预算辩论 · 2018-03-06 · 第 13 届国会
新加坡数字经济与公共服务转型
Committee of Supply – Head Q (Ministry of Communications and Information)
议员质询数字经济发展及公共部门数字化转型，政府回应介绍了数字化提升民众生活便利和企业运营效率的具体案例，强调数字经济和数字素养提升的重要性。辩论聚焦于如何通过技术创新促进经济发展和社会包容，争议较低，更多为政策宣示和成效展示。
关键要点
- • 数字化提升生活便利
- • 推动数字经济发展
- • 加强数字素养培训
积极推动数字经济与全民数字素养
加快数字经济与公共服务融合
"Digitalisation has created many exciting opportunities and improved Singaporeans’ lives."
参与人员（8）
- Dr Yaacob Ibrahim
- Chee Hong Tat
- Liang Eng Hwa
- Minister for Communications and Information
- Senior Minister of State for Communications and Information
- Senior Minister of State for Communications and Information and Education
- Yee Chia Hsing
- Zaqy Mohamad
完整译文（中文）
Hansard 英文原文译文 · 翻译日期：2026-05-02
Q部分（续）–
【（程序文本）恢复对问题的辩论【2018年3月5日】，（程序文本）】
【（程序文本）“将预算中Q部分的总拨款减少100元。”——【扎基·穆罕默德议员】（程序文本）】
【（程序文本）再次提出问题。（程序文本）】
主席：秩序。鉴于早前议会中所作的声明及已用时间，我现将Q部分——通讯及资讯部的截止辩论时间修订为上午11时40分。各位议员将获通知后续拨款部分的修订结束时间。Q部分——通讯及资讯部。部长雅各布发言。
通讯及资讯部长（副教授雅各布·易卜拉欣博士）：主席先生，首先，我感谢各位议员昨天的友善评论。
主席先生，若获允许，我想播放一段简短视频，总结本部过去一年的工作，并在回应中穿插一些幻灯片。
主席：好的。【向议员们播放了视频和幻灯片。】
副教授雅各布·易卜拉欣博士：主席先生，数字化创造了许多令人振奋的机会，改善了新加坡人的生活。许多新加坡人积极拥抱数字化，抓住机遇。
刚才视频中提到的一个例子是沙基拉·沙姆女士，她拥有一家融合餐厅Eatz 19。她决定安装移动点餐和支付解决方案，让顾客在到达餐厅前就能查看菜单并下单，避免排队。这样，顾客满意，她也能通过产生的数据改善运营。更重要的是，这种便利让沙基拉的轮椅员工苏茜的工作更愉快，她现在可以在家在线管理点餐平台。
另一个例子是桑蒂娅·森蒂尔·库马尔女士，一位热衷自学者。她和儿子一起在图书馆参加编程课程，既增进亲子关系，也学会新技能。她能用新技能指导儿子编写自己的游戏。
还有许多像沙基拉和桑蒂娅这样的人。帮助他们成功是我们通讯及资讯部（MCI）全体同仁的动力。在本拨款委员会（COS）中，我们将与议员分享MCI的努力。我将谈及发展数字经济和提升新加坡人数字准备度的计划。高级国务部长贾尼尔·普图切里将详细说明工人、企业和公民如何从数字经济和数字准备中受益。高级国务部长朱鸿达将解释MCI转型和发展媒体行业的努力。我将总结我们图书馆的精彩转型，希望能激励大家。
主席先生，先谈数字经济。数字转型是当今企业面临的最重要议题。新加坡工商联合会（SBF）最近的研究显示，大多数商人充分认识到数字化的重要性，因为回报巨大。微软最近的研究估计，到2021年，数字经济将为我国国内生产总值（GDP）贡献额外100亿美元。这是我们智慧国计划的背景——为人民创造良好工作和机会。
扎基·穆罕默德议员问政府如何确保新加坡企业和劳动力在数字未来中茁壮成长。我的回答是“ABC”——加速现有行业数字化，培育我们的信息通信媒体（ICM）公司，创造未来数字技术行业。让我解释。
首先，“A”——加速现有行业数字化。数字化影响每个行业，但各行业响应速度不一。银行金融和零售等行业表现较好。最近我访问全国职工总会（NTUC）FairPrice在新邮中心的新“生活实验室”超市，看到FairPrice如何利用创新零售技术改造传统超市，革新购物体验，满足数字时代消费者期望和习惯，同时提升员工生产力。但其他行业则较难跟上。
议员们问政府如何帮助中小企业（SMEs）受益于数字化。先分享中小企业数字化面临的共同挑战。部分行业难以数字转型的原因是知识不足。即使企业愿意拥抱数字化，也不知道如何做或从何开始。中小企业尤其如此，因资源和规模有限，难以部署数字解决方案。因此，我们去年推出了“中小企业数字化计划”，初步聚焦关键行业，通过行业数字计划（IDPs）提供分步骤指导，简化中小企业数字化。去年11月，我们推出了零售和物流行业数字计划，今年将推出更多。
议员们问我们帮助中小企业数字化的成效。尽管计划运行不足一年，已有鼓舞人心的成果。超过650家中小企业受益，更多企业排队等待。
计划中预先批准数字解决方案的受益者之一是海鲜之家（House of Seafood），一家餐厅连锁及食品制造商，产品出口多国。各国进口要求不同，难以高效跟踪。公司安装了数字标签解决方案，自动化合规检查。海鲜之家出口更便捷，销售增长20%，生产力提升25%。
上午10时15分
另一个例子是OKH物流。物流业务复杂，公司采用智能车辆监控系统优化运营。通过分析数据，车辆事故减少50%。事故减少意味着资产利用率提升，日均配送量增加约10%。
主席先生，我们将继续发展“中小企业数字化计划”，目标惠及更多中小企业。我们完全同意张世乐议员的观点，必须确保计划在快速变化环境中保持相关性。我们将定期审查行业数字计划和预先批准解决方案，确保符合最新行业趋势和标准，满足中小企业需求。
扎基·穆罕默德议员问还有什么措施帮助中小企业抓住数字化机遇。孙雪玲议员问是否会与有影响力的合作伙伴合作，推动行业数字化。我们正在推行一项举措，不仅关注单个中小企业的解决方案，而是采取集群方式，与有影响力的合作伙伴合作，帮助同一行业的一组中小企业。
例如，在物流行业，资讯通信媒体发展局（IMDA）与主要物流公司如博洛尔物流（Bollore Logistics）、迪美科（Dimerco）和LCH洛克顿（LCH Lockton）合作，带领其中小企业客户通过基于云的电子货运整合平台数字化。该平台整合货运需求，降低中小货运代理的运费。该项目将于4月启动，预计首批受益中小企业超过100家。未来一年我们将开展更多此类项目。
孙雪玲议员问我们有哪些行业层面的举措推动更广泛的数字化。去年，IMDA推出多项创新举措支持物流和零售行业数字转型。作为零售行业努力的一部分，我们与新加坡标准、生产力与创新局（SPRING Singapore）、新加坡马来商会（SMCCI）及甘榜格南协会合作，将甘榜格南打造为新加坡首个数字化零售社区。这意味着什么？
我们将帮助甘榜格南核心区域约200家商户采用数字解决方案，提升业务运营。这包括采用集成销售点系统，实现无现金支付、库存跟踪和财务核算。通过自动化后台管理流程，商户能有更多时间专注产品和客户。我们正与星和合作为商户提供这些业务解决方案。
我们还通过开发沉浸式步行路线等数字产品提升游客体验，并与淡马锡理工学院商学院合作，提升商户在线影响力。我们与Grab合作，提供额外无现金支付选项，提升区域可达性。毕竟，商店将受益于更多顾客在甘榜格南愉快消费。
主席先生，我们将在2018年第二季度启动转型第一阶段。借鉴甘榜格南项目经验，我们将探索如何开展其他项目，推动零售行业数字化。借此机会，我感谢甘榜格南协会和新加坡马来商会的领导支持。
我们加速行业数字化的另一方式是建立共用基础设施，提高企业生产力。其中一项目是电子发票。发票对企业至关重要，没有发票企业无法收款。但发票处理繁琐且易出错。电子发票能改变这一点，帮助企业降低成本，加快收款，开辟新融资渠道。我们正与企业研究此事，稍后将公布更多细节。
主席先生，我接着谈“B”——培育我们的信息通信媒体（ICM）公司。这很必要，因为没有强大的ICM行业支持企业提供优质产品，我们的数字化之路难以走远。在这方面，我们希望拥有本土ICM公司及其他支持该行业的企业。
扎基·穆罕默德议员问发展ICM行业的计划。IMDA去年已推出ICM行业转型图（ITM）。根据ITM，我们目标创造13,000个专业人士、经理、执行人员和技术人员（PMET）职位，行业附加值预计年增长约6%。我们将通过培养人才和帮助企业国际化实现目标。最重要的是，随着数字化模糊传统行业界限，我们将帮助企业自我革新。
已有多家ICM公司实现转型。一个例子是Y3 Technologies，一家专注供应链管理解决方案的软件提供商。近年来，Y3转型为创新分析服务提供商。凭借自主软件，24小时监控所有客户订单，处理更多订单，减少错误配送。它还利用分析软件拓展至电子商务等相关领域。我们将加大支持，帮助更多企业像Y3一样转型。
目前，IMDA运营“Accreditation@SG Digital”计划，帮助创新的新加坡ICM公司扩大本地能力并拓展国际市场。目前已有24家公司获认证。五年内我们将增加四倍，并提供更多支持，包括建立业绩记录、协助融资及海外扩展。以Sense Infosys为例，这家获认证的数据分析初创企业，IMDA协助其融资和促成关键合作，推动海外扩张和显著增长。
培育更强ICM公司的方式之一是帮助它们与终端用户合作，共同开发可规模化和出口的新创新解决方案。数字化模糊行业界限，需解决跨行业和学科的问题，难度不小。因此，IMDA将试点“开放创新平台”，这是一个众包平台，促进问题拥有者与解决方案提供者社区合作，共同开发解决实际业务问题的数字方案。
IMDA将优先在零售和物流等选定行业集中力量，建立解决方案提供者社区。IMDA将引入人工智能（AI）和物联网（IoT）等技术领域专家，探索技术在业务场景中的应用。
主席先生，建设数字经济的最后一项重点是“C”——创造未来数字技术行业。去年，我宣布将投资发展四个前沿技术领域的深厚能力，即数据分析与人工智能、物联网、网络安全和沉浸式媒体。我还宣布了一系列人工智能和数据分析举措。
作为ICM行业转型图的一部分，IMDA去年11月启动人工智能商业合作计划，促使有兴趣的企业与人工智能解决方案提供商合作。虽然仍处早期阶段，IMDA已收到来自多个行业的有前景的问题陈述，正在评估潜在合作伙伴关系以共同资助。IMDA将在未来几个月分享更多细节。IMDA还与AI Singapore合作推出人工智能学徒计划，通过培训课程培养人工智能专业人才。迄今该计划获得热烈响应，首批20名学员将于5月开始培训。
傅志诚议员问新加坡为数字经济做了哪些准备，包括为企业提供机器学习应用的数据集。主席先生，IMDA下属的数据创新计划办公室（DIPO）正努力促使企业认识共享数据的价值，并促成互利合作。例如，政府积极完善data.gov.sg这一政府数据集一站式公共门户，增加更多有用数据集，支持企业和公民利用数据共创解决方案。我们也在审查《个人数据保护法》（PDPA），以跟上技术发展和监管趋势，促进企业使用个人数据，同时维护消费者信任。
主席先生，除了人工智能和物联网，我们还看到网络安全的巨大潜力。网络安全是数字经济的基石。随着更多服务和交易在线进行，确保数字安全和可靠性尤为重要。网络安全是智慧国计划中信任的基石。
孙雪玲议员问是否有计划帮助企业（包括中小企业）和公众预防及应对网络安全威胁。我们确实在做。例如，网络安全局（CSA）与信息安全专业人员协会（AISP）合作，提升中小企业网络安全知识，使其更好应对去年勒索软件攻击等威胁。CSA还与个人数据保护委员会（PDPC）合作，提高学生对网络安全和个人数据保护重要性的认识，并与IMDA及国家图书馆局（NLB）合作，为长者提供包括网络安全在内的信息通信培训。
主席先生，我同意扎基·穆罕默德议员的看法，充满活力的网络安全生态系统是国家网络安全稳健的重要因素。网络安全不仅支撑数字经济，也是增长引擎。新加坡网络安全行业发展迅速，预计到2020年可创造9亿新元收入，为新加坡人带来许多激动人心的机会和就业岗位。
花旗新加坡是为我国网络安全生态系统做出贡献的公司之一。许多议员可能不知道，该银行在新加坡设有其两个全球安全运营中心之一，另一个在纽约。我约两周前访问了新加坡中心，见到了我两年前拨款委员会演讲中提到的法德利·西德克先生。那时他克服了被理工学院拒绝的失望，正攻读网络安全学位。现在，法德利是花旗的网络威胁情报分析师，表现出色。
