Recently Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, in his National Day Rally (NDR) speech highlighted disruptions as the key challenge among the economic issues faced in Singapore and urged businesses to transform to adapt to sluggish economic growth and technological disruptions. He further emphasize how this can be achieved through collaborations between the government agencies and businesses to overcome such challenges.
‘Disruptive Technology’ by definition is an innovation that displaces a current established technology and ‘shakes-up’ the industry that may eventually create a completely new industry. Examples include how smartphones have largely replaced conventional cell phones because of its plethora of applications; cloud computing has displaced many resources that would have traditionally been located in-house and social networking has largely revolutionize the way we communicate and interact with one another.
Acknowledging Disruptions
Such disruptions is the ‘new-normal’, and businesses especially small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) must adjust and keep up to adapt in order to thrive. This is where government agencies such as the Economic Development Board (EDB), IE Singapore, Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA), SPRING Singapore, together with trade associations and chambers are working closely to develop new programmes and/or introduce schemes to help SMEs adopt new technologies and invest in skills training. You may read on some of these scheme here in our previous post: What Assistance Schemes are Available for SMEs?
Form New Capabilities
SMEs have highlighted that they find it challenging to transform and with so many disruptions, it is tough to survive. But by adopting new or disruptive technologies, it can help SMEs build capabilities and eventually expand their Singapore brand overseas.
Supporting Entrepreneurs and Skills Upgrading
In addition to building capabilities, the government together with partner agencies have rolled out a few initiatives, thus creating an environment that is conducive for enterprise development. These initiatives provide budding entrepreneurs with good access to funding and mentorships. An example of such scheme is the Incubator Development Programme (IDP) introduced by SPRING Singapore, which appeals to entrepreneurs who are not just looking for financial support but overall know-how in relation to their start-ups.
To cultivate the entrepreneurial spirit, the government have started to expose students to start-ups and venture capitalists around the world, and these big tech companies include Google, Facebook and PayPal, in hopes to prepare students for the new economy. Ultimately a strong economy is only attributed by a skilled workforce. Generally workers need to adapt too, and this is where SkillsFuture help workers to acquire new skills and upgrade themselves regardless whether they are in their current careers, in transition, retrenched or looking for new opportunities.
Acknowledging Disruptions
Such disruptions is the ‘new-normal’, and businesses especially small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) must adjust and keep up to adapt in order to thrive. This is where government agencies such as the Economic Development Board (EDB), IE Singapore, Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA), SPRING Singapore, together with trade associations and chambers are working closely to develop new programmes and/or introduce schemes to help SMEs adopt new technologies and invest in skills training. You may read on some of these scheme here in our previous post: What Assistance Schemes are Available for SMEs?
Form New Capabilities
SMEs have highlighted that they find it challenging to transform and with so many disruptions, it is tough to survive. But by adopting new or disruptive technologies, it can help SMEs build capabilities and eventually expand their Singapore brand overseas.
Supporting Entrepreneurs and Skills Upgrading
In addition to building capabilities, the government together with partner agencies have rolled out a few initiatives, thus creating an environment that is conducive for enterprise development. These initiatives provide budding entrepreneurs with good access to funding and mentorships. An example of such scheme is the Incubator Development Programme (IDP) introduced by SPRING Singapore, which appeals to entrepreneurs who are not just looking for financial support but overall know-how in relation to their start-ups.
To cultivate the entrepreneurial spirit, the government have started to expose students to start-ups and venture capitalists around the world, and these big tech companies include Google, Facebook and PayPal, in hopes to prepare students for the new economy. Ultimately a strong economy is only attributed by a skilled workforce. Generally workers need to adapt too, and this is where SkillsFuture help workers to acquire new skills and upgrade themselves regardless whether they are in their current careers, in transition, retrenched or looking for new opportunities.