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Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) is partnering with Singtel, the National University of Singapore (NUS) and Singapore Polytechnic (SP) to attract and build a ready pool of capable talent in 5G and emerging technologies such as the Internet of Things, cloud engineering and data analytics. Singtel will hire more than 500 people in Singapore over two years.
Training New and Existing Employees in 5G
Through structured training and courses, coupled with real work experience in the Singtel workplace, employees can develop and hone 5G domain expertise and related skills that will enable them to deliver innovative products and services to meet the needs of consumers and enterprises.
IMDA’s TechSkills Accelerator Company-Led Training programmes will also offer support by training associated roles such as software developers.
Mr Yuen Kuan Moon, Singtel’s Group Chief Executive Officer said, “In order for Singtel to capture new digital growth opportunities and drive digital transformation across industries, we have to pivot our workforce and pivot fast.
Having embarked on reskilling our existing staff, we are now hiring and training new employees on the job in 5G and emerging technologies.
The learning gained from academia will complement practical on-the-job training in our workplace to build the critical competencies needed to help transition enterprises to a digital economy. We are glad to partner IMDA, NUS and SP to build out the expanding 5G ecosystem that will move us closer to our Smart City goals.”
Mr S Iswaran, Minister for Communications and Information visited Singtel’s training headquarters at 8George today, where he was briefed on the company’s latest hiring efforts that is targeted at a range of fresh graduates and mid-career individuals. He also met Singtel employees currently being coached in 5G and new tech skills.
Mr Lew Chuen Hong, Chief Executive of IMDA said, “Singaporeans with the right tech skills can look forward to good job opportunities in a vibrant 5G ecosystem. Working with academia and Singtel will ensure that our workers have these skills in in-demand areas. I encourage leading enterprises to work with us to get our workers future-ready and accelerate Singapore’s digital transformation.”
Singtel will be focusing its hiring and training in Singapore in core areas such as 5G network engineering, digital services, 5G product and platform development, application development and advanced analytics.
NCS Looking for Talent in Emerging Technologies
NCS, Singtel’s wholly-owned subsidiary, will also be looking to grow talent for emerging technologies via NUCLEUS, its five-year career development programme which is targeted at grooming specialist and professional ICT talent.
Regionally, Optus and Singtel Group associates are also building a growing pool of tech and digital professionals to support 5G roll out, such as the launch of 5G sites across Australian major cities by Optus.
NUS and SP, as IMDA’s appointed 5G and Telecoms Programme Manager, will support Singtel and the rest of the industry by developing 5G-related training courses and academic programmes as well as collaborating with other Institutions of Higher Learning.
Some of the available Continuing Education and Training courses and postgraduate programmes will be credit-bearing modules that will also count towards an academic qualification such as a Master’s Degree from the universities and higher learning institution.
The 5G & Telecoms Programme Manager will also work with universities to provide hands-on training opportunities through 5G research laboratories and facilities, such as the 5G Garage in SP, set up in collaboration with Singtel and Ericsson.


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Singapore and Indonesia reaffirmed their strong and long-standing economic ties; and to explore opportunities in the development of Indonesia’s new capital city, Nusantara, both nations welcomed the Letters of Intent submitted by Singapore-based businesses from a variety of sectors, including construction, telecommunication and finance. This collaboration in renewable energy and the digital economy was expanded.
Singapore’s Senior Minister and Coordinating Minister for National Security Teo Chee Hean and Indonesia’s Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investments Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on Renewable Energy Cooperation.
Both countries will facilitate investments in the development of renewable energy manufacturing industries, such as solar photovoltaics (PV) and battery energy storage systems (BESS) in Indonesia, as well as cross-border electricity trading projects between Indonesia and Singapore, under the terms of the MOU.
Recognising the synergies shared by Singapore’s and Indonesia’s tech ecosystems, Singapore’s Minister for Trade and Industry Gan Kim Yong and Indonesia’s Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto also signed the MOU on the Singapore-Indonesia Tech:X Programme.
The MOU will establish the Tech:X Programme, which enables young tech professionals from Singapore and Indonesia to work in each other’s countries, strengthens ties between the two nations’ tech ecosystems, and enables young tech professionals to pursue expanding opportunities in the digital economy.
“Through the Tech:X Program, we hope that young tech talent from both countries will be able to learn from one another, gain exposure, and expand the capabilities of both countries’ tech workforces,” Minister Gan says.
Ministers Gan and Airlangga also witnessed the signing of nine partnership documents between Singapore and Indonesia companies on 15 March 2023, in conjunction with the Leaders’ Retreat. In addition to health tech and ed-tech, the partnerships are in the digital economy.
The annual G2G platform, as well as the Singapore-Indonesia Six Bilateral Economic Working Groups (6WG), facilitate close economic collaboration between Singapore and Indonesia.
The 6WG platform addresses economic collaboration in the following areas: Batam, Bintan, Karimun, and other Special Economic Zones: Investments, Manpower, Agribusiness, Transportation, and Tourism.
