Singapore addresses workforce shortages with automation

In Singapore’s buildings of the future, turnstiles and lifts will open automatically for food delivery robots, heating and cooling systems will be constantly optimised for energy efficiency, and residents will be able to enter and pay for goods with just their faces.

At Smart City Expo World Congress in Barcelona last month, James Tan, Director of both the Smart City Technology Division at Singapore’s Government Technology Agency (GovTech) and the Smart District Division at industrial development agency JTC Corporation, demonstrated the technical backbone that is making this possible.

The Open Digital Platform, which is a joint development by GovTech and JTC, ingests various types of d...