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Tamil Internet 2000
Directions to the Digital World

Singapore 22-24 July 2000

Mr. Lim Swee Say
Singapore Minister of State for Trade & Industry & Information Technology
at the Official Opening of the Conference Hub
of Tamil Internet 2000 -  23 July 2000

"In the past five years, the Internet has changed the world. In the next five years, we can expect an even faster pace of change. Four major trends are fast emerging.

First, the Internet penetration will increase and become more even globally. Today, 50% of the people in North America are on the Internet. In Europe, only 12.5%. Asia is even further behind, with only 2.5%. However, Europe and Asia are fast catching up. Hence the Internet will no longer be US-centric in the very near future.

Second, Internet technology will become truly pervasive. We are seeing three technological trends towards broadband Internet, wireless Internet and Internet appliance. The combined effect of these trends is that we will soon be able to access any form of media on the Internet, using any type of Internet appliance,from anywhere and at any time. We will live in the world of "any-ware".

Third, Internet content will become more regionally oriented and locally relevant. Until recently, a majority of the global Internet traffic ended up in USA to access content developed and hosted there. The situation is changing fast. More and more Internet content is now being developed in various languages to cater to various regions and racial groups of the world. English will no longer be the only dominant language in cyberspace.

Last but not least, the emergence of the New Economy and Information Society. The convergence of information technology, telecommunications, consumer electronics and media content has made Infocommunications the #1 key growth industry in the world today. At the same time, we are seeing the re-engineering of public services with infocommunications, into the so-called e-Government; as well as the widespread use of Infocommunications in our daily lives. The era of the information age has finally arrived.

What are the overall implications of these four key trends: global penetration of the Internet, pervasiveness of the Internet, regionalisation and localisation of Internet content, and the emergence of the New Economy and Information Society? Where is the world heading to? I can think of two scenarios: a better world, or a divided world.

The Internet revolution can make the world a better place because in the world of the New Economy, there will be tremendous opportunities for all to explore and exploit. One can create a lot of value and wealth simply with creative ideas and rapid innovation, instead of being constrained by a lack of resources and raw material. The rich need not necessarily remain rich, but the poor can become rich, if they are innovative enough, and fast enough.

However, the Internet revolution can also lead to a divided world. Nations and economies can be left further behind, if they do not have the infrastructure and capability to embrace the technology. Since the Internet revolution waits for no one, we are already seeing the early signs of a global digital divide between the more advanced economies and the least developing economies. It is important that every nation comes up with a proper response to this digital challenge.

In the case of Singapore, our first priority is to make sure that Singapore stays on the right side of the global digital divide. This, I'm happy to say, we have achieved. After 20 years of concerted effort, Singapore is today one of the most IT intensive and Internet pervasive nations in the world. Out of every 10 households, six have PCs at home and four have Internet access from home.

However, even though Singapore as a nation is on the right side of the global digital divide, it does not mean that every Singaporean is on the right side of the digital divide in our community. We must do our best to help as many Singaporeans as possible to cross over to the right side of the digital divide, and stay on the right side as technology continues to change and continues to advance.

This is why I am really delighted to be here this morning at the official opening of the Tamil Internet 2000 Conference. TI 2000 is a direct response to the key trend towards the regionalisation and localisation of content and applications. The growth of multilingual Internet, contents and applications will help speed up the reach of the Internet to the large non-English speaking population in the world. We can capitalise on Singapore's multilingual and multicultural social mix to tap this fast growing market of Asian multilingual media contents and services.

Take Tamil for example. It is one of the oldest languages in history and there are now 65 million Tamil-speaking people worldwide. This TI 2000 Conference can provide a useful platform for us to reach out to them from all over the world, and work in partnership to help overcome the language barrier to the Internet. We can build on the foundation of our bilingual policy, and transform Singapore into a centre for multi-lingual Internet development in collaboration with other Asian Internet industries and communities.

I commend the Tamil Internet Steering Committee and IDA for their bold and untiring efforts in organising this event. What started off as a conference under the name TamilNet97 three years ago has not only grown in size, but also in scope. Under the leadership of the Tamil Internet Steering Committee, the conference has added the business hub and the community hub elements under the TI2000.

With this expanded scope, TI2000 is no longer just a platform for the exchange of ideas. For the first time, an exhibition has been organised to showcase and sell the latest Tamil Internet products. The business hub has created new opportunities for aspiring IT professionals to meet and network with potential employers. To date, we have 250 professionals who have submitted their resumes through the Internet. The Steering Committee has also brought the event closer to the public through the community hub. Members of the public can now marvel at what Tamil Internet has to offer. In short, TI2000 offers something for everyone.

I congratulate the organisers for their tremendous efforts in making this possible. I wish all of you a productive and successful Tamil Internet 2000, and to our foreign delegates, I wish you a most pleasant stay in Singapore."

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