我很高兴看到法德利的成功，并希望帮助更多对网络安全感兴趣的新加坡人追求热情。CSA将与其他合作伙伴共同努力。首先，CSA和IMDA支持在71号楼建设创新网络安全生态系统（ICE）。该项目将与新加坡国立大学（NUS）和新电信创新中心（SingTel Innov8）合作，帮助有前景的网络安全初创企业扩大规模并国际化。其次，CSA将推出共创新发展概念验证资助计划，支持为国家安全、关键基础设施和机密系统用户开发网络安全解决方案，促进网络安全解决方案的商业化和采用，满足新兴需求。
除了网络安全之外，我们还将投资建设新加坡的沉浸式媒体（IM）能力，因为我们也认为这是另一个有前景的领域。先生，我们的目标是成为关键行业中基于IM应用开发和使用的卓越中心，包括工程、媒体、零售和教育。我们将重点关注三个方面。
首先，我们将通过促进业务配对和信息共享来倡导IM的采用，提高对IM潜力的认识。其次，通过鼓励试验和概念验证开发来建设创新能力。第三，培养IM行业的人才。资政谢鸿达部长将在他的演讲中分享我们在建设IM能力方面的一些努力。我们将在未来几个月公布更多IM计划的细节。目前，我们已准备了一个IM展览，供议员们体验IM如何改变我们在数字未来中的生活和工作方式。
先生，为了实现这些ABC，我们需要几个推动因素。第一个也是最重要的是拥有相关专业知识和技能的强大劳动力。两年前，我启动了科技技能加速器（TeSA）。从那时起，我们取得了优异的进展。正如恒瑞杰部长在预算陈述中提到的，已有超过27,000个培训名额被占用或承诺。
其中一位受益者是穆罕默德·鲁扎伊尼先生。鲁扎伊尼在行业工作八年后，于2015年被裁员。由于他对网络安全感兴趣，裁员后他尝试加入该行业，但因缺乏正规培训和资格未能成功。幸运的是，他坚持不懈，加入了国家计算机系统（NCS）下的网络安全助理和技术员（CSAT）项目，在那里掌握了新的网络安全技能。他现在是NCS的网络安全专业人士。
先生，政府将在未来三年内再投资1.45亿新元扩大TeSA规模。这将到2020年创造另外20,000个培训名额，包括制造业和专业服务等新领域。这将使我们能够进一步发展数字经济的人才队伍。
除了人才，我们还需要在快速变化的世界中审视我们的法规，确保它们保持亲商且适用。王鼎群先生询问IMDA如何应对融合信息通信媒体（ICM）环境中的监管挑战。
IMDA一直非常仔细地研究如何协调电信和广播行业在竞争、消费者保护和韧性等领域的监管方法。我们相信，融合的竞争和消费者保护守则将为行业提供明确指引，减少监管负担，同时继续保护公众利益。
上午10时30分
融合ICM领域的一个突出问题是数字技术和社交媒体平台如何共同加剧假新闻的风险。这是信息通信媒体部（MCI）在审查《广播法》时研究的领域。然而，鉴于议会刚刚成立了针对蓄意网络虚假信息的特别委员会来审查此问题，最好先研究该委员会的建议，再做进一步行动。因此，MCI将推迟《广播法》的审查。
张浩斌博士询问是否有计划为人工智能（AI）应用引入监管。目前，我们没有此类计划，因为该领域仍处于初期阶段，我们希望避免扼杀创新。但我们确实认识到公众对AI的担忧。IMDA正与行业监管机构合作，研究相关问题并减轻部署AI可能带来的风险。
除了人才和法规，繁荣的数字经济的另一个推动因素是有利的、基于规则的国际环境。这就是为什么我们倡导开放数据流，并在东南亚国家联盟（ASEAN）推动网络规范讨论。今年作为东盟主席国，我们将致力于提升东盟的数字素养，帮助我们的人民享受数字化带来的好处。
在东盟之外，我们也积极参与国际机制以促进数字流动。去年，我宣布我们有意加入亚太经济合作组织（APEC）的跨境隐私规则和处理者隐私认可系统，这两个多边认证机制旨在促进跨境数据流动。
我很高兴宣布，我们的申请已于2018年2月20日获批。当我们的认证计划实施后，新加坡的认证机构将能更顺畅地与参与APEC经济体的认证机构交换个人数据，同时消费者可以放心，他们的个人数据跨境传输将受到高标准的数据保护。
先生，即使我们扩大数字经济规模，也必须确保每个人都能分得一杯羹，没有人被落下。这是我们数字准备工作的主要焦点。归根结底，智慧国不仅仅是一系列技术项目，而是全社会的运动，旨在改善所有新加坡人在数字时代的生活。正如维文·巴拉克里希南部长早前所说，我们的方法因此将是包容性的设计。
萨克提安迪·苏帕特先生询问数字准备工作组及其提出的提升新加坡人数字准备度的策略。我们已制定数字准备蓝图，确保每位新加坡人拥有数字访问权，即数字交易的手段；数字素养，即数字公民的技能、态度和价值观；以及数字参与，即利用技术改善日常生活的能力。资政詹尼尔·普图切里稍后将详细说明。
先生，数字未来的可能性是无限的，关键在于我们是否抓住它们。每个人都将在更广泛的数字转型中发挥作用，我们信息通信媒体部将与所有人合作，确保我们共同从这段旅程中受益。
主席：资政詹尼尔·普图切里。
通讯与信息及教育资政（詹尼尔·普图切里博士）：主席先生，数字时代新机遇的出现正是新加坡转型为智慧国的原因。智慧国旨在让我们的生活更便捷，建设一个强大的社会和经济，提供机会给所有人，企业蓬勃发展。随着世界日益数字化，确保无人被落下至关重要。
萨克提安迪·苏帕特先生询问政府如何与企业和社区合作，帮助公民完成这一转型。这并非新加坡首次经历技术驱动的转型。自1980年代以来，我们已在学校引入信息技术（IT），为所有家庭提供宽带，并利用技术和互联网改造了许多公共服务。
随着技术变革加速，我们需要更全面和包容的方法，确保所有新加坡人都能参与并受益于数字时代的机遇。为此，我们需要帮助公民做好数字准备。我们的做法遵循三个重要原则。
首先，设计时以用户为中心。我们的数字服务和应用的用户界面必须易于使用，几乎所有人都能在几乎无指导的情况下开始使用。
其次，我们重新定义数字包容，不仅是访问，还包括赋予人们技能。如今，我们有许多项目专注于为人们提供负担得起的设备和互联网接入。但数字准备还包括拥有安全自信使用数字技术的技能。这包括基本的信息和媒体素养技能、网络安全和个人数据保护意识，以及其他多项技能。
第三，协作。数字准备必须是全社会的努力。政府、企业和社区必须共同合作，为新加坡人带来深远影响。这就是为什么我们去年成立了数字准备工作组，汇集来自公共、人民和私营部门的代表，提出应对未来机遇和挑战的策略。我们从这些组织关于提升素养和让人们参与数字世界的做法中学到了很多。今年晚些时候，我们将发布数字准备蓝图。
数字准备意味着确保新加坡人首先拥有数字访问权，即数字交易的手段；其次是数字素养，即数字公民的技能、态度和价值观；最终实现数字参与。
以智能手机为例，这是我们希望提供的许多数字服务的关键推动力。我们如何确保足够多的新加坡人拥有适当的访问权？目前，新加坡智能手机的拥有率很高，约为人口的150%，但仍有新加坡人没有智能手机。
确保有足够访问后，我们需要培养数字素养基础。首先，我们将明确一套基本数字技能，即每个人作为迈向数字社会参与的第一步应具备的技能。
这些技能的重点领域将是通过移动设备进行沟通、交易和信息搜索的能力，适用于日常生活。这些技能将被制定为课程，提供给培训机构，也可供家庭、朋友或社区伙伴使用，帮助每个人享受智慧国的好处。为确保人人受益，我们将在年底前提供四种语言的基础技能培训。
吴俊彬副教授询问政府在应对网络欺凌方面的努力。我们同意吴副教授的观点，重要的是为青少年、家长和教师提供可信赖的求助和支持渠道。
Help123由国家社会服务理事会及飞跃社区服务、触觉社区服务等合作伙伴于去年发起，提供青少年网络健康问题的专门网络聊天、电子邮件服务和热线。它还提供辅导员资源，支持需要进一步直接干预和帮助的人。
媒体素养理事会也在该领域工作，持续提供资源应对网络欺凌。例如，“更好互联网”运动中的反网络欺凌教学视频、针对受害者的资讯包、为家长和家庭提供识别网络欺凌症状及帮助儿童的指导产品。今年将推出一系列研讨会，帮助家长培养数字韧性的孩子。
维克拉姆·奈尔先生询问如何确保各年龄段的新加坡人不被落下。我们的做法一直是尽可能包容，同时认识到某些群体转型困难，给予他们有针对性的帮助。我们将继续通过扩大针对老年人的数字准备计划来帮助他们。
今年年底前，我们将举办超过50场数字诊所，惠及2,000名老年人，帮助他们自信使用数字移动技术。今年，我们还将与业界和社区团体合作，组织48次体验式学习之旅，惠及2,000名老年人，学习对日常活动有用的数字技术，如电子支付。
余家兴先生询问是否能做更多准备老年居民适应数字电视（TV）。目前约三成家庭仍使用模拟电视信号。我们已设立数字电视援助计划，帮助家庭切换到数字电视，并将继续为老年人提供有针对性的帮助，包括举办英语及本地语言的简报和演示会。
正如我们帮助公民做好数字准备，政府也将帮助工人和企业建立强大能力，抓住数字经济的机遇。
萨克提安迪·苏帕特先生询问TeSA的进展及其未来发展。TeSA是一个关键的三方合作计划，通过培训帮助建立强大的数字能力。正如部长所述，成果令人鼓舞，自2016年启动以来，已有超过27,000个培训名额被占用或承诺，大大增加了工人的机会。所有参加TeSA公司主导培训计划的个人，以及超过90%的技术沉浸和安置计划求职学员均已成功就业。
我们将通过额外1.45亿新元资金扩大TeSA计划。这将提供更多培训名额、更多项目，并覆盖更多用户行业。TeSA不仅对工人重要，对企业同样关键。数字经济发展的关键问题之一是劳动力的能力和技能供应。通过聚焦TeSA，我们帮助工人找到工作并转型新岗位，同时帮助企业发展技能和能力，实现增长。这些举措包括什么？
首先，TeSA将在2020年前提供额外20,000个培训名额。这将依托我们强大的多机构和三方合作模式。
其次，TeSA将与行业紧密合作，开发更多前沿技术领域的项目，如人工智能、数据分析、网络安全、物联网和沉浸式媒体。对这些前沿技术技能的需求将带来更多就业机会。
迄今为止，TeSA主要关注现有技能缺口、现有岗位缺口、已知技术和成熟的商业问题。我们需要推动向这些前沿技术迈进，预见发展数字经济的下一步需求。希望更多公司与TeSA合作，共同开发这些领域的培训项目。
第三，我们将扩大覆盖更多用户行业。随着经济和产业快速数字化，信息通信技术（ICT）专业人才在多个经济领域需求旺盛。目前，TeSA主要聚焦ICT、金融和医疗保健行业。未来，TeSA将扩展培训至制造业和专业服务业。
根据我们发展人才的承诺，TeSA还将加强对最需要帮助者的支持，如在经济和ICT就业格局变化中寻求新机会的中年ICT专业人士。
张德明先生询问如何更好支持工人，尤其是中年工人，提升技能和再培训。TeSA项目已惠及中年专业人士。自2016年以来，约有10,000个TeSA培训名额被40岁以上人士占用。但TeSA将做更多工作支持更多中年ICT专业人士。
首先，我们将帮助策划跨行业ICT职位空缺。公共、非营利和私营部门以及不同行业均有ICT职位空缺，但许多中年ICT专业人士可能缺乏进入新行业所需的网络、联系或行业特定技能。他们可能已有适用于私营、公共或非营利部门的技能，或拥有特定行业的ICT技能。我们需要帮助他们实现跨领域、行业或部门的转型。若不这样做，将错失许多潜在有意义的职位机会。
IMDA正与教育部等政府机构合作，识别ICT专业人士可安置的职位。我们也通过中小企业数字化计划与行业伙伴合作，策划更多合适的职位。
其次，我们将加强对中年专业人士的就业促进。借助由新加坡计算机学会（SCS）、新加坡劳动力发展局（WSG）、就业与就业能力研究所（e2i）及职工总会（NTUC）等合作伙伴组成的综合职业服务生态系统，个人将获得更多职业指导、辅导和更好的职位匹配支持。该生态系统内的职业教练和导师将获得更及时的职位空缺和技能需求信息，以更好地协助工人。
通过TeSA的扩大和有针对性的支持，我们将打造劳动力的强大数字能力。
先生，信息通信媒体部及合作伙伴将帮助工人、企业和公民抓住数字新加坡的机遇。在未来几个月，我们将分享更多关于数字经济和数字准备工作的细节。
主席：资政谢鸿达。
上午10时45分
通讯及资讯高级国务部长(徐芳达先生)：主席先生，随着我们踏上数字化转型之路，我们清楚地认识到，科技是推动力，而非最终目标。我们的目标是通过利用科技，培养想象力、企业精神和创新精神，改善人民生活，为新加坡人创造优质就业机会。这也是我们发展新加坡媒体业时所采取的方针。我们对媒体业的努力聚焦于四个“C”：内容、能力、渠道和协作。
首先是内容，这是媒体业的核心。引人入胜的故事能够吸引观众。我们的本地媒体公司在这方面表现出色，制作了优质的本地内容，受到全球观众的喜爱。例如，Netflix委托其首部中文系列剧《Bardo》，与本地制作公司IFA Media及台湾导演郭三合作。我很高兴一家总部设在新加坡的媒体公司参与了将其故事推向全球平台的工作。
