From: Albert Foo <UC580503@mizzou1.missouri.edu>
Subject: SG: Science and Tech. Report (Long) [1 of 2]
Organization: University of Missouri
Date: Tue, 13 Oct 1992 01:52:28 GMT
X-Posted-From: mizzou1.missouri.edu
NNTP-Posting-Host: sol.ctr.columbia.edu

Here is a report by Dave Kahaner on Singapore's Science and
Technology (esp. towards computing) when he visited there in
April of 1992.
 
Permission has been granted to post only to SEASIA-L.  No part of this
document may be distributed without the consent of the original
author.  Opinions stated in this report are solely the author.
 
Enjoy!
 
Albert Foo
Biometric Computer Consultant
MO. Dept of Conservation
Email: uc580503@mizzou1.missouri.edu
 
-------------->file 1 of 2 'singapor' <--------------------------
From: David K. Kahaner, ONR Asia [kahaner@xroads.cc.u-tokyo.ac.jp]
Subject: Computing and related scientific activities in Singapore
19 June 1991
This file is named "singapor"
 
ABSTRACT. Science and technology in Singapore, especially related to
computing, is reviewed.
 
SUMMARY
I visited Singapore for four days during April 1991.  This was among the
most impressive places I have seen, and certainly the most surprising.
Part of the material in this report is the result of my own observations,
other parts were the results of discussions with Singaporean scientists
or extracted from technical reports they provided me. There is a little
redundancy and overlap, and I feel that this helps to paint a picture of
remarkable purpose and energy.  I am astonished that there are so many
different projects, all being undertaken with a great deal of vigor by
researchers who read, write and speak in English.  The government has
clearly committed its resources to pushing advanced technology in a way
that is tightly tied to industry and the development of precompetitive
products.  This is especially true for information technology and it
appears that every nook and cranny of government has been told to hunt
for ways to computerize.  Given the size of the country it would be
unrealistic to expect very long term or unfocused research projects such
as those that occur within some large Japanese laboratories. The projects
appear to be highly focused and credible; appropriate for an
industrializing country.  The scientists I met are good and the more
senior ones seem well aware of the major research projects that are
occurring outside their country. There is a tremendous amount of
communication and coordination between departments and this helps to
multiply their efforts, as does the physical proximity of the research
facilities.
 
A short list of upcoming meetings is attached to the end of this report.
 
I think that any of the labs or University departments I saw would be an
excellent place for a collaborative visit, sabbatical, or joint research
project.  Nevertheless, Singapore is a small country, far from some
better known centers of scientific excellence (flying time to Tokyo is
seven hours).  Their scientists will have to be aggressive to be sure
that they remain well plugged into the international research community,
and also tough minded enough to be willing to pare down redundant or
marginal projects in order to avoid being spread too thinly.
 
SINGAPORE OVERVIEW AND GOVERNMENT ROLE IN SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
   Singapore is an island nation, lying only one degree north of the
equator, between the Malaysian peninsula to its north and Indonesia to
the south.  Originally under British colonial rule, Singapore has been
independent since 1965. Nevertheless, it still has many British
traditions including the use of English as its official language. Its 2.6
million people are a mix of original Malays, Indians, Chinese, and
others, occupying an island of about 600 square kilometers.  Government
studies indicate that Singapore can comfortably house about 4 million,
and land fill can increase the land mass of the island by about 15%.
 
   Until recently population growth was decreasing, with a growth rate as
low as 1.4 in 1986 (number of children a women gives birth to during her
lifetime). This same trend has been seen Japan, where the 1990 growth
rate was 1.53. The rate in Singapore is now higher than it was, but still
not high enough, and the government is trying to encourage couples to
have larger families, as well as encouraging in-migration by qualified
skilled workers.  It is estimated that a country needs a growth rate of
2.08 to keep its population intact.
 
   Since 1960 Singapore's economy has grown by nearly 9% a year, save
for a dip in 1985-86.  It is one of the financial, industrial, and
communications centers or Asia, has the world's busiest port, and has
recently benefited from industrial, and financial movement out of Hong
Kong.  Over 600 international companies have facilities in Singapore,
including AT&T, Compaq,  Dupont, Motorola, IBM, Mobil, Ashton-Tate,
Sony, Philips & Siemens, Exxon, Beecham, Okamoto, Aerospatiale, GM,
Nippon Miniature Bearing, Alfa Laval, etc.  Over 100,000 Singaporeans
work for more than 200 US corporations, most of them fabricating and
assembling electronic components for export to the US.  Singapore's
largest private employer is General Electric.  Several industrial
products from Singapore are world class, including some computer
peripherals (largest producer of small format Winchester disk drives),
refrigerator compressors, specialized pharmaceuticals, as well as
technology related to petroleum refining and shipbuilding.
 
