Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore

Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore
Agency overview
Formed December 1, 1999 (1999-12-01)
Preceding agency
  • National Computer Board (NCB)
    Telecommunication Authority of Singapore (TAS)
Jurisdiction Government of Singapore
Headquarters 10 Pasir Panjang Road. #10-01 Mapletree Business City. Singapore 117438
Annual budget $34 million SGD (2011)
Agency executives
  • Chan Yeng Kit, Chairman
  • Steve Leonard, Executive Deputy Chairman[1]
  • Jacqueline Poh, Managing Director (from 10 June 2013)[1]
Parent agency Ministry of Communications and Information
Website www.ida.gov.sg

The Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (Abbreviation: IDA; Chinese: 新加坡资讯通信发展管理局; Malay: Penguasa Pembangunan Infokom Singapura) was a statutory board of the Singapore government, under the Ministry of Communications and Information (MCI). It was formed in 1999 when the government merged the National Computer Board (NCB) and Telecommunication Authority of Singapore (TAS), as a result of a growing convergence of information technology and telephony.[2] The Infocomm Development Authority (IDA) is responsible for the development and growth of the infocomm sector in Singapore. IDA functions as the country's infocomm industry champion, the national infocomm master-planner and developer, and the Government Chief Information Officer (CIO).

On 18 January 2016, MCI announced that IDA and the Media Development Authority (MDA) will be restructured into two new entities, which are tentatively named the Info-communications Media Development Authority (IMDA) and the Government Technology Organisation (GTO), in the second half of 2016.[3] GTO was later renamed as Government Technology Agency (GovTech)[4] and officially legislated in Parliament on 18 August 2016.[5]

Intelligent Nation 2015

Led by Steve Leonard, the former head of EMC & Symantec in Asia,[6] IDA was in charge of the nation's 10-year infocomm masterplan, also known as Intelligent Nation 2015 (iN2015),[7] which has since been succeeded by the Infocomm Media 2025 plan.[8] Through iN2015, two key components introduced as part of the Next Generation National Infocomm Infrastructure (NGNII) initiative are, firstly, Wireless@SG—a wireless broadband programme developed by IDA[9]—and secondly, the Next Generation Nationwide Broadband Network (Next Gen NBN)—a nationwide ultra-high speed broadband network supporting speeds of up to 1Gbs targeted for completion in 2012.[10]

Programmes and initiatives

IDA oversaw and / or participated in a variety of programmes and initiatives across Singapore. A few of the key ones:

Student programmes offered include the National Infocomm Scholarship by the Scholarship Secretariat.

Policies and regulations

Subsidiaries

IDA has four subsidiaries set up to perform specific functions that are beyond IDA's primary role and responsibilities. The subsidiaries are IDA International,[12] IDA International official website, Infocomm Investments Pte Ltd (IIPL),[13] Singapore Network Information Centre (SGNIC), and Assurity Trusted Solutions Pte Ltd.[14]

Criticism

Documents leaked as a result of a data breach, identified the IDC as a customer of the Hacking Team - a provider of intrusion and surveillance software to governments. Commentators have concluded that the IDA is using offensive tools to spy on citizens. [15] [16]


There are also some possible conflicts with which mainly concern the aspects of Net Neutrality:

References

  1. 1 2 "Appointment of Deputy Chairman, MD at IDA Singapore". Channel NewsAsia. Retrieved 4 May 2013.
  2. ↑ "Statutory Boards". Mci.gov.sg. Retrieved 1 Dec 2013.
  3. ↑ "IDA, MDA to be restructured to capitalise on converging media and ICT landscape". Channel NewsAsia. Retrieved 23 January 2016.
  4. ↑ "GovTech about using technology to create citizen-centric solutions: CEO". Channel NewsAsia. Retrieved 28 May 2016.
  5. ↑ "Parliament passes Info-communications Media Development Authority Bill". Channel NewsAsia. Retrieved 26 August 2016.
  6. ↑ "This American's job? Make Singapore the world's first 'smart nation'". Hottopics.ht. Retrieved 10 Feb 2015.
  7. ↑ "Intelligent Nation 2015 (iN2015)". Mci.gov.sg. Retrieved 1 Dec 2013.
  8. ↑ "Infocomm Media 2025". Ministry of Communications and Information. Retrieved 2016-02-02.
  9. ↑ "Next Generation National Infocomm Infrastructure (Next Gen NII)". Wiki.nus.edu.sg. Retrieved 1 Dec 2013.
  10. ↑ "Pushing Singapore's ICT ahead to 2015". Zdnet.com. Retrieved 1 Dec 2013.
  11. ↑ "The Internet Protocol Transit and Peering Landscape in Singapore" (PDF). Ida.gov.sg. Retrieved 2015-09-19.
  12. ↑ "IDA International". Idainternational.sg. Retrieved 1 Dec 2013.
  13. ↑ "Infocomm Investments". Infocomminvestments.com. Retrieved 1 Dec 2013.
  14. ↑ "S'pore government preps 2FA facility". Zdnet.com. Retrieved 1 Dec 2013.
  15. ↑ "Singapore's IDA reported to have dealings with spyware firm". Retrieved 26 Jun 2016.
  16. ↑ "ingaporean and Malaysian Governments Accused of Using Spyware for Digital Surveillance of Citizens". Retrieved 26 Jun 2016.

External links

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