At least 50,000 SMEs expected to benefit from new Digital Enterprise Blueprint

At least 50,000 SMEs expected to benefit over the next five years from new Digital Enterprise Blueprint

Singapore, 29 May 2024 – The Digital Enterprise Blueprint (DEB) was officially launched by Mr Tan Kiat How, Senior Minister of State, Ministry of Communications and Information (MCI), at the opening of ATxEnterprise today. It outlines the Government’s support for enterprises and workers in harnessing digital technologies, particularly Artificial Intelligence (AI), to drive growth, innovation and resilience. The DEB is set to benefit at least 50,000 SMEs over the next five years.

2. In recent years, our Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) have made significant progress in digitalisation, with technology adoption rate increasing from 74% in 2018 to 95% in 2023, boosting productivity and fostering innovation. This has contributed to a vibrant digital economy, generating a value-add of $106 billion dollars in 2022, equivalent to 17% of Singapore’s nominal Gross Domestic Product (GDP). With the demand for tech-related skills across the economy, tech professionals have enjoyed steady growth in their median monthly wages from $5,512 in 2017 to $7,376 in 2022.

3. The tech landscape is evolving rapidly, particularly with the emergence of technologies such as Generative AI (GenAI) and the increased exposure of our SMEs to cyber threats. To thrive in this dynamic environment, the Government has co-created the DEB in consultation with various stakeholders in the ecosystem, including SMEs, solution providers, industry leaders, and trade associations and chambers. The DEB outlines our support for SMEs and workers in four focus areas:

(i) Focus Area 1: Empower enterprises to Be Smarter. We will catalyse the adoption of emerging technologies, especially AI-enabled solutions, to enable SMEs to improve their productivity and innovate.

(ii) Focus Area 2: Enable enterprises to Scale Faster. We will accelerate the adoption of cloud-based and integrated digital solutions to support the growth of SMEs.

(iii) Focus Area 3: Equip enterprises to Be Safer. We will improve SMEs’ cyber resilience and strengthen trust in our digital ecosystem.

(iv) Focus Area 4: Support enterprises to Upskill Workers. We will provide opportunities for SMEs to upskill and reskill their workers and encourage SMEs to adopt inclusive, skills-based hiring practices.

4. Speaking at the opening of ATxEnterprise, SMS Tan announced that seven partners have pledged their commitment to supporting SMEs and workers through the DEB by partnering MCI, the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) and the Cyber Security Agency of Singapore (CSA) to:

(i) Build Awareness of the DEB (Singapore Business Federation)

(ii) Strengthen AI adoption (Amazon Web Services, Microsoft, Salesforce)

(iii) Raise capabilities of solution providers (Amazon Web Services, Microsoft)

(iv) Raise cyber resilience of SMEs (Amazon Web Services, Google, Microsoft)

(v) Upskill workers (Singapore Computer Society, SGTech)

More information on the seven pledge partners’ initiatives and quotes at Annex A.

5. Together with the initiatives across the four focus areas (Be Smarter, Scale Faster, Be Safer and Upskill Workers), the Government will continue to build a vibrant and resilient ecosystem for the continued growth of our digital economy. This will enable our enterprises and workers to seize opportunities in the age of AI.

6. For more information on the DEB, please visit https://www.mci.gov.sg/digital-enterprise-blueprint.