Singapore-Shanghai economic connections have grown further, with two-way commerce expanding by 8% in 2022 to approximately S$20 billion. To build on this and develop deeper partnerships between the two cities, the recently concluded 4th Singapore-Shanghai Comprehensive Cooperation Council (SSCCC) conference signed 15 agreements in a variety of fields.

This is the first physical conference of the Provincial Business Council (PBC) between Singapore and China since the COVID-19 pandemic, and the first SSCCC meeting hosted in Singapore.

Singapore and Shanghai, as well as the larger Yangtze River Delta (YRD) region, agreed to boost trade and investment links. The two nations also committed to strengthening bilateral cooperation in the digital and green economies, as well as to deepen existing strong relationships in financial services and innovation.

The 4th SSCCC meeting saw a record number of 15 agreements signed between Singapore and Shanghai covering interests such as people-to-people exchanges, financial services, technology and innovation, as well as emerging areas such as the digital economy.

At the 4th SSCCC conference, the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) and the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Economy and Informatisation signed a memorandum of agreement (MoU) to increase collaboration in areas such as digital connectivity, digital utilities, and innovation.

Partner companies of two nations that design and build e-government solutions are also joined together to improve cross-border trade through digitalisation. The Singapore Ministry of Law, the Shanghai Municipal Bureau of Justice, the Law Society of Singapore, and the Shanghai Bar Association also signed an MOU under the people-to-people exchanges workgroup to promote regular interactions between lawyers from both cities.

Enterprise Singapore (EnterpriseSG), in collaboration with the Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s Singapore Enterprise Centre (Shanghai), organised a month-long Singapore Showcase of 38 lifestyle and retail brands at Shanghai’s exhibition centre Hongqiao Pinhui to raise awareness and visibility of Singapore brands.

The inaugural Singapore-China YRD Joint Innovation Call programme finished successfully under the technology and innovation workgroup, with more than 50 project applications submitted in sectors such as digital and green economies, healthcare and urban solutions.

Participants of the 4th SSCCC meeting also witnessed the collaboration between IPI Singapore and the National Eastern Tech-Transfer Centre, which will catalyse more two-way exchanges and drive demand-led innovation by matching problem statements with solutions from Singapore and Shanghai companies.

Also, Singapore and Shanghai saw strong exchanges in financial services, with the United Overseas Bank (UOB) becoming the first foreign bank to open a Free Trade Zone sub-branch in Lingang; Green Link Digital Bank and Bank of China Asset Management officially launching operations in Singapore in June and December 2022, respectively, and Guotai Junan Futures opening in February this year.

Participants at the 4th SSCCC summit reiterated their pledges to the global climate change agenda and committed to seeking additional meaningful partnerships in sustainability, building on the recent success in green finance collaboration.

Singapore, for example, is eager to collaborate with Shanghai to promote increased cross-border green and transition finance to help the region’s transition, as well as to trial green and digital solutions in improving global maritime supply chains. Singapore enterprises are also looking at pilot projects in Shanghai connected to green construction and urban revitalisation.

Singapore and Shanghai have strong and progressive ties that are supported by strong partnerships in financial services, technology, and innovation, as well as expanding collaborations in developing digital and green economies.

China’s medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) play a vital role in driving innovation in the manufacturing sector, with SMEs producing novel and distinctive products at the vanguard of this trend.

A medical technology company described a device that could assist individuals with mobility issues to walk without an external power source. The device, a passive wearable exoskeleton, supports the hip and knee joints of the human body using the mechanical and physical principle of the pendulum and the human body’s gravitation, thereby eliminating the need for a motor driving force. This ground-breaking innovation has the potential to transform the lives of people with impaired mobility by allowing them to walk independently.

Another company that specialises in providing integrated solutions for robotic systems in the energy industry has developed a wall-climbing inspection and cleaning robot that can travel on the surface of large metal cans via magnetic adhesion.

Equipped with a high-definition camera, the robot can collect images and detect flaws while cleaning, eliminating the inefficiency and dangers associated with manual detection in power plants. These are only a few examples of the cutting-edge technologies and products developed by China’s specialised and sophisticated SMEs.