   Since 1980, Singapore's workforce has had the highest rating of any
country's in an international scoring system combining worker
productivity, legal framework, worker attitudes, and technical skills.
Switzerland was number two this year; Japan was third and the US was
eighth. Singapore's Changi international airport was recently voted the
world's best.  Singaporeans have a fairly high standard of living. While
not as well-to-do as Japan, from what I saw Singapore looks like a
modern, industrial country, rather than a poor third world one. 84% of
the population own the homes they live in (65% for the US, 62% in Japan)
although obviously homes in Japan and Singapore are much smaller than
those in the US.
 
   Singapore runs smoothly, it is modern, safe, and with flowers
everywhere, fragrant and lush. During my visit (April) the weather was
ideal although it might get hot in the summer. Its multi-racial
population is vibrant, making for interesting contrasts.  Singapore is
relatively expensive. Recently, Japanese tourism has decreased because
Japanese tourists, who are great shoppers, have felt that bargains are
not as conspicuous there as in the past.
 
   The government of Singapore exercises a great deal of control and
coordination, much more so than in the US or other Western countries. For
example, a recent planning document shows a master land use plan for the
entire country (admittedly Singapore is small). A positive aspect of this
that I observed is the large amount of communication and joint planning
that goes on among the country's scientific organizations.  Occasionally
this causes conflicts when value systems clash. For example the Wall
Street Journal is not sold because of disagreements between its editorial
staff and the Singaporean government, although I have been told that this
issue has now been resolved.  Overall, Singapore is considered an
excellent place to do business; Westerners feel comfortable and welcomed,
and essentially all needed services appear to be readily available.
 
   Singapore has very strong government support for science-based and
research-oriented industry. Government R&D policy focuses on areas that
are very high-tech but will have a pay off in jobs and products.  Support
includes direct support via grants and S&T centers, and indirect support
through exceptionally generous corporate tax incentives. These vary from
company tax exemptions, double deduction of R&D expenses, 100% government
matching grants to 30% locally owned companies developing new processes,
full depreciation in one year for R&D equipment, etc.  There is also a
good deal of emphasis on training highly skilled workers, another form of
indirect industrial support.
 
   Government R&D expenditures are on the order of 1% of the country's
GNP.  Areas that have been identified specifically for emphasis are
 * biotechnology/biology
 * microelectronics
 * robotics & artificial intelligence
 * information technology
 * laser and electro-optic technology
 * communications technology
 
   The government aims to increase the percentage of engineers in the
workforce from its current level of 1.1% to 2.3% by the year 2000, at
which time there will be 34,000 engineers in country.  (An earlier
program to increase the number of Information Technology (IT)
professionals from about 850 in 1980 to 10,000 by 1990 has been
successful.) Scientists are to be trained at the two major universities,
National Univ of Singapore (NUS) (with about 7000 in the science,
engineering, and medical schools), and Nanyang Technological Univ (NTU)
(2-3000 enrolled). Additional training occurs at three polytechnics, and
various training centers and technical institutes. The government has
recently established the National Computer Board and the Information
Technology Institute to perform R&D as well as to train specialists.
There are also three new centers of excellence, the Institute of Systems
Science and Institute of Molecular & Cell Biology at NUS, and the
Grumman International CAD/CAM Center at NTI. Many of these are located
near the Singapore Science Park, where I spent most of the time during
my visit.  Science Park is the result of planning by the Singapore
Science Council (now replaced by the National Science and Technology
Board) and the Jurong Twon Corporation.  It contains about 80 S&T
organizations, both private and public and is immediately adjacent to
the NUS.(Some of these are described in more detail below).  Because
Singapore is small, even those organizations not in the Science Park are
close to it. During my visit I saw no significant traffic jams, and the
road system looks very well maintained.
 
   The chart below shows the structure of the Government of Singapore,
and the departments that have scientific activities; other departments
are omitted. The National Computer Board, National Science and Technology
Board, Singapore Inst of Standards & Industrial Research, National
University of Singapore, Information Technology Institute, Institute for
System Science, and the Advanced Computation Center at the Singapore
Technology Corporation are discussed in detail.
 
