SINGAPORE, 18 NOVEMBER 2008 - Singapore has allocated up to S$500 million (US$328 million) for research and development in the interactive digital media sector, said Lee Boon Yang, minister for information, communications and the arts. This effort is being driven by the Interactive Digital Media Programme Office.
He was speaking at the opening ceremony of Bookfest@Singapore 2008 recently.
The target is to catalyst exciting new developments in this area, he added.
Besides supporting Singapore companies working in this sector, Singapore has also forged critical partnerships with the US’ Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS).
First overseas R&D institute
“Our partnership with the CAS has resulted in the first ever overseas R&D institute—the China-Singapore Institute of Digital Media—in Singapore,” said Lee. “This institute will focus on language mediation technologies to enable large-scale immersive and interactive language learning, particularly of the Chinese language.”
The Media Development Authority (MDA) is also encouraging Singapore publishers to exploit the brand-value of their existing publications by extending their intellectual properties from print to digital format with the PILOT Publishing Grant. The scheme helps to build digital publishing capability through support for content development and technology adoption, said Lee.
The MDA and the National Book Development Council of Singapore have also developed the First Time Writers and Illustrators Publishing Initiative. This is aimed primarily at assisting both print and online publication of new works by previously-unpublished local literary and drawing artistes, Lee added.
