Digital Economy Programme 2022

The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the process of digital transformation and added urgency for governments and businesses to respond. A key challenge is how to govern and harness the surge in digital data for the global good.

In this programme, EuroCham will highlight the multidimensional aspect of data, and how the use of IoT has implications not just for trade and economic development, but also for human rights, peace and security. It also has an angle on how frontier technologies such as blockchain and artificial intelligence can empower digital transformation. Furthermore, it also explores how the handling of data may greatly affect our ability to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Digitalisation has and will continue to transform business models and trade. This has opened up unparalleled opportunities and choices for businesses and consumers. In December 2021, the EU and Singapore agreed to strengthen bilateral partnership on digital trade with a view to advance towards a comprehensive EU-Singapore digital partnership. The members of the EuroCham Digital Economy Committee are mindful of the importance of identifying the relevant digital trade elements for such an agreement.

The programme comprises a series of activities covering four main areas of focus:

Four Focus Pillars

Data-Driven Economy

Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Big Data are two main driving forces behind a variety of technological innovations that have shaped today’s digital environment and Industry 4.0.

This pillar covers:

purpose and best practices of Data Governance
relationship between AI and Big Data
relationship and importance of linking operational data with experiential data
how AI supported by Big Data aim at the following objectives: Reasoning, Machine learning, General intelligence, Robotics, Computer Vision, Programming
AI contributing to workforce development and sustainability

Hyperconnectivity

The Internet of Things (IoT) describes the network of physical objects—“things”—that are embedded with sensors, software, and other technologies for the purpose of connecting and exchanging data with other devices and systems over the internet.

The amount of IoT devices worldwide now numbers in the billions. That is why IoT security is one of the major cybersecurity challenges today.

The connectivity challenges include:

IT/OT integration
Edge-cloud integration
On-premise vs cloud
How to deal with old, resource constrained hardware in a brownfield scenario

Digital Talent Gap

Nearly all organizations would agree that digital talent is important and that they are aware of the digital talent gap.

According to McKinsey (2020), nearly 90% of executives across the world are facing digital skills gaps in their workforce. This is a particular challenge for the ASEAN region, where a majority of workforce is employed by SMEs.

Singapore, seen as the emerging tech powerhouse of the SEA region, is facing a severe tech talent shortage across all verticals. Aside from promoting upskilling of citizens (SkillsFuture), one other way the government has addressed this longstanding issue is to make the island nation more attractive to skilled foreign talent. But are these efforts enough to fill the gaps?

Digital for Sustainability

Digital sustainability is the use of technologies in everyday business applications to improve the environment. Businesses adopting digital sustainability as a goal can use digital processes, tools, and forecasting models to measure potential gains against the impact that their success might have on the environment.

This pillar covers:

the effect of digital process of businesses on environmental sustainability
sustainability metrics embedded into business process metrics
digital sustainability strategies that account for customer and environmental needs alike
automated compliance to ESG reporting requirements