In his opening address on Day 1 of Geo Connect Asia 2021 on 24 March, Dr Vivian Balakrishnan, Minister-in-Charge of the Smart Nation Initiative, said that the public and private sectors must collaborate to create geospatial tech solutions. During his speech, Dr Balakrishnan mentioned GeoWorks, which aims to foster a vibrant geospatial ecosystem in Singapore and beyond – bringing together geospatial businesses such as MNCs, scale-ups and government agencies to promote business growth, drive innovation and build a diverse, well-connected geospatial community.

Dr Balakrishnan also cited OneMap, which was developed by the Singapore Land Authority, to facilitate geospatial data-sharing across the public and private sectors. He also said that with the launch of OneMap3D Beta last year, he believed it would drive greater co-creation of innovative solutions using 3D geospatial data.