According to Li Zibin, president of the China Association of Small and Medium Enterprises, specialised and advanced SMEs that produce novel and distinctive products are becoming the cradle of new industries, new business forms, and new models, propelling China’s manufacturing industry towards a more advanced, intelligent, and environmentally friendly development.

As reported by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, China has cultivated over 70,000 specialised and advanced SMEs that produce novel and unique products, with nearly 9,000 of them being “little giant” firms. These small and medium-sized enterprises are spurring innovation across multiple industries, from medical technology to energy, and creating new opportunities for economic expansion.

Numerous Chinese local governments have been actively instituting policies to foster the growth of specialised and advanced SMEs to encourage their expansion.

Liaoning Province, for example, has issued a work plan to improve the gradient training system for specialised and advanced SMEs, whereas Anhui Province has set a goal of establishing more than 5,000 provincial-level specialised and advanced enterprises by 2025, including 500 national-level specialised and advanced “little giant” firms.

Also, the Beijing Stock Exchange has recognised the importance of these SMEs and prioritised them, building a comprehensive market structure to provide full-chain services for their growth. Currently, over 70 specialised and sophisticated “little giant” corporations are registered on the Beijing Stock Exchange, accounting for 40% of the total 186 listed companies.

These SMEs, as Li Zibin pointed out, are not only driving innovation but also powering China’s change of its development mode, optimising the economic structure, and shifting the growth momentum. Specialised and sophisticated SMEs are propelling China towards a more modern, intelligent, and sustainable manufacturing industry with their original and unique goods. They are placing China as a global leader in technology development and economic growth as they continue to thrive and innovate.

By utilising cutting-edge technologies, these SMEs are providing solutions to a variety of problems, boosting efficiency, and propelling China towards a more advanced, intelligent, and environmentally friendly development. With the aid of favourable policies and market structures, these SMBs are likely to continue to thrive.

Technology innovation has become a significant growth catalyst for the nation’s SME sector. With favourable government policies, digitalisation, R&D investment, advanced manufacturing, collaboration, IP protection, and internationalisation, Chinese SMEs are increasingly leveraging technology to increase their global market competitiveness and create new opportunities.

Eco-friendly technology to upcycle paddy waste to manufacture raw materials for industrial applications is being developed by researchers from the Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT-Madras). With the technology, farmers will gain another source of income as paddy waste can be used to produce energy devices that can be used by industries. This approach has the potential to significantly reduce the practice of burning stubble and other forms of agricultural waste in North India, according to a statement.

Through their research, the team is promoting a new ‘Farm-Energy Synergy’ that involves utilising organic waste, specifically kitchen waste, to create useable activated carbon, a critical element in producing supercapacitors. Supercapacitors offer numerous advantages to consumers in various industries such as electronics, energy, and agriculture. They have the potential to promote self-sufficiency in the supercapacitor. Self-reliance in the field of supercapacitors and supercapacitor-based energy storage technology will boost IP generation and employment within the country.

An official said that the solution that the Institute is identifying is a well-defined process. It will allow for the conversion of paddy waste of the country to commercial standard carbon material and the use of the activated carbon to fabricate supercapacitors that comply with the market standard. The material will be implemented in the form of a suitable supercapacitor-based hybrid energy storage device. It will also enable the achievement of several government projects, including the Paris Agreement on climate change, the COP26 summit, Mission 2070, and the Montreal and Kyoto Protocols.

Currently, the amount of paddy waste generated in the country is 76 million metric tons per year. Farmers consider burning straw as the most low-cost and efficient alternative to tailing the straw into the soil. However, this practice leads to significant pollution and ecological issues. Additionally, burning diminishes the potential use of biomass. The estimated loss for India alone is approximately IN 926 billion (US$ 11.2 billion) associated with this approach to farm waste management.