资讯通信媒体发展局(IMDA)将继续支持本地媒体公司和人才创作优质内容，作为发展新加坡媒体业计划的一部分。我们将在今年晚些时候公布更多细节。
一个重要领域是加强与国际领先媒体公司的合作。例如，与HBO亚洲的合作将为新加坡人提供在HBO即将制作的作品中担任关键制作角色的机会。其中一部是由本地电影人许鞍华创作的恐怖选集《Folklore》，另一部是设定在19世纪爪哇的历史剧《Grisse》。这两部剧集将于2018年下半年首播。
对于公共服务广播(PSB)，本地制作的PSB节目仍是讲述新加坡故事、以新加坡视角呈现新闻和娱乐的重要渠道。Mediacorp将通过内容发展基金(CDF)尝试新的内容概念和制作技术。征集提案于去年十月启动。入选提案之一是《Under Our Sky》，一部设定在新加坡的外星入侵惊悚剧，采用大量计算机生成图像和360度视频。试播集将于明年初在Toggle上线。
接下来谈能力，达瑞尔·大卫先生询问我们如何帮助媒体业建立持续增长的能力。这包括利用增强现实和虚拟现实(VR)等资讯通信技术。根据IMDA与Discovery Networks Asia Pacific的合作，Discovery委托制作了一系列VR作品。前两部作品将于今年晚些时候发布。另有两部作品正在制作中：《Living on the Edge》讲述泰国儿童泰拳选手的故事，《Wild Treks》展示沙巴海上吉普赛人巴瑶族的生活。这些作品由本地媒体公司BeVRR和iMMERSiVELY制作，他们将与Discovery紧密合作，通过Discovery的VR应用将作品推向全球观众。
IMDA将与游戏技术公司Unity合作，在PIXEL Studios联合推出Unity孵化器服务。我们的公司将受益于旨在促进知识转移和分享资讯通信应用及游戏开发最佳实践的商业和技术研讨会。
IMDA将推出更多加速器和培训项目支持我们的公司。我向达瑞尔·大卫先生保证，小型公司也将从这些项目中受益。例如goGame，这是一家新加坡移动游戏发行公司，隶属于世嘉(SEGA)，已与IMDA合作推出新加坡首个游戏加速器。该加速器将培训早期游戏开发者的商业策略、授权和市场营销能力。
另一个重点是投资年轻人。在IMDA支持下，Mediacorp通过学徒计划和与学校合作，致力于培养年轻创意人才。例如，几天前在Toggle上线的中文网络剧《孤鱼》，源自Mediacorp、义安理工学院和国大联合举办的剧本写作工作坊。义安理工学院的三名学生欧伟廷、陈丽佩和王文怡参与了工作坊，提出了该剧的创意。在Mediacorp编剧和制片人的指导下，他们经历了完整的制作周期，学习剧本写作、表演和制作的技巧。
Mediacorp还与淡马锡理工学院、共和理工学院和义安理工学院合作开展青年创作者项目。该项目由经验丰富的Mediacorp导师指导学生进行内容制作。Mediacorp已选定11个学生项目委托制作，这些作品将于今年晚些时候在Toggle上线。
我们强调培养年轻人才，凸显了一个重要观点。没有专注于人才发展，就无法建立有效的能力。人文关怀依然是媒体业的核心，因为媒体工作以连接人与人为中心。
这同样适用于我们的主流媒体。我同意Ganesh Rajaram先生的看法，人才发展是优质新闻报道的关键。这是支持主流媒体提供准确客观新闻报道以及深刻评论和纪录片的重要因素。
在新闻编辑室之外，我们也专注于发展本地人才库。IMDA持续推行的人才援助计划是一个有益举措，为媒体人才提升技能提供资金支持。今年五月起，我们将扩大该计划，支持媒体业以外的专业人士，如制造业和零售业从业者。去年全国演讲大会上，我们宣布了媒体人力计划，旨在打造未来适应型媒体劳动力。IMDA在该计划的实施上取得了良好进展。
我之前宣布IMDA与新加坡技能未来局(SSG)联合开发媒体技能框架，预计于2018年11月推出，涵盖约140个媒体职位，涉及游戏、广播和电影等领域。目前已有40个本地及海外利益相关者，包括Beach House Productions、Fox Networks Group和Ubisoft，参与了框架的意见征集。
鉴于媒体自由职业者在经济中的重要作用，IMDA于去年11月推出了《媒体自由职业者服务采购三方标准》。自那时起，已有52个组织采纳该标准。自2018年4月1日起，组织必须采纳该三方标准，方可获得IMDA的媒体补助及公共服务广播内容资金。我期待未来有更多组织采纳该标准。
现在谈谈发展有效渠道以触及观众的必要性。我同意Vikram Nair先生的观点，我们应扩大公共服务广播节目覆盖范围，吸引更多新加坡人。除了传统的免费频道，IMDA积极与数字及网络媒体合作。
例如，IMDA与新加坡报业控股(SPH)合作，通过SPH的数字内容网络制作和分发短视频。去年试点期间发布了118个短视频。基于成功经验，SPH将制作第二批超过120个短视频。
IMDA还与新加坡短片在线视频平台Viddsee合作，为年轻观众提供更具吸引力的公共服务广播内容。Viddsee是利用数据分析推动观众量和变现的典范。Viddsee将与本地电影人合作制作五个原创系列。首部作品是由伍丽儿执导的短片《Run Chicken Run》，于上月发布。该片以农历新年为背景，故事温馨，反响良好。
IMDA将继续与Mediacorp合作，更好地吸引Toggle数字平台的观众。自2015年4月重新上线以来，Toggle的观看量稳步增长，目前每月视频观看次数超过八百万。我认为这项工作应持续推进。
我很高兴Mediacorp的分析工具RIPPLE去年在全球大数据媒体大会上获得三项BIGGIES奖。借助RIPPLE，Mediacorp今年将推出34部新的Toggle原创作品，较去年的13部大幅增加。我相信这些新作品将为观众提供更多娱乐选择。
第四个也是最后一个“C”是协作。正如Ganesh Rajaram先生指出的，协作对于我们的主流媒体公司SPH和Mediacorp同样重要。
经过两年成功合作，SPH与StarHub最近续签了两年合作协议。他们将继续在跨媒体内容创作与发布、数据分析和市场营销等领域合作，SPH制作的内容将在StarHub付费电视服务中播出和推广。此外，他们还将在医疗保健、零售和教育等非媒体业务领域展开合作。
Mediacorp和SPH也探索了可能的合作领域。他们联合推出了数字广告市场——新加坡媒体交易所(SMX)，整合数据资源，开拓新的广告机会，为广告主提供更精准的定位能力。两家公司还与IMDA合作，共同推广新加坡媒体业的机遇，以更好地培养人才库。
这些都是通过合作伙伴关系，媒体公司如何为数字时代定位自己并创造更多价值的例子。
主席先生，感谢刘谦强先生给予机会，让我们汇报自2014年成立以来国家翻译委员会的工作。围绕人才、技术和团队合作三大重点，我们推出了多项举措。因时间有限，我只简要介绍几个例子。
首先是人才发展。自2015年以来，我们已颁发六个信息服务(翻译)奖学金，培养对翻译有浓厚兴趣的年轻新加坡人。国家翻译委员会今年早些时候启动了翻译人才发展计划(TTDS)，为业内译员和口译员参加研讨会和课程提供资金支持，以提升技能和专业水平。
接下来是技术。我们与公共部门机构合作，完善了托管于gov.sg的政府术语翻译数据库，涵盖超过6200个政府相关术语的中文、马来文和泰米尔文译本。我同意刘谦强先生的看法，整理在线资源，使其便捷易用非常重要。我们将与国家翻译委员会成员讨论他的建议。
资讯通信媒体发展局正与科学技术研究局(A*STAR)合作开发定制政府机器翻译引擎。该引擎通过MCI及其他政府机构的翻译数据“训练”，能够准确翻译本地术语。
最后是团队合作：国家翻译委员会于2016年启动了社区翻译(CiT)计划，旨在提高年轻人对翻译的认识和兴趣。该计划与多家合作伙伴携手，为学生举办三种母语的翻译工作坊，并支持学校组织翻译竞赛。
主席先生，在我们多元种族社会中，提高翻译水平是政府的重要工作重点。我感谢国家翻译委员会及来自各语言社区和行业合作伙伴的资源小组成员的贡献。
正如马来谚语所说，“Bukit sama didaki, lurah sama dituruni”（同登山，共下谷），我们共同克服困难，共享成果。
还有一句泰米尔谚语，“ஒன்றுபட்டால் உண்டு வாழ்வு”，意为“团结就是力量”。正如我在2016年全国演讲大会所言，我们致力于确保翻译准确：“சரியான மொழிபெயர்ப்பே நமது கடப்பாடு”。
主席先生，请允许我用中文结束发言。
（中文）：[请参阅本地语演讲。]在像新加坡这样多元文化、多种族的社会中，翻译发挥着重要作用。它帮助政府更好地解释政策，从而惠及人民，促进种族间的理解。
我们意识到随着社会和技术的发展，我们面临的挑战。然而，国家翻译委员会与志同道合的伙伴将坚持不懈，继续这项有意义且重要的使命，这也是一项具有文化意义的工作。
主席：雅各布·易卜拉欣部长。
副教授雅各布·易卜拉欣：先生，许多议员分享了新加坡人和公司通过数字化成功转型的积极例子。让我再分享一个例子——我们的图书馆。
上午11时
先生，我们的图书馆是国家的宝藏。我们最早的图书馆设施简朴，旨在促进新加坡人阅读。但它们一直在探索促进图书馆使用的新方法，比如我们的流动图书馆。如今，它们通过利用科技，重新定义自己，倡导终身学习，建设更紧密的社区，改善新加坡人的生活。
三年前，我在本议院介绍了图书馆转型的最新规划——未来图书馆总体规划。我们的愿景是让图书馆利用数字技术，成为社交纽带、协作和共创的场所。
总体规划已取得令人鼓舞的成果。五座图书馆已根据总体规划翻新并重新开放——勿洛公共图书馆、武吉班让公共图书馆、盛港公共图书馆、淡滨尼区域图书馆和义顺公共图书馆。访客数量平均翻倍，武吉班让和盛港图书馆的借阅量较翻新前增长超过40%。去年访问公共图书馆的人数较前年增加，尤其是长者和儿童。
我们翻新图书馆受欢迎的原因之一是其特色空间，尤其是具备数字功能的空间。例如，武吉班让公共图书馆设有沉浸式故事讲述室，通过资讯通信技术让故事栩栩如生。新义顺公共图书馆设有专门的数字学习区，用户可以尽情阅读电子书和电子杂志。这些特色空间为寻求不同体验的访客带来福音，比如梁女士，她每周带三个孩子四次光顾武吉班让公共图书馆。孩子们在沉浸式故事讲述活动中玩得开心，而她则参加图书馆举办的育儿讲座。
张浩斌医生提到图书馆访客人数持平，并询问通过数字技术促进阅读的新举措。虽然实体图书馆访客人数保持稳定，但我们的数字覆盖显著增长。如今，国家图书馆局(NLB)网站提供丰富的数字资源，支持随时随地学习。
事实上，截至2017年，电子书借阅量增长了69%；NLB的数字覆盖率增长了三倍多，达到34%；自2016年10月推出以来，NLB移动应用已被访问三百万次。因此，尚未下载NLB应用的议员们，我强烈建议你们今天就下载！
我们的图书馆还能做更多。达瑞尔·大卫先生和张浩斌医生询问图书馆如何帮助新加坡人为未来数字技能需求更高的经济做好准备。答案是很多。
我们的图书馆已建立多项合作，包括与技能未来局(SSG)合作，提升三大能力：技能与就业能力、商业敏锐度与市场知识，以及创新。为促进技能与就业能力学习，NLB与SSG联合设立了终身学习学院的LLiBrary，用户可利用数字资源进行职业发展。为帮助提升商业敏锐度与市场知识，NLB最近开设了“亚洲视野”资源中心，通过在线资源、讲座和导师计划，帮助用户更好了解区域市场。为激发创新，我们将在兀兰区域图书馆建设另一个Pixel Lab，将更多创意转化为现实。
这将帮助像Jeremy Tan先生这样的创新者，他想创造一种廉价的软冰淇淋机，替代市场上的昂贵设备。通过裕廊区域图书馆的Pixel Lab，Jeremy能够打印出设计的工作样机，向潜在投资者展示，并说服国大企业孵化器资助他的创作。
NLB还将与科技公司合作，培养下一代具备数字准备的新加坡人。今年将是激动人心的一年。我们期待首届NLB-微软人工智能黑客松，将学生聚集一堂，利用微软的人工智能产品和NLB数据共同创造创新解决方案。NLB还将与微软合作，共同举办全国数字故事讲述比赛，面向所有中学生，鼓励他们利用武吉班让公共图书馆的资讯通信技术和微软工具讲述自己的故事。
我们的图书馆将在实现数字准备愿景中发挥更大作用，正如通讯及资讯高级国务部长贾尼尔·普图查里所述。首先，NLB每年将推出超过1000个面向各年龄层的数字准备项目。
张浩斌医生询问图书馆在支持和准备新加坡人积极老龄化方面所做的努力。我很高兴分享，国家图书馆局（NLB）将与信息通信媒体发展局（IMDA）合作，开发并提供一系列数字准备服务，并在五年内将数字准备培训的覆盖面扩大到超过30万新加坡人，其中85%预计为成年人和老年人。今年，老年人可以期待TechShare，这是一个为老年人展示当前和即将推出技术的科技展示平台，在“科技游乐场”环境中探索机器人和智能家居技术等小工具。