Singapore and Indonesia have close commercial and investment ties. With bilateral trade totalling S$76.4 billion in 2022, Indonesia is Singapore’s sixth-largest trading partner. Since 2014, Singapore has been Indonesia’s top source of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), with Singapore’s investments in Indonesia totalling US$17.5 billion by 2022.
OpenGov Asia earlier reported that Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and Indonesian President Joko Widodo recently met at the Singapore-Indonesia Leaders’ Retreat. This was the sixth Leaders’ Retreat for Prime Minister Lee and President Joko Widodo and the first to be held in Singapore since the COVID-19 pandemic.
During President Joko Widodo’s two terms in office, the relationship between the two countries had significantly improved, according to both leaders. This laid the groundwork for them to collaborate in new ways that are profound, multifaceted, forward-looking, and beneficial to both countries.
The ratification of all three agreements under the Expanded Framework was celebrated by the Leaders. These included the Agreement on the Realignment of the Boundary between the Jakarta Flight Information Region (FIR) and the Singapore FIR, the Extradition Treaty, and the Defense Cooperation Agreement.
The Leaders anticipated the next step of obtaining International Civil Aviation Organisation approval for the new arrangements under the FIR Agreement so that both countries could implement all three agreements at a mutually agreed upon date. The resolution of these enduring issues demonstrates the maturity and resilience of bilateral relations.
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The quality of Internet service has improved following directives issued by the Ministry of Information and Communications (MIC). Globally, Vietnam ranks 39th in terms of fixed Internet.
According to an industry report, the country ranks 52nd globally in mobile Internet speed, a fall of nine places as compared to the month before. The broadband download in February was 42.67 Mbps, while the upload speed was 18.27 Mbps. As for fixed broadband Internet, Vietnam jumped six places to rank 39th, despite issues with submarine fibre optic cables.
It was reported that the average download speed of fixed broadband in Vietnam was 91.6 Mbps, while the upload speed was 93.38 Mbps. The system measuring the Internet access speed in Vietnam (i-SPEED) of the Vietnam Internet Centre (VIC) under MIC has also reported similar results, with average fixed download broadband speed up and mobile broadband down.
The average broadband download speed in Vietnam in February was 89,73 Mpps, up 4.6% over January. Among the centrally run cities, Ho Chi Minh City had the highest fixed broadband download speed (96.55Mbps). The average fixed broadband upload speed of the whole country was 88.71 Mbps (up 4.7%).
As per data from VIC, in terms of mobile Internet, the average download speed of the whole country in February was 36.45 Mbps (down 10.7% over January), while the average upload was 16.19 Mbps (down 6.7%).
The figures from both domestic and international sources indicated that there has been a significant improvement in Vietnam’s fixed Internet speed in February, a considerable achievement considering the several incidents surrounding the submarine fibre optic cables since late 2022. As a solution, MIC has directed telecom carriers to promptly apply measures to fix the problems to ensure smooth international Internet connection.
Under the instructions of the Authority of Telecommunications (AOT), mobile network operators have negotiated to buy more mainland optical fibre capacity and share capacity with each other to overcome the crisis.
MIC has also requested telcos to develop more submarine fibre optic cables to better satisfy users’ demands. Vietnam is using five international submarine fibre optic cables. The government expects the total number of cable routes used in Vietnam to double by 2025. Telcos have noted that the increase in the capacity of international connection on the mainland has helped improve the Internet service quality and the complaints about service quality have decreased.
As a result of better and more easily available Internet connectivity, Vietnam’s digital economy has grown rapidly. Data from MIC showed that the ICT economy’s revenue reached an estimated US$ 148 billion in 2022, representing a year-on-year increase of 8.7%. The contribution of the digital economy to the national GDP in 2022 accounted for about 14.26% of the total, with 7.18% contributed by the ICT digital economy.
As OpenGov Asia reported earlier, IT services have contributed the most to the digital economy, accounting for about 30% of the total value, followed by e-commerce (14.3%) and hardware production (12.83%). The digital content field recorded the strongest growth, up nearly 104% compared to the first quarter of 2022.
MIC developed a strategy for digital technology industry development to 2025 with a vision for 2030. Last year, the ministry announced 35 national digital platforms serving digital transformation and the development of digital government, economy, and society, including 21 developed by domestic digital technology enterprises. These have contributed to facilitating state management and public services.
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OpenGov Asia has recognised GovTech for the public sector’s evolving digital use. The agency has streamlined government operations and broken new ground with its Virtual Intelligent Chat Assistant (VICA). The project is part of GovTech’s ongoing efforts to develop and deploy chatbots to fill gaps in government services and enhance the lives of citizens.
VICA is the most recent citizen assistant platform from GovTech, utilising Artificial Intelligence (AI) to create more efficient and beneficial chatbots for government agencies to manage and for end users. The ‘Ask Jamie’ Virtual Assistant will eventually be replaced by VICA.
