 | Issue: | Asia-Pacific II 2005 |
| Article no.: | 15 | |
| Topic: | Changing the business communications paradigm | |
| Author: | Alex Siow | |
| Title: | Head of Business Markets | |
| Organisation: | StarHub | |
| PDF size: | 68KB |
About author
Alex Siow leads StarHub’s Business Solutions and Services Units in Singapore. He is also the Chairman of the National Infocomm Competency Centre, Chairman of the e-Learning Chapter of the SITF, Assistant Secretary General of the Asia ICT Confederation and President of the Singapore Chapter of Project Management Institute. Mr Siow is an adjunct Professor at NUS’ School of Computing and he serves on the boards of the Institute of Systems Science, Commercial & Industrial Security Corporation (CISCO), PT Cisco Mas Sekurititama (Indonesia) and the Information Communication Institute of Singapore, NTU. He also sits on the National Internet Advisory Committee and the National Grid Steering Committee. In the community, he is the Acting Chairman of the Aljunied-Kembangan Citizen’s Consultative Committee and Chairman of the Aljunied-Kembangan Bursary and Welfare Committee. Mr Siow is a Lieutenant Colonel in the SAF Reserve. He was nominated by Computerworld Singapore as one of the top 10 most powerful IT personalities in Singapore in 1995, and IT Person of the Year 2002 by the Singapore Computer Society. The Public Administration Medal Bronze award was conferred upon him in 1993 and the Silver award in 2000. Mr Siow holds a B.Eng. (Civil) from Stuttgart Institute of Technology, Germany, a M.Sc. Eng. with distinction from the University of Birmingham, UK, and is a graduate of the INSEAD, Fontainebleau, France, Senior Management Programme.
Article abstract
Singapore’s economic survival demands that its basic telecommunications facilities meet the evolving demands of businesses. Singapore must attract foreign investment to sustain its growth and development. Continuous evaluation of technological and business trends and constant upgrading of its infrastructure are vital to Singapore’s existence. The island is a natural regional hub in Asia, where business competition is quite strong. Nevertheless, Singapore’s diverse cultural heritage makes it a favoured stepping-stone for access to the huge markets of India and China.
Full Article
When Sir Stamford Raffles first founded Singapore, he recognized that the geographical position of the island would serve well as a central trading hub for the region. In a similar vein, with the growth of its infrastructure advancing rapidly, Singapore has a strong advantage in terms of supporting modern day regional trade. Present day Singapore has grown by leaps and bounds in terms of world-class business infrastructure and, over 95 per cent of the time, telephone lines for residents and businesses are installed within five working days. In view of Singapore’s evolving economic roadmap, we challenge ourselves with the question: is basic telecommunication access meeting the evolving demands of businesses in Singapore? Copernicus, in 1514, hypothesized that the sun, and not earth, was the central anchor in the universe. While his views were largely disputed when he had originally postulated them, it took time for reason and logic to prevail, eventually it had established itself as the scientific truth. It takes a certain amount of willingness to accept change when presented with it, but the logical rationale behind every sound idea eventually prevails. Singapore is a natural regional hub of Asia where diverse cultures meet. Manpower diversity is a key ingredient to innovation and, in that connection, a fertile breeding ground for its growth. Diversity promotes competition and ensures that only the best of the breed will survive. As a result, companies have a strong incentive to choose Singapore’s manpower for access into the huge markets in Asia, in particular India and China, because of local diversity and quality. Protecting intellectual property Diversity alone is not enough to sustain the growth of innovation. To sustain the growth of innovation, there must be a strong commitment to protect intellectual property. Intellectual property protection is one of the key considerations for many foreign companies choosing Singapore as their regional headquarters. No companies or right minded persons would choose Singapore if they know that their ideas and interests will be violated or that their assets will be stolen. Singapore has shown a strong will and commitment to protect intellectual property and innovation. Entrepreneurship breeds innovation. Singapore has in recent months placed heavy emphasis on encouraging entrepreneurial activities. Entrepreneurs generate positive economic activities because they develop better ideas and products to surpass dominant players and act as a check against inefficiencies. With a framework of manpower diversity, intellectual property rights protection and a conducive entrepreneurial environment it is natural for new businesses to relocate to Singapore and local businesses in Singapore to expand with the transfer of knowledge and technology. The influx of higher value economic capital, though, places a different set of demands on telecommunication and service providers. They demand more efficient methods of communication to support activities traversing between their headquarters and their business activities in Asia. Free trade agreements There are signs to show that higher value economic activities will evolve. Singapore’s drive for free trade agreements, like the 2004 free trade agreement between Singapore and America, is a clear signal to businesses that there will be increased economic activities radiating out from Singapore. The region will benefit from the increased economic activities. As Singapore’s business activities with the rest of the world increase, so too are telecommunication and service providers confronted with both the growth and usage trends in communications that Singapore’s trading partners have become familiar with. This translates to businesses’ demand on the telecommunication and service providers to address the communications needs not only of our domestic market, but also to meet that of the partners with whom they communicate. There are many partnerships between multinationals and others based in Singapore that provide clear examples of providing Singapore’s trading partners with the familiarity of services they find back home. The Internet has in many ways unified the world and made the world a smaller place, through both the ease and speed of information dissemination. The collapsed Internet bubble has questioned many business and communication assumptions and has led to an overhaul of Internet economics. Many entrepreneurs learned from the collapse of the Internet bubble, and they have now switched their focus on developing market driven applications riding on the Internet. The result is that data, voice and business processes have converged through Internet enabled technologies. These Internet enabled converged applications are fast gaining acceptance in the business community. It is no surprise that the market has challenged the standard and traditional communication models by switching to Internet based communication models. Companies harnessing the Internet have gathered momentum and this leads to a question: is the traditional communication model inefficient? Acid test With the advent of new technology rising to meet market demands, telecommunication and service providers face the acid test of product development and question whether communication services offered in Singapore meet the growing needs of the expanding businesses. By studying the changing behaviour of the business users, we may find some clues along the way. Increased transmigration and business travel places downward pressure on the costs of travel, and subsequently leads to increased demand of alternative communications. While we find that travel competes with telecommunications, we also find that, conversely, it enhances its usage. Face to face meetings will always remain a business imperative, but downstream contact following business meetings ripples across the media of email, as well as voice calls. Therein lies the opportunity for telecommunication and service providers towards providing new and more efficient means to remain in touch. Telecommunication and service providers need to understand the dynamics of the change and prepare for the way businesses will be conducted in Singapore. We can complement the business landscape by making it easier for our customers to conduct their business better. This can only be achieved through an appreciation of the factors that shape our existence as a telecommunication and service provider, and anticipating the new opportunities that will emerge long before they reach the horizon. By the time the opportunity stares in the face of the providers, the game might well be over. It is still not too late to take a position in Singapore’s evolving economic roadmap.
