A new study, released by Verint Systems, has revealed that Singapore, one of the most developed countries in South-East Asia, is actively adopting the latest technology to become a digital leader showcasing digital maturity.
The Singapore edition of the global study, CX State of Play in Singapore, carried out in partnership with a market research company Opinium Research LLC, found that compared to the residents of Japan, Australia and Hong Kong, most of the Singaporeans are comfortable with technology adoption as a consumer as well as using it in the workplace.
The study showed that among two Singaporeans, one prefers digital or online, particularly online support, web self-service, webchat, web portal, email or SMS and social media, while almost the same number still prefer to speak to someone in person or over the phone suggesting that human contact is still important.
Verint's Manish Shah, Vice President, Southeast Asia said, "The increasing expectation that organisations are 'always-on' for the consumers presents a challenge in terms of customer engagement."
In addition, he also stated that Singapore based organizations are turning into digital solutions to fulfil the increased customer demand, "they must also provide the high-quality experience customers expect – including the ability to engage with a person when needed. It needs to be a truly omnichannel approach, with customers able to switch seamlessly between digital and offline channels."
The study, which was released on Thursday, also clarified that close to 70 percent of Singapore's workers said they are ready to try new technologies and ways of working in order to be more efficient or productive in the workplace. However, it should be noted that this percentage is higher than the report's global average (63 per cent) and just behind India, where the ratio is 76 percent.
In terms of the adoption of robots in the workplace, Singapore came above the global average (36 per cent) beating Australia. The research report added that further 54 percent of Singaporeans agree that the artificial intelligence and other automated technology help to work more effectively and the ratio is higher than Japan and Australia as well as the global average (47 per cent).
"Our study shows that Singapore is striding ahead in digital adoption and is carving out a digital future. This is visible by the way consumers interact with brands, opting for digital customer service and in the way workers favourably view AI and robotic technologies in the workplace," said Shah.
However, in March, the tech giant Google conducted a research and found that the average age that Singapore kids get their first internet-accessed device is eight. The study suggested that this is the youngest age among all the countries involved in the survey and lower than the global average age, which is 10.
Since the kids are being exposed to the internet-accessed device at such a young age, over 90 percent of the parents and teachers showed their concerns about the online safety of the kids, as well as recognized the need for them to be educated with digital literacy. It should be noted that as per the 2018 End of Childhood report, Singapore is the best country in the world to raise children.
