SINGAPORE (May 23): The Singapore government will be calling for a projected $2.82 billion of ICT tenders in FY16, says the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA) on Monday. This is US$130 million more than FY15's expenditure of US$2.69 billion.

These ICT tenders will comprise mainly infrastructure and ICT security bulk contracts due to some multi-year contracts ending in FY16, as well as contracts relating to agency-specific systems, says IDA, which will soon form the new Government Technology Agency (GovTech) agency. In FY15, SMEs accounted for more than half of the total contracted value of ICT tenders.

One key focus for government procurement this year will be to enhance ICT infrastructure to better support the data and digital services needs of a Digital Government in a Smart Nation.

This includes increased data centre virtualisation which will allow the Government to modernise its hosting of ICT applications and ensure faster time to production for new digital services.

Wi-Fi will be extended to more areas within Government schools to support smart learning.

The government will also continue to invest in its cybersecurity efforts, with a bulk tender for IT security services to be called in this fiscal year. Such projects which are larger in scope, will be rolled out over a few years.

Jacqueline Poh, Managing Director, IDA, says, “We want to empower Singapore with possibilities through technology. To do that, investment in infrastructure is necessary so that innovative citizen-centric services can be built and enhanced on a strong foundation. There will be opportunities abound for the government and industry to collaborate and build a Smart Nation together.”

To help more local technology companies take up ICT projects, the Accreditation@IDA scheme, launched in 2014, provides an independent third-party evaluation of early-stage growth technology by promising Singapore-based companies.

To date, 13 companies, including Hope Technik, the provider of unmanned aerial vehicle and automated guided vehicle solutions; data analytics specialist Sense Infosys and V-Key, a mobile and web security company, have been accredited. These accredited companies have also won more than 25 government contracts to date.