PRIME MINISTER & CABINET
 |
 (Ministries)
 | Environment
 |     Public Health Division
 |     Environmental Engineering Division
 |
 | National Development
 |     Housing & Development Board
 |     Primary Production Dept
 |     Public Works Dept
 |
 | Health
 |     Dept of Scientific Services
 |     Dept of Pathology
 |     Hospitals
 |
 | Finance
 |   * National Computer Board ( & Info Tech Inst)
 |
 | Trade & Industry
 |     Economic Development Board
 |     Jurong Town Corp
 |   * National Science and Technology Board
 |   * Singapore Inst of Standards & Industrial Research
 |
 | Education
 |   * National University of Singapore ( & Inst Syst Sci)
 |     Nanyang Technological Univ
 |     Polytechnics Science Center
 |
 | Communications
 |     Meterological Services Singapore
 |     Port of Singapore Authority
 |     Telecoms
 |
 | Defense
 |     Defense Science Org
 
 
 
   The Government of Singapore provided me with a great deal of
information about S&T organizations. Some names that I expected  did not
appear, such as the large subsidiaries of GE, Advanced Logic Research,
etc.  Further among those that are listed the level of science appears to
vary from almost 100% to essentially zero. Nevertheless, for a country of
its size, it is amazing that such a large amount of coordinated S&T
information is available.
 
NATIONAL SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY BOARD
 * National Science and Technology Board (NSTB)
        This organization was formed to address the need for a
       coordination of Singapore's R&D efforts, and to be proactive in
       R&D promotion. The Board, established only in Jan 1991 is directly
       under a Ministerial S&T committee that is chaired by the Minister
       of Trade and Industry. NSTB replaces the Science Council of
       Singapore.  Its primary functions are to
        * promote R&D
        * coordinate establishing of research institutes and S&T facilities
        * assess and develop R&D manpower
        * undertake joint S&T programs with international organizations
        * promote public awareness of S&T
 
       The research institutes are its most visible product. The chart
       below lists these and their staffing projections. Senior staff at
       the institutes are occasionally seconded. For example the
       Microelectronics Inst is headed by Dr. Bill Chen, who is on
       secondment from AT&T Bell Labs.
 
         NAME                        FY91  FY92  FY93  FY94  FY95
     GINTIC Inst of CIM                96   112   127   142   -
      Grumman International-NTI CADCAM Res Center
      (Develop local expertise in CIM via cooperative R&D, consulting, and
       training.                                             $S11.8 FY90.)
     Information Tech Inst            110   115   120   130   140
      (Applied R&D arm of National Computer Board. To become national IT
     powerhouse, get international recognition.              $S 9.7 FY90.)
     Inst of Systems Science          125   150   175   200   200
      (To carry out world class research, and to provide expertise and
       leadership to Singapore in IT.                       $S 8.1M FY90.)
     Inst of Molecular & Cell Bio     161   177   215   233   235
      (To be internationally competitive center, research and postgrad
       training.                                            $S14.2M FY90.)
     Inst of Manufacturing Tech        23    54    65    77    89
      (Promote advanced mfg tech by industry-driven research, provide postgrad
       programs.                                            $S 8.7M FY91.)
     Inst of Microelectronics          16    31    53    53    77
      (To become national research center, train industry-oriented
       researchers, and engage in tech transfer.            $S19.2M FY91.)
 
 
     NSTB also provides funding to stimulate industrial R&D. At the end
     of 1990 this was as follows.
        Engineering and Physical Sci
           Completed projects                32    ($S 22.37M)
           Projects in progress              18    ($S 15.19M)
        Biological and Medical Sci
           Completed projects                21    ($S  9.34M)
           Projects in progress              26    ($S 14.91M)
 
     NSTB also decides on areas to be focused on (a tech master plan).
     These areas are
         Biotechnology
         Medical Sciences
         Food and Agrotechnology
         Microelectronics
         Electronic Systems
         Information Technology
         Manufacturing Technology
         Materials Technology
         Energy, Water, Environment and Resources
 
     NSTB assists in the planning and tenants selection of the Singapore
     Science Park. The Park's current profile is as follows.
 
       TENANTS/WHAT                                    NUMBER
         Government Agencies                             6
         Information Tech                               33
         Computer Hardware/Microelectronics             13
         Biomedical/Biotechnology                        8
         Chemicals/Petrochemicals                        7
         Materials Tech/Engineering                      5
         Others                                          6
 
       TENANTS/WHO                                     NUMBER
         Government Agencies                             6
         Local Companies                                13
         Joint Venture--Local Majority                   8
         Joint Venture--50/50 Local/Foreign              1
         Joint Venture--Foreign Majority                 9
         Foreign Companies                              41
                                                        --
                                                        78
 
      NSTB plans a computer network centered at the Science Park to
      connect the local R&D community, the Universities, government
      agencies, providing email, file transfer, DB, etc., as well as
      international connectivity. (There is already BITNET access to many
      of the computing organizations, and the National University of
      Sinapore network has access to INTERNET.) The Board has also
      proposed a National Supercomputer Research Center, modelled after
      the NSF Supercomputer Centers in the US. Presumably, if this plan
      goes forward it will subsume the Advanced Computation Center, now
      under the Singapore Technology Corporation (see below).
 
