SINGAPORE: The Smart Urban Co-Innovation Lab is officially opened today by Minister for Communications and Information, Mr S Iswaran.
It is Southeast Asia’s first industry-led lab for smart cities solutions development, initiated by CapitaLand and supported by the Info comm Media Development Authority (IMDA)and Enterprise Singapore (ESG).
The Smart Urban Co-Innovation Lab will bring together leaders in the smart cities space to co-create and test innovations with local built environment and technology enterprises in a live environment at CapitaLand’s 5G-enabled Singapore Science Park.
CapitaLand, together with its industry partners, has committed up to S$10 million in the Lab as a start to catalyse development and deployment of smart cities solutions in Singapore and overseas.
The Smart Urban Co-Innovation Lab, powered by the latest technologies and 5G connectivity, is set to benefit some 200 companies in Singapore over the next three years.
Located at The Galen at Singapore Science Park, the Smart Urban Co-Innovation Lab is envisioned to be a key nexus of business partnerships and opportunities.
The Lab will function as a resource integrator of various ecosystem players-local technology startups, system integrators and global corporate enterprises -to co-create solutions for smart cities, from ideation to testing to commercialisation.
This collaborative model provides a platform for local and overseas companies to exchange ideas, identify opportunities for new business models and innovations, as well as facilitate deployment of smart cities solutions.
Currently, the Lab has secured 30 industry players such as Amazon Web Services, Cisco Systems, Johnson Controls, Microsoft, MooVita, NavInfo DataTech, Schneider Electric, SPTel, TPG Telecom and Vizzio AI to commit to partnering local firms to co-innovate, test ideas in the Lab or pilot trials at the 55-hectare Singapore Science Park, the largest site in Singapore for trials of smart cities solutions.
The Lab will focus on six key industry verticals of advanced manufacturing, digital wellness, intelligent estates, smart mobility, sustainability, and urban agriculture.
Mr Manohar Khiatani, Senior Executive Director, CapitaLand Group, said: “As one of Asia’s largest diversified real estate groups with a global portfolio and network of partners, CapitaLand is in a strong position to bring together key industry players to support Singapore’s drive towards building a smart city”.
Ms Jane Lim, Assistant Chief Executive, IMDA, said: “The Smart Urban Co-Innovation Lab reinforces Singapore’s strengths as a deep innovation ecosystem where tech, industry and government work together to co-create and accelerate solutions for smart cities solutions. The Lab is starting strong with 30 partners including major industry players and promising local enterprises coming onboard along with CapitaLand. These are the new opportunities we are seizing in a digital economy, that will enable us to emerge stronger”.
Ms Eunice Koh, Assistant Chief Executive Officer, Enterprise Singapore, said: “The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the demand for sustainable urban solutions that contribute to the building of resilient and safe cities of tomorrow.
“Through the Smart Urban Co-Innovation Lab, smart tech providers can work on innovative solutions that have the potential to change people’s lives for the better. For instance, Smarten Spaces, a Singapore SME tech provider introduced by Enterprise Singapore, has been working with KONE on unique innovations that use contactless and other technologies tohelp building owners and managers provide a safe work environment for their tenants and employees. We will continue to work with our SMEs to tap on such opportunities and find the right partners to scale their solutions.”