Smart City Strategy: Intelligent Nation 2015 (Singapore)

A characteristic and clearly articulated sector-based strategy is described the ‘˜Intelligent Nation 2015′ (iN2015), which is Singapore’ s 10-year masterplan towards becoming ‘˜an intelligent island’ . Singapore has extensive experience in public policy for ICT, and iN2015 is its 6^th consecutive masterplan regarding this area. The masterplan is overseen by the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA), belonging to Singapore’ s Ministry of Communications and Information. Through iN2015, ICT will be harnessed extensively to enable innovation (the capacity to create, whether it is a new item or a new way of doing something), integration (the ability to harness resources and capabilities across diverse organizations and geographies, speedily and efficiently) and internationalization (the need to be well plugged into the global economy). The strategy is comprised of programs and initiatives categorized under four building blocks:

• Establishment of ultra-high speed, pervasive, intelligent and trusted ICT infrastructure.
• Development of a globally competitive ICT industry.
• Development an ICT-savvy workforce and globally competitive ICT manpower.
• Spearhead the transformation of nine key economic sectors of government and society through more sophisticated and innovative use of ICT.

The iN2015 masterplan is a multi-agency effort, spanning key economic sectors, government and society, including (a) The Digital Media & Entertainment Sector, (b) Education and Learning, (c) Financial Services, (d) Healthcare and Biomedical Sciences, (e) Manufacturing and Logistics, (f) Tourism, Hospitality & Retail, (g) Land & Transport, (h) Government and (i) Society. IDA is also now collaborating with Singapore’ s Urban Redevelopment Authority for the development of the smart area of ‘˜Jurong Lake District’ -a ‘˜living lab’ where over 1.000 sensors will be deployed to test a wide variety of solutions in a real life setting, focused on improving urban mobility, sustainability and situational awareness. In the prospect of the completion of the iN2015 program, IDA is already contemplating Singapore’ s forthcoming ‘˜Smart Nation’ program.

Figure: The four building blocks of iN2015 (source)

Access Singapore’ s iN2015 here.

Suggested readings about iN2015:

1. Mahizhnan, A. 1999. Smart Cities: The Singapore Case. Cities, 16, 13-18. Available here.
2. Ng, P. T. 2011. Embracing Emerging Technologies: The Case of the Singapore Intelligent Nation 2015 Vision. Regional Innovation Systems and Sustainable Development: Emerging Technologies. Available here.
3. Tan Ai Hua, M. 2012. Promises and Threats: iN2015 Masterplan to Pervasive Computing in Singapore. Science Technology Society, 17, 37-56. Available here.