The engine-neutral platform employs cutting-edge tech to enhance performance and precision. VICA utilises natural language processing engines, machine learning and AI to enhance virtual and phone interactions between Singapore government institutions and residents or businesses.
This platform not only learns and interprets conversations but also offers businesses the ability to design and train chatbots, features that Ask Jamie did not provide. The automated processes provided by VICA make it easier for agencies to onboard and “train” their chatbots.
This accomplishment earned GovTech the prestigious OpenGov Asia Recognition of Excellence Award, which will be presented at the 8th Annual Singapore OpenGov Leadership Forum 2023.
Chatbot advancement to improve citizen experience
In addition to providing a simple FAQ, VICA improves transactional services in numerous other ways. Streamlining transactions provides greater convenience and access to government services and information, as well as quicker and more direct responses to user inquiries.
Taxi drivers and hawker stall owners, for instance, can use the IRAS chatbot to request assistance with tax filing. The Municipal Services Office’s OneService Chatbot, Kaki, which allows residents to easily report municipal issues via WhatsApp and Telegram, is also powered by VICA.
VICA-powered chatbots provide the public with timely updates, such as the Gov.sg chatbot, which provides COVID-19 updates and disseminates important government announcements in English, Chinese, Malay and Tamil.
Using NLP technology has allowed VICA-powered chatbots to better understand and interpret human language, particularly in the context of Singaporean English, thereby improving overall user experience. It is possible to create more structured conversational flows by defining intents, entities and context management – the building blocks that provide directions to chatbots and allow them to meet the needs of users.
VICA provides detailed analytics and insights into the performance of the chatbot as well as user conversations. With this information, the team can identify areas for improvement to enhance performance and accuracy.
Technology is constantly evolving, and the team is continuously on the lookout for and learning about new AI trends. Hence, VICA has been experimenting with a Generative AI programme that can understand written prompts and respond with helpful assistance in real-time since mid-2022.
VICA’s development involves the gradual integration of cutting-edge technology that meets the requirements of the entire government. These technological upgrades will include a unified chat frontend to ensure consistent branding across all government ministries and agencies – Singpass Integration, Live Chat Escalation, and support for various chat platforms like WhatsApp and Telegram.
As part of the closed beta programme with internal testers, the VICA team has been utilising these technologies to improve the quality and efficacy of the chatbots with citizens.
Developers also want to reduce the time and effort that their agency partners have to invest in training and maintaining their chatbots. While the team has always been receptive to new technologies, they take a measured approach, through progressive internal testing phases with the selected partner agencies before launching to the public.
The strategy is to determine how technological advancements can benefit not only the agency partners but also citizen users.
VICA intends to surpass FAQ-style chatbots with near-human conversation capabilities in the long run. It intends to combine services and transactional capabilities so that chatbots can assist users with their inquiries and complete transactions.
Given the potential risks and shortcomings associated with the development of intelligent development of platforms, it is vital to have an ethics framework in place. This will allow developers to plan for and be aware of the pitfalls and limitations of AI, which include:
- Accuracy: Models can give false responses that sound convincing
- Bias: Inherent biases may exist in the training dataset, which can be difficult to pre-empt due to the lack of information. This could then manifest in the model’s responses;
- Harmful content: To create a safe and healthy environment for users’ interaction with chat apps, chat moderation is important to monitor and regulate user input messages against inappropriate and offensive content;
- Data governance: When interacting with chatbots, users may inadvertently volunteer personal and confidential data through the chatbot’s prompts.
It is essential to encourage interactions with them and provide feedback to ensure that chatbots are performing as intended and to improve their overall performance.
Despite the functionality and enormous potential of generative AI, VICA has placed a high priority on governing its use to ensure that such technology is employed in an ethical manner benefitting both end users and society.
To mitigate the risk of unintended prejudices and ensure adherence to data governance rules, it is crucial to adopt an intentional strategy for the collection and transformation of raw data into useful and insightful outputs. Such a strategy can help ensure that the data is handled fairly and responsibly and that any potential risks are addressed pre-emptively or proactively. Moreover, this approach ensures that the resulting outputs are accurate, reliable and trustworthy.
About the team
The organisation recognises the importance of aligning team members towards a shared vision and objective, regardless of their diverse backgrounds. With a diverse team, each member can bring their unique perspectives and expertise to the table. Working collaboratively, the team can leverage these diverse perspectives to generate innovative problem-solving strategies.
The VICA team fosters an atmosphere of open communication and encourages feedback, creating a cooperative environment where team members feel heard and valued. This establishes a safe place where everyone feels comfortable sharing their thoughts and ideas.
They frequently organise team-building activities outside of work to foster camaraderie, build stronger relationships and create a more cohesive team dynamic. They believe this approach can lead to more innovative solutions and better decision-making.
Defining clear objectives and goals is crucial for the success of the VICA team. Every team member understands that they are working towards a common objective, providing a sense of purpose and direction.
