Within a short period of time, the country rose to be one of the high-income countries in the world. Currently, it comprises 0.42% of the World’s GDP (PPP). There was an exceptional shift from the export of labor-intensive goods like textiles, garments and basic electronics to high-value products like telecommunication, equipment, pharmaceuticals, refined petroleum, electronics, chemicals, etc. Singapore received 14 loans over the period of 1963-1975 from the World Bank and the majority of them was taken for infrastructural development like port expansions, sewage system, power and telecommunications etc. Now having one of the best infrastructures in the world, it has progressed in such way that it contributed US$10 million for the ‘Global Infrastructural Facility’ of World Bank. A loan taker to fund contributors for the same sector is a commendable evolution. Over 80% of Singapore’s residents live in public housing. Manufacturing and service sectors stand as a support system for Singapore’s evolution. 

Now Singapore is ranked NO.1 among 42 countries in the Asia- Pacific region, having the status as the world’s freest economy in 2020 index with an economic freedom score of 89.4. According to the Global Competitiveness Report (GCI 4.0), Singapore is the most competitive economy with the first rank in road quality infrastructure, the efficiency of seaport and airport services, sea transport connectivity, macroeconomic stability, public sector performance, trade openness, labour market and no terrorism incidence. Singapore’s economic policies and strategies mostly focus on long-term investment and growth. One such strategy of Singapore which is futuristic in nature is discussed below.

Smart Nation

The third industrial revolution which is also known as digital revolution came into force with rapid increase in and adoption of computerization. From then, growth of technology is associated with accelerated innovations and inventions. Technology plays a significant role in economic development. While many countries are focusing on their digital future, Singapore is yet another country with its rapid digital transformation. The success of National Computerisation and Growth of the info-communications industry of Singapore stands as a certification for its national digitalization efforts. Taking a step ahead while keeping in mind the future challenges with respect to resource constraints, rising ageing and urban population and to attain the comparative advantage for Singapore, it launched the ‘SMART NATION’ initiative on November 2014 with a vision to provide a fulfilling and meaningful life for their people.

The initiative aims to ‘TRANSFORM SINGAPORE THROUGH TECHNOLOGY’ by providing a convenient and sustainable living for its people with enhanced access to information and opportunities, space for businesses to improve productivity, innovation and growth and finally to have a government that can use the technology to serve its people better. Smart Nation would be a combined effort by people, governments and industries for their prosperous future.

The three pillars of the Singapore’s Smart Nation are:

  The Digital Economy focuses on attracting foreign investment, improving business efficiency and competitiveness along with providing wide opportunities for Singaporeans to stay ahead in the future.

• Digital Government:  The central aim of the future digital government is to create” a government that is digital to the core and serves with the heart.”

By using the technology it focuses to serve its people and business with better opportunities to get a good service experience.

• Digital Society: A complete digital society, in general, should make sure that all the people in that society have access to technology and they are in a position to adopt them with relevant knowledge and The Digital Society of Singapore also aims at digital inclusion.

Smart Nation and Digital Government Group (SNGG) which involves Smart Nation and Digital Government Office (SNGO) along with implementing agency, Government Technology Agency (Gov Tech) is responsible for building a Smart Nation.

According to the Smart Nation and Digital Government Office, the initiative’s ”priority is to harness technology to address national challenges and drive transformation in key domains: health, education, transport, urban solutions and finance.”

• myENV app which provides the current environmental information and updates
• OneService app through which people can report all municipal issues in a common platform
• Smart Towns includes providing intelligent homes that make life easier, comfortable and enjoyable for the people. Example of this is the development of Punggoll town
• Autonomous vehicles which is helpful for the elderly and specially able persons
• On-demand shuttle where operations of transport services would be demand-driven so that resource management can be monitored
• HealthHub which is an online health information and service  portal
• Contactless fare payment for public transport, TeleHealth, Digital Government Services, Data Innovation Program Office, CorpPass for businesses are some of the initiatives which are paving way for the Smart Nation.  

 The Strategic National Projects are notable ones which stand as an enabler for building the Smart Nation. They are,

1. CODEX
2. E-Payments
3. Moments Of Life Initiative
4. National Digital Identity
5. Smart Nation Sensor Platform
6. Smart Urban Mobility

Smart Nation Scholarship: The best resource available in a country would be its young talent pool and a nation which utilises it in a better way will have a greater advantage. Singapore is taking a big step towards future of technologies, in order to achieve this, the country has to appreciate and develop the young brains and this scholarship is one such way to help the pillars of the nation who are going to play an active role in the transformation with technology.

In order to bring the expertise in the area of technology and engineering, they also provide Smart Fellowship so that there would be birth of innovative ideas from different individuals.

Challenges

 According to IMD Smart City Index 2019, the smartest city in the world is Singapore. In 2018 it also won the Smart City Award in the Smart City Expo World Congress. Though the nation travels towards its goal, there are also many challenges ahead on the road. According to the Institute of Policy Studies, in 2017, 55.9% of Singaporeans polled, were optimistic about Smart Nation initiatives and in 2018 it was 53.4% so there is a big responsibility in the hands of the state to retain the people’s confidence on the initiatives and to remove the fear of technological disruption. While many nations are piloting with the smart city initiative, Singapore with its brave efforts has planned it for the whole nation and the main challenge lies in reducing the gap between vision and reality. It must also increase technological accessibilities. Another big tension is about digital security.  Having openness in data availability, the state must be very cautious about cybersecurity problems. We could see the government of Singapore taking various steps to overcome these difficulties. Apart from these, there are some of the problems which are external in nature. The growing economic nationalisation, rise in anti-globalisation and protectionism among the other countries, problems like deforestation in Singapore ( It lost nearly 90% of its forest, since 1980 due to increased land usage)and other technology-related environmental problems, rising concerns on the migrant workers who contributes more to that economy may also have an impact on the result of its initiative. Technology when used in the right manner for the right purpose will be fruitful, if not then may lead to negative repercussions.

