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Intelligent Island: The Untold Story of Singapore's Tech Journey
Intelligent Island: The Untold Story of Singapore's Tech Journey seeks to uncover the IT philosophy and ideas of the past 50 years that have shaped Singapore into the hyper-connected country it is today.
Singapore's tech journey is told through the voices of policy makers, entrepreneurs and top executives, who with their far sighted leadership contributed to the development of an advanced metropolis. Since 1981 when Singapore’s IT development began, the three pillars of government, private sector and talent have formed the basis of the national IT narrative and had been embedded in all the masterplans, including the Smart Nation initiative today.
The book begins with an interview with President Dr Tony Tan Keng Yam who discussed how he kickstarted Singapore's IT journey by chairing the Committee on National Computerisation. The book continues with interviews with other visionaries and change makers including the founding National Computer Board chairman Mr Philip Yeo and Mr Tan Chin Nam, the founding general manager of the then National Computer Board and who has helmed many leading government agencies in his career. Other interviewees include the founder of Computer System Advisers (CSA) Mr Johnny Moo, the founder of Frontline Technologies Mr Steve Ting and the chief executive officer of GovTech, Ms Jacqueline Poh.
Singapore's tech journey is told through the voices of policy makers, entrepreneurs and top executives, who with their far sighted leadership contributed to the development of an advanced metropolis. Since 1981 when Singapore’s IT development began, the three pillars of government, private sector and talent have formed the basis of the national IT narrative and had been embedded in all the masterplans, including the Smart Nation initiative today.
The book begins with an interview with President Dr Tony Tan Keng Yam who discussed how he kickstarted Singapore's IT journey by chairing the Committee on National Computerisation. The book continues with interviews with other visionaries and change makers including the founding National Computer Board chairman Mr Philip Yeo and Mr Tan Chin Nam, the founding general manager of the then National Computer Board and who has helmed many leading government agencies in his career. Other interviewees include the founder of Computer System Advisers (CSA) Mr Johnny Moo, the founder of Frontline Technologies Mr Steve Ting and the chief executive officer of GovTech, Ms Jacqueline Poh.
256 pages, Hardcover
Published June 1, 2017
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August 12, 2017
This book tells the history of technology in Singapore. While it is good for learning who the key players were and what they did in broad strokes, it lacks the technical depth and "customer success stories" in today's terms of exactly how technology has helped the nation. It suggests a narrative that problems are solved by creating a new agency and write a new think tank policy, and to me, it is in the weeds of execution and perspectives from the people on the ground (which is lacking) where the book will prove useful to budding entrepreneurs in the space. Knowing that this book was published by a government's agency, it would have been nice for it to mention more on fundamental limitations and challenges that Singapore faces resulting from its cultural and rigid educational system. This book is still a great read for those interested nonetheless.
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