IIT-Madras researchers have already demonstrated the conversion of bio-waste into biomass (such as vegetable waste) to activated carbon and have used it to make supercapacitor electrode materials. The same technology can be adapted to render paddy waste valid for activated carbon production. The plan is to use the approach being followed to make activated carbon and explore scales of production.

A representative from the Institute explained that agriculture continues to be at the heart of India’s economy. This breakthrough technology that converts biomass such as paddy waste into activated carbon, will have a significant bearing on health, the environment and the economy. The Institute is looking for CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) partners to help scale up the project and benefit the country at large.

To promote sustainability, in December, IIT-Madras developed an ocean wave energy converter that can generate electricity from sea waves. As OpenGov Asia reported, it targets generating 1 megawatt of power from ocean waves within the next three years. The product has been named Sindhuja-I, which means ‘generated from the ocean.’

The project will help achieve several objectives, including goals set in the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development and India’s targets to carry out deep-water missions, promote clean energy, and achieve a blue economy.

All communication projects must include disaster risk assessment and mitigation. Dr Ulrich Spiedel, senior lecturer in computer science in the Faculty of Science at the University of Auckland, pointed this out as a response to the communication network outage caused by Cyclone Gabrielle. He iterated that more than affordability is needed.

According to Spiedel, around 80% of cell site failures during Cyclone Gabrielle were caused by power outages, and approximately 20% were caused by a loss of backhaul connectivity (the responsibility of telecommunications infrastructure provider Chorus). He said that modern communication systems require power and what engineers call “backhaul,” or cables that connect cell towers and exchanges to the national network.

“When Cyclone Gabrielle hit, both were severely damaged. Many sites lost power shortly after the mains failed. The battery was only designed to run for a few hours or several days at the most,” he explained.

Much of the backhaul – often fibre optic cables running parallel to power lines along important roadways – was also destroyed by landslides and flooding. As a result, even if cell sites still had power, they could not link anyone anywhere.

This resulted in the deactivation of many cell sites, including those operated by the Rural Connectivity Group (RCG), the government-appointed supplier of broadband and mobile services in sparsely inhabited areas. Emergency services have also progressively abandoned their radio-based communication networks in favour of less expensive cell phones that provide greater privacy and coverage.

Furthermore, people and emergency responders require fuel for vehicles, food, and other supplies. However, digital payments require internet service.

Failed operator-owned urban cell sites are frequently covered by neighbouring cells. If the power goes out, they can usually be reached and supplied with generators—much of the first reconnecting progress after the typhoon was achieved in this manner.

Cyclones and storms aren’t the only dangers. Tairwhiti and Hawke’s Bay, for example, are vulnerable to offshore Hikurangi subduction zone earthquakes, which could result in tsunami inundation and slips.

Manage the calamity

Spiedel recommends considering two fundamental technical concepts: site resilience and variety to deal with many forms of potential calamities. Resilience could imply outfitting cell sites with solar or wind generating, larger batteries, and “redundant” technology to allow them to operate for extended periods without needing external power or access.

Cell sites could require a separate, alternate backhaul path, such as a second cable running in an opposite direction or a microwave or satellite link. It could imply attempting to link a wire to the internet from both ends rather than simply one. This means both sides of a break could be provided from either end.

Diversity could include having more locations and using alternative cable pathways like rail tracks, and overhead high-voltage power line towers more frequently. More connectivity between these corridors for usage in crises could result.

International connectivity is also essential. New Zealand is currently linked to the rest of the globe by five undersea fibre-optic cables. However, an enormous volcanic eruption, for example, on Auckland’s North Shore, could shut the country off from three or possibly four of these.

A satellite internet service can be helpful. It assisted Wairoa in reconnecting with the outside world after hours of total darkness and subsequently brought countless banks and stores back online. It is simple to set up, does not rely on local infrastructure, and requires only a modest generator for power.

Satellite backup cannot supply the necessary worldwide capacity in a catastrophic disaster. They are, nevertheless, still a viable choice. The terminals are not expensive. Therefore equipping every Civil Defence site with one should be relatively inexpensive.