Conclusion

Despite these challenges, it is undeniable that the country utilized its best resource- the people. At the initial stage of development itself Singapore made sure to educate and upskill its unskilled labour force with knowledge on information technology, electronics etc. In the last three decades their development expenditure accounted for an average of 1/3^rd of the government expenditure. Singapore ranked 1^st out of 157 countries in the Human Capital Index , According to  that, “ A child born in Singapore today will be 88% as productive when she grows up as she could be if she enjoyed complete education and full health.” Also HCI for girls were greater than boys. Be it past, present or future, Singapore’s focus is on its people- it invests in and for people.  Overcoming the challenges and a complete focus on the goal of Smart Nation without any disruption on the road will lead to success.  

Final note– Technology can be one of the means to a better life and not an end.

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“Health is the core of human development”

– Gro Harlem Brundtland

Economy and health are inseparable. Healthy people can live a prosperous life leading to more productivity, saving and investment, boosting economic growth and development. When an economy is interrupted by an unusual happening, economic effects follow up. Morbidity rate – the percentage of people infected, mortality rate- death rate, duration of the pandemic’s existence, number of workweeks lost, level of inequality during and after pandemic are some of the variables which can be used to estimate the economic effects of the pandemic.

Effects on supply

At the very initial stage when the disease starts spreading it creates panic among workers and there are possibilities for the rise in the rate of absenteeism. When the situation turns worse and the government intervenes by preventive and curative actions through lockdown and quarantine then it leads to loss of working weeks, shut down of businesses and industries at least till the restrictions are eased. Even after industries resume its functions, there will be a restriction on the number of workers, possibilities of workers getting affected by the disease or being deceased or laid off. This will not only affect a separate industry but there will be a break in the supply chain due to the breakdown of linkages– the flow of intermediate inputs in production. In the present time where many countries have trade liberalization, international flow of goods and services may also get severely affected. Businesses will hesitate to make an investment. Tourism, aviation, automotive, real estate, manufacturing industries of non-essential commodities may face loss while health care product industries, E-commerce may become some of the potential gainers at least for a short term.

Effects on wage

The Black Death of the 14^th century wiped out a quarter of Western Europe’s population, had economic effects like a drop in GDP, hike in the price of basic commodities and hit in the agriculture sector. But on the perspective of income, some thought to have positive or no effect on income per capita at least in France and England. Even 1918 influenza has had a positive impact on income per capita in the US. 

In a simple economic model, when the supply of labour is reduced in the manufacturing sector, initially there will be an increase in the marginal product of labour and capital per worker, increasing the real wage for a short term. The same way in a research it was found that over the period of 1914 to 1919 there was a greater increase in the manufacturing wage growth in the cities and states of the United States where influenza mortalities were greater. This may be possible only in short term but in the long run, fall in demand, loss of skilled workers, political pressure to control the wage, higher mobility of workers, reduction in human capital may result in equalization of wage. There is no clear view on both short and long term effects, as it depends on various circumstances.

Effects on demand

The anxiety created by the pandemic situation may result in loss of consumer confidence, people may hand back to spend. The economic cost may rise irrespective of whether the morbidity and mortality rate is high or low. The anxiety created during SARS (2003) outbreak which relatively had low mortality rate led to the economic cost of over 11 billion dollars in the areas where tourism and business were affected. The precautionary measures to avoid the spread of disease may isolate people from other activities like going to gymnasium, theatre, hotels etc. There may be effects on savings too.

Poverty and Inequality

Generally, the most vulnerable section, prone to diseases, is the poor due to lack of good sanitation, health care facilities and insufficient nutritious food. Even if the pandemic affects people indiscriminately the degree of an economic burden to be borne by the poor will be more.  During the lockdown, they have to face a hard time as most of their lives depend on day to day wages. Poor people may not have life insurance due to non-affordability or lack of information/awareness, in such a case if the principal earning person dies in that family the economic situation of that family will become worse and it will prolong until another person from the family enters into the working population with sufficient income. Education may become a distant dream, as the unfavourable economic situation may force them to send their children to work than to school, but education is one of the significant factors for the development of an individual as well as the economy a whole. 

The historians noted an improvement in economic equality after Black Death of 14^th century but currently, the pandemic situation which we are facing is quite different, now technology has taken lead. Right from health care services to education to work, for time being, is dependent on the internet. In the case of education students who cannot afford to electronic devices with internet connections or from remote rural areas will be set back. Half of the world’s population does not have access to the internet. If the gender gap prevails in access to the internet then it will increase the disparity between men and women. According to research, nearly 15% of the workforce on an average from 35 advanced and emerging countries, among 189 member countries of IMF is unable to do their works remotely. Even when vaccines are developed, distributional inequality may arise both within and between countries. Not only during its existence but even after COVID-19 vanishes a fear emerges that it may have an impact on inequality in different ways.

Loss of life can never be comparable at any cost.  

“Hope is important because it can make the present moment less difficult to bear. If we believe that tomorrow will be better, we can bear a hardship today.”

 -Thich Nhat Hanh

Even when Spanish flu led to the death of nearly 3-5% of the population and having a severe impact on the economy by increasing the unemployment and poverty, history shows that humankind with resilience fought back and got recovered soon. There is a greater chance of being flexible to the unforeseen circumstances to bounce back to normality. Fiscal and monetary measures used by the government, funds from international organizations, improvement in public health, infrastructure, education, cooperation by the people, love and compassion for others, giving a helping hand to the needy and most importantly faith in healing to have a better future will definitely lead us to recovery.

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