cop.net) has seen aggressive growth and expansion in the region. In the process, the company has evolved from a pure-play managed security monitoring company to a multi-dimensional managed risk and info-security services provider.

"We established multiple Security Operations Centres (SOC) for government, financial institutions, and telecommunications companies in the region, and successfully commissioned the Singapore government's Cyber Watch Centre," said
Managing Director and Regional Vice President
Mr Lim Kok Keng.

Overseas, e-Cop built the Security Monitoring Centre for the Ministry of Communications of Brunei Darussalam; opened a new office in Beijing to handle the expanding business operations in China, and deployed its industry-leading security management solution CESM for the SOC of Mumbai-based Allied Digital, a leading system integrator and IT infrastructure management services provider in India. This led to the setting up of e-Cop's India office complete with a Global Resource Centre in Mumbai.

The company also expanded its presence to Thailand and established a new office complete with a full-fledged Global Command Centre in Bangkok.

Going forward
"In terms of growth strategy, we are expanding the breadth and depth of e-Cop's services portfolio and will continue to stay ahead of the curve in technology development and innovation," said Mr Lim.

A few words on the National Infocomm Awards
For e-Cop, winning the NIA in 2004 helped enhance its visibility in the local
Singapore market and also regionally, said Mr Lim. "It cemented our credibility as the trusted partner for managed risk and information security services to enterprises and governments in the region."

"The award is definitely a big help to the local enterprises," he added. "It is a testament of full support by the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore and Singapore infocomm Technology Federation to local initiatives and it helps by giving the winner broader market exposure."

muvee Technologies (2002 winner)

Mr Swee: We have grown from an eight-person team to over 80-strong.

Recent breakthroughs
muvee Technologies (www.muvee.com), a pioneer in instant home movies, has come a long way since its flagship PC product, muvee autoProducer, won the NIA in April 2002. The company now ships 50 million copies of muvee autoProducer together with its partners' products. These include Sony, Nikon and Olympus cameras, as well as all HP notebooks and desktops. It is also sold in over 13 languages in retail stores in Japan, the United States and Europe. Muvee's core technology, which supports 42 languages, is also embedded in millions of Nokia and LG camera phones.

Going forward
"We have grown from an eight-person team when we won the award, to over 80-strong, made up of a bunch of quirky people from 18 countries," said muvee's founder and Chief Executive Officer Mr Terence Swee. "We will
start our US office next quarter and expect to beef up marketing, sales and channel development whilst we continue to grow the Singapore team where it makes sense."

Muvee's vision is to own the entire Capture-Create-Share-Consume continuum for personal media, said Mr Swee. "In the last few years we have put in place most of those pieces and are already pioneers and leaders in some of them. We will put in the final pieces this year and grow our user base aggressively."

A few words on the National Infocomm Awards
For muvee, winning the NIA helped the company to gain credibility on the local stage, said Mr Swee. "It also gave us confidence in knowing that our product is ready to take on the world."