Maritime VHF radios are standard in coastal communities, which could be utilised onshore if other systems fail. Strangely, boaters are advised to have two modes of communication, yet emergency services are only required to have one.

Data is not merely a significant component of the IT ecosystem; it is the cornerstone of operations in both the private and public sectors and expands and evolves rapidly. Hence, the strategies and strategies that organisations rely on to manage their data can generate new results, but they can also impede growth and innovation.

When it comes to modernising data infrastructure, organisations want to be sure that the technology they choose can produce value from their data while keeping it secure and compliant with regularly changing regulations.

Moreover, migrating to cloud-based platforms enables organisations to rapidly become data-driven, reducing costs and enhancing business outcomes.

Modern infrastructure is characterised by its adaptability and capacity to continuously and automatically assess and act on current, comprehensive data. It enables organisations to store any quantity of data at a minimal cost in open, standardised data formats.

It is not constrained by inaccessible data silos and enables users to conduct analytics or machine learning with their methods and tool. It also enables organisations to govern data access safely, thereby increasing public confidence.

Service providers can help organisations to achieve their goals through data infrastructure solutions. The flexible, contemporary architecture will increase efficiency, maximise security and streamline operations.

The OpenGov Breakfast Insight on 22 September 2022 at Mandarin Oriental Singapore offered the latest information management use cases to sustain trust in government and better serve citizens.

Citizen Engagement Builds Government Trust

Kicking off the session, Mohit Sagar, CEO & Editor-in-Chief, acknowledges that trust in public sector services must be developed through positive citizen experiences. It is essential for the government to upgrade its infrastructure systems to connect data, content and applications capable of enhancing the availability and security of information.

Organisations are struggling to capture and preserve the increasing amount of data that is being collected. In this context, a secure and private data management system that is interoperable and integrated is required by the government to collect data from all agencies as needed.

Concerns regarding the efficiency and productivity of the digital experience begin to develop as data volumes expand and information spreads across multiple systems. Because of obsolete technology and resources, governments struggle to improve their present systems and infrastructure.

Citizens’ services now require online forms of documentation as the norm. Public services save time and money by using a once-filled form since data is easily accessible and appropriately stored. In addition, citizens do not need to resubmit forms each time they require a service because they can reuse the e-form as is or amend data as necessary.

In the digital post-COVID-19 era, paper-based documents require a substantial financial investment and amount of storage. With the cloud movement of these papers, digital registers may be utilised more frequently. However, current government data handling poses several privacy concerns. Citizens are frequently unaware of how their personal information is handled and stored.

The government must consider proper data storage and avoid silos and repetitive data. Because of outdated technologies, data insight may be misinterpreted. As a result, the government must update its information management systems and protect the cloud.

To better all government services such as grants, permits, and licences, data management and storage innovation must progress. Advances in information management in the public sector help with decision-making. AI and other tools can analyse personalised data to create smarter, data-driven judgments.

The Information Advantage: Keeping Connected While Maintaining Data Security

According to Randy Goh, Regional Vice President, Southeast Asia, OpenText, because of COVID-19, the digital revolution has forced the world to alter at an unprecedented rate.

Organisations both in public and private sectors and the systems they are using are all tightly linked, requiring the management of massive amounts of data. As a result, verifying the quality, validity and legitimacy of all data has become more complex.

To address this issue, ICT must simplify the technique for obtaining “trust” in the digital world. Apart from the products and services with which customers have direct contact, trust in data, systems and those who handle them is becoming increasingly important.

People depend on how others process information and must be able to rely on how others process information, thus the information advantage is the competitive edge that comes from using the information to its full potential.

“Today, the cloud is where the information advantage resides. A new digital fabric that underpins all businesses,” says Randy. “ The information advantage offers organisations the ability to be intelligent, connected, and accountable.”

For 30 years, OpenText has been delivering trusted and quality solutions, “These two, simple, but powerful words are extremely important to us, and we know they’re equally important to the Fortune 1000 companies who use OpenText to manage information in their enterprise,” believes Randy.

