New Media Fusion 2015 expected to create 10,000 new jobs

Jun 20, 2007
AsiaOne

Singapore's progress to develop itself as the centre for the making, trading and financing of media has been lauded by the International Advisory Panel (IAP) which just ended its two-day meeting with Media Development Authority (MDA) officials here.

An MDA statement says that the IAP members encouraged Singapore to leverage on its strengths in education, medicine and science to explore growth opportunities in the new media landscape.

"The IAP recommendations will boost MDA's updated versaion of the Media 21 plan, the new Media Fusion 2015 masterplan which is in progress,¡± it says.

"The new Media Fusion 2015 masterplan aims to create 10,000 new jobs and value-added contribution of S$10 billion by year 2015. It is geared to propel Singapore's media industry forward in the digital age, as part of the creative economy and aligned with the growth formula of World Singapore."

The IAP discussions, chaired by Dr Tan Chin Nam, chairman of MDA, were set against the backdrop of the advent of Web 2.0 and the rise of online user-generated content and networking communities. The panel recommended the creation of an integrated strategy for the new media age that includes the re-purposing of media content for different formats, platforms and versions.

Dr Tan says: "The insights offered by the IAP will come in useful as we hone Media Fusion 2015, of which a key strategic thrust is to catalyse the Interactive and Digital media (IDM) sector."

The MDA statement adds: "Apart from the traditional film and TV industries, the music and publishing sectors were identified as potential growth areas for Singapore.

"To tap on the unbridled creativity of young people that have played a key part in the many successful Web 2.0 applications, the IAP recommended that Singapore actively fosters an environment that offers opportunities for individuals, especially the young, to innovate and test-bed their ideas.

"The IAP recommended that the i.JAM (IDM Jumpstart and Mentor) initiative which encourages the generation of breakthrough ideas and projects from the public, as a step in the right direction to stimulate bottom-up innovation amid a peer-sharing climate."

The IAP also highlighted Singapore's robust and trusted Intellectual Property regime as its key asset in developing as a global player in the IDM space.

"Singapore should not only attract companies to park their intellectual properties here, but create a conducive media ecosystem that will facilitate Singapore companies to co-create and co-own these intellectual properties," says the MDA statement.

Of Singapore's progress, IAP member, Mr Greg Coote, co-executive chairman of Anytime, a leading supplier of Video-on-Demand (VoD) programming for IPTV, broadband and digital cable networks, says: "I live and work in Los Angeles, the motion picture and digital capital of the world, and I am always surprised and delighted at the 'noise' I constantly hear about Singapore.

"No doubt the fine work of the MDA has changed the face of Singapore in the media industry. Now, viewed up close over the past two days, the realities as distinct from the pan-Pacific 'noise' in Hollywood are evident and great.

"MDA's guidance and support in the digital media space has positioned Singapore's skills-set to ride the wave of prominence into the next decade."

Says another IAP member, Associate Professor Paulo Saffo, from Stanford University's School of Engineering: "Singapore is a natural media hub. It has all the pieces required to attract commercial partners - and to build an indigenous media sector. That challenge is no longer collecting the pieces but connecting the pieces in a way that enables dramatic, exponential innovation."

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