Singapore’s Sentosa island will serve as a testbed to study and trial the viability of the public sector’s adoption of 5G applications ahead of the nationwide 5G rollout in 2025.
A public-private sector collaboration led by the Government Technology Agency (GovTech), the Sentosa Development Corporation (SDC) and local telco Singtel, the 5G@Sentosa programme will be among the first in Singapore to tap on Singtel’s purpose-built network and edge cloud infrastructure to support testing and deployment of citizen-centric services and improve operational effectiveness. Singtel’s hybrid infrastructure will allow agencies to develop solutions using a range of ready-to-use, plug-and-play services at the edge.
A total of 10 trials have started, leveraging the lower latency, higher speed, and broader bandwidth of 5G technology for use cases in areas such as construction, manufacturing, healthcare and tourism.
Participants of 5G@Sentosa include The Building and Construction Authority (BCA), the National Environment Agency (NEA), Changi General Hospital, Nanyang Polytechnic, and the Agency for Science, Technology and Research’s (A*STAR’s).
The 5G rollout will enhance GovTech’s Smart Nation Sensor Platform which translates data from sensors and IoT devices in real- time into situational awareness, opening up new operational possibilities in areas such as urban planning and traffic management.
“5G is a key component of the SNSP that allows us to tap the full potential of sensors and IoT systems to facilitate the real-time sharing of operational data, generate new insights, and deliver better citizen-centric public services. 5G@Sentosa gives GovTech a platform to work with agencies and industry to co-create solutions for the public sector,” said GovTech Chief Executive Kok Ping Soon.
“We are encouraged by agencies’ recognition of 5G as an emerging technology with the potential to unlock new Smart Nation applications and look forward to supporting more trials at 5G@Sentosa.”
The Government aims to have 15 live trials by public agencies running in Sentosa by the end of the year and at least 30 by the first half of 2023.