Clear missions and defined tasks allow the team to stay on track and ensure that their efforts are moving the project forward in the right manner. This approach helps ensure that everyone is aligned and focused on achieving the same goals, which ultimately contributes to the success of the project.
The VICA team has implemented a robust project management framework that outlines the roles and responsibilities of team members at each project stage. They adhere to budget planning procedures to manage costs effectively. This framework helps ensure that everyone is clear on their responsibilities and contributes effectively to the project’s success within the specified budget.
The VICA team has adopted an agile approach that emphasises adaptability, speed and continuous quality improvement. The team uses retrospectives to evaluate what works well and what doesn’t, identifying opportunities for future improvement. This enables the team to quickly make adjustments and continuously improve the project’s quality, resulting in a more successful outcome.
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Proyek VICA (Virtual Intelligence Chat Assistant) adalah platform layanan chatbot yang bisa digunakan sebagai dasar pengembangan berbagai layanan chatbot di berbagai instansi pemerintahan Singapura. Platform ini ditenagai dengan Kecerdasan Buatan (Artificial Intelligence/ AI) dan pembelajaran mesin (Machine Learning/ ML) agar chatbot yang dikembangkan oleh berbagai instansi pemerintahan bisa memberikan respons yang lebih ‘manusiawi’ kepada warga dan berbagai perusahaan di Singapura.
Layanan platform chatbot VICA dikembangkan oleh GovTech, yaitu Badan Teknologi Pemerintah (Government Technology) yang mendorong transformasi digital ke berbagai instansi pemerintah di Singapura. GovTech mengembangkan VICA sebagai perbaikan dari layanan chatbot sebelumnya; Ask Jamie.
Untuk membantu VICA memberikan jawaban yang lebih natural dan akurat, GovTech memanfaatkan teknologi NLP (natural language processing) terbaru dengan platform mesin-agnostik. Menerapkan kecerdasan buatan dan pembelajaran mesin membuat VICA mampu mempelajari dan menafsirkan percakapan dan meningkatkan interaksi ketika ‘diajak bicara’ secara virtual maupun lewat telepon. Sebagai sebuah platform, VICA juga digunakan oleh berbagai instansi pemerintah lain untuk melatih chatbot yang mereka kembangkan. Fitur ini sebelumnya tak ada di platform chatbot Ask Jamie.
VICA merupakan bagian dari upaya GovTech untuk membangun dan menggunakan chatbot guna menjembatani pemerintah dengan warga dan swasta. Kepiawaian dan inovasi GovTech ini mendapat atensi dari OpenGov Asia untuk mendapatkan penghargaan OpenGov Asia Recognition of Excellence Award yang akan diberikan pada Singapore OpenGov Leadership Forum 2023 tahunan ke-8.
Chatbot pintar
Dalam wawancara dengan CEO dan Pemimpin Redaksi OpenGov Asia, tim pengembang VICA menyebut mereka telah meningkatkan berbagai fitur untuk memperbaiki cara chatbot anyar ini dalam melayani pengguna. VICA bisa memberi jawaban lebih cepat dan sesuai konteks sehingga ia tak hanya menjawab pertanyaan berdasarkan jawaban yang sering ditanyakan atau sesuai template semata. Hal ini membuat pengguna merasa lebih nyaman ketika berinteraksi dengan VICA.
Sebagai sebuah platform, VICA juga digunakan untuk mengembangkan chatbot instansi pemerintah lain. Contohnya adalah chatbot IRAS yang digunakan wiraswasta seperti supir taksi atau pemilik kios jajanan untuk meminta bantuan dalam pengajuan pajak. Kaki, chatbot layanan terpadu dari Kantor Layanan Kota bisa yang akan menampung laporan dan keluhan warga soal masalah kota lewat WhatsApp dan Telegram.
Selain itu, platform chatbot VICA juga bisa memberikan informasi terbaru secara real-time kepada warga. Contohnya, chatbot Gov.sg yang memberikan pembaruan status COVID-19 dan pengumuman pemerintah dalam bahasa Inggris, Mandarin, Melayu, dan Tamil.
Agar interaksi dengan VICA lebih ramah pengguna, tim memanfaatkan teknologi NLP untuk bisa memahami dan menginterpretasikan bahasa manusia. Namun, bahasa utama yang paling baik diinterpretasikan VICA saat ini adalah bahasa Inggris Singapura.
“Dengan memahami maksud pertanyaan, siapa yang menanyakan, dan konteks pertanyaan, ini akan jadi bahan arahan bagi chatbot untuk memberikan jawaban yang memuaskan kebutuhan pengguna, sehingga alur percakapan bisa lebih terstruktur,” jelas tim VICA.
Agar performa VICA makin bagus, tim juga melengkapi platform ini dengan analisis data. Hasil analisis itu memberikan gambaran terperinci tentang kinerja chatbot serta bagaimana kinerjanya atas percakapan pengguna. Hal ini membuat tim VICA bisa mengidentifikasi hal yang bisa diperbaiki untuk meningkatkan akurasi VICA.
