Image Credit: PM Lee Hsien Loong’s Facebook

Singapore needs to be a society that embraces science and technology, not fear it. 

Singapore has to keep reinventing itself and the Republic’s leaders have to be prepared to do so. This, said Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, is essential for Singapore to remain an outstanding metropolis for people to live, work and play.

Speaking at the closing of the Smart Nation Summit on 26 June 2019, PM Lee said Singaporeans must not be anti-tech or anti-science as it would hold back the country’s progress. At the same time, people have to understand the risks of technology, be it is cybersecurity, privacy or online falsehoods, he added.

This quality, as well as the need for people with very strong engineering capabilities and a bigger pool of leaders and managers, are the three ingredients that will help Singapore achieve its Smart Nation vision, said PM Lee.

He also shared how the Ministry of Communications and Information has launched a Digital Readiness Blueprint last year, to improve citizens’ access to technology and to educate Singaporeans how to use digital technology safely.

“It is applying technology to solve real problems that will make a difference to people’s lives, across the whole of society,” he reiterated.