Digital for 100

The trend is unmistakable: Singaporeans are growing increasingly confident about their ability to live to 100. This is all the more remarkable in the aftermath of a devastating health crisis and amidst strong global economic headwinds. Citizens’ upbeat views about their prospects for ageing could be influenced in part by their country’s demonstrated public health and economic resilience. Above and beyond that, the role of digital technology is also helping people and organisations to monitor and improve their health and finances.

Harnessing technology for longer lifespans: This article is based on a survey of 800 Singapore residents conducted in June-July 2022. The respondents fall into four age cohorts: 25-34, 35-44, 45-54 and 55-65. The sample is split evenly between males and females and distributed among different income groups ranging from S$0-25,000 to S$200,000 and over.

Already among the most avid adopters of smartphones in the world, Singaporeans ascribe considerable importance to the use of personal health and finance technologies—such as wearable fitness devices and banking apps—in their efforts to support a long life span. Over half (54%) of respondents say that mobile devices and apps are the most important tools they have to help them live well for longer and get the most out of life.

Business, technology and fulfilling lives: This article is based on a survey of 100 Singapore-based executives conducted in June-July 2022. Of the respondents, 39% perform general management roles, 35% are human resources executives and the remainder hold strategy positions. Half of the respondents’ organisations are small or medium in size, employing between 10 and 200 people, and the other half are large, with a workforce of over 200. Twenty sectors are represented in the survey, with financial services, professional services and technology providing the largest numbers of respondents.

We recently surveyed employers in Singapore, the vast majority of whom believe there is much that they can do to help their employees to live longer and more fulfilling lives. Most believe they are indeed helping their employees to do this, both indirectly and directly, through the digital training they provide and their encouragement of digital innovation.

Digitisation has progressed far among businesses in Singapore—but it is proceeding at different speeds, and many organisations are lagging. A large gap between larger and smaller organisations is evident here, too. Many more large enterprises than SMEs have invested in almost every technology capability. For example, 82% of large firms have already invested in AI compared with 60% of SMEs. When it comes to mobile apps, the difference is 74% vs 42%; with blockchain: 76% vs 38%; with data analytics: 70% vs 30%; and with online payments: 70% vs 28%.