WISEPORT will enable other port users to request bunkering and ship chandling services more efficiently and at lower cost.

“WISEPORT will benefit ships, harbour craft, and other port users,” said Mr Raymond Lim, Minister for Transport and Second Minister for Foreign Affairs in Singapore at the opening of the 2nd International Maritime and Port Technology and Development Conference (MTEC) in September. “They will be able to request bunkering and ship chandling services and access other electronic services more efficiently and at lower cost. It will also enable the development of new services, such as the updating of shipboard software and electronic navigational charts using wireless communications.”

Thanks to WISEPORT (Wireless-broadband-access for SEaPORT), activities that could only be done onshore previously can now be achieved offshore as well, from regulatory filings, to broadband communications, to real-time access to navigational data.

The first such project in the world, WISEPORT covers Singapore’s port waters up to a range of 15km from the shoreline and is the pilot project under the Infocomm@SeaPort programme. The Infocomm@SeaPort programme is a collaboration between the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) and the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA).

The two agencies have jointly set aside S$12 million for the programme, which aims to catalyse business transformation and operational excellence in the port community through the use of innovative infocomm technologies. Other projects being explored include conducting trials in the use of infocomm to enhance and optimise car transhipment planning and operations and automating some of the current labour-intensive processes in the bunker supply chain.

Brigadier-General Tay Lim Heng, Chief Executive Officer of the MPA said,
“As a leading global seaport, the use of technology is important. The Infocomm@SeaPort programme will extend our current efforts to develop and promote the use of industry-wide infocomm technology systems. We hope that the maritime community will capitalise on this advanced port infocomm infrastructure to improve their operations further and also to generate new business areas in Singapore. The MPA will continue to put in place advanced technology to ensure that Singapore remains an attractive port of call in terms of operational efficiency and high service quality.”

The CFC is aimed at harnessing infocomm as a key enabler in the transformation of healthcare.

In another step forward for Singapore’s iN2015 (Intelligent Nation 2015) masterplan for the healthcare sector, a second call for collaboration (CFC) has been launched to harness infocomm as a key enabler in the transformation of healthcare in Singapore and to promote innovation in work processes and how care is delivered.

About $3 million will be invested in selected innovative projects under the CFC, which was issued by the Ministry of Health, the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA) and The Enterprise Challenge (TEC). TEC is an initiative to harness innovative ideas for the Public Service under the Prime Minister's Office.

The goal of the CFC is to identify solutions which will improve the quality of healthcare delivery and efficiency in Singapore’s public and private healthcare institutions. In particular, the tripartite collaboration will focus on:

• Delivering safer care by enhancing medication safety, reducing healthcare-associated infections, improving communication among healthcare practitioners during patient handover and ensuring that correct site procedures are followed.
• Enhancing the quality of care by leveraging on the best medical science and evidence available today to provide the care the patient needs, improving the continuity of care and reducing “reworks” such as re-admission and repeat procedures.
• Achieving greater efficiency in healthcare operations by re-engineering workflows, and simplifying and standardising processes.

“ICT is opening up new possibilities in the healthcare sector,” said Ms Lim Bee Kwan, Director of IDA’s Healthcare & Social Cluster. “Through the joint Healthcare CFC, we aim to seed ideas and harness the capabilities of our local ICT sector as well as Singapore’s healthcare domain expertise to bring these innovative ideas from the drawing board to implementation.

The announcement of the second Healthcare CFC attracted strong industry interest.

“By leveraging ICT, healthcare practitioners can have better access to timely and accurate information and complement their decision-making processes with clinical decision support systems,” she added. “This will help to enhance the quality of care and also enable doctors to manage their patients at the right level of care.”

Twelve projects from the healthcare and ICT sectors were supported under the first Healthcare CFC issued by IDA
in September 2005.

The innovations included a project by the National Skin Centre to allow doctors to describe patients’ conditions diagrammatically with precise location of the clinical findings in electronic form. The project has led to better patient care because doctors can now record more accurate information to chart progress of skin disorders.

Another project was a Geriatric In-Patient Nursing Record and Nursing Information Exchange (GinX) system aimed at eradicating patient medication errors in a hospital. The system was developed by Y3 Technologies and the Ang Mo Kio–Thye Hua Kwan Hospital.

Commenting on the second CFC, Mr James Loo, Chief Operating Officer of Y3 Technologies, said, “This second wave adds to the first wave. A lot of excitement has been generated for the market in interesting areas which have lots of gaps for vendors and healthcare providers to fill.”

The second Healthcare CFC closes on 31 Jan 2008. Details are available
at www.healthcareit.com.sg.