Interactive and Digital Media
Singapore’s robust infocommunications framework and infrastructure offer a natural springboard into the digital media realm.
Few industries have seen explosive growth rates the likes of the Interactive and Digital Media (IDM) sector, which covers video games, animation, online/mobile media and other forms of digital entertainment.
The global adoption and advancement in computing, broadband and mobile telephony have spurred the boom of this sector. The global video games industry is expected to hit USD 68.3 billion by 2012, with Asia registering the fastest growth.
Singapore offers an ideal location for creating and deploying new content for global consumption, with our rigorous IP protection laws and IT-savvy population. Local companies such as Mikoishi, Peach Blossom Media and ST Electronics (Digital Media) have made much headway producing original content for export and forging strategic partnerships with international distributors.
The National Research Foundation has allocated SGD 500 million over the next five years to fund the development of a strategic IDM research programme and set up an IDM R&D Programme Office. The network of IDM research and innovation centres is also burgeoning, among them, a collaboration between the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the Singapore government, called GAMBIT Game Lab. The National University of Singapore set up a SGD 11 million IDM Institute, which will help boost the number of trained talent in IDM. The establishment of world’s leading specialty school, DigiPen, has also opened avenues for the quality training of expertise in IDM.
Industry kingpins like Lucasfilm, Electronic Arts, TECMO KOEI, Ubisoft and Southern Star have already established operations in Singapore. Other R&D centres located here include the China-Singapore Institute of Digital Media by the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Keio-NUS Connective Ubiquitous Technology for Embodiments (CUTE) Centre by Keio University, Japan.
Read more about Singapore’s Interactive and Digital Media industry here.
Download industry factsheet.
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