先生，这些投资的结果是客户满意度的提升。最近的一项调查显示，越来越多的新加坡人正在访问图书馆，阅读书籍，并且乐在其中。
儿童和年轻的新加坡人从图书馆的转型中受益匪浅。国家图书馆局长期支持推广早期阅读的努力，特别是针对较弱势儿童，因为这有助于提升终身学习能力。因此，我们有像KidsREAD和Early READ这样的项目。
这些努力取得了令人鼓舞的成果。根据我们对KidsREAD的调查，五分之四的儿童更喜欢阅读。他们还通过参加KidsREAD课程，培养了积极的自尊和对阅读的积极态度。通过Early READ，99%的教育者和92%的家长观察到他们的孩子对阅读产生了兴趣。
我们的图书馆向我们展示了拥抱数字化并自我革新以在未来蓬勃发展的可能性。但技术并非成功的唯一决定因素。我们还必须拥有深厚的身份认同感，以在不确定且快速变化的未来中扎根。这正是我们的图书馆表现出色的地方，得益于它们在保护国家遗产方面的卓越工作。
孙雪玲女士询问国家图书馆和档案馆为保护我们的遗产所做的努力，以及是否所有图书馆都能访问档案资源。我很高兴分享，他们在利用数字技术加强数字化工作方面处于领先地位，这对保护我们的记忆至关重要。数字化内容可通过各种数字门户访问，如Archives Online和NewspaperSG。事实上，许多Mediacorp的广播档案也可通过多媒体站在公共图书馆免费观看。
上周我访问国家图书馆时，有机会浏览了NLB的空间发现网站。该网站允许用户查找并与NLB和新加坡国家档案馆（NAS）收藏的地图及相关信息互动。
每张地图都是丰富的信息档案，正如议员们从1982年樟宜地区地图叠加当前樟宜机场卫星图像中所见。如今，许多人依赖谷歌地图指引路线。然而，这些历史地图讲述了不同的故事：它们展示了我们从一片荒地发展到拥有四个机场航站楼的历程，以及未来可能的发展方向。好消息是，先生，任何人都可以随时通过联网设备访问这批知识宝库，而不仅限于图书馆。
我们将继续努力。今年晚些时候，我们将修订国家图书馆局法案，要求出版商存储无技术保护措施的电子出版物，以便NLB能够提供访问并保存这些文档。
在保护国家遗产方面，NLB与社区紧密合作，保护体现在我们人民身上的丰富遗产和文化。我们特别感谢我们的公民档案员在过去一年中帮助我们转录、描述并理解约27,000张图片或页面。我们将继续为新加坡人及其朋友提供更多途径，贡献他们对新加坡风貌和重要时刻的记录。
同样，先生，档案馆召集了社区口述历史委员会（COHCs），以确保口述历史收藏的全面性、代表性和多样性。
COHCs收集了来自各行各业新加坡人的精彩故事，如1950年代埃莉诺女士救助朋友免遭暴徒殴打，涉及穆斯林伊斯兰法庭的律师努尔·穆罕默德·马里坎先生，以及著名泰米尔语作家拉玛·卡纳比兰先生。
国家档案馆将继续保存并提供访问我们国家面临风险的收藏和珍品，包括微缩胶片和视听记录。今年是国家档案馆金禧年。因此，我们正在翻新位于坎宁岭的档案馆大楼，以提升档案设施并创造更多公共空间，让新加坡人享受我们丰富的珍藏。
您很快就可以在新的档案阅览室舒适地浏览历史文献，或在升级后的奥尔德姆剧院观看修复电影。但除了硬件设施，国家档案馆今年晚些时候还将推出公众项目，让大家享受其庞大收藏。
先生，过去几年，通过新加坡21、我们的新加坡对话（OSC）、SG50以及最近的SGfuture等多次对话和外展活动，我们听到了来自各行各业新加坡人的希望和愿景，以及我们如何共同塑造集体未来。在OSC对4,000名受访者的调查中发现，新加坡人普遍乐观，认为未来五年会比今天更好，且今天比五年前更好，尽管面临挑战。
正是怀着同样的乐观和热情，我的部委设想了真正数字化新加坡的意义。我们看到新加坡人在数字经济中找到自己的定位，无论是学习3D打印等新技能的人、中小企业使用应用程序为客户带来便利，还是社区合作开发前瞻性数字解决方案以改善新加坡人的生活。
先生，我们将为富有创造力的企业家提供机会，将他们的想法变为现实，为内容创作者从故事板走向大银幕提供支持；为成熟和新兴公司成为世界级巨头提供助力。我们期待未来，无论身处何地，都能浏览更多数字资源，社区共同学习成长。
今天，先生，未来正从议会大厦接待厅向我们招手。我邀请议会成员参观在那里举办的信息通信媒体发展局（IMDA）展览，您可以在其中可视化并数字体验大型3D建筑模型的建设过程，以及其他增强现实（AR）和虚拟现实（VR）活动。
正如所见，我的部委及其机构离实现我们的愿景又近了一步。我们将继续与所有公民和企业不懈合作，共同走向真正数字化的新加坡和智慧国，通过发展经济、支持各行业中小企业、创造优质就业和提升所有新加坡人的生活质量。正如我在演讲开头展示的视频中的人们，我们的终极目标是部署技术，持续改善新加坡人的生活，并赋能他们为家庭、社区和国家做更多善事。
主席：扎基·穆罕默德先生。
扎基·穆罕默德先生：主席，我有几个问题想问资深国务部长谢鸿达先生，关于他刚才分享的内容。刚宣布的与Mediacorp和新加坡报业控股（SPH）等其他参与者的资金和合作，预期的成功指标是什么？在部委看来，它们的表现如何，与真正影响读者和观众的渠道相比，比如Toggle与YouTube、Netflix；主流新闻应用与其他替代品；或电视内容提供商与有线运营商相比？
部委是否也担心像SPH去年不得不缩减规模和裁员？这会影响它们在公共传播中的角色吗？
最后，鉴于本地语言媒体，尤其是泰米尔语和马来语新闻提供者在新加坡，特别是年轻一代中，读者和观众数量下降，这将如何影响它们？
谢鸿达先生：主席，感谢扎基·穆罕默德先生的澄清。首先，我们需要明白主流媒体——Mediacorp、SPH——的观众和读者数量并未减少。SPH的情况是，读者从纸质报纸转向通过移动设备和iPad在线获取新闻。
Mediacorp也是如此，我们看到人们不一定在电视机前观看节目，而是通过Toggle在线收看。昨天，维克拉姆·奈尔先生也说这就是他的观看习惯，他会在Toggle上观看。
Toggle的优势在于可以回看。如果您在节目播出时无法观看，可以在方便的时间回看。
主流媒体公司目前面临的挑战是，尽管总体读者和观众数量存在，但需要找到更有效的方式在线上实现变现。传统平台如报纸和电视的广告收入与当前线上广告收入相比仍有差距。我认为这是主流媒体面临的主要挑战。
上午11时15分
昨天，甘尼什·拉贾拉姆先生谈到了《纽约时报》，他举了一个很好的例子，说明他们如何增加在线订阅，不仅针对本地读者，而是全球读者群。我们也必须思考如何有效变现我们的线上覆盖。SPH和Mediacorp都在利用数据分析和更有针对性的传播与营销，这仍在进行中。
扎基·穆罕默德先生提到的其他问题都是现代媒体环境中我们面临的挑战。消费者有更多选择，内容为王。为了竞争，我们必须确保拥有优质内容，无论是新闻报道、评论文章、纪录片还是娱乐节目。优质的本地内容难以被海外竞争者复制，能与新加坡人产生情感共鸣和联系。
主席：梁荣华先生。
梁荣华先生：KidsREAD俱乐部是一个极好的项目。它帮助了许多社区儿童，从小培养他们的阅读习惯和阅读兴趣。部长刚才只简要提及KidsREAD，我想问是否有计划更新该项目，或增加资源扩大覆盖面，因为它确实帮助了低收入儿童和家庭。如果NLB能提供更多资源支持，如何策划项目等，我认为会非常有帮助。
雅各布·易副教授：先生，我赞同梁荣华先生的看法，我们希望将KidsREAD推广到新加坡的每个选区和角落。事实上，我的KidsREAD团队正在与所有选区接洽，看看是否能在每个居民委员会（RC）开设，以惠及低收入家庭。资源是有的。我们还整理了其他KidsREAD俱乐部的一些最佳实践，并与其他俱乐部分享。志愿者与NLB团队定期聚会，分享专业知识和成功故事。我们的团队很小，但志向很大，目前依靠现有资源。到目前为止，我很满意，但我当然希望看到更多KidsREAD俱乐部的推广。
在资源方面，我们会探索更多可能。目前，所有孩子都会得到一个小包和一件T恤。对我来说，更重要的是培训更多志愿者与孩子互动。这不仅仅是阅读，更是志愿者与孩子之间的互动。我们一直在招募大量志愿者。我在哥兰亚（Kolam Ayer）的经验是，我们很幸运有许多年轻志愿者主动参与。NLB为他们提供培训，然后他们开展外展和阅读项目。我们会继续加强，如果有选区有兴趣开设KidsREAD俱乐部，我们乐意协助。
主席：余家兴先生。
余家兴先生：主席，我的问题针对资深国务部长谢鸿达先生。如果我没听错，30%的家庭仍使用模拟电视信号。这个数字听起来很大，意味着明年将有数十万家庭无法接收电视信号。我很乐意动员基层志愿者进行宣传，但我自己也难以翻译一些术语，比如“模拟电视信号”，我用谷歌翻译，出现的中文词我甚至不知如何读。希望信息通信媒体发展部（MCI）能帮忙推出一些简单易懂的材料，方便我们与基层分享，进而帮助老年居民。
谢鸿达先生：主席，我先澄清一下，议员是问翻译问题，还是问帮助居民的方案？
余家兴先生：因为30%的家庭比例很大，我很担心明年他们收不到信号。请帮忙做宣传和翻译。目前“模拟电视”、“数字机顶盒”等词汇难以翻译，也难以向居民解释。
谢鸿达先生：主席，感谢议员澄清。简短回答是，MCI和IMDA将与广播公司Mediacorp紧密合作，也会与基层组织和社区组织合作，确保推出清晰、易懂的宣传材料，帮助居民了解如何完成转换。请放心，我们会与所有合作伙伴紧密配合，确保工作顺利完成。
主席：我想议员提到这些术语时，可以戴上耳机听翻译，就能知道对应的翻译。还有其他澄清吗？如果没有，议员是否愿意撤回修正案？
扎基·穆罕默德先生：主席，我感谢雅各布·易部长、资深国务部长简尼尔·普图切里和资深国务部长谢鸿达，以及所有议会同事，使本次信息通信媒体部预算辩论富有成效，推动新加坡信息通信、媒体和创意产业发展。我也感谢MCI及所有法定机构在幕后付出的努力。祝愿部委未来工作顺利。正如部长所说，我们只需学会ABC。主席，我请求撤回修正案。
[(程序文本) 经许可，修正案撤回。 (程序文本)]
[(程序文本) 998,162,500元拨款列入主预算Q项下。 (程序文本)]
[(程序文本) 49,158,500元拨款列入发展预算Q项下。 (程序文本)]
英文原文
SPRS Hansard 原始记录 · 抓取日期：2026-05-02
Head Q (cont) –
[(proc text) Resumption of Debate on Question [5 March 2018], (proc text)]
[(proc text) "That the total sum to be allocated for Head Q of the Estimates to be reduced by $100." – [Mr Zaqy Mohamad.] (proc text)]
[(proc text) Question again proposed. (proc text)]
The Chairman : Order. In view of the Statement made in Parliament earlier on and the amount of time used, I will now revise the guillotine time for Head Q – Ministry of Communications and Information to 11.40 am. Hon Members will be notified of the revised conclusion times for the subsequent Heads of Expenditure. Head Q – Ministry of Communications and Information. Minister Yaacob.
The Minister for Communications and Information (Assoc Prof Dr Yaacob Ibrahim) : Mr Chairman, first of all, I would like to thank Members for their kind comments yesterday.
Mr Chairman, with your permission, I would like to show a short video summarising the work of my Ministry over the past year, and some slides throughout our responses.
