The Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore’s (IDA) Accreditation@IDA program has provided about S$20 million ($14.6 million) worth of project opportunities for promising Singapore-based tech firms.
As of July 2015, these opportunities include a pipeline of 125 projects with 50 government agencies; of which six projects have already been awarded to five of the accredited companies - KAI Square, Inspire-Tech, Latize, Tagit and Trakomatic.
These companies have won projects from the Ministry of Manpower, Housing & Development Board, JTC Corporation, Economic Development Board, Sentosa Development Corporation and IDA. Another six projects are at the final stages of procurement and close to being awarded.
The Accreditation@IDA program helps grow young and promising Singapore-based companies with innovative tech products. It helps companies build their credentials to in a better position to win projects from government agencies and large enterprises, and possible growth overseas.
The comprehensive evaluation by IDA ensures that only companies with innovative products and well-defined business plans are accredited.
Since the program’s launch in July 2014, IDA has accredited eight companies and is looking forward to having a total of 20 accredited companies by March 2016. One of the plans is to expand the scope of the accreditation to encompass technologies that are relevant to achieve Singapore’s Smart Nation vision, including robotics, new sensor technologies and autonomous vehicles.
“Just a year ago, we laid out a huge challenge to our team in IDA – How can we support these companies in meaningful ways that can grow their business, and bring new innovation into government services? The Accreditation@IDA was launched and we have seen good results in various aspects so far,” said Steve Leonard, executive deputy chairman, IDA.