Canberra IT experts showcase skills in Singapore this week
A group of some of Australia's top IT providers and government spokesperson are currently showcasing ACT's prowess in the tech sector to Singapore officials this week.
The delegation, led by Assistant Cities and Digital Transformation Minister Angus Taylor includes members of Optus, Canberra Data Centers, SME Gateway and Veritec.
The group is in Singapore to look at a range of themes such as cybersecurity, cloud services, 5G technology and other technology services to government.
According to Optus Business managing director John Paitaridis, government and the private sector must work together to uncover innovation opportunities.
"Singapore is an exemplar in building and implementing smart city capabilities, to solve global issues such as cyber security threats, and improve services to citizens and customers with solutions such as analytics, artificial intelligence, smart cities and IoT," he says.
As part of the tour, the group saw Singtel's Security Operations Centre and Cyber Security Institute.
Singtel also briefed the group on its initiatives in cloud adoption and 5G technology, while its subsidiary NCS showcased innovation related to smart cities.
"Singtel is playing a key role in leading and shaping innovation in Singapore and we look forward to showcasing some of the region's most exciting and progressive technology and solutions with the Australian government," Paitaridis continues.
Assistant Minister Taylor says there is great potential for Canberra IT companies in government.
"Canberra can really play a role as a hub for IT services to government in Australia. I think we're starting to see the potential for many of these companies based in the ACT to play global roles. It's an opportunity opening now, for the region to build this sector," he comments.
Greg Boorer, Canberra Data Centers CEO, says Singapore and Canberra share common ground.
"Both are city-states with a high density of Government, Defence, Technology, Academia and the ICT Industry, all co-located in a relatively small city footprint, which presents unique opportunities," he explains.
"The Singapore Government is well known for its whole of government approach to ICT strategy and I look forward to learning more about the Singapore journey and applying those learnings locally to continue to support government."
Veritec's CEO, Keiran Mott, says the tour is valuable to a small Canberra company like Veritec.
"It's great to have people championing initiatives to support and grow businesses like ours, to learn from international leaders, so that we in turn can give back to local communities," Mott concludes.