The Chairman : Alright. [ A video and some slides were shown to hon Members. ]
Assoc Prof Dr Yaacob Ibrahim : Sir, digitalisation has created many exciting opportunities and improved Singaporeans’ lives. There are many examples of fellow Singaporeans embracing digital and harnessing opportunities.
One was in the video we just watched. Ms Shakila Sham owns Eatz 19, a fusion restaurant. She decided to install a mobile ordering and payment solution, which allowed her customers to review the menu and order even before arriving at the restaurant, so they can avoid the queue. This way, the customer is happy, and she was able to improve her operations with the data generated. Most importantly, the added convenience made work more enjoyable for Shakila's wheelchair-bound employee, Suzy, who can now manage the ordering platform online, from home.
Another example is Mdm Santhiya Senthil Kumar, an avid self-learner. She attends coding classes with her son in the library. This way, she can bond with her family and pick up a new skill in the process. She was able to apply her new skill to guide her son in coding his own games.
There are many more Shakilas and Santhiyas out there. Helping them do well is what drives all of us at the Ministry of Communications and Information (MCI). In this Committee of Supply (COS), we will share with Members MCI's efforts to do so. I will talk about our plans to develop our digital economy and enhance the digital readiness of Singaporeans. Senior Minister of State Janil Puthucheary will elaborate on how workers, businesses and citizens can benefit from our digital economy and digital readiness efforts. Senior Minister of State Chee Hong Tat will explain MCI's efforts to transform and grow the media sector. I will round up by sharing the wonderful transformation of our libraries, which should inspire us all.
Sir, let me begin with the digital economy. Digital transformation is the most important issue facing businesses today. The Singapore Business Federation’s (SBF's) recent study showed that the majority of our businessmen fully appreciate the importance of digitalisation because the payoffs are enormous. Microsoft's recent study estimated that the digital economy would contribute another US$10 billion to our gross domestic product (GDP) by 2021. This is the context for our Smart Nation initiative – good jobs and opportunities for our people.
Mr Zaqy Mohamad asked what the Government is doing to ensure that Singapore businesses and workforce can thrive in the digital future. My answer is "ABC" – Accelerate the digitalisation of existing sectors, Build up our infocomm media or infocomm media (ICM) companies, and Create future digital technology sectors. Let me explain.
Firstly, "A" – Accelerate the digitalisation of existing sectors. Digitalisation affects every sector. But not all of the sectors have responded equally quickly. Some sectors, like banking and finance, and retail, have done relatively well. During my recent visit to the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) FairPrice’s new "living lab" supermarket at SingPost Centre, I saw how FairPrice had transformed its traditional supermarket using innovative retail technologies to revolutionise the shopping experience to meet changing consumer expectations and habits in the digital age, while boosting workers’ productivity. But there are other sectors that are finding it more difficult to keep up.
Members asked how the Government can help small and medium enterprises (SMEs) benefit from digitalisation. Allow me to first share the common challenge that SMEs face in going digital. One reason why some sectors are unable to transform digitally is knowledge. Even if companies are keen to embrace digitalisation, they do not know how to, or where to start. This is particularly true for SMEs which sometimes lack the resources and scale to deploy digital solutions. That is why we launched the SMEs Go Digital Programme last year, which, for a start, focuses on key sectors where digital technologies can improve productivity significantly. This includes providing step-by-step guidance under the Industry Digital Plans (IDPs) to make digitalisation simpler for SMEs. We have since launched the Retail and Logistics IDPs last November and we aim to do more this year.
Members asked about the outcomes of our initiatives to help SMEs digitalise. Even though the programme has been operational for only less than a year, we are seeing encouraging results. More than 650 SMEs have benefited from the programme, with many more waiting in line.
A beneficiary of the pre-approved digital solution under the programme is House of Seafood, a restaurant chain and food manufacturer. It exports its products to many countries. However, each country has its own import requirements, and it was difficult to track them all efficiently. So, the company installed a digital tagging solution to automate the compliance checks for its many products. House of Seafood is now able to export its products more easily, and has grown its sales by 20% and productivity by 25%.
10.15 am
Another example, Sir, is OKH Logistics. The complexity of the logistics business cannot be underestimated. So, the company adopted an intelligent vehicle monitoring system to operate its vehicles better. By analysing the data collected, it was able to significantly reduce the number of vehicle accidents by 50%. Fewer vehicle accidents mean better utilisation of assets. This led to about 10% increase in the number of deliveries handled a day.
Sir, we will continue to grow the SMEs Go Digital Programme and we aim to benefit many more SMEs. To do so, we fully agree with Mr Teo Ser Luck that we must ensure that our programmes remain relevant in a fast-changing environment. We will regularly review the IDPs and pre-approved solutions in the SMEs Go Digital Programme to ensure that they are in line with the latest industry trends and standards while meeting SMEs’ needs.
Mr Zaqy Mohamad asked what more can be done to help our SMEs seize the opportunities in digital. Ms Sun Xueling asked if we would engage influential partners to help drive digitalisation within sectors. One initiative we are pursuing is to focus not just on individual solutions for individual SMEs, but to take a cluster approach by working with influential partners to help a group of SMEs from similar sectors.
For example, in the logistics sector, the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA), is working with major logistics companies, such as Bollore Logistics, Dimerco and LCH Lockton, to lead their SME clients through the digitalisation process using a cloud-based e-Cargo Consolidation Platform. This aggregates freight demands, thereby lowering freight costs for SME freight forwarders. This initiative will be launched in April and, for a start, over 100 SMEs are expected to benefit from this project. We will do more of such projects in the coming year.
Ms Sun Xueling asked what sector-level initiatives do we have to drive digitalisation on a broader scale. Last year, IMDA launched various innovative initiatives to support the digital transformation of both the logistics and retail sectors. As part of our efforts in the retail sector, we are collaborating with the Standards, Productivity and Innovation Board (SPRING) Singapore, the Singapore Malay Chambers of Commerce and Industry (SMCCI), and One Kampong Glam Association to develop Kampong Glam into Singapore’s first digitally enabled retail neighbourhood. What does this mean?
We will help interested merchants in the core area of Kampong Glam, comprising about 200 merchants, adopt digital solutions to improve their business operations. This would include adopting integrated point-of-sale systems which enable cashless payments, inventory tracking and financial accounting. By automating these backend administrative processes, the merchants will have more time for their products and customers. We are working with StarHub on these business solutions for the merchants.
We are also enhancing the visitor experience by developing digital products, such as immersive walking trails, and working with Temasek Polytechnic School of Business to increase the merchants' online presence. We are partnering Grab to offer an additional cashless option and increase accessibility to the area. After all, the shops will benefit from more customers enjoying themselves in Kampong Glam.
Sir, we will launch Phase 1 of the transformation in the second quarter of 2018. Learning from the Kampong Glam project, we will explore how we could develop other projects to digitalise the retail sector. Let me also take this opportunity to thank the leadership of One Kampong Glam Association and SMCCI for their support.
Another way we are accelerating the sector's digitalisation is to put in place common infrastructure that will raise business productivity. One such project is e-invoicing. Invoices are critical functions for businesses. Without an invoice, businesses do not get paid. But invoicing can be very tedious and manual, with many inherent errors. E-invoicing can change that. It can help businesses cut costs, ensure companies are paid faster and open up new financing options. We are currently studying this with companies and will announce more details later.
Sir, I shall move on to "B" – Build up our ICM companies. This is necessary, because without a strong ICM sector to support businesses with good products, we will not go very far in our digitalisation journey. In this respect, we want to have homegrown ICM companies, along with other companies supporting this sector.
Mr Zaqy Mohamad asked about the plans to grow the ICM sector. IMDA has already launched the ICM Industry Transformation Map (ITM) last year. Under our ITM, we aim to create 13,000 new professionals, managers, executives and technicians (PMET) jobs, and the industry’s value-added is expected to grow at around 6% annually. We will do this by building up our workforce and helping our companies internationalise. Most importantly, as digitalisation blurs traditional industry boundaries, we will help our companies reinvent themselves.
Several ICM companies have already done so. One example is Y3 Technologies, a software solutions provider specialising in supply chain management solutions. In recent years, Y3 has transformed itself by moving away from just supply chain management to an innovative analytics service provider. Thanks to its proprietary software, it now has 24/7 visibility of all customer orders, can handle a larger volume of orders and reduce the incidence of wrong delivery. It has also used its analytics software products to diversify into complementary areas, such as e-commerce. So, we will do more to help our companies transform themselves like Y3.
Today, IMDA runs the Accreditation@SG Digital, which helps to scale innovative Singapore-based ICM companies to build deep capabilities locally and grow internationally. Currently, Sir, we have 24 accredited companies. We will quadruple this in five years and avail more support to help them grow, including building their track record, assisting them to grow new growth capital and helping them to expand overseas. In the case of Sense Infosys, an accredited local data analytics startup, IMDA's support in securing funding and facilitating key partnerships had contributed to the company’s overseas expansion and impressive growth.
One way to build stronger ICM companies is to help them collaborate with end-users to build new and innovative solutions with potential to be scaled and exported. This might not be that easy with digitalisation blurring the lines among sectors, which creates the need to solve problems that cut across many sectors and disciplines. So, IMDA will pilot the Open Innovation Platform, which is a crowdsourcing platform to facilitate collaboration between problem owners and a community of solution providers, to co-develop digital solutions that address actual business problems.
IMDA will focus their efforts in selected sectors first, including retail and logistics, to build up a community of solution providers. IMDA will bring in expertise in technology areas, such as artificial intelligence (AI) and the Internet of Things (IoT), to see how they can apply their technologies to business use cases.
Sir, the final thrust to build the digital economy is "C" – Create future digital technology sectors. Last year, I announced that we will invest in developing deeper capabilities in four frontier technology areas, namely, data analytics and AI, IoT, cybersecurity and immersive media. I also announced a series of AI and data analytics initiatives.
As part of our ICM ITM, IMDA launched the AI Business Partnership Programme last November to bring companies interested in AI and AI solution providers together. Although it is early days, IMDA has received promising problem statements from businesses across various sectors and is currently reviewing potential partnerships for co-funding. IMDA will share more details in the coming months. IMDA also launched the AI Apprenticeship Programme with AI Singapore to develop AI professionals through training courses. To date, the Programme has received overwhelming support and the first batch of 20 trainees will start training in May.
Mr Cedric Foo asked what Singapore is doing to prepare itself for the digital economy, including giving enterprises access to datasets for machine learning applications. Sir, the Data Innovation Programme Office (DIPO) under IMDA is trying to bring companies together to realise the value of sharing data and brokering partnerships for mutual gain. For instance, the Government has been actively improving data.gov.sg, its one-stop public portal for Government datasets, to include more useful datasets to enable businesses and citizens to co-create solutions using them. We are also reviewing the Personal Data Protection Act (PDPA) to keep pace with technological developments and regulatory trends to facilitate businesses’ use of personal data while safeguarding consumers' trust.
Sir, besides AI and IoT, we see great promise in cybersecurity. Cybersecurity is integral to the digital economy. As more services and transactions take place online, it becomes even more important that they are digitally secure and reliable. Cybersecurity is thus a cornerstone of trust in our Smart Nation initiative.
Ms Sun Xueling asked if there are plans to assist businesses, including SMEs, and educate the public on how to prevent and respond to cybersecurity threats. We are, indeed, doing so. For instance, the Cyber Security Agency (CSA) is partnering the Association for Information Security Professionals (AISP) to equip our SMEs with cybersecurity knowledge so that they can better respond to cybersecurity threats like the ransomware attacks last year. CSA also works with partners, such as the Personal Data Protection Commission (PDPC), to raise awareness of the importance of cybersecurity and personal data protection among our students, and with IMDA and the National Library Board (NLB) to provide our seniors with infocomm training, which includes cybersecurity.
Sir, I agree with Mr Zaqy Mohamad that a vibrant cybersecurity ecosystem is an important factor contributing to robust national cybersecurity. Besides undergirding the digital economy, cybersecurity is also a growth engine. Cybersecurity in Singapore is a fast-growing sector, with the potential to generate $900 million in revenue by 2020. This will create many exciting opportunities and jobs for Singaporeans.
Citi Singapore is one such company contributing to the cybersecurity ecosystem in our country. Not many Members may know this, but the bank has established one of its two global security operations centre in Singapore, the other being in New York. I visited the Singapore centre about two weeks ago. And there I met Mr Fadli Sidek, whom I had mentioned in my COS speech two years back. Back then, he had overcome the disappointment of being rejected by a polytechnic and was working towards a cybersecurity degree. Fadli is now a cyber threat intelligence analyst in Citi and he is doing well.
I was happy to see Fadli doing well and want to help more Singaporeans interested in cybersecurity to pursue their passions. CSA will work with other partners to do so. First, CSA and IMDA are supporting the development of the Innovation Cybersecurity Ecosystem (ICE) at Block 71. This initiative will be done with the National University of Singapore (NUS) and SingTel Innov8 and will help promising cybersecurity startups scale and internationalise. Second, CSA will introduce a Co-Innovation and Development Proof of Concept Funding Scheme to support the development of cybersecurity solutions for national security, critical infrastructure and classified system users. This will catalyse the commercialisation and adoption of cybersecurity solutions to address emerging needs.
In addition to cybersecurity, we will also invest to build up immersive media (IM) capability in Singapore, as we also see this as another promising area. Sir, we aim to be the Centre of Excellence in the development and use of IM-based applications in key industries, including engineering, media, retail and education. We will focus on three areas.
