The short video clip above is an extract from a video by Singapore’s IDA on the country’s Intelligent Nation 2015 or,  in2015 project. The much longer video envisions the entire country being transformed by forward thinking ideas and people living in a multi-cultural society and driven by a single motivation: To excel, and to focus on the future in all spheres of life, while leaving behind petty issues that plague other countries in their quest for progress.

Such ambitious initiatives are no doubt, bound to draw criticism from different segments of society, who may feel that they have valid reasons for criticism. However the point of this article is to bring awareness to “World Citizens” who do not look at geography and lines on maps as defining the world of the future. World citizens are already emerging and these are the people who interact on Digital Networks today and use Social Media to communicate with people in a world without borders. Initiatives such as Singapore’s in2015 project will be looked at with keen interest by such people and the newer generation of school and university graduates, who will be propelled and driven by a quest for greater pursuits in life.

Singapore's in2015 masterplan

Technology assisted Education = Forward Thinking People.

How does a tiny country with not much natural resources, emerge as one of the most recognized model countries in the developing and the Developed world? The key is in the determination of it’s society, a vision and then the motivation or drive, to implement that vision on a daily basis. Most countries have a vision, but it gets diluted at the implementation stage for a variety of reasons and then sees it floundering and slowly trailing off.

Instilling ambition and visionary like qualities in citizens, starts at an early stage, during education. Making technology and tools accessible to the younger generation, is a key enabler for them to explore and gain more knowledge, so that by the time they are graduating the quest for knowledge and a higher purpose in life, take precedence over corruption, delinquency and general malaise.

Countries with a “vision” plan at the very least should implement the following in schools:

- Subsidized or free Internet broad band access to Students, schools and universities.

- Govt Owned companies, or large Multinational Corporations earning profit in developing countries should be made to donate equipment and technology directly to schools (so as to minimize chances of mis-appropriation of funds).

Indigenous talent and Technology contributing to Singapore’s in2015 vision:

Graduates from Singapore’s Universities and Polytechnics are emerging with world class credentials and talent. It is not hard to envision a whole generation of much needed Think Tanks coming from this small country. One of the inspirations for this article is people such as Boon Jin who is a graduate of the Nanyang Polytechnic in Singapore.

He has taken the work of inventor Johnny Lee, to new heights and further expanded on the technology and ideas to bridge that “last mile” hurdle, thereby coming up with a usable end-product for schools to enable an interactive “Smart board” for classrooms, at a fraction of the cost of competing commercial smart board systems. For around a mere US$ 1000 is it now possible to have a complete class room Smart board system that includes the Cost of a Projector, Laptop, a Wii mote and the US$30 price for the Smooth Board software. If classrooms already have a computer and projector, the cost is less than US$ 100!

This affords schools to expose children at a very young age to interaction with Technology and helps shape and steer their natural curiosity towards more productive channels later on. The benefits of offering cost effective interactive, hands on education, is one of the key enablers that will hopefully in this decade, motivate future citizens to develop and build on such visionary projects as the in2015 initiative.

Related article on technology in education: Stereoscopic 3d in Classrooms.