Great Scott, just look at Singapore !

Sunday Herald, Scotland, February 3, 2007


European leaders at the recent Microsoft Global Leaders Forum in Scotland agreed on the need for governments to modernise and innovate. This article highlights Singapore's early push in that direction.

by Iain S. Bruce


THEY came from the four corners of Europe, with the future on their minds. From government ministers to senior civil servants, company directors to economists, social scientists to educators, the coterie of notables that converged on a buzzing Parliament building in Edinburgh for the Microsoft Government Leaders Forum on Jan 29 represented almost every facet of modern life.
Keynote speakers, led by Microsoft's Bill Gates and Britain's Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown, outlined the huge technological, economic, environmental and social challenges likely to be unleashed upon Europe.

The delegates were left in no doubt as to the gravity of the situation by Netherlands Minister of State Wim Kok, whose bold opening address neatly laid out the terms of a shared problem that is not going to go away.

'We must recognise and discuss the major social and economic challenges that we face,' said the former Dutch prime minister. 'The urgency of these issues is still underestimated, not only by ordinary citizens but by too many policymakers, where there is still a lack of real insight into the magnitude of the problems that Europe will face in the near future. We cannot escape from the need to transform. If we want to remain competitive in this globalising economy, we must focus on innovation and modernisation now.'

The facts, as presented, are: The technology whirlwind is dramatically changing the way that we do everything and, in a shrinking world, the balance of power is shifting dramatically. Asia is now out-producing Europe, China is responsible for half the world's clothing and electronics output and India - once the embodiment of a Third World economy - is now running 75 per cent of the world's outsourced services.

Meanwhile, despite European Commission findings that 20 per cent of all European jobs are at risk from predatory international competitors, 37 per cent of European citizens still have no computer skills. There is an unavoidable skills gap too, not to mention the fact that if you put every information and communications technology (ICT) engineering graduate from Germany and France for the next 10 years into a single room, you would still need somewhere bigger for the Chinese class of 2007 alone.

Add to that mix the realities of an ageing population, mass immigration and a host of environmental problems and you cannot avoid the conclusion that Europe faces major barriers over the next few decades. They can be surmounted, but to do so will require a programme of preparation and improvement that engages us all. Not just the government, the blue chips or the colleges, but everyone - and it will not be easy.

'Making people aware of the realities without scaring the hell out of them and without losing their confidence in the future is one of the biggest challenges we face. I have experience, as a trade union leader and, later, as a political leader and the prime minister of my country, of how complicated it is to communicate all of that and to convince people that the status quo is not an option,' said Mr Kok.

There is, of course, a small nation state which has done this before.

Although relatively tiny and tucked away on the far side of the world, its population of barely five million is rich in IT skills, well accustomed to the multifaceted benefits of e-government and motivated to make its mark on the global marketplace. That place is Singapore, and it has many lessons to teach us about how to cut it in the big bad world.

Today, Singapore is regarded as one of the world's leading e-government proponents. Topping most international benchmarking studies, its efforts to deploy technology's many benefits have garnered global acclaim, with high levels of citizen participation, effective service delivery and a cultural awareness of ICT issues combining to turn it into a highly competitive, perpetually expanding economy.

They have set the bar. The rest of us, if we want to stay in the game, must respond accordingly.

'The challenge for us all is to have the drive, the determination, the confidence, the creativity, the energy and the enthusiasm - the blood, sweat and tears - to succeed, to drive things forward and to make the difference. That is the challenge, not just for me or for Scotland but for all of us,' Scotland's Deputy First Minister and Enterprise Minister Nichol Stephen said.

A key factor to Singapore's success, however, is that it is built on planning. Since the 1980s its government has enacted a succession of clearly stated computerisation strategies and, last year, the latest of these, the iN2015 Masterplan, set out the country's latest targets.

By 2015, it wants to be the world leader in using technology to benefit the economy and society, with broadband access for 90 per cent of the population and ensuring 100 per cent computer ownership for all homes with school-going children. It expects to create 80,000 jobs and triple the value of ICT exports.

The question, of course, is how Scotland measures up. The Executive talks a good game about e-enablement but, unlike Singapore - which has been implementing a succession of such programmes since 1980 - has yet to define a clear overall e-strategy.

Singapore's blueprint defines four key strategies required to prepare a country for 21st-century business. Scotland's approach is less coherent and, when compared like-for-like with that of Singapore, it becomes clear that while we have made a good start, there is clearly room for improvement.

The first major requirement is the development of an ICT-savvy workforce. Scotland's efforts in this area have been boosted by the news that, along with Cisco and learndirect scotland, Microsoft is launching The Industry Alliance for Jobs, which aims to deliver IT training to 100,000 Scots by 2010.

It is good news, but the initiative is more the child of private enterprise than public policy, and the wisdom of depending upon such schemes delivering a stable, sustainable approach is open to question.

That said, there is a clear strategy in place. E-skills, the sector skills council charged with developing the IT workforce in Scotland, has established four policy objectives: improving the attractiveness of IT careers, preparing the future workforce, developing the existing workforce and ensuring the infrastructure is fit.

This strategy, the Executive believes, will ensure that businesses will fully realise the potential of IT to support their business goals, that all citizens will have the user skills necessary in the e-economy and that Scotland will be recognised as a global leader in the high-tech field.

Scotland was one of the first UK regions to undertake research into next-generation broadband and the impact of a high-speed infrastructure, but has been criticised for deciding that investment is not yet called for.

The race has begun but, despite a promising start, it remains to be seen how Scotland will fare. However we decide to piece together the components required to make it in the 21st century, the unavoidable message is that all of us must be trained, ready and willing to face whatever the future throws at us.

This is a shortened version of an article that appeared in Scotland's Sunday Herald on Feb 3.