Beyond borders: role of foreign IT firms in the computerization of Singapore from 1980–1990

• Main Author: Teh, Jaryl Wei Han
• Other Authors: Tapsi Mathur
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: Nanyang Technological University 2023
• Subjects: Humanities::History
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10356/165347
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

This project explores partnerships between foreign IT firms and the Singapore government during the period of 1980 to 1990. It will attempt to answer the question: What was the role of Foreign IT Firms in the Computerization of Singapore from 1980 to 1990? Much of the literature that studies the history of Singapore’s computerization has largely been written from the perspective of the Singapore government. While it had a critical role in pushing for nationwide computerization, it is important to note that the government, through its 1980 Committee on National Computerization, had recognized early on that it lacked the knowledge and expertise required to achieve this by itself. With this, the government turned to foreign IT firms, forming partnerships with them in various projects related to nationwide computerization. This thesis argues that foreign IT firms were crucial to Singapore’s nationwide computerization efforts due to the resources, expertise, and experience that they possessed. The Singapore government would form partnerships with these firms in three main categories of training computer professionals, developing computer literacy among workers, and software research and development.