Dr Yaacob Ibrahim, Singapore’s Minister for Information, Communications and the Arts, said that in the current economic environment, being able to identify innovative yet practical solutions that leverage ICT advancements will be key to socio-economic growth in today’s hyper-connected world.
Dr Ibrahim, who opened yesterday’s Ministerial Forum on the topic of “ICT for Greater Growth”, said that to effectively maximize the opportunities from hyper-connectivity”, governments are adopting ICT through careful public policy planning to create investment opportunities and for manpower development.
However, he added that, with emerging opportunities come emerging challenges and threats. “Increased connectivity has brought about a slew of issues for policymakers, businesses and consumers to consider.
“Issues include whether we have simultaneously opened ourselves up to more sophisticated and complicated risks, the resilience of existing infrastructure to manage these risks, and how we should navigate an environment of connected communities.”
He said that while technologies spin off new opportunities to improve our daily lives, “there is growing concern over risks and challenges such as loss of control over personal data.”
FULL COVERAGE OF COMMUNICASIA 2012