      NSTB has an even more elaborate plan to develop a Science Habitat
      as a national project. The idea would be to develop a quality
      living environment along with employment opportunities that will
      retain local talent and attract foreign experts. The universities
      and Science Park would be the focal points.
 
      NSTB Contact:
          Dr. Francis Yeoh
          Director, Technology Development Division
          National Science and Technology Board
          16 Science Park Drive
          #01-03 The Pasteur
          Singapore Science Park
          Singapore 0511
             Tel: 0511-7797066, Fax: 0511-7771711
             Email: francis@itivax.bitnet
 
 
NATIONAL COMPUTER BOARD
 * National Computer Board (NCB) (700 staff, 10 PhDs):
       NCB was established in 1981 under the Finance Ministry. It is the
       focus for information technology (IT) in Singapore, and has the
       explicit mission to "drive" Singapore into the information age by
       developing an export oriented IT industry, and exploit IT to
       improve productivity. Its primary method is to implement a
       National IT Plan, a strategy that cuts across all government
       agencies with seven prongs.
       * Manpower. Upgraded skills, research professionals, post-grad
         training, etc. Universities and institutes have primary role.
       * Culture. Educational programs at all levels from schools to
         offices and factories, programs on TV, etc., to raise
         consciousness. Ministry of Education has primary role.
       * Information/Communication Infostructure. Telecommunications for
         voice, data, text, and images, etc. Singapore Telecom (the
         telephone company) has primary role.
       * Applications. Business, database, storage. Public sector has
         primary role and civil service computerization program is an
         important part.
       * Creative Entrepreneurial Climate. Information Technology
         Institute, Universities, Telecoms, etc., have primary role.
       * IT Industry. Hardware manufacturing, computer services,
         telecommunication services. Private sector has primary role.
       * Coordination/Collaboration. National Computer Board has primary
         role.
 
       There is a national computerization program, now moving into its
       second decade. Singapore ranks seventh in terms of computers per
       capita and was ranked number 1 in 1990 among 34 newly
       industrializing economies and OECD countries in the extent to
       which IT was effectively used. Various interesting computer
       networks have been implemented, such as TradeNet for export/import
       documentation that links 18 government agencies and almost 2,000
       companies, and is claimed to process about 80% of import/export
       declarations electronically, virtually all within a few minutes. A
       related project is to set up a few data centers to act as nodes in
       a distributed environment where data is shared by the entire civil
       service with different application specific front end systems in
       the Ministries and Departments. Two specific examples of data
       sharing are the Land Data Hub (combines conventional DB and
       Geographic Information System and provides a repository of land
       related data items) maintained by the Ministry of Law, and the
       Establishment (business) Data Hub under the Ministry of Trade and
       Industry. On-line data services, such as "On Government Services",
       "Community & Arts", and "Business Link" are available to the
       general public as well. The entire enterprise goes under the
       slogan, "one stop, non stop government". (Not a bad idea.) NCB
       also helped to organize an IT show in December 1990 that
       registered more than 125,000 people. This was held jointly with
       the Supercomputing Conference mentioned below.
 
       The NCB has a substantial number of programs devoted to pushing IT
       in industry, but I did not have any opportunity to discuss these
       in detail.  However, one interesting new project is the Japan
       Singapore AI Center.  This is a training and development center to
       train a core group of 450 AI specialists.  Japan will provide 6 AI
       experts to advise, coordinate and instruct.  Singapore provides
       local instructors, admin support and facilities, etc.  There are
       four programs, a three-day program for senior managers, a two-week
       program for professionals in building expert systems, and a six-
       month program for trainees to develop expert system prototypes.
       The initial focus will be expert systems, and the center is to be
       closely associated with commercial market potential.  A related
       Singapore-Japan project is to develop an intelligent CAI system
       which is hoped will provide spin-off technology in the CAI field.
 
       NCB contact:
            Mr Yeo Khee Leng
            Div Director
            Corporate Services &
            Information Technology Industry Division
            National Computer Board
            71 Science Park Drive
            Singapore  0511, Republic of Singapore
            Email: kheeleng@itivax.bitnet
 
 
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