The Minister for Information and Communications and the Arts, Lee Boon Yang, cited a survey carried out by the industry watchdog, the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore, that showed companies in the sector expected revenues this year to grow 4.5 percent.

This follows an increase of five percent to 32.17 billion Singapore dollars (18.7 billion US dollars) in 2002, with a 7.5 percent rebound tipped for 2004.

Lee said the lower expectations reflected the blows dealt to the sector by external events including the global downturn and the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) which killed 33 people in Singapore between March and May this year.

Lee said Singapore must continue to utilise technology as a tool to shore up its economic competitiveness.

"In Singapore, we remain highly committed to IT (information technology), not for its own sake, but for the possibilities it can create," Lee said in a speech at the opening ceremony of a two-day technology conference.

"As a small country, some might say an unnatural one, persistent exploitation of all technologies, including IT, will allow us to multiply our effectiveness."

Lee said the benefits were not just financial, citing examples of how technology helped during the SARS outbreak.

He said the modification of thermal scanners designed for military applications to monitor passengers for fever symptoms at Changi airport during the SARS outbreak demonstrated "vividly how infocomm technology could be used to make a critical difference in a crisis situation."

SPACE.WIRE