Presented in 2018 and currently under development, Punggol Digital District (PDD) will open gradually from 2024. This site, considered Singapore’s first smart business district, will integrate a business park and new campus of the Singapore Institute of Technology (SIT), with residential neighborhoods, community facilities, parks and waterways.
In July this year, the world’s first group of companies secured their location in PDD, three years before the date of the temporary employment permit (TOP), with the promise of creating 2,000 jobs. The companies are Boston Dynamics, Delta Electronics, Group-IB and Wanxiang Blockchain, and are international companies specializing in fields such as: Artificial Intelligence, Data Analysis, Cybersecurity and Blockchain Technology.
All in all, PDD is set to create 28,000 new jobs in the digital economy in key growth sectors, such as cyber security, data analysis, solution engineering and artificial intelligence.
Some key government agencies such as GovTech and the Singapore Cyber Security Agency will soon move to PDD. Together with a network of technology partners, the PDD ecosystem hopes to promote collaboration opportunities in the field of digital technology.
With the aim of fostering industry-academia collaboration, this district will also be the first in Singapore to integrate physical and digital spaces between a business park and an educational institution. Minister of Trade and Industry, Gan Kim Yong dit the PDD will allow companies to leverage “industry partners, academic experience and industry-ready talent”.
This will also be the first time that Singapore will see an integrated master plan approach to establishing strategic partnerships with companies to develop PDD. Open digital platform. This platform seeks to transform the user and community experience by integrating smart city solutions into the district. Industry partners, including local SMEs, can collaborate to develop solutions and infrastructures for the platform.
For example, PDD’s exclusive Open Digital Platform provides seamless biometric access to facilities for tenants and access to its premises for its visitors. The platform will also provide tenants and academics with historical and real-time data on property and building management systems. In addition, collaborators can test their solutions on the platform using a digital twin of the entire site before deployment.
The district will also feature a vibrant and sustainable car-lite environment that connects to the Punggol area, bringing jobs and social amenities closer to residents.
Vulcan Post takes a look at the companies they will hire in this upcoming district.
Boston Dynamics
Based in Massachusetts, this engineering and robotics the design firm was founded in 1992.
It was acquired by Google in 2013 and sold to Japanese group SoftBank in 2017. Hyundai Motor Group bought an 80% stake in December 2020 for about $ 880 million, and officially acquired a controlling stake in the company in SoftBank in June 2021.
The firm will partner with Singapore startup dConstruct Technologies and SIT to advance Singapore’s robotics developments. SIT students can use Boston Dynamics ’SPOT robot and dConstruct programming tools to develop robotic solutions for campus-based applications.
Singapore is one of the top markets in the world ((you can link where you got this)) where Boston Dynamics has its sights set on growing a network of developers and a support ecosystem. He plans to work with early adopters like GovTech to test and improve the capabilities and applications of his robots.
Delta Electronics
One of the world leaders in electronics manufacturing, based in Taiwan and founded in 1971. Its current facility in Singapore was founded in 2010, but plans to establish its regional headquarters in Kallang in 2022, as well as a satellite office in PDD.
The company’s intelligent solutions are integrated into PDD’s open digital platform and enable remote control and data analysis of environmental and machine metrics. This integration is part of Delta’s PDD Smart Living program that allows companies to access smart living solutions to test and learn.
Now, Delta Singapore is building a fully automated smart container farm in the PDD site gallery, which shows the new technology companies can expect to see. Its container farm is connected to the open data platform and generates data that other local farmers can take advantage of.
In addition to providing data on agriculture, Delta technology specialists will also test a range of smart solutions, including intelligent surveillance systems, lighting and crowd control. All of them will be connected to the open data platform that other companies and students can use to control systems, receive data and optimize solutions.
The company is open to working in PDD with students from schools and institutions across Singapore to promote more interest in the field.
Group-IB
This Singapore-based international intelligence and threat hunting company specializes in cyberattack prevention. It was founded in 2003 in Moscow, Russia, and has been actively hiring local talent since 2019.
The IB group will locate its regional headquarters in the digital district of Punggol. Group-IB plans to do so collaborate with SIT to develop a virtual environment called PDD Cyberpolygon Sandzone, which allows stress testing of applications, solutions and systems against cyber threats in industries and academia.
In collaboration with the Singapore Cyber Security Agency, JTC, SIT and other industry associations such as Zero Division, the company wants to generate interest in cybersecurity in Singapore. He hopes to develop a local talent group in Singapore that can take on new cybersecurity roles that will open up in the coming years.
For example, it launched the PDD Connecting Smartness – Bug Bounty 1.0 program, a competition in hacking skills by identifying bugs or vulnerabilities in existing systems within the program. Winners gain internships at Group-IB along with more industry professionals.
He now works with leading local universities to develop a cybersecurity curriculum in digital forensic spaces, threat hunting and cyber research.
Wanxiang Blockchain
Similarly, the Wanxiang blockchain company will also host its regional headquarters in PDD. This Chinese company was founded in 2015 and is one of the leading companies in the blockchain industry in China.
The blockchain solutions company plans to bring its technology, capital and resources to drive industrial development and business adoption in the blockchain industry, starting in Singapore.
The open data platform will allow them to test new use cases of technologies such as blockchain, IoT, AI and 5G in PDD.
Wanxing is now working with various local entities to initiate their game-changing initiatives. For example, they partner with the Infocomm Media Development Agency (IMDA) to develop blockchain solutions for cross-border trade and financing. They are also collaborating with the local blockchain accelerator Tribe, to launch a blockchain blockchain incubation and creation program.
The program allows local startups to know and address data privacy issues and improve their data management capabilities. The new makerspace will provide technical support and investment opportunities for promising projects.
In collaboration with Singapore training provider AGB Education Center, Wanxing will launch a series of skills training programs to prepare mid-career professionals and offer certification in the fields of blockchain, cybersecurity, AI, data analytics, computer networks , automation of robotic processes and cloud computing.
It also has future plans to explore potential collaborations with local institutes of higher education and research, such as SIT. It hopes to establish new connections between digital companies in China and brands in Singapore.
The sheer amount of career prospects that come with these four global companies settling into the PDD is certainly very exciting.
With a total of 28,000 new jobs to be expected at the new site, Singaporeans interested in working in the technology sector have a very promising offer of employment opportunities at PDD in the next three years.
Featured Image Credit: WOHA
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