First, we will advocate for IM adoption by facilitating business matching and information sharing to raise awareness on IM’s potential. Second, to build innovation capacity by encouraging experimentation and development of proof of concepts. And third, to develop talent for the IM industry. Senior Minister of State Chee Hong Tat will share some of our efforts to build IM capabilities in his speech. We will announce more details of our plans for IM in the upcoming months. For now, we have put together an IM exhibit for Members to experience how IM can transform the way we live and work in the digital future.
Sir, to achieve these ABCs, we need several enablers. The first and most important is a strong workforce with the relevant expertise and skills. Two years ago, I launched the TechSkills Accelerator (TeSA). Since then, we have had excellent progress. As Minister Heng Swee Keat mentioned in his Budget Statement, over 27,000 training places have been taken up or committed.
One such beneficiary is Mr Muhammad Ruzaini. Ruzaini was retrenched in 2015 after eight years in the industry. As he was interested in cybersecurity, he tried to join the industry after his retrenchment. However, he did not succeed as he lacked the formal training and qualifications. Fortunately, he persisted and joined the Cybersecurity Associates and Technologists (CSAT) programme under the National Computer Systems (NCS), where he picked up new cybersecurity skills. He is now a cybersecurity professional working for NCS.
Sir, the Government will invest another $145 million to scale up TeSA over the next three years. This will create another 20,000 training places by 2020, including in new sectors like manufacturing and professional services. This will allow us to further develop our workforce for the digital economy.
Besides people, we also need to review our regulations in a fast-changing world to ensure they remain pro-business and fit for purpose. Mr Ong Teng Koon asked how IMDA will address the regulatory challenges in the converged ICM environment.
IMDA has been studying very carefully how to harmonise the approaches for the telecommunications and broadcast sectors in areas, such as competition, consumer protection and resilience. We believe that a converged competition and consumer protection code will provide clarity to industry, minimise regulatory overheads, while continuing to protect the public interest.
10.30 am
One salient issue in the converged ICM space is how digital technologies and social media platforms have come together to worsen the risk of fake news. This was an area that MCI was studying in our review of the Broadcasting Act. However, as Parliament has just appointed the Select Committee on Deliberate Online Falsehoods to examine the issue, it would be better to study the Select Committee’s recommendations first before making further moves. MCI will thus be deferring the review of the Broadcasting Act.
Dr Teo Ho Pin asked if there are plans to introduce regulations for AI applications. Currently, we have no such plans as the field is still nascent and we want to avoid stifling innovation. But we do acknowledge public anxiety about AI. IMDA is working with sector regulators to study issues and mitigate potential risks from deploying AI.
Besides talent and regulations, another enabler for a thriving digital economy is a conducive, rules-based international environment. That is why we have advocated open data flows and facilitated cyber norms discussions in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). As ASEAN Chairman this year, we will commit to improving digital literacy in ASEAN to help our people reap the benefits of digitalisation.
Beyond ASEAN, we are also participating fully in international mechanisms to provide digital flows. Last year, I announced our intention to join the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Cross Border Privacy Rules and Privacy Recognition for Processors systems, two multilateral certification mechanisms to promote cross-border data flows.
I am pleased to announce that our application was approved on 20 February 2018. When our certification scheme is in place, certified organisations in Singapore will be able to exchange personal data with certified organisations in participating APEC economies much more seamlessly, while consumers can be assured that the cross-border transfer of their personal data will be subject to high standards of data protection.
Sir, even as we grow the digital economy pie, we must ensure that everyone gets a slice of it, and that no one is left behind. And that is the main focus of our digital readiness efforts. Ultimately, Smart Nation is not just a series of technology projects. It is a whole-of-nation movement to improve the lives of all Singaporeans in the digital age. As Minister Vivian Balakrishnan had said earlier, our approach will, therefore, be inclusive by design.
Mr Saktiandi Supaat asked about the Digital Readiness Workgroup and its proposed strategies to improve digital readiness among Singaporeans. We have set out a digital readiness blueprint to give every Singaporean digital access, which is the means to transact digitally; digital literacy – the skills, attitudes and values of a digital citizen; and digital participation – the ability to make use of technology to improve daily life. Senior Minister of State Janil Puthucheary will elaborate later on this.
Sir, the possibilities of the digital future are endless. It is up to us to seize them. Everyone will have a role to play in our broader digital transformation, and we, at MCI, will work with everyone to ensure that we all gain from this shared journey.
The Chairman : Senior Minister of State Janil Puthucheary.
The Senior Minister of State for Communications and Information and Education (Dr Janil Puthucheary) : Mr Chairman, the emergence of new opportunities in the digital age is why Singapore is transforming itself into a Smart Nation. Smart Nation is about making all our lives easier. It is about building a strong society and economy with opportunities for all, and where businesses thrive. It is important that no one gets left behind as the world becomes increasingly digital.
Mr Saktiandi Supaat asked about how the Government will work with businesses and the community to help citizens with this transition. This is not the first time that Singapore is experiencing a technology-driven transformation. Since the 1980s, we have introduced information technology (IT) in schools, made broadband available to all homes, and transformed many public services using technology and the Internet.
As the pace of technological change accelerates, we will need a more comprehensive and inclusive approach to ensure that all Singaporeans can participate in and benefit from the opportunities of a digital age. To do so, we need to help citizens be digitally ready. There are three important principles that guide our approach.
Firstly, we need to design with the user in mind. The user interface of our digital services and applications must be so easy to use that almost everybody can start using it with little or no instruction.
Secondly, we have redefined digital inclusion as more than just access but also equipping people with skills. Today, we have many programmes that focus on giving people access to affordable devices and the Internet. But being digitally ready is also about having the skills to use digital technology safely and confidently. These include basic information and media literacy skills, awareness of cybersecurity and personal data protection, and several other skills as well.
Thirdly, collaboration. Digital Readiness must be a whole-of-society effort. Government, businesses and the community must work together to have a deep and wide impact for Singaporeans. This is why we established the Digital Readiness Workgroup last year, bringing together representatives from the public, people and private sectors to propose strategies to address future opportunities and challenges. We have learnt a lot from hearing about these organisations’ approaches to building literacy and giving people a chance to participate in the digital world. We will publish a Digital Readiness Blueprint later this year.
Being digitally ready means ensuring that Singaporeans have, firstly, digital access, which is the means to transact digitally; secondly, digital literacy, which is the skills, attitudes and values of a digital citizen; all of which will, ultimately, lead to digital participation.
As an example of the sort of issues we are concerned about for digital access is smartphones. A smartphone becomes a key enabler for many of the digital services that we want to provide. How can we ensure that enough Singaporeans have adequate access? Today, the total ownership of smartphones in Singapore is high, at about 150% of the population, and yet, there are Singaporeans who have no access to a smartphone.
Once we ensure there is adequate access, we need to develop a base of digital literacy. To begin with, we will articulate a set of basic digital skills, that is, skills that every one of us should have as a first step towards being able to participate in a digital society.
The focus areas of these skills will be the ability to communicate, transact and search for information through a mobile device for day-to-day living. These skills will be articulated as a curriculum that will be made available to training providers and can also be used by family and friends or community partners who are interested in helping everyone enjoy the benefits of our Smart Nation. To ensure that everyone can benefit from this, we will provide training for these basic skills in all four languages by the end of the year.
Assoc Prof Daniel Goh asked about the Government’s efforts in tackling cyberbullying. We agree with Assoc Prof Goh that it is important that we have avenues where the youths, their parents and their teachers can seek help and support from credible sources.
Help123 was initiated last year by the National Council of Social Service and various partners like Fei Yue Community Services and TOUCH Community Services. It provides services for youth cyber-wellness issues a dedicated webchat, email service and a hotline. It also provides resources of counsellors who are able to support people who need further direct intervention and help.
The Media Literacy Council also does work in this space. It makes available and will continue to produce resources to tackle cyberbullying. Examples include an anti-cyberbullying instructional video as part of the "Better Internet" campaign, informational packages with information specific for victims to counter cyberbullying, products, such as those providing guidance for parents and families to detect the symptoms of cyberbullying, and also to provide help to children. A series of workshops is being rolled out this year to help parents raise digitally resilient children.
Mr Vikram Nair asked how we can ensure that Singaporeans of all ages do not get left behind. Our approach has always been to be as inclusive as possible but recognising that some groups would find the transition difficult and providing them with targeted help. We will continue to help the elderly by expanding digital readiness initiatives for seniors.
By the end of this year, we would have organised more than 50 digital clinics for 2,000 seniors, to help them become confident in using digital mobile technology. This year, we will also work with industry and community groups to organise 48 experiential learning journeys to benefit 2,000 seniors to learn about digital technologies useful for their daily activities, such as e-payments.
Mr Yee Chia Hsing asked whether more can be done to prepare elderly residents for digital television (TV). Today, about three in 10 households are still using analogue TV signals. We have put in place the Digital TV Assistance Scheme to help households switch to Digital TV and will continue to provide targeted assistance to the elderly, including organising briefings and demonstration sessions using both English and the vernacular languages.
Just as we will help citizens become digitally ready, the Government will also help workers and businesses build strong capabilities to benefit from the opportunities in a digital economy.
Mr Saktiandi Supaat asked about the progress of TeSA and its upcoming evolution. TeSA is a key tripartite initiative to help build strong digital capabilities through training. You have heard from the Minister that outcomes have been encouraging and, since its launch in 2016, more than 27,000 training places have been taken up or committed, greatly increasing the opportunities for workers. Every individual who has gone through TeSA’s Company Led Training programmes, as well as more than 90% of job seeking trainees from the Tech Immersion and Placement Programme have been successfully placed.
We will scale up the TeSA initiatives with an additional $145 million of funding. This will provide more training places, more programmes and will address more user sectors. TeSA is a key initiative not just for the workers, but also for the businesses. One of the key issues about the development of the digital economy is going to be the provision of capabilities and skills in the workforce. So, by our focus on TeSA, we are helping workers find jobs and transition into new jobs, and we are helping businesses develop the skills and capabilities to help them grow. What are these initiatives?
First, TeSA will provide an additional 20,000 training places by 2020. This will require and build upon the strong multi-agency and tripartite approach that we have taken.
Secondly, TeSA will work closely with industry to develop more programmes in frontier technology areas, such as AI, data analytics, cybersecurity, IoT and IM. There will be more job opportunities that demand such frontier technology skills.
Up to now, a significant part of what TeSA has been doing is concentrating on the existing skills gaps, existing jobs gaps, known technologies, well-developed and mature business issues, and we need to push towards these frontier technologies to try and anticipate what would be the next steps required to grow our digital economy. I hope many more companies will work with TeSA to co-develop training programmes in these areas.
Thirdly, we will widen our approach towards more user sectors. Information and communication technology (ICT) professionals are in demand across many economic sectors, as the economy and industries rapidly digitalise. Currently, TeSA is quite focused on the ICT sector, as well as on the Finance and Healthcare sectors. Moving forward, TeSA will expand its training offering into Manufacturing and Professional Services.
In line with our commitment to develop our people, TeSA will also strengthen our support for those who might need it most, such as mid-career ICT PMETs in search of new job opportunities as the economy and the ICT job landscape evolve.
Mr Desmond Choo asked about how we can better support workers, especially mature ones, to reskill and upskill. TeSA programmes have been benefiting mid-career professionals. Since 2016, approximately 10,000 TeSA training places have been taken up by those above the age of 40. But TeSA will do more to support more mid-career ICT PMETs.
First, we will help to curate cross-sector ICT job openings. While there are ICT job openings in the public, non-profit and private sectors, as well as across different industry sectors, many mid-career ICT PMETs are unlikely to possess the networks, contacts or the sector-specific skills needed to make the transition into new sectors. They may already have skills which are relevant to either the private, public or the non-profit sector, or they may have ICT skills that are domain-specific to a given industry within the economy. What we need to help them do is make a transition across either the domain, the industry or the sector. And if we do not, this will be a missed opportunity, because there are many job opportunities that could potentially be meaningful as a next step for mid-career professionals.
IMDA is working with other Government bodies, such as the Ministry of Education (MOE) to identify jobs that ICT professionals can be placed into. We are also working with industry partners via the SMEs Go Digital programme to curate more suitable job roles.
Secondly, we will also strengthen employment facilitation for mid-career professionals. Leveraging on our integrated career services, a career support ecosystem by partners like the Singapore Computer Society (SCS), Workforce Singapore (WSG), Employment and Employability Institute (e2i) and NTUC, individuals will get more career guidance, more mentoring and better support for better job matching. The career coaches and mentors within this ecosystem will also be provided with better and more timely insights on job openings and skill needs, going forward, so that they can better assist workers.
Through TeSA's scale-up and its targeted assistance, we will build strong digital capabilities in our workforce.
Sir, MCI and our partners will help workers, businesses and citizens benefit from the opportunities of a digital Singapore. In the next few months, we will share further details on our digital economy and digital readiness efforts.
The Chairman : Senior Minister of State Chee Hong Tat.
