Smart Nation

Smart Nation is Singapore's national effort to co-create a future of better living for all through tech-enabled solutions. It aims to rally the collective efforts of people, businesses and government to work together to support better living, create more opportunities, and support stronger communities by harnessing info-comm technologies, networks and big data.

Through strategic deployment of technology across the nation, leveraging on investments in digital infrastructure, a tech savvy population and a single layer government that can work quickly to coordinate policies and synergise efforts, the Smart Nation initiative strives to develop people-centric solutions to address global urban challenges.

Global
The world is fast changing and against the backdrop of technological disruptions, cities across the globe, including Singapore, must evolve to stay relevant. Singapore has set their sights on becoming not just a Smart City, but a Smart Nation.

The difference in this city wanting to be smart, is that Singapore is also a country. Taking advantage of the compact size and single layer government, Singapore can take a holistic national view and scale up successful innovations efficiently.

Singapore
Singapore's Smart Nation initiative was officially launched by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on 24 November 2014.

The initiative is coordinated by the Smart Nation Programme Office in the Prime Minister's Office, and supported by other government agencies. The initiative is led by cabinet minister, Dr Vivian Balakrishnan, Singapore's Minister for Foreign Affairs, and assisted by Dr Janil Puthucheary, Minister of State for the Ministry for Education and Ministry of Communications and Information.

Singapore seeks to harness technology to improve urban living. Some areas of focus include enhancing public transport networks, enabling successful ageing and ensuring a secure but open data marketplace.

To encourage innovation and collaboration between citizens and companies, open data is made available at government portals such as Data.gov.sg and Datamall.