Public cloud can infuse US$30 billion into Singapore GDP

Photo by Mike Enerio

The deployment of public cloud will infuse about $450 billion cumulatively from 2019-2023 in six key markets in Asia Pacific, according to a study by Boston Consulting Group (BCG) commissioned by Google Cloud.

BCG’s study covered Australia, India, Indonesia, Japan, Singapore and South Korea, and entailed a survey of more than 1,000 IT decision makers across the region including more than 120 from Singapore.

Sectors surveyed included digital native businesses and internet start-ups, banking and financial services, retail, media and gaming, public sector and manufacturing. 

BCG estimates that business efficiencies and growth that result from public cloud deployment can contribute to the creation of nearly 425,000 direct jobs and impact another 1.2 million jobs indirectly from 2019-2023.

If providers, users and regulators address the adoption challenges to further boost adoption, the impact across the six markets can go up to $580 billion for GDP contribution while creating 770,000 direct jobs. 

In Singapore, public cloud deployment can contribute about US$30 billion to the GDP in this period. This is equivalent to about 1.7% of the national GDP annually, and is comparable to the economic impact of other key industries within Singapore.

Also in Singapore, public cloud deployment can contribute to the creation of nearly 22,000 jobs and impact another 21,000 jobs through second order effects in this period. 

Singapore’s digital native businesses are the biggest drivers of public cloud adoption within Singapore along with other key industries such as banking and financial services, retail, public sector and media. Over 90% of the overall economic impact will be captured by these industry verticals using public cloud.

To further support this growth, key actions are needed to realise the economic and employment impact associated with public cloud deployments over the next five years. This includes investment in education, training and certifications to reinforce a strong pool of cloud native talent to support the needs of the market.