Launch of Lee Hsien Loong Interactive Digital Media Smart Nation Award

From 2017, the Ministry of Education will introduce the Lee Hsien Loong Interactive Digital Media (IDM)¹  Smart Nation Award to all polytechnic students.  This is following the Prime Minister’s donation of an additional $250,000 to the endowment fund set up for education awards.

The Award will recognise full-time polytechnic students who have completed IDM projects that will contribute to the Smart Nation initiative by harnessing technology to improve the lives of citizens, creating more opportunities, and supporting stronger communities. The Award also reinforces the SkillsFuture movement because of the highly applied nature of the projects.  Relevant IDM projects include:

•    Smart Mobility – creating a more seamless transport experience through new travel options and greater access to real-time transport information;
•    Smart Living – improving daily living in our homes through smart devices;
•    Smart Health and Wellness – delivering better healthcare services and wellness applications for seniors and citizens through effective use of information technology; and
•    Digital Services – improved government operations and service delivery through technology.

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said: “To build a Smart Nation, and make full use of IT in our lives, we need to gather good ideas from many sources. I want to encourage young people to be interested in IT, and to come up with creative ways of using IT to improve our lives. There is lots of enthusiasm and talent among Polytechnic students. I hope this new Award will stimulate more Polytechnic students to do their best, to use their imagination and skills to do outstanding projects in Interactive Digital Media, which will make a difference to Singapore.”

Application for the Award will open in April 2017. More details on the Award are in the Annex. 

PRIME MINISTER’S OFFICE
SINGAPORE
3 MAY 2016
 

[1] IDM is digital content that is interactive, including video games, mobile apps, computer applications using Augmented Reality (AR) and/or Virtual Reality (VR), interactive animated stories, or any innovative interactive media.

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Annex

Eligibility
To be eligible to compete for the Award, entries must be IDM projects that are the work of full-time polytechnic students, and completed within the preceding 12 months from the opening date for application for the Award.  Projects can include both group and individual projects, and those that are done as part of students’ course of study, or outside of it. Each project group should have at most six members, and comprise at least one Singapore Citizen.  

Selection Process 
Individuals and groups who wish to submit their projects for consideration can do so through their respective schools during an application period in late-April each year, starting from 2017.

Judging Criteria
Projects will be judged based on the following criteria:

i.    Smart Nation vision. This is reflected by the ability of projects to fulfil the Smart Nation vision of harnessing technology to the fullest to improve the lives of citizens, creating more opportunities, and building stronger communities.  The potential impact of recently completed projects could also be considered. 

ii.    Technical competency.  Projects should demonstrate that the students have the skills required to create products that make use of current technologies.  The project should be declared as an original work of the student or group. 

iii.    Aesthetics.  Projects should display the creative use of audio and visual presentations to bring across the intended message.  

iv.    Presentation skills.  Candidates should be able to communicate information about their projects to their audience in a clear and effective manner.

v.    Implementability.  Projects should display the potential to be implemented and scaled up.

Prize 
Five projects will be chosen as winners of the Award. Each winning project will receive $1,000.
 

About Smart Nation
Singapore strives to be a Smart Nation, in which our people are empowered by technology to lead meaningful and fulfilled lives. By harnessing the power of networks, data and info-comm technologies, we endeavour to improve living, create economic opportunity and build a closer community. We have the conducive environment to experiment, prototype and deploy innovative solutions that can be shared with other global cities. It is an exciting journey, and we want your ideas to help us realise our vision. For more information, please visit www.smartnation.sg.