Ketika memanfaatkan AI, terdapat kekhawatiran masalah etika dari kecerdasan buatan yang digunakan. Sebab, pada beberapa kasus, AI kerap memberi jawaban yang menyesatkan atau tidak sesuai etika. Tim VICA menyadari hal dan sepakat kalau model AI bisa memberikan respons yang salah namun terdengar meyakinkan.
Jawaban yang keluar dari model AI juga bisa terkontaminasi oleh bias. Bias bawaan ini mungkin terjadi imbas dari kumpulan data yang digunakan untuk melatih model AI itu. Namun hal ini bisa jadi sulit dicegah karena kekurangan informasi yang dimasukkan dalam data latihan AI tersebut. Bias dan jawaban menyesatkan tadi kemudian nampak dalam respons AI atas pertanyaan pengguna.
Untuk menjaga pembicaraan yang sehat, model AI juga perlu menyaring konten yang ditanyakan pengguna. “Moderasi obrolan diperlukan untuk memantau dan menyaring pesan yang dimasukkan pengguna untuk mengatur respons AI terhadap konten yang tidak pantas dan menyinggung.”
Etika lain yang dipertimbangkan tim pengembang VICA adalah soal tata kelola data. Saat berinteraksi dengan chatbot, pengguna mungkin secara tidak sengaja memberikan data pribadi dan rahasia secara sukarela akibat perintah chatbot.
“Terlepas dari fungsi dan potensi AI generatif yang sangat besar, kami memastikan teknologi ini digunakan dengan cara yang etis dan menguntungkan pengguna dan masyarakat,” tegas tim VICA.
Untuk mengurangi berbagai risiko disinformasi, misinformasi, bias, dan masalah etis lain, tim memastikan efisiensi dan kegunaan tiap informasi yang dikumpulkan dan ditransformasi sebagai bahan data mentah pelatihan model AI yang mereka kembangkan. Hal ini juga dilakukan agar mereka mematuhi aturan tata kelola data yang berlaku. Selain itu, mereka pun senantiasa memeriksa umpan balik pengguna agar chatbot yang dikembangkan berfungsi semestinya.
Ketika ditanya soal pengembangan VICA ke depan, sejak pertengahan 2022, tim pengembang telah mulai bereksperimen dengan program AI Generatif. Program ini bisa memahami petunjuk tertulis dan merespons dengan bantuan yang bermanfaat secara real-time.
Dalam jangka Panjang, VICA akan terus disempurnakan dengan teknologi terkini yang paling sesuai dengan kebutuhan Whole-Of-Government. Mereka akan mengembangkan antarmuka obrolan terpadu sehingga branding pada chatbot pemerintah lebih seragam di semua kementerian dan lembaga. Selain itu, mereka juga berencana melakukan integrasi VICA dengan Singpass, memperbanyak fitur Live Chat, serta integrasi dengan platform chat seperti Whatsapp dan Telegram.
Selain itu, tim VICA juga telah menjajaki teknologi kemampuan percakapan tingkat lanjut seperti yang digunakan oleh ChatGPT. Mereka tengah menelisik teknologi ini dalam program beta tertutup dan tengah melakukan pengujian internal untuk meningkatkan kualitas dan kenyamanan pemakaian chatbot. Langkah selanjutnya adalah menerapkan cara yang dapat mempermudah para mitra GovTech ketika mengadopsi platform VICA ketika mereka ingin membuat chatbot sendiri. Dengan VICA, mereka bisa mempersingkat waktu dan mengurangi kerumitan dalam melatih serta memelihara chatbot mereka.
“Kemajuan teknologi apa pun harus bisa memberikan pelayanan yang lebih baik bagi mitra instansi dan warga, itu sudah menjadi DNA kami,” tegas tim VICA
Cita-cita jangka panjang lain adalah membuat chatbot VICA bisa digunakan sebagai media transaksi. Jadi, chatbot ini tak sekedar bisa menjawab pertanyaan saja, tapi juga bisa terintegrasi dengan operasional layanan pemerintah. “Kami juga selalu terbuka untuk teknologi baru dan siap melakukan kalibrasi melalui fase pengujian internal, sebelum meluncurkan layanan itu kepada warga.”
Membangun tim inovatif
Tim VICA lantas membeberkan sejumlah cara yang mereka lakukan untuk memastikan inovasi berkelanjutan dan keberhasilan program.
“Dengan menetapkan tujuan dan sasaran yang jelas, setiap anggota tim akan terbantu untuk memahami bahwa mereka memiliki tujuan bersama yang jelas, sehingga setiap orang memahami tugas dan tanggung jawab masing-masing.”
