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Developing the ‘heartware’ for a Smart Nation

Singapore is making a big push to become the world’s first Smart Nation.

For a Smart Nation to be successful, the Government has to take the lead in setting the infrastructure, policies and processes that create not only the ‘hardware’, but also the ‘heartware’ within our citizens. Photo: Bloomberg

For a Smart Nation to be successful, the Government has to take the lead in setting the infrastructure, policies and processes that create not only the ‘hardware’, but also the ‘heartware’ within our citizens. Photo: Bloomberg

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Singapore is making a big push to become the world’s first Smart Nation.

“Our goal is to establish Singapore as a Smart Nation that taps the potential of infocomm and media (ICM) and that nurtures innovative talent and enterprises. In this way, the ICM sectors can bring about economic growth, social cohesion and better living for our people,” said Communications and Information Minister Yaacob Ibrahim in June when he outlined the Republic’s ambitious plan.

He pointed out two key trends that would drive a Smart Nation: Big data, which would provide insights into human behaviour, and the Internet of Things, where everyday devices are linked to improve efficiency and better lives.

He added that Singapore has made good progress in establishing the backbone infrastructure to support its push to become a Smart Nation and that the Government was introducing several initiatives aimed at bringing together policies, people and technologies in a concerted fashion.

So, what are the benefits of becoming a Smart Nation and the challenges involved in getting there?

HOW SINGAPORE CAN BENEFIT

All the problems of a city can be traced to a single factor: Rapid growth, which places massive strain on its support infrastructure. The development of a Smart Nation platform can go a long way in overcoming this challenge.

The benefits of becoming a Smart Nation for Singapore are enormous. For instance, the inter-connectivity of any device anytime and anywhere means that we can collect and analyse information about our environment and people’s behaviour to develop insights at three different levels.

First, at the policy level, the Government can use these insights to draft policies to address the challenge of rapid growth and mobilise active citizenship participation.

Second, at the industry level, these insights can result in the emergence of new business models and revenue streams, which directly adds to the country’s economic growth.

Third, at the individual level, they can be used to improve our productivity at work and alleviate some of the inconvenience we face in daily life.

The development of a Smart Nation platform enabled through the appropriate use of these insights can not only give Singapore a competitive advantage in a globalised business world, but also help the country maximise the value of its limited resources. The Smart Nation platform will also lay the foundation to enable and support the development of innovative solutions to address future problems as our city continues to grow rapidly.

GETTING THE PEOPLE’S BUY-IN

An important factor in the success of implementing the Smart Nation plan is the active participation of Singaporeans. Only by securing the buy-in and support of the people can the Smart Nation idea be sustainable over the long run.

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong rightly highlighted this point during the National Day Rally on Aug 17. He emphasised how citizens can play an active role by becoming the eyes and ears in reporting issues on the ground through the use of info-communication technologies.

How can we develop such “heartware” in Singaporeans?

Intuitively, an idea that comes to mind is for the Government to provide incentives. But this will not work in the long haul. For example, despite giving free MRT rides to citizens in the early morning, the behaviour of the majority of commuters remains unchanged. A more worrying concern is Singaporeans developing a mentality that such incentives are their entitlement. What more can we do to encourage and sustain changed behaviour in implementing the Smart Nation?

Clearly, the various Smart Nation initiatives must provide tangible benefits to the people to secure their buy-in. A good example of this is the township maintenance application, iTown@SG, which allows residents to provide feedback to town councils on specific areas that require repair or work. The system is easy to use and residents are kept informed once work has been completed.

Another example is the Intelligent Energy System pilot programme started by the Energy Market Authority in 2009. Smart meters were installed in around 400 homes to help citizens access their energy consumption information in real time. The pilot project was successful because it motivated home owners to shift their energy consumption to cheaper off-peak periods. Such a programme can also be extended to the business community.

Both iTown@SG and Intelligent Energy System go beyond providing better services and/or convenience, by motivating the stakeholders to participate in making the nation better. The Government can do more in this area. It can build innovative and large-scale ICT infrastructure capable of providing accurate publicly available information that can induce behavioural changes in a large number of citizens. Special care has to be taken to ensure that such information is easy to obtain and analyse, while at the same time able to help the community overcome challenges brought about by the rapid growth of the city.

For Singaporeans, we need to take ownership of this Smart Nation development and make use of the support provided by the Government and businesses to effect this change. By actively participating in this endeavour, the people will help to refine the accuracy and reliability of the information, which will benefit businesses and service providers. Over time, a national culture of a collaborative Smart Nation can then emerge.

For a Smart Nation vision to be truly successful, it takes more than the deployment of technological infrastructure towards improving the lives of Singaporeans. The Government has to take the lead in setting the infrastructure, policies and processes that can create not only the “hardware”, but also the “heartware” within our citizens. Businesses need to play their part by providing innovative services or technologies to accelerate the development of this “heartware”, while citizens should embrace the Smart Nation concept and reap the benefits that come with it. After that, we will be the first in the world to enjoy them.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Jenson Goh is a lecturer at the SIM University School of Business.

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