Speech by SMS Tan Kiat How at Workato Advanced Digital Solutions (ADS) Launch Event

Mr. Allan Teng, Founder & Senior Advisor Workato Asia-Pacific & Japan
Colleagues and friends

1. I am very happy to come back to this office and I am very glad that the team has taken up the challenge I gave them last year – bringing together a very good set of partners to better support our SME ecosystem here in Singapore. I am also happy to launch Workato’s project on Digital Integration of SME Business Operations.

2. Digital technologies have provided large organisations and SMEs across different industries with a competitive edge in the marketplace. Such technologies are not a “good to have” but a “must have”; or we risk losing out.

3. I am glad that especially coming out of COVID-19, many more SMEs recognise that to stay competitive, they need to start their digitalisation journey; and for those who have started their journey, they need to also take the next step to build up digital capabilities and to better use the digital technologies and solutions that they have adopted in their organisations.

4. As Allan pointed out just now, one consistent feedback from SMEs is that they face practical issues selecting the right solutions for their businesses, especially for more complex and advanced solutions. Another common feedback that we hear from SMEs is that they have adopted many solutions in their organisation, but now they find out that many of those solutions don’t ‘talk’ to each other, or rather they cannot be integrated, such that they end up having different digital solutions to solve different business problems or having to manually integrate many of these digital solutions together. This results in very high overhead cost and very unproductive use of their employees’ time.

5. Hence, I am glad that IMDA’s SMEs Go Digital programme has taken a step in the right direction with its Advanced Digital Solutions (ADS) scheme. Through the ADS scheme, SMEs can now access a range of advanced technology and integrated digital solutions such as data analysis and robotics.

6. One example of an SME that benefitted from the ADS scheme is TMS Alliances Pte. Ltd which is primarily involved in Repairs & Redecoration (“R&R”). Traditionally, building inspections are time consuming and costly. Gondolas are set up for workers to inspect buildings section by section. This is not only tedious but also has a high element of risk for high-rise operations. The use of new façade inspection drones has significantly reduced the time required for building inspection of a typical HDB flat from 4 to 6 weeks to just 5-8 days. This has resulted in tremendous savings in time and labour cost, and an increase in productivity of more than 400%.

7. Beyond robotics like drones, there is an increasing need for companies to integrate their data and information across their different applications that they have in their enterprise IT ecosystem. Therefore, I am very happy to hear that Workato is working closely with IMDA and SGTech, to look at some of the opportunities and challenges on the ground to embark on this effort.

8. Workato is the first digital automation and integration solution offering under ADS, which helps companies integrate different applications and automate their business workflows without having to write code. This low-code and no-code approach is very important, because not all SMEs can afford to have their in-house technology team to write software to develop codes. This helps SMEs better manage their growing number of digital solutions, applications and platforms.

9. There are three main benefits to SMEs: First, with seamless data exchanges between applications, SMEs can streamline their business processes to operate more efficiently, having greater integration between applications allows businesses to reduce human error and resources spent on manual work; instead, manual work can be spent on higher value-added activities for the company. Secondly, leaders and employees can also use this time not just for value-added activities like revenue generation, but to improve the workplace, culture and environment for staff members. SMEs can transform their business operations to stay more nimble and gain competitive advantage. Lastly, this integration of applications and workflows helps SMEs to reduce errors and data leakages. It is safer, because oftentimes, the data protection breaches happen because of human error. So, this integration reduces many of these issues, including reducing submission delays and lapses.

10. Let me encourage all SMEs to come on board the ADS scheme under IMDA’s SMEs Go Digital programme. I also encourage all tech service providers to come on board to integrate their solutions using digital automation software and platforms. It is a win-win outcome, as their clients will experience a more integrated and seamless experience, which, in turn, provide a competitive advantage for our SMEs and ICT companies on the scheme.

11. To conclude, one key strength that we have in our Singapore ecosystem is that we have many schemes, like SMEs Go Digital, supporting the digitalisation journey of our companies here in Singapore, large and small. It’s not just Government providing support through different ways, but also industry associations like SGTech, and companies like Workato and HReasily, working together as an ecosystem. I encourage all companies to participate in these schemes. Together, as an ecosystem, we can make Singapore a shining Red Dot in the digital landscape.

12. Thank you!

PDF version of the speech.