ClappingTree’s Web 2.0

INDIVIDUALS AND YOUNG STARTUPS in the Interactive Digital Media (IDM) industry can soon apply for S$50,000 grants from the Singapore infocomm Technology Federation (SiTF) to develop their ideas and projects towards commercialisation. The Media Development Authority (MDA) plans to support 100-150 projects yearly, announced Deputy CEO Michael Yap at the Singapore Digital Media Festival 2008 today.

Lead SiTF members like MediaCorp Pte Ltd, Microsoft, SingTel and ST Electronics (Training & Simulation Systems) have already expressed their interest in project domains such as interactive media, mobile digital media, broadcast, IPTV and open source development etc. SiTF will continue to market this program to gain greater interest from more corporations who see opportunity to partner with start ups. Through support from the industry, the mentorship programme hopes to make available up to $10m worth of project funding and support over a period of five years.

With SiTF, the IDMPO now has a network of 10 incubators to create support structures for the start-ups, including the platforms for regular pitching sessions and finding industry partners. Collectively, the incubators will nurture some 450 start-ups over the next few years. The existing incubators have facilitated the funding of some 90 projects to date, out of which 15 were completed. Thirty per cent of the completed projects have successfully received private investment.

“MORE THAN 85 PERCENT of the world’s online population (875 million) has used the Internet to make a purchase – increasing the market for online shopping by 40 percent in the past two years…” according to a Nielsen Global Online Survey reported early this year.

How do these Internet users select their shopping sites? Nielsen’s statistics reveal some interesting facts. Over 30 percent actually bought on sites that they found through “General Surfing”, “Search Engines” and “Special offer I saw”:

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MAJORITY OF CORPORATE and professional bloggers have seen a positive impact as a result of their blog, according to Technorati’s latest State of the Blogosphere report published on Sept 22. Half are better known in their industry, and one in four have used their blog as a resume enhancement. Fewer than one in ten have seen a negative impact from blogging and one in three have yet to see an impact.

Impact of Blogging on Professional Life

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