Di tahap awal, tim membangun kerangka kerja manajemen proyek. Kerangka ini membantu peran dan tanggung jawab anggota tim untuk pembagian beban kerja yang sehat di setiap tahap proyek. Kerangka ini juga berguna untuk penentuan perencanaan anggaran agar biaya bisa dikelola secara efektif. Tim juga menciptakan suasana yang terbuka terhadap berbagai umpan balik, sehingga setiap anggota tim bisa dengan bebas dan merasa aman dan didengar ketika mengajukan pendapat.
Untuk mengukur dan mengevaluasi keefektifan kerja, tim VICA mengadopsi metodologi Agile. Metode ini dianggap lebih fleksibel, cepat, dan bisa membantu tim untuk meningkatkan kualitas kerja mereka. Sementara dalam proses pengembangan produk, mereka mendapat manfaat dari metode Scrum dan Kanban. Sebagai bahan evaluasi, tim juga mengandalkan retrospektif untuk mempelajari kembali apa yang berhasil dan apa yang tidak. Bahan ini lantas digunakan untuk perbaikan produk di masa mendatang.
Ketika berinteraksi dengan tim yang berbeda latar belakang, tim VICA memulai proyek dengan membangun rasa saling percaya dan menyelaraskan visi dan tujuan bersama. Sehingga, tiap anggota bisa memiliki cara masing-masing untuk berkontribusi dengan caranya yang unik. Dengan menyatukan semua pendapat berbeda ini, mereka dapat menciptakan dan menemukan solusi inovatif untuk berbagai masalah.
Sementara untuk menjaga kebersamaan dan kolaborasi yang efektif dalam tim, mereka memperbanyak waktu bersama lewat sesi curah pendapat (brainstorming), proyek bersama, hingga kegiatan team bonding. Mereka pun mengembangkan budaya untuk menghargai kontribusi dan menghormati pendapat setiap anggota tim. Inisiatif ini menjamin tiap pendapat didengar serta memberikan lingkungan yang aman bagi tiap anggota untuk berbagi pandangan yang berbeda.
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Associate Professor Ng Lay Guat of Singapore General Hospital (SGH) has created a mobile application capable of detecting abnormal urine flow. When implemented, the app may reduce clinic wait times by allowing patients to perform certain tests at home prior to their visit. Currently, in testing, the SGH urology team led by Associate Professor Ng is likely to launch the app within the year.
Patients being treated for urological conditions routinely submit to uroflowmetry, a standard test in which they urinate into an electronic machine. The collected data assists physicians in determining the treatment’s efficacy and whether any modifications are necessary. For the test to be accurate, the patient’s bladder must be full; otherwise, the result may be inconclusive.
The clinic can be a stressful environment for the patient, according to Dr Edwin Jonathan Aslim, Consultant, Department of Urology, SGH. Having other patients behind them in line for the same test can induce anxiety, so they perform the test quickly even if the bladder is not full.
He added that inaccurate test results require patients to retake the examination, which increases their waiting time by one to two hours, as the bladder must fill up again. Hence, patients might even have to return on a different day.
With the app, patients can retake the test at home without anxiety as often as they desire, providing doctors with a more accurate picture of their condition. Using the app will also enable nurses to devote more attention to patients who require it. With the standard method, nurses must transport the patient to the machine, empty the urine container, and replace it when the test is complete.
The team is collaborating with the Singapore University of Technology and Design to create an app that will measure the speed and volume of urination. It can also determine patterns, such as whether the urine flow is continuous or intermittent.
An SGH analysis led by Assoc Prof Ng from 2017 to 2019 gathered data that was later employed to acquire a deep-learning algorithm that processes app data. In addition to measuring urine output, the app has other useful features, such as a voiding diary.
When released, the app will provide physicians with vital information, such as the fact that a sluggish flow in male patients with an enlarged prostate may indicate an obstruction. The app can measure urine volume in women with overactive bladder for use in keeping a voiding diary. Patients now measure and record the volume of their bowel movements manually.
Assoc Prof Ng anticipates that the app will eventually be utilised in the primary care setting, where patients with stable conditions can be monitored. The app will provide the polyclinic doctor or general practitioner with actual parameters, as opposed to relying on the patient’s subjective description.
In addition to these features, the app is a useful screening tool for the general public. If patients detect anything abnormal on their apps, they can consult a physician, who can then make an accurate diagnosis after conducting additional tests.
According to emerging digital health trends, more patients than ever are using their smartphones to track their general health, get health advice, and have video calls with doctors for prescriptions. Patients value the undeniable convenience that healthcare apps offer.
Patients can benefit from lower costs, immediate access to individualised care, and an increased sense of control over their health thanks to advances in mobile healthcare technology.
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Director General of Resources and Equipment of Post and Information Technology (SDPPI) at the Ministry of Communication and Informatics, Ismail, revealed that Indonesia is optimising technology by ensuring sufficient digital connection and working in concert with the private sector and the community. For its citizens to make the most of this technology, the government of the Republic of Indonesia is investing heavily in its development.
According to Ismail, Indonesia has a well-balanced strategy of infrastructure development and radio frequency spectrum management in place, which would speed up the nationwide rollout of digital infrastructure. However, Indonesia needs to harness an IoT-based platform that uses the country’s digital infrastructure to speed up digital transformation and promote innovation in day-to-day living.