10.45 am
The Senior Minister of State for Communications and Information (Mr Chee Hong Tat) : Mr Chairman, as we embark on our digital transformation journey, we are clear that technology is an enabler, not the end in mind. Our objective is to improve the lives of our people and create good jobs for Singaporeans by harnessing technology and cultivating a spirit of imagination, enterprise and innovation. This is the approach we adopt when we develop Singapore's media sector. Our efforts for the media sector focus on four Cs: Content, Capabilities, Channels and Collaboration.
First, on content, which is the heart of the media sector. Compelling stories are what attract audiences. Our local media companies have done well in this regard, creating quality local content appreciated by viewers around the world. For example, Netflix commissioned its first Chinese-language series, Bardo, by teaming up with IFA Media, a local production company, and Taiwan-based director Sam Quah. I am glad that a Singapore-based media company is involved in bringing its stories to a global platform.
IMDA will continue to support our local media companies and talent to create quality content as part of its plans to develop Singapore's media sector. We will announce more details later in the year.
One important area is to strengthen our partnerships with leading international media companies. For example, the collaboration with Home Box Office (HBO) Asia will open opportunities for Singaporeans to take on key production roles in HBO's upcoming productions. One of these is Folklore, a horror anthology created by local filmmaker Eric Khoo. Another is Grisse, a period drama set in 19th century Java. Both series will premiere in the second half of 2018.
For Public Service Broadcasting (PSB), locally produced PSB programmes remain an important avenue to tell our Singaporean stories and present news and entertainment from a Singaporean perspective. Mediacorp will experiment with new content concepts and production techniques through the Content Development Fund (CDF). The call-for-proposal was launched last October. One of the selected proposals is Under Our Sky, an alien-invasion thriller set in Singapore, featuring extensive computer-generated imagery and 360-degree video. The pilot will be released on Toggle early next year.
Next, on capabilities, Mr Darryl David asked how we are helping the media sector build capabilities for continued growth. This includes harnessing IM technologies like augmented reality and virtual reality (VR). Under IMDA's partnership with Discovery Networks Asia Pacific, Discovery had commissioned a series of VR titles. The first two titles will be launched later this year. Another two titles are in the works: Living on the Edge, which tells the story of child Muay Thai fighters in Thailand, and Wild Treks, which shows the life of the Bajau Laut, or Sea Gypsies, in Sabah. These titles are produced by local media companies BeVRR and iMMERSiVELY. They will work closely with Discovery to bring their productions to a global audience through Discovery's VR app.
IMDA will be working with game technology company Unity to jointly launch Unity Incubator Services at PIXEL Studios. Our companies will benefit from the business and technical workshops designed for facilitating knowledge transfer and sharing best practices in the development of IM applications and games.
IMDA will introduce more accelerator and training programmes to support our companies. I assure Mr Darryl David that smaller companies will also benefit from these programmes. An example is goGame, a Singaporean mobile game publishing company and a subsidiary of SEGA. It has partnered IMDA to launch Singapore's first game accelerator. The accelerator will train early-stage game developers in business strategy, licensing and marketing.
Another key focus is to invest in our young. With the support of IMDA, Mediacorp has invested in efforts to build a pipeline of young creative talent through apprenticeship programmes and collaborations with schools. For example, the Chinese-language web drama series, A Lonely Fish, which was released a few days ago on Toggle, was born out of a scriptwriting workshop co-organised by Mediacorp, Ngee Ann Polytechnic and NUS. Three Ngee Ann Polytechnic students, Oh Wei Ting, Tan Lipei and Ong Wenyi, participated in the workshop and came up with the idea for the series. Under the guidance of Mediacorp's scriptwriters and producers, they went through a full production cycle, learning the ropes of scriptwriting, acting and production.
Mediacorp also partnered Temasek Polytechnic, Republic Polytechnic and Ngee Ann Polytechnic on a Young Creators Project. Under this initiative, experienced mentors from Mediacorp will guide participating students in content production. Mediacorp has selected 11 student projects to commission, which will launch on Toggle later this year.
Our emphasis on nurturing our young underscores an important point. We cannot build effective capabilities without focusing on talent development. The human touch remains essential to the media sector, whose work centres on connecting with people.
This applies to our mainstream media, too. I agree with Mr Ganesh Rajaram that talent development is key to quality journalism. It is an important element in supporting the mainstream media's role to provide accurate and objective news reports as well as insightful opinion pieces and documentary programmes.
Beyond the newsroom, we are also focused on developing our local talent pool for the industry. IMDA's ongoing Talent Assistance Scheme has been a useful initiative, providing funding support for our media talent to upgrade their skills. From May this year, we will expand the scheme to support media professionals outside the media sector, such as those who are employed in the manufacturing and retail sectors. At last year's COS, we announced the Media Manpower Plan to develop a future-ready media workforce. IMDA has made good progress on the implementation of this plan.
I earlier announced that IMDA and SkillsFuture Singapore (SSG) are jointly developing the Skills Framework for Media. This is expected to be launched in November 2018 and will cover about 140 media job roles in areas, such as games, broadcast and film. To date, 40 local and overseas stakeholders, including Beach House Productions, Fox Networks Group and Ubisoft, have provided inputs to the framework.
Recognising that media freelancers play an important role across the economy, IMDA launched the Tripartite Standard on Procurement of Services from Media Freelancers in November last year. Since then, 52 organisations have adopted the Standard. Starting from 1 April 2018, organisations must adopt the Tripartite Standard in order to qualify for IMDA's media grants and funding for PSB content. I look forward to more organisations coming forward to adopt the Standard over time.
Let me now touch on the need to develop effective channels to reach our viewers. I agree with Mr Vikram Nair that we should extend the reach of PSB programming to engage more Singaporeans. Besides traditional free-to-air channels, IMDA has been actively building partnerships with media players in the digital and online space.
An example is IMDA's partnership with Singapore Press Holdings (SPH) to produce and distribute short-form videos through SPH's digital content network. The pilot run last year saw the release of 118 short-form videos. Building on its success, SPH will be producing a second slate of videos comprising more than 120 short-form videos.
IMDA also partnered Viddsee, a Singapore-based online video platform specialising in short films, to deliver more engaging PSB content for the younger audiences on its platforms. This is a good example of a company which is using data analytics to drive viewership and monetisation. Viddsee will produce five new original series in collaboration with local filmmakers. The first, the short film Run Chicken Run by Ellie Ngim, was launched last month. Its heart-warming story set during the Chinese New Year period was well-received.
IMDA will also continue working with Mediacorp to better engage viewers on its digital platform, Toggle. Since its relaunch in April 2015, Toggle has seen a steady increase in viewership to more than eight million monthly video views today. This is an effort that I think we should continue.
I am glad that Mediacorp's analytics tool, RIPPLE, won three BIGGIES Awards at the global Big Data for Media Conference last year. Using RIPPLE, Mediacorp will launch 34 new Toggle Originals this year, up from 13 released last year. I believe these new titles will offer more entertainment options for our viewers.
The fourth and final "C" is collaboration. The need for collaboration applies to our mainstream media companies SPH and Mediacorp, too, as Mr Ganesh Rajaram pointed out.
After a successful two-year collaboration, SPH and StarHub recently renewed their partnership for another two years. They will continue their tie-ups in areas, such as cross-media content creation and publishing, data analytics and marketing, where SPH-produced content has been broadcast and promoted across StarHub's pay TV service. Additionally, they will collaborate in their non-media business, to encompass new areas, such as healthcare, retail and education.
Mediacorp and SPH have also explored possible areas of collaboration. They launched a joint digital advertising marketplace, Singapore Media Exchange (SMX), consolidating their data resources to unlock new advertising opportunities and provide advertisers richer targeting capabilities. Both companies are also working with IMDA on joint efforts to market the opportunities in Singapore's media sector to better develop our talent pool.
These are some examples of how, through partnerships, our media companies can position themselves for a digital age and create more value.
Mr Chairman, I thank Mr Low Thia Khiang for giving us an opportunity to update on the National Translation Committee's work since its formation in 2014. Under the three broad thrusts of Talent, Technology and Teamwork, or 3Ts, we have rolled out several initiatives. Due to time constraints, I will just highlight a few examples.
First, on talent development. We have awarded six Information Service (Translation) Scholarships since 2015 to groom young Singaporeans who have a strong interest in translation. The National Translation Committee (NTC) also launched the Translation Talent Development Scheme (TTDS) earlier this year to provide funding support for translators and interpreters in the industry to attend seminars and courses to enhance their skills and expertise.
Next, on technology. In partnership with public sector agencies, we have enhanced the Government Terms Translated Database, hosted on gov.sg, to cover more than 6,200 Government-related terms translated into Chinese, Malay and Tamil. I agree with Mr Low Thia Khiang that it is important to organise our online resources to be accessible, convenient and user-friendly. We will discuss his suggestions with the NTC members.
MCI is working with the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) to develop a Customised Government Machine Translation Engine. The engine is "trained" using translations from MCI and other Government agencies, enabling it to correctly translate local terms.
Finally, on teamwork: NTC launched the Community-in-Translation (CiT) initiative in 2016 to raise awareness and interest in translation among our young. Under this initiative, NTC worked with several partners to conduct translation workshops for students in all three Mother Tongue languages and supported schools in organising translation competitions.
Mr Chairman, in our multiracial community, raising translation standards is an important focus for the Government. I am grateful for the contributions from our NTC and resource panel members from the various language communities and our industry partners.
As the Malay proverb goes, "Bukit sama didaki, lurah sama dituruni" – we overcome obstacles together and enjoy the fruits of our hard work together.
There is also a Tamil proverb, "ஒன்றுபட்டால் உண்டு வாழ்வு ", which means "unity is strength". And as I said in my COS speech in 2016, we are committed to getting our translations correct: "சரியான மொழிபெயர்ப்பே நமது கடப்பாடு ".
Mr Chairman, please allow me to conclude my speech in Mandarin.
( In Mandarin ) : [ Please refer to Vernacular Speech .] In a multicultural and multiracial society like Singapore, translation plays an important role. It helps the Government better explain our policies, thereby benefiting our people and promoting understanding amongst the races.
We are aware of the challenges we face as society and technology evolve. However, NTC, together with like-minded partners, will persevere in carrying on this meaningful and important mission, which is also of cultural significance.
The Chairman: Minister Yaacob Ibrahim.
Assoc Prof Dr Yaacob Ibrahim : Sir, many Members have shared positive examples of Singaporeans and companies successfully transforming themselves through digitalisation. Let me share one more example – our libraries.
11.00 am
Sir, our libraries are national treasures. Our earliest libraries were modest facilities, to promote reading among Singaporeans. But they have always explored new ways to promote library usage, such as our mobile libraries. Today, they have reinvented themselves by using technology to champion lifelong learning, build stronger communities and improve Singaporeans' lives.
Three years ago, in this House, I introduced the latest iteration of the libraries’ transformation – our Libraries of the Future Masterplan. Our vision was for the libraries to harness digital technology and become social touchpoints for bonding, collaboration and co-creation.
The Masterplan has delivered encouraging results. Five libraries have been revamped and reopened under the Masterplan – Bedok Public Library, Bukit Panjang Public Library, Sengkang Public Library, Tampines Regional Library and Yishun Public Library. Visitorship has doubled on average, and loans rose by over 40% at the Bukit Panjang and Sengkang libraries, compared to before the revamp. More people visited our public libraries last year compared to the year before, especially our seniors and children.
One reason why our revamped libraries are so popular is because of their specialised spaces, especially those with digital capabilities. For example, the Bukit Panjang Public Library has an Immersive Storytelling Room which brings stories to life through IM. The new Yishun Public Library has a dedicated Digital Learning Zone where users can read e-books and e-magazines to their hearts’ content. These specialised spaces are a boon to visitors seeking something different, such as Ms Audrey Leong, who visits the Bukit Panjang Public Library four times a week with her three children. Her children have fun in immersive storytelling sessions while she attends parenting workshops at the library.
Dr Teo Ho Pin mentioned that library visitorship remained the same and asked about the new initiatives that promote reading through digital technology. While the physical libraries' visitorship has held steady, our libraries' digital reach has increased significantly. Today, there are myriad digital resources on NLB's website which provides for learning anytime, anywhere.
In fact, as of 2017, e-book loans have increased by 69%; NLB's digital reach has grown more than threefold, to 34%; and the NLB mobile app has been accessed three million times since its launch in October 2016. So, for those Members who have not yet downloaded the NLB app, I strongly encourage you to do so today!
Our libraries can do much more. Mr Darryl David and Dr Teo Ho Pin asked what more our libraries can do to prepare Singaporeans for the future economy where digital skills will be in higher demand. The answer is plenty.
Our libraries have forged several partnerships, including with SSG, to build our abilities in three areas: Skills and Employability; Business Acumen and Market Knowledge; and Innovation. To promote learning for skills and employability, NLB and SSG jointly set up the LLiBrary in the Lifelong Learning Institute, which lets users use digital resources for their professional development. To help develop business acumen and market knowledge, NLB recently opened the Eye on Asia Resource Centre to give users a better understanding of regional markets through online resources, workshops and mentorship programmes. To inspire innovation, we will build another Pixel Lab at Woodlands Regional Library, so that we can translate more ideas into reality.
