A*STAR has teamed up with Japan-based Fujitsu to establish the first centre of excellence for Computational Social Science and Engineering in Singapore. The facility will leverage high performance computing-enabled R&D technologies based on real-world data to enhance Singapore's urban sustainability and create key innovations for industry development.

Japan and Singapore face similar challenges and demands on infrastructure and energy usage so both countries are eager to develop long-term urban sustainability solutions to ensure high standards of living, ample work opportunities for the populace as well as quality economic growth. The centre will utilise data from various agencies in Singapore to derive an understanding of complex dynamics within the city and exploit the power of modelling and simulation to guide both critical decisions and implementation of solutions. Identified potential areas of innovation are as follows:

•Transportation Management: An efficient and sustainable transportation system demands the ability to monitor and understand the travel behaviour and dynamics of commuters, road users and network systems. The insight can be leveraged to optimise transport services, project future demand, identify tipping points and assess system performance.
•Energy Management: This involves analysis of the dynamics of energy supply and demand, such as using technology to track energy consumption while reducing wastage, and optimal energy management.
•Computational Social Systems: The development of computational systems and methods for near-to-real-time processing of social information such as the consumer behaviour and lifestyle of the populace to enhance public, business, healthcare and educational needs/services and communication for the sustainability for urban living.

"By participating in building a smart city through the use of high-performance computing and big data, Fujitsu's goal is to develop new skills and practical experience, create the next generation of solutions, and establish new business models for global or ASEAN companies moving into Singapore," said Mr Masahiko Yamada, President, Technical Computing Solutions Unit, Fujitsu Limited.

Parnter institutions and government agencies from both Singapore and Japan such as the National University of Singapore, the National Research Foundation and Fujitsu Laboratories Limited will convene across a series of workshops, projected to start in April 2013, to identify the research themes to be jointly studied by the centre.

By: DocMemory
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