A place where exciting content is created for the global market – that’s what Singapore hopes to become in the global interactive and digital media (IDM) arena.

There are substantial reasons why IDM companies find Singapore a compelling location, not least the availability of talent who are passionate, creative and technologically savvy. The city’s unique mix of Asian and Western cultures and a robust intellectual property protection framework, ranked first in Asia, are other key factors.

The success of made-in-Singapore creations such as KOEI’s massively multiplayer online role-playing game, Romance of the Three Kingdoms Online, Southern Star Singapore’s The Adventures of Bottle Top Bill as well as Lucasfilm Animation Singapore’s Star Wars: The Clone Wars TV series, shows how Singapore is making headway towards realising its vision for the IDM industry.

EDB is committed to building up the IDM ecosystem through three strategies:

Attract top-tier IDM companies to our shores and foster enterprise creation
The presence of top-tier IDM companies will bring opportunities for Singapore-based talent to develop their capabilities and know-how.

Fostering enterprise development would help to nurture homegrown IDM brands.

Position Singapore as a leading IDM education hub with a world-class talent pool
EDB will continue to attract renowned foreign institutes as well as work with local tertiary institutes and specialty schools to groom talent to staff world-class companies in Singapore.

For example, many of Singapore’s local polytechnics offer diplomas in areas such as digital media and games design, and leading schools such as DigiPen Institute of Technology and Tisch School of the Arts have set up satellite campuses in Singapore to offer undergraduate, post-graduate and continuing education programmes. Hollywood concept designer Feng Zhu has opened the FZD School of Entertainment Design here, to train talent in design for areas such as film, games, commercials and toys.

In addition, there are several local speciality schools such as 3Dsense Media School, CG Protégé, and Egg Story Digital Arts Academy, which offer focused training in digital media skills.

Opportunities are also available for Singaporeans to undergo overseas training attachments with leading companies such Double Negative, which produced visual effects for films like Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Angels & Demons, and The Dark Knight.

Attract and invest in leading R&D activities
Singapore recognises that technology plays an integral part in the development of the IDM industry. To help ensure that Singapore remains an influential trend-setter, the IDM Programme Office was set up to spearhead efforts to boost R&D in the IDM industry, backed by a S$500 million budget from the National Research Foundation.