Singapore enterprises raise ICT budgets for 2022, driven by institutional support for digital economy, finds GlobalData survey

Encouraged by the government measures supporting growth in the digital economy along with continued efforts at digitalizing their own business operations, more than a third of enterprises in Singapore have significantly increased their ICT budgets in 2022 compared to 2021, reveals GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

GlobalData’s Singapore enterprise ICT investment trends report, which is based on the company’s recent ICT customer insight survey, reveals that about 80% of respondents claimed that their enterprise ICT budgets have increased, with 42.5% claiming a slight increase (1% to 6%) and 37.5% claiming a significant increase (greater than 6%).

Saurabh Daga, Technology Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “The positive outlook for enterprise ICT spending in Singapore for 2022 can partially be attributed to the government’s supportive policy through various initiatives such as the Research, Innovation, and Enterprise (RIE) 2025 plan, as well as the increased emphasis on digital transformation activities like cloud migration, automation, and upgrading of legacy IT infrastructure among enterprises. Additionally, a significant number of small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) in Singapore are also increasingly turning towards digital technologies to gain a competitive edge, owing again to the government programs such as SMEs Go Digital.”

The report also analyses the enterprise investment priorities across 30+ IT solution areas and reveals that IT security is one of the top ICT focus areas for 2022. Singapore has witnessed a regular stream of IT security breaches in the past year, which include data breaches at the shipping major Swire Pacific Offshore (SPO) and at the Singapore arm of the global food & beverage company Starbucks.

Saurabh adds: “These instances of cyberattacks are driving enterprises in the country to prioritize their IT security environment, which is reflected by GlobalData’s survey where more than 70% of the surveyed respondents have claimed that their enterprise software and services investment towards security solutions has increased in 2022 compared to 2021.”

Furthermore, a provision regarding the protection of consumer data under Singapore’s Personal Data Protection Act (PDPA) is also one of the key factors behind the increased focus towards information and data security among the enterprises in the country. According to PDPA regulations, all businesses operating in Singapore need to publicly announce any incident of data breach regardless of its size.

Saurabh concludes: “Encouraged by the government initiatives, regulatory frameworks, and the need to create efficient business practices, a significant number of enterprises in Singapore are also increasingly integrating disruptive technologies into their processes and operations, as outlined by GlobalData’s survey, where more than 75% of respondents are claiming their enterprises have increased their disruptive technology spend in 2022, with artificial intelligence (AI) and automation being the prime focus areas.”

*ICT Customer Insight Survey was undertaken between May 2022 and June 2022 and included 1,705 respondents. The survey respondents included senior executives involved in IT decision making in enterprises cutting across several verticals and geographies.