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Singapore firms ahead of other countries in smart-building initiatives

This article is more than 12 months old

Singapore companies are well ahead of those in other countries in installing smart-building initiatives for their workspaces.

They are also well in front in areas such as digitalisation, cloud computing and the Internet of Things (IoT), says a new study, conducted by London-based office software firm Condeco. It noted that such progress might be down to the Smart Nation programme launched here in 2017.

Condeco surveyed 750 business leaders in Singapore, Britain, the US, Australia, France and Germany.

About two-thirds of the respondents were C-suite executives, including chief technology officers, and "workspace managers" - a category that includes a combination of facilities, real estate, office and front-of-house managers. The remaining one-third were senior executives.

It found that in Singapore, 72 per cent of respondents said their offices had smart-building features, such as networked appliances and energy-efficiency measures compared with 55 per cent of respondents globally.

This has also brought a knock-on effect on the use of other technologies in the workspace, such as apps to book meeting rooms, cloud computing and IoT, Condeco said.

"It's only been two years since Singapore launched its Smart Nation initiative, but it looks like it is paying dividends," said Mr Peter Otto, chief product officer of Condeco.

Compared with last year's survey, Singapore businesses have seen a 17 per cent increase in the use of mobile apps to book meeting rooms this year.

Singapore respondents were also more likely than the global average to expect cloud computing, IoT and Big Data to be important over the next 12 months.

- THE STRAITS TIMES

BUSINESS & FINANCE