​OpenText, Canada’s largest software corporation is based in Waterloo, Canada, with regional offices in Germany, Tokyo, the United States, and Australia. With 53 offices worldwide, they provide global coverage for global enterprise customers. ​It has over 6000 trained and certified EIM professionals across customer support, managed services and professional services dedicated to unlocking information advantages for its customers. ​​

Over the past three decades, OpenText has assisted customers in the banking, insurance, manufacturing, healthcare, and public sectors with their Enterprise Information Management (EIM) journeys, according to Randy.

Equipped with industry-specific best practices and seasoned delivery and consulting resources, as well as our global and local teams in Southeast Asia, we have assisted numerous clients in achieving tremendous success with their EIM projects.

The most precious commodity in the digital economy is information. It assists clients in enhancing efficiencies, redefining business models, and transforming industries.

Organisations must utilise new technologies to unlock the power of information, become more Intelligent and Connected through automation and artificial intelligence, APIs and data automation, and increase customer, partner and employee engagement.

“EIM solutions manage the production, acquisition, application, and subsequent lifetime of structured and unstructured data, hence, OpenText EIM solutions are intended to assist enterprises in extracting value from their information, securing it, and adhering to the expanding regulatory requirements,” Randy ends.

The Information Advantage for Public Sector​

Keith Nelson, Industry Senior Strategist, Global Public Sector, OpenText followed Randy’s presentation by elaborating more work the company does with the public sector using a diagram depicting a typical federal agency content flow.

The agency’s main office acts as a focal point from which formal agreements go to state legislatures, frequently via grants, and to other federal agencies via intergovernmental agreements. The agency employs both on-site office employees and remote workers in addition to operating regional offices across the nation.

Another content lifecycle is then focused on the grantees and contractors. The department’s regulated industry is also interacted with directly by citizens through benefit programmes or queries.

In 2023, it is anticipated that over 60% of governments will have tripled their digital services for citizens, but fewer than 25% would have integrated these services across organisational silos.

Improving Citizen Experience via the implementation of digital technologies appears to be the top objective for government organisations.

“Cybersecurity is inevitable. It is the determining factor in every data- and information-related decision made by government agencies. Without it, TRUST cannot exist, and without TRUST, citizen adoption of digital services cannot occur. It will affect both internal and external development and adoption,” says Keith.

He added that the future of government is changing and shared some statistics:

• Cloud: National governments spend 22% of IT budgets on Cloud
• Security: 39% of all data breaches target web applications​
• Collaboration: Nearly half of the government employees will likely work remotely​
• Digital Experience: New Visitors to Gov Portals Up 56%​

“When you successfully utilise your information, you promote operational excellence and improved citizen experiences; you manage risk more effectively and produce greater insight,” Keith explains. “This is a cyclical pattern that returns increasing value as information management skills improve. You produce what we refer to as the Information Advantage.”

With dynamic citizen experiences, frictionless information interchange, streamlined risk management and process automation, cyber resilience, and a platform for innovation, OpenText provides the technology and skills needed for enterprises to anticipate and respond to change.

“When you connect content to digital business, you can remove friction from processes, boost employee productivity, and make governance and compliance easier. This gives your organisation a solid foundation for being resilient,” Keith explains.

Some of the works of OpenText such as: creating engaging omnichannel interactions by regularly testing, analysing, and reacting to new policies and customer feedback; providing many levels of protection to detect, prevent, examine forensically, and eliminate security risks; facilitating seamless information flow and compliance, and secure collaboration across the digital ecosystems of the public sector.

Horizontal technologies, like AI, analytics, the cloud, and automation, are used across OpenText to speed up transformation and make the company more resilient. “20 of 20 Federal Governments with the largest economies are OpenText customers including Governments of Canada, Japan, Germany, UK, Australia and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.”

In conversation with: Enhancing Government Services by Modernising Data Infrastructures and Providing Value to Citizens

According to Prof Alex Siow Professor (Practice), School of Computing, National University of Singapore, government services must meet the same, if not a better, standard of quality as expected by the public as citizens are digital consumers; they interact with and conduct business daily online.

