A year ago, we rolled out OneMap3D beta, allowing both industry colleagues and the public first-hand experience of experimenting with the use of 3D data and services in Singapore. After a year of hard work by our geospatial specialists in overcoming many technical challenges, we are ready to open it up for wider use.

OneMap3D for all

We hope OneMap3D will soon realise its potential for the business and people sectors. We live in a 3-dimensional world, well some say 4-dimensional, with the addition of time. People increasingly expect products and services to be provided in a reality, or at least virtual reality, format. We have been watching 3D movies and playing 3D games. I certainly enjoy the immersive experience, and 3D is something I foresee becoming the norm in the not-too-distant future.

SLA, being the geospatial agency in Singapore, is constantly looking for innovative ways to improve our public service offerings. Since I came on board in April this year, I have seen the great potential of geospatial, and in particular, our 3D city models and OneMap.

The 3D city models that SLA built are not to be kept for our own use. They can enable a wide range of applications in architecture, engineering and construction or AEC sectors, as well as in logistics, transportations, robotics and the real estate industry. To facilitate industry use, we launched the 3D Singapore Sandbox with geospatial industry partners such as Autodesk, Bentley Systems, ESRI and Hexagon. They have since used the data and models we provide to explore real-world applications for their clients and stakeholders.

We have also made use of the 3D city models in transforming the 2D OneMap into OneMap3D, all done in-house with the capabilities built in our teams over the years. Now, we hope OneMap3D can catalyse innovative ideas among the business and people sectors for enhancing commercial and community services.

OneMap3D is a continual work-in-progress. It is far from perfect. The technology and application in the large-scale 3D models domain are still in a nascent stage. There are still many technical challenges, for example, the management of large data size, the methodology in updating the model, just to name a few.

But I am proud to say that Singapore is among the few cities in the world that have taken the bold move in building a 3D City Map platform in such a scale for public use. For a small city like ours, we all must innovate lest we lag behind. We want to continue this spirit of adventure and unlimited imagination, and not be afraid of experimenting and learning useful lessons along the way. This is how I see SLA will progress alongside with our partners for the people we serve.

Partners for a Better Future

To move innovatively into the future, we have recently intensified our efforts in collaborating with the industry to experiment on the wider and better use of geospatial information and technology.

In fact, SLA will be signing three MOUs today, namely with Ninja Van, Kabam and PropNex. Each company brings with them vital experiences and technologies from their respective industries. These are very useful for both sides in exploring newer opportunities to serve our stakeholders better. I will leave some details of these MOUs to the latter segment of this morning’s programme.

Closing

I am excited to invite you to be part of the OneMap 3D’s inception and the limitless opportunities the platform can bring to both the industry and the public. I would like first thank Minister for taking time to grace this occasion. Thanks also to our partners, members of the developer community and everyone that was involved in the creation of OneMap3D. On this note, I thank you and wish you a fruitful day ahead.