This will help innovators like Mr Jeremy Tan, who wanted to create an inexpensive soft-serve ice-cream machine to replace the expensive ones on the market. Through the Pixel Lab at Jurong Regional Library, Jeremy could print a working sample of his design to show potential investors and convince NUS Enterprise to fund his creation.
NLB will also collaborate with tech companies to nurture the next generation of digitally-ready Singaporeans. This will be an exciting year. We can look forward to the first NLB-Microsoft AI Hackathon that will bring students together to co-create innovative solutions using Microsoft’s AI products and data from NLB. In partnership with Microsoft, NLB will also be co-organising a National Digital Storytelling Competition this year. Open to all secondary school students, this competition will let students tell their own stories using the IM technologies at the Bukit Panjang Public Library and Microsoft tools.
Our libraries will also play an expanded role in realising our vision of digital readiness, as explained by Senior Minister of State Janil Puthucheary. To start, NLB will bring in more than 1,000 digital-readiness programmes for all ages every year.
Dr Teo Ho Pin asked about the libraries' efforts in supporting and preparing Singaporeans for active ageing. I am pleased to share that NLB will partner IMDA to develop and deliver a suite of digital readiness services and extend the reach of digital readiness training to more than 300,000 Singaporeans over five years, 85% of whom are expected to be adults and seniors. This year, seniors can look forward to TechShare, a tech showcase platform for seniors to try current and upcoming technology in a "tech playground" setting, exploring gadgets, such as robots and smart home technologies.
Sir, the upshot of these investments has been an increase in customer satisfaction. A recent survey showed that many more Singaporeans are visiting the libraries, reading books and having a good time doing so.
Children and young Singaporeans have benefited from the libraries' transformation. NLB has long supported efforts to promote early reading, especially for less privileged children, because this improves one’s ability to learn throughout life. Hence, we have programmes like KidsREAD and Early READ.
These efforts have produced encouraging results. Based on our survey of KidsREAD, four out of five children enjoy reading more. They also developed a positive self-esteem and positive attitude towards reading through attending kidsREAD sessions. Through Early READ, 99% of educators and 92% of parents observed that their children have gained an interest in reading.
Our libraries show us that it is possible to embrace digitalisation and reinvent ourselves to thrive in the future. But technology is not the only determinant of success. We must also have a deep sense of identity to root us as we navigate an uncertain and fast-changing future. This is where our libraries have also done well, thanks to their excellent work in preserving our national patrimony.
Ms Sun Xueling asked about the efforts undertaken by the National Library and Archives to preserve our heritage, and if access to archive resources is available at all our libraries. I am pleased to share that they are forerunners in using digital technology to strengthen digitisation efforts that are critical to the preservation of our memories. The digitised content is accessible through the various digital portals, such as Archives Online and NewspaperSG. In fact, many of Mediacorp’s Broadcast Archives are also viewable at the public libraries free of charge via the multimedia stations.
I had the opportunity to explore NLB’s Spatial Discovery website on my visit to the National Library last week. This website allows users to find and interact with maps and maps-related information across NLB and the National Archives of Singapore (NAS) collections.
Each map is a rich archive of information, as Members can see from the 1982 map of the Changi area overlying Changi Airport’s present-day satellite image. Today, many of us rely on Google Maps to tell us how to get somewhere. These historical maps, however, tell a different story: they show us how far we have come, from a barren site of land to four airport terminals, and possibly where we will go. The good news, Sir, is anyone can access this trove of knowledge on their Internet-enabled devices at any time, and not just at the libraries.
We will continue to do more. Later this year, we will amend the NLB Act to require publishers to deposit electronic publications free of technological protection measures so that NLB can provide access to and preserve the documents.
In preserving our national patrimony, NLB works closely with the community to preserve the rich heritage and culture that are embodied in our people. We particularly would like to thank our Citizen Archivists for helping us transcribe, describe and make sense of some 27,000 images or pages in the past year. We will continue to provide Singaporeans and friends more avenues to contribute their own captures of Singapore’s landscape and significant moments in time.
Similarly, Sir, the Archives has convened the Community Oral History Committees (COHCs) to ensure a comprehensive, representative and multifaceted oral history collection.
The COHCs have collated wonderful stories from fellow Singaporeans from all walks of life, such as Mrs Eleanor who saved her friend from being beaten up by rioters in the 1950s, Mr Noor Mohamed Marican, a lawyer involved in the Muslim Syariah Courts, and Mr Rama Kannabiran, a celebrated Tamil-language writer.
NAS will continue to preserve and make accessible our nation's at-risk collections and treasures, including microfilms and audio visual (AV) records. This year marks the NAS' Golden Jubilee. We are, therefore, revamping the NAS building at Canning Rise to enhance its archival facilities and create more public spaces so that Singaporeans can enjoy our rich repository of treasures.
You can soon browse historical documents in the comfort of a new Archives Reading Room or watch restored movies at the upgraded Oldham Theatre. But beyond hardware, the NAS will launch programmes for the public to enjoy its vast collection later this year.
Sir, over the last few years, through numerous dialogues and outreach and engagement efforts, such as Singapore 21, Our Singapore Conversation (OSC), SG50 and, most recently, SGfuture, we have heard from Singaporeans from all walks of life on their hopes and visions, and how we can shape our collective future together. In the OSC survey of 4,000 respondents, it was found that Singaporeans are generally optimistic that the next five years would be better than today, and that today was better than five years ago, despite the challenges ahead.
It is with the same spirit of optimism and zeal that my Ministry has envisioned what it means to be a truly digital Singapore. We see Singaporeans finding their niche in the digital economy, be it someone learning a new skill like 3D printing, an SME using an app to bring convenience to its clients, or communities collaborating to develop future-forward digital solutions to better the lives of fellow Singaporeans.
Sir, we will provide opportunities for inventive entrepreneurs to translate their ideas into reality, for content creators to move from storyboards to bigger screens; for established and emerging companies to become the Googles of the world. We see a future where we can browse more digital resources from wherever we are, where communities come together to learn and grow together.
Today, Sir, the future beckons to us from the Reception Hall at Parliament House. I would like to invite the House to IMDA’s IM Exhibit hosted there, where you can visualise and digitally experience large 3D building models in the construction of new urban sites, amongst other AR and VR activities.
As we can see, my Ministry and its agencies are one step closer to realising our vision. We will continue working tirelessly with all our citizens and businesses, so that we can reap the benefits on our path to a truly digital Singapore and a Smart Nation, by growing our economy, supporting our SMEs in different sectors, and creating good jobs and a better quality of life for all Singaporeans. Like the people in the video I showed at the beginning of today's speech, our ultimate goal is to deploy technology that will continue to improve the lives of Singaporeans and empower them to do more good for their families, communities and our nation.
The Chairman : Mr Zaqy Mohd.
Mr Zaqy Mohamad : Chairman, I have questions on what Senior Minister of State Chee Hong Tat shared earlier. What are the expected success indicators of the funding and collaboration that were announced just now with other players like Mediacorp and SPH? In the Ministry's view, how are they performing, compared to authentic influencers for readers and viewers, such as Toggle versus YouTube, Netflix; mainstream news apps versus other alternatives; or TV content providers versus cable operators?
Is the Ministry also concerned that some companies like SPH last year had to scale back and retrench? Will that impact their role in public communications?
Lastly, how does it affect our vernacular media, especially the Tamil and Malay news providers, given that they have seen declining readership and viewership in Singapore, in particular, the younger generation?
Mr Chee Hong Tat : Chairman, I thank Mr Zaqy Mohamad for his clarifications. First, we need to understand that viewership and readership of mainstream media – Mediacorp, SPH – have not been reduced. What happened is that in the case of SPH, instead of reading the hardcopy newspapers, more of their readers are now shifting online and getting their news through mobile devices, through their iPads.
This is the same for Mediacorp where we see that people are not necessarily watching television programmes in front of a TV set, but they are watching it online through Toggle. Yesterday, Mr Vikram Nair said that that is his viewing behaviour as well; he will view it on Toggle.
Toggle has an advantage in the sense that you can do catch-up. If you are not available during the time when the programme is showing, you can do a catch-up later at your own time and convenience.
The challenge that our mainstream media companies are faced with right now is that even though the overall readership, viewership numbers are there, we need to find a more effective way of monetising these online. The advertising revenues on traditional platforms through your newspapers, TV, when you compare to the advertising revenue currently online, there is still a difference. I think that is the main challenge that the mainstream media companies are facing.
11.15 am
Yesterday, Mr Ganesh Rajaram spoke about New York Times and he gave a very good example of how they managed to increase their online subscriptions and they do this not just by targeting local readers, it is a global readership base. Similarly, for us, we have to think how do we find effective ways of monetising our online reach. Both SPH and Mediacorp are looking at this using data analytics, using more targeted communications and marketing, and this is still a work-in-progress.
The other points that Mr Zaqy Mohamad mentioned are all part and parcel of the challenge that we face in the modern media environment. Consumers have more options, and content is going to be king. So, to compete, we need to make sure that we have good quality content, whether it is good quality news reports, opinion pieces, documentaries, good quality entertainment. So, good quality local content which is difficult for overseas players to replicate and where we can then have an emotional resonance and connection with Singaporeans.
The Chairman: Mr Liang Eng Hwa.
Mr Liang Eng Hwa : The kidsREAD Club is an excellent programme. It has helped many kids in the neighbourhood, inculcating in them the reading habit and the love to read at the early age. So, the Minister only made a brief mention of kidsREAD. I just want to ask whether there are plans to refresh this programme, maybe scale up with some more resources and enlarge the outreach because it, indeed, helps especially the lower-income children and families. The resource support, if you can give more from NLB, how to curate the programme and so on, I think that would be very helpful.
Assoc Prof Dr Yaacob Ibrahim : Sir, I share Mr Liang Eng Hwa's sentiment that we would like to roll out kidsREAD to every constituency, every corner of Singapore. In fact, my kidsREAD team is now engaging all the constituencies to see whether we can open up in every Residents Committee (RC) so that it will benefit the low-income families. The resources are there. We also curate some of the best practices in other kidsREAD clubs and share it with the other kidsREAD clubs. There is always a gathering of the volunteers with the NLB team to share expertise and success stories. Our team is very small, our ambitions are very large. We are relying on whatever we have at the moment. Thus far, I am quite happy. But I certainly would like to see more kidsREAD clubs rolled out.
In terms of resources, we would explore more on what we can do. At the moment, all of the kids will get a small bag, a T-shirt. The more important thing for me is training more volunteers who can then engage the children. It is not just about reading; it is about the interaction between the volunteer and the child. So, we have been recruiting a lot of volunteers. My own experience in Kolam Ayer − we are blessed with lots of young volunteers coming forward. NLB runs a training programme for them and then, they do the outreach and do the reading programme. So, we will continue to step it up and if there are any constituencies which might be interested in opening up a kidsREAD club, we are happy to assist.
The Chairman: Mr Yee Chia Hsing.
Mr Yee Chia Hsing : Chairman, my question is directed at Senior Minister of State Chee Hong Tat. If I heard him correctly, 30% of households are still on the analogue TV signal. It sounds like a very big number. So, it translates to a few hundred thousand households which, come next year, will not receive the TV signal. I am quite happy to mobilise our grassroots volunteers to reach out. But I, myself, struggle to translate some of the terms because "analogue TV signal", I google translate it and the Chinese word that pops up, I do not even know how to read. So, I hope MCI can help us to push out something which is very easy for us to use to share with our grassroots to then reach out to the elderly residents.
Mr Chee Hong Tat : Mr Chairman, can I first clarify with the Member whether he is asking about translation or is he asking about the package to roll out to help our residents?
Mr Yee Chia Hsing : Because 30% of households seems like a really big number and I am very worried that, next year, they cannot receive the signal. So, please help us to reach out and help us with translation of terms. Currently, terms like "analogue TV", "digital set-top box", these are very difficult words to translate and for us to explain to residents what this thing is about.
Mr Chee Hong Tat : Chairman, I thank the Member for his clarifications. Yes, I think the short answer is MCI, IMDA will work closely with the broadcaster Mediacorp. We will also work closely with the grassroots organisations, the community organisations to make sure that we have clear, simple to understand communications that we can then roll out to help all our residents to understand how they can go through this conversion. So, do not worry, we will work closely with all our partners to make sure that this is done properly.
The Chairman : I think when the Member mentions those terms, he may wish to put on his headset and listen to the translation, and he would be able to find out what the translation is. Any other clarifications? If not, would the Member wish to withdraw the amendment?
Mr Zaqy Mohamad : Chairman, I would like to thank Minister Yaacob Ibrahim, Senior Minister of State Janil Puthucheary and Senior Minister of State Chee Hong Tat as well as all Parliamentary colleagues for making this MCI COS a fruitful one, and one that will take Singapore forward in the infocomm, media and creative sectors. I also want to thank MCI and all the Statutory Boards for all their hard work behind the scenes. So, I wish the Ministry all the best in their efforts and the journey ahead and, as the Minister shared, you just need to learn the ABCs. Mr Chairman, I beg leave to withdraw the amendment.
[(proc text) Amendment, by leave, withdrawn. (proc text)]
[(proc text) The sum of $998,162,500 for Head Q ordered to stand part of the Main Estimates. (proc text)]
[(proc text) The sum of $49,158,500 for Head Q ordered to stand part of the Development Estimates. (proc text)]