Citizens as customers are engaging with businesses that regularly reinvent themselves to anticipate the wants and needs of their consumers.

In addition, customers’ expectations for how they interact with the government will rise and change as they do in the business sphere. Hence, a digital government must transform to keep up with the change in expectations, and it must do more than simply add technology to existing systems and procedures.

Concerns regarding the effectiveness and productivity of the digital experience are fueled by the data’s rapid expansion. Due to obsolete technology and resources, governments struggle to update their current systems and infrastructure.

Organisations still struggle with gathering and keeping data, even though it is being collected in ever-increasing amounts.

Weng Wanyi, Director, Singapore Government Data Office, Smart Nation and Digital Government Office opined that the value of data from the public sector goes beyond the pandemic and into many other parts of society and the economy.

Since it typically relies on various registries with distinct goals, accessibility is a challenge for many governments, thus a more efficient information network can have a significant effect.

Customer-centricity is an essential indicator of digitally transformed enterprises. The leaders of such firms evaluate the customer’s perspective first and foremost, then coordinate internal and external procedures to alleviate pain points throughout the whole customer life cycle.

“To create an effective digital transformation, you need the right people, processes and platforms in your organisation,” says Weng.

Governments can create an interoperable and connected data landscape where data collected by any government entity are accessible where needed, where security and privacy are protected and where sufficient measures such as legal, technical, and organisational prevent data misuse to fully realise the potential of their data.

Building digital public infrastructure may accelerate the delivery of the digital goals to benefit everyone while encouraging inclusion and sustainable economies. However, there are still some issues involving organisations and governments, as well as programmes, rules, rights, and cultural practices.

With this, a Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) with even greater potential for addressing existing societal difficulties and assisting in the mitigation of future ones can be created on the foundation of a Digital Public Good (DPG). These DPGs can be enhanced, altered and reused. They are versatile, resilient and easily shared.

These examples demonstrate the effectiveness of digital cooperation. Interoperable DPGs will combine and establish a safe, trustworthy, and inclusive infrastructure that facilitates the change of the entire society.

With a digital mindset of cooperation, sharing knowledge and finding sustainable ways to handle money, organisations already have the tools to build resilient digital inclusivity, while governments can improve their decision-making and exhibit accountability and transparency with the correct information management tools.

The public sector will be able to obtain insights from data to make more informed decisions for the economic and health benefits of citizens. Properly managing public sector information will assure its continued reliability and trustworthiness, as well as encourage the use and reuse of data by both public sector bodies and the public.

Enterprise content management solutions offer rapid access to information anytime it is required. Getting this actionable result will speed up and make clearer the decision-making process and add value to the data when it is turned into suggestions for change.

The danger of data tampering or distortion can be reduced if the information is automated utilising solutions that follow governance and compliance norms while also reducing risk.

Closing Remarks

Randy noted that each organisation had unique difficulties and solutions. He emphasises that information management is a critical method for alleviating the increasing constraints on governments to meet citizen demands.

Digital technologies may drive organisations’ growth; therefore, technology must fulfil the needs of organisations for them to reach a wider audience and build long-term relationships with their stakeholders.

By mastering information management methods, agencies will also be able to turn structured and unstructured data insights into actions and outcomes. Analytics and trends will hasten decision-making while producing information-driven, practical insights.

Randy appreciated the delegates for their helpful sharing and encouraged them to get in touch with him to discuss how OpenText could help them get started with their digital journey.

Mohit is convinced that many of the assumptions and tools on which organisations rely for decision-making have been shattered by the crisis. Yet for the restart, they will need to design a robust action framework in a highly uncertain environment.

“Digital and strategic collaborations benefit both the client and the organisation. The way they do business is changing, and new chances for creative cooperation are emerging,” Mohit asserts.

When it comes to dealing with digital transformation processes, a digital partner can be the pillar of strength. Partnerships will aid organisations, particularly the government sector, in a much broader and more sophisticated process since they possess the necessary expertise and experience. “Their assistance might prevent you from making avoidable errors, saving you time and money.”