“The Indonesian government has invested much in expanding access to the internet throughout the country, particularly in rural and isolated areas. While this is happening, the Indonesian government is working to speed up the spread of ICT applications and services across many sectors,” Ismail mentioned in an online session for the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) Prizes 2023 titled “High-Level Policy Session 7: Ethical Dimensions of Information and Knowledge Societies/Bridging Digital Divides”.
The event attended by ministerial representatives from the European Union, Pakistan, Iran, Cambodia, India and the United Arab Emirates were in attendance. In addition, academics and representatives from foreign organisations were also in attendance.
Ismail points out that the government and the private sector need to collaborate with other actors as the infrastructure network expanded. As seen by the aftermath of the COVID-19 outbreak in Indonesia, the business sector was spurred to develop and implement several digitisation programmes in the education, healthcare, and SME support sectors.
“Such as student e-book libraries and e-chat programmes. The programme was designed to help educators and students in their academic pursuits. In addition, there is a database of digital web pages, including about 7,500 pieces of digital information. Using digital technology, they hope to create a more accessible education system for all members of our community, he explained.
Ismail said the programme has the potential to benefit over 40,000 educators and over 600 institutions this academic year through enhanced professional development opportunities. Over 20,000 educators and 16,000 pupils have benefited from private sector capacity development programmes.
The private sector in Indonesia has launched several programmes to aid the growth of SMEs. These programmes provide SMEs with resources, including startup funding, digital marketing courses, and more.
Several private sector personnel and over 16,000 partners began the programme to digitalise small and medium-sized businesses. From this, we can infer that the government is trying to promote the availability of digital services and apps,” he said.
Meanwhile, in the healthcare sector, the private sector helps to produce the PeduliLindungi health app during the recent Covid-19 outbreak. The collaboration from a local developer’s team, the Indonesian government’s Ministry of Health, and the Ministry of Communication and Informatics have sped up the development and improvement of the app.
During the pandemic “this application provides information about health and other relevant information,” the Director General of SDPPI of the Ministry of Communication and Informatics pointed out.
With over 100 million users, the software has been downloaded and is now used as an Indonesian Health Service Platform known as Satu Sehat Platform. The Platform is a unified health record system for locals. Director General Ismail cited that app as an example of one that is crucial to Indonesia’s healthcare system.
Indonesia’s government is constantly improving its public services to make them more effective and accessible to the people. Efforts to manage Indonesia’s National Public Service Innovation Network have officially commenced. (JIPPNas). The JIPPNas website has become a clearinghouse for innovative methods in public service throughout the country.
The website was created to compile all accessible statistics and information on the best public services and help Indonesia’s public and private sectors better understand how to develop innovation. The JIPPNas website is a hub for promoting innovation, especially in public services, thanks to the collaborative efforts of several different organisations.
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Venture Capital (VC) has played a significant role in driving innovation and economic growth by providing essential financing for startups and early-stage enterprises. With rising interest rates and complicated loan approval processes, many entrepreneurs are turning to VC financing opportunities to bridge the gap between funding sources for innovation and traditional, lower-cost forms of finance available to existing businesses.
To attract private equity funds and entice entrepreneurs with high-return ideas, the VC industry must offer a satisfactory return on capital, provide appealing returns for its members, and demonstrate promising upside potential. However, consistently outperforming investments in inherently risky business operations remains a significant challenge
Despite not being long-term ventures, the goal of VC investments is to provide financial support to a company’s balance sheet and infrastructure until it achieves a certain size and level of credibility that makes it attractive for acquisition by a corporation or provides the opportunity for liquidity in the institutional public equity markets.
Due to the saturation of the startup market and ongoing inflation concerns, many investors are opting for a more conservative approach. Venture capitalists today are adopting a more cautious, long-term strategy, departing from the previously prevalent aggressive, short-term investment approach.
Venture Capitalists Measure When Funding a Startup
“UTokyo IPC aims to accelerate innovation on a global scale that leveraged the University of Tokyo through three key activities: supporting entrepreneurs, facilitating corporate innovation, and investing in startups,” Kei reveals.
The company’s primary activity is Venture Capital (VC), which consists of meaningful investments and the exiting of those portfolios. A concurrent objective is to apply UTokyo’s research, intellectual assets and other resources to businesses.
While the ultimate goal is to make investments, Kei shared that they also conduct extensive research and academic work, that can be commercialised.
The company has invested in around 60 companies or portfolios that are primarily focused on various fields including biotech (drug discovery, medical devices, agriculture), robotics, aerospace, IT and AI (mainly enterprise solutions).
“It is pertinent that our company was established as a result of a political decision, indicating that the government is currently experiencing a period of uncertainty,” Kei explains. “Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), and the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT)made a joint decision to increase funding for startups emerging from universities, to explore ways to transform research into viable business ventures. This decision ultimately led to the creation of our company.”
