Tan Kiat How (IMDA)
The government in Singapore is leveraging the technology capabilities of ecosystem channel partners and vendors to help businesses manage the impacts of Covid-19, through an online directory of solutions and services.
Curated by the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) and industry association SGTech, the solutions span three main areas: remote working, visitor management and productivity improvements.
The move is designed to help organisations in the city-state address business continuity challenges arising from Covid-19, such as workplace separation, visitor management, temperature recording and contact tracing.
“I am heartened to see the ICT industry come together to offer digital solutions that would be useful to our companies during this period,” said Tan Kiat How, CEO of IMDA.
“Remote working and digital collaboration tools allow firms to continue operations despite the disruption brought about by Covid-19. SMEs can use this opportunity to digitalise their operations and better position themselves for the eventual recovery.”
Solutions from Microsoft feature heavily, through collaboration tools such as Teams, Office 365, Dynamics 365 and Microsoft 365, in addition to Webex videoconferencing services from Cisco. PC and printer packages from HP are also on the recommended list, alongside Lenovo with specialised SMB bundles available.
Technology providers such as M1, Singtel and StarHub are offering enterprise grade solutions for the top end of town, backed by specialist services from Axiom IT Solutions, Advocado and Info-Tech Systems Integrators among others.
Collectively, more than 50 technology solution packages are already available, with more expected to be added in the coming weeks.
“This challenging time is an opportunity for companies to adopt digital technologies to ensure their business continuity,” added Wong Wai Meng, chairman of SGTech. “We are grateful that the members of our tech industry are rallying together to offer special packages to help businesses.
“Through the use of these tools, we hope that all businesses, particularly the SMEs, can emerge from this stronger and ready to take on the opportunities ahead.”
Both parties were quick to stress however that the listing is not to be taken as a form of endorsement or recommendation by IMDA or SGTech, with companies advised to carry out individual due diligence when engaging with vendors and partners.
