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$15M SINGAPORE GRID INITIATIVE ANNOUNCED

The Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA) and Oracle Singapore announced a $14.7 million (SGD$25 million) initiative on enterprise Grid technology. The collaboration, "Enterprise-g@Singapore," will help more than 30 local companies develop enterprise Grid solutions and train some 300 Infocomm professionals. In addition, the collaboration also will establish other cluster projects in key verticals, such as manufacturing, transportation and health care. To achieve these goals, IDA and Oracle will set up a nerve center, called the Enterprise-g Center, to drive activities under the collaboration. The nerve center also serves as a one-stop resource for vendors, enterprises and developers seeking to undertake enterprise Grid development, software development, testing, integration, standards compliance and Grid awareness activities.

Today, it is widely acknowledged that the use of Grid technology in the research and education communities has been successful. This is mainly because Grid technology makes it possible for users to enjoy huge computing power and data storage capacity. However, the use of Grid technology in the enterprise space is relatively new. The three-year "Enterprise-g@Singapore" collaboration between IDA and Oracle therefore bridges this gap to bring Grid technology from the research to the enterprise space.

"Technology can be the differentiator between winners and losers in today's competitive world. That is why companies increasingly embrace relevant technologies to stay ahead. Through the Enterprise-g@Singapore collaboration, we encourage local companies to embrace Grid technology to be competitive and achieve more with fewer resources. We also encourage local companies to develop innovative Grid solutions and be part of the fast-growing Grid industry that is expected to exceed $12 billion in revenue by 2007," said Tan Ching Yee, chief executive officer of IDA.

"Oracle is confident that in the next five to 10 years, nearly all enterprises will deploy enterprise Grids, which will become increasingly attractive as a business computing model," said Stanley Chew, managing director of Oracle Singapore. "Enterprise-g @ Singapore will expand and promote the capability of local industries to make use of enterprise Grid technology for their businesses, enable them to significantly lower the cost of their computing, and give them a significant competitive advantage using enterprise Grid technology, especially as their businesses grow and compete beyond Singapore."

IDA-Oracle Collaboration On First Grid Proof-of-Concept Project

Enterprise-g@Singapore is off to a good start with the first Proof-of-Concept (POC) on Land Data Hub with the Singapore Land Authority (SLA). As a POC, the project is scoped to test the functionalities of enterprise Grids. The Land Data Hub provides a relevant and appropriate user environment to test new technologies with partners beyond enterprise Grids to include Web services, geographical markup language (GML), Java and open standards.

The POC supports SLA's vision of an integrated Land Data Hub that manages real-time information among all location-dependent verticals of the economy in Singapore. Presently, the SLA manages land data information from a total of 14 key public and private sector agencies that do not offer real-time information exchange capability. The new Land Data Hub model riding on enterprise Grid architecture allows agencies to receive updated real-time land data. It will also redefine the way government agencies share land data, as it will facilitate online exchanges of land data without the need for manual intervention.

"The Land Data Hub project with SLA is key to accelerating the adoption and capability development of enterprise Grid technology by local companies. This POC is a real system and user reference project that will provide a platform to demonstrate and test the capabilities of enterprise Grids in a land data intensive environment. When successfully implemented, this project can potentially lead to a production system with great commercial potential that can be exported beyond Singapore. This further reinforces Singapore as a digital living lab to champion new technologies, and as a launch pad for innovation into the region," added Yee.

At the press launch, the SLA presented a vision of the Land Data Hub powered by Oracle's enterprise Grid technology together with partners Autodesk Asia and Sun Microsystems. A demonstration was created to show how, using a Grid-enabled Land Data Hub, agencies may be able manage their business operations more effectively.

"The Singapore Land Authority is very pleased to be invited to be part of this exciting collaboration to position Singapore as a Digital Living Lab. Enterprise Grid computing capabilities are potential solutions to meet Land Data Hub objectives for timely and real-time land data sharing. If successful, it would redefine the way agencies share land data, help deliver greater efficiencies at lower business costs. By collaborating with the private sectors, this may potentially bring about new businesses and services for the benefit of the public." said Tan Kee Yong, chief executive of SLA.

"The move towards Grid computing utilization is vital to the enhancement of our industry and in setting trends within the region. Autodesk is delighted to collaborate with Singapore Land Authority in the development and support of this proof-of-concept project, which demonstrates our commitment towards enabling Grid computing technology with our products," said Sivadas Ramadas, strategic accounts director for South Asia Pacific, Autodesk Asia Pte Ltd. "Using an Internet-based integration platform, we can distribute instantaneous business-critical information to organizations utilizing land data hub, thus enabling faster, more informed decision-making and responses to changing business needs."

"Grid computing is the newest phase in network computing. Sun is pleased to be working with IDA and Oracle in this Proof-of-Concept project for Singapore Land Authority. Sun's expertise in Grid computing can help optimize heterogeneous network computing and drive the growth of this new technology in Singapore," said Wong Heng Chew, managing director of Singapore for Sun Microsystems.