The Infocomm Media Development Authority, Singapore (IMDA) and Amazon Web Services (AWS) have signed a memorandum of intent (MOI) to set up a joint Innovation Centre (JIC) at IMDA’s PIXEL Innovation Hub.
PIXEL is IMDA’s 28,000-square-foot innovation space for corporates and start-ups to learn about the latest technology, and ideate, experiment, and build user-centric digital products.
To be ready by mid-2023, JIC will support enterprises and start-ups, as well as scale the growth of Singapore-based companies under IMDA Accreditation and IMDA Spark programmes by providing them access to the latest AWS technologies and dedicated support from the AWS Partner Network (APN).
Under the MOI, IMDA Accredited and IMDA Spark companies will benefit from tech advisory and a sandbox environment supported by both AWS and the IMDA Technical Acceleration Lab initiative to conduct proof-of-concept projects with customers and prospects from both public and commercial sectors in Singapore.
First JIC
The AWS-IMDA JIC @ PIXEL will be AWS’s first JIC in Southeast Asia and will serve as an extension of AWS Singapore’s Cloud Innovation Centre, as well as IMDA’s PIXEL and Open Innovation Platform (OIP) initiatives.
IMDA said the centre will provide enterprises and start-ups with support to drive innovation through technology education and innovation challenges workshops, opportunities for business growth and scale through AWS and IMDA’s business networks.
It will provide enterprises avenues to showcase their technology use cases, and consultancy using Amazon’s “working backwards” methodology – an innovation process that helps an organisation approach a challenge with the end outcome in mind and then rapidly bring that solution to life, IMDA said.
The JIC will help customers to develop solutions using augmented reality/virtual reality (AR/VR), data and artificial intelligence (AI), the internet of things (IoT), robotics, and cloud technologies.
Beyond activities within the JIC, enterprises and start-ups from AWS’s and IMDA’s networks will be able to better access a larger innovation community through co-innovation labs and events.
Innovation events
AWS and IMDA will organise innovation events each year at PIXEL, with the first event being a week-long regional festival of innovation in the first half of 2023, IMDA said.
AWS’s Singapore country manager, worldwide public sector, Elsie Tan, said: “We recognise the quality and growth of the companies under the IMDA Accreditation and IMDA Spark programmes and are excited to collaborate with IMDA to establish the AWS-IMDA Joint Innovation Centre @ PIXEL”.
IMDA’s Assistant Chief Executive, Justin Ang, said “We look forward to bringing AWS’s resources and networks to our Singapore-based companies under our IMDA Accreditation and IMDA Spark programmes to further accelerate their growth.”
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