Typically, national universities in Japan are not permitted to invest in companies, but an exception was made in this case. As a result, the VC firm is deeply invested in the growth of startups and takes a deep interest in their success.
Kei explained that the national budget was used to establish our funds. It is noteworthy that the funds comprise public and private sources, with a government disbursement allowing it to undertake investments with significantly greater risk.
He acknowledges that the company employs a matrix to evaluate the success of its investments. However, due to their focus on early-stage deep tech investments, it can be extremely challenging to conduct such measurements, particularly at an early stage. Nonetheless, his team closely monitors the progress of each investment and ensures that the milestones established for both business and technology are met.
The company operates an incubation and accelerator programme called “1st Round” (https://www.1stround.jp/) that serves as a bridge between academia and business. It is a programme co-hosted by 13 Top national and private universities from Japan. To participate in the initiative, start-ups are not required to be incorporated but must do so if chosen. If already incorporated, they must be under 3 years, and must not be funded by a VC at application timing.
He notes that they have numerous corporate sponsors, consisting of major Japanese corporations of a wide spectrum of industry fields. They strongly encourage partnerships between the startups and the sponsoring companies to conduct proof of concept (POC) projects together. This safe and close-knit community has resulted in many successful ventures between companies and startups.
The venture capitalist arm has a follow-on investment strategy aimed at providing support to the companies they invest in, particularly during challenging times. They take a hands-on approach by having members sit or observe boards meeting of portfolio companies to offer guidance and mentorship for business development, HR support (has own recruitment platform “Deep tech Dive” (https://www.utokyo-ipc.co.jp/dive/), and public relations. Also since their fund terms are 15 years, relatively longer than other VC funds, which helps deep tech startups to firmly bring technology to the market.
The VC strongly believes in the value of persistence and is committed to not giving up on its investments. They are determined to work tirelessly until the very end to revitalise the company, a trait they consider critical of a successful investor.
As a university subsidiary, they do not limit themselves to any particular investment areas and remain open to various types of startups. While there may be some sectors that are more attractive to non-tech venture capital, they generally favour startups that may be complex to comprehend but possess the potential to bring about transformative changes in the world.
They take a long-term investment approach and have transitioned from short-term rapid investment to supporting social impact and sustainability, particularly in healthcare startups. However, they also must balance this with the need for financial returns.
When making investments, financial returns are undoubtedly important, but they are not the sole factor that should be taken into account. The overall impact of the investment, including its social, environmental and ethical implications, should also be carefully considered.
Startups have several options for obtaining capital, such as crowdfunding, venture loans, and revenue-based finance. Each strategy has its own advantages and disadvantages, and therefore, entrepreneurs must have a deep understanding of these options.
Having multiple funding options can be advantageous, provided that entrepreneurs and shareholders are well-informed about the pros and cons of each. A thorough understanding of the funding options can help them make an informed decision that aligns with their business goals and objectives.
Urban Ideas and Solutions Through LKYGBPC
The Lee Kuan Yew Global Business Plan Competition (LKYGBPC), which began in 2001, is a biennial global university start-up competition hosted in Singapore. Organised by Singapore Management University’s Institute of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, focuses on urban ideas and solutions developed by student founders and early-stage start-ups.
According to Kei, as an entrepreneur, it is essential to have the appropriate capacity and seek guidance from knowledgeable individuals, particularly in the early stages of the business. As a university subsidiary, UTokyoIPC is well-equipped to assist entrepreneurs and help prevent them from making fatal mistakes out of ignorance.
The success of promoting entrepreneurship in culture depends on the ecosystem and environment that encourages and supports it. Singapore has a strong entrepreneurial environment, with universities such as SMU and NUS emphasising entrepreneurship. In contrast, Japan has a larger economy but tends to be more conservative.
The University of Tokyo has been actively fostering entrepreneurship by offering courses to students, which has led to the creation of numerous companies. The critical factor behind this success is the creation of an environment that supports entrepreneurship and motivates people to pursue it. Marketing and promoting the benefits of entrepreneurship are also vital to its success.
“The programme is expanding and involving many other universities beyond Singapore. This makes LKYGBPC an excellent platform for startups or the venture capital industry, as it is close to many countries in the region.” Kei believes.
Since joining the company in 2019, Kei has been actively involved in supporting startups, professors, and students through various initiatives. His passion is on deep tech startups or those with the potential to bring about positive changes in the world. He has invested in a diverse range of fields, including IT, robotics, AI and agritech.
Many successful entrepreneurs come from different backgrounds, such as business, engineering, finance, marketing and more. While having a technical background can be advantageous in some industries, it is not always necessary for achieving business success, Kei opines.
“Ultimately, having a strong business sense is more crucial than any specific technical background. What truly matters is possessing a good grasp of business and the necessary skills to succeed in it. This entails competencies such as strategic thinking, financial management, leadership, communication, and problem-solving,” Kei concludes.