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Asia's 'cybercrats' are using government policy to create the infrastructure and incentives for their smart city projects. Vineeta Shetty reports
As lower-cost Asian labour markets push to exploit their (possibly short-term), competitive advantage, the countries which make up the ASEAN group, (characterised as median income nations), are already transmuting into post-industrial, knowledge-based economies.
"ASEAN nations have looked.to the Tiger economies for inspiration, but realise that they cannot adopt the same growth model," says Oracle's AsiaPacific director, Leigh Baker, whose company regards Malaysia as the hub of its communications industry integration programme for the whole Asian region.
Munawar B. Ahmad, CEO of Asternet, the Pakistani ISP based in Lahore, points out that by 2000 Asia will have a population of about 3.5 billion and four of the world's largest cities. Furthermore, population growth projections show that, by 2010, seven of the biggest cities on earth will be in Asia.
As they manoeuvre into position for future expansion, Asia's cybercrats are championing such notions as the creation of `smart cities' - grandiose projects which will affect entire populations rather than just the business community.
Tempting big business
Thus, the governments of Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines, instead of leaving things to untrammelled market forces, have taken a dirigiste approach in creating the infrastructure and incentives necessary to attract world-class information companies to such projects.
However, for Ingmar Nilsson, executive vice president of Ericsson Telecom, the process of becoming a regional hub has rather more of 'benchmarking', than the whiff of real competition about it. Nevertheless, there is undoubtedly a race to be the first and most attractive in the ASEAN sub-region.
Leading the pack is Singapore, an aspiring smart city, whose government wants to make it `super smart'. The Singapore One network is being driven by the National Computer Board, the National Science and Technology Board and the Telecommunication Authority of Singapore (TAS), which, together with the Economic Development Board and the Singapore Broadcasting Authority are committing US$150 million to the project.
The prime minister, Goh Chok Tong, believes that Singapore One will "start a whole new way of working, living and learning".
The plan is to deliver a new level of interactive, multimedia applications and services to 5,000 pilot homes and offices...