MICA’s mission is to develop Singapore as a global city for information, communications and the arts, so as to build a creative economy, gracious community and a connected society with a Singaporean identity rooted in our multicultural heritage. A total budget of $541 million has been allocated to MICA in FY2007 to achieve this mission.

MICA aims to achieve the following strategic outcomes:

• A Vibrant and Sustainable Creative Cluster;
• A Thriving Infocomm and Media Cluster;
• A Gracious and Knowledgeable People, Appreciative of Arts and Culture;
• A Sense of Community, National Identity and Rootedness; and
• A Better Understanding of Singapore and its Policies.

Developing the Creative Industries

The development of the Creative Industries is strategic to Singapore’s future competitiveness as we transit to a Creative Economy. $27 million will be set aside to implement the Creative Industries Development Strategy to tap on the high growth potential of the Creative Industries, comprising Media, Design and Arts Sectors, to create new value and jobs for Singapore. Some key initiatives under the Creative Industries Development Strategy are:

• "Media 21", which aims to develop Singapore into a global media city by:
  

  -	Enhancing the capabilities of 1,000 local media professionals and students;
  -	Supporting the development of 20 digital media projects such as games and animation, applications and services for digital TV, digital audio, interactive TV and digital cinema;
  -	Helping 100 local media enterprise participants to expand overseas through developing new markets for Made-by-Singapore media content, co-productions with overseas partners and participation in international media trade missions; and
  -	Growing the 2 anchor media events in Singapore - Asia Media Festival and Broadcast Asia.

  
  
• "DesignSingapore" aims to inspire design and develop Singapore as an international centre for design creativity in Asia where design improves capability, enhances quality of life, and drives national competitiveness. The key strategies include:
  

  -	Promoting and developing Singapore as a strategic node in the global network of design cities by staging the biennial Singapore Design Festival, hosting major international design events, and showcasing the works of Singapore designers and designs at international platforms;
  -	Anchoring Singapore as a base for leading design promotion, education and awards organisations;
  -	Continuing to set benchmarks for design excellence through competitions and awards, including the prestigious President’s Design Award;
  -	Establishing DesignSingapore Studios as an important platform to raise the capability of Singapore design professionals through creativity exchange and knowledge transfer with leading international renowned designers;
  -	Awarding DesignSingapore Scholarships and supporting mentorships and internships to groom new design talents; and
  -	Catalysing the creation of new design paradigms, new design knowledge and new impactful applications through Design Research & Development programmes.

• "Creative Community Singapore", which aims to provide new opportunities for Singaporeans to unleash their creative potential by funding their project ideas. It targets to achieve the following:
  

  -	Create 50 new Creative Business start-ups through the projects and a Creative Industries Incubation programme;
  -	Seed-fund 40 projects to nurture creativity and encourage community enterpreneurship; and
  -	Enhance idea-generating capacity of 5,000 individuals via the projects.

Promoting the Infocomm Sector

• $52 million will be allocated to implement the iN2015 Masterplan that will help to (1) Enrich lives through infocomm; (2) Enhance Singapore's economic competitiveness and innovation through infocomm; and (3) Increase the growth and competitiveness of the infocomm industry. The key programmes will focus on:
  

  -	Enhancing Singapore’s national infocomm infrastructure. This includes the ultra-high speed wired infrastructure (Next Generation National Broadband Network) and the pervasive wireless broadband infrastructure (Wireless@Sg Programme);
  -	Enabling a more secure & trusted infocomm environment for individuals, businesses and government through initiatives such as National Cyber-threat Monitoring Centre, Critical Infocomm Infrastructure Protection and National Authentication Framework;
  -	Implementing the Infocomm Manpower Development Roadmap through the National Infocomm Scholarship, the Infocomm Clubs and the National Infocomm Competency Framework;
  -	Providing assistance to more than 500 local Infocomm companies in expanding their capabilities to develop innovative products and services, and in marketing their product offerings in overseas markets;
  -	Supporting projects to transform key clusters such as Future Schools @ SG, Digital Concierge, and remote health monitoring;
  -	Establishing Singapore as a key node and marketplace for digital media assets; and
  -	Building an all-inclusive digital society. This includes providing needy families with school-going children and persons with disability with computer ownership and 3 years of broadband access.

Nurturing Gracious and Knowledgeable People

• $67 million will be used to nurture the arts and enhance audience development, through partnership with the private sector and the arts community, so as to develop Singapore into a Global Arts City. The key programmes are:
  

  -	Developing the School of the Arts to provide a 6-year arts and academic education for artistically talented students aged 13-18;
  -	Organising major arts events in Singapore such as the Singapore Arts Festival, Singapore Art Show and Singapore Writers’ Festival, to promote artistic excellence and develop audiences;
  -	Promoting Singapore's arts and artists overseas, such as through organizing the Singapore pavilion at the Venice Biennale;
  -	Providing grants to over 500 local artists and arts groups (including 23 major arts groups), and subsidised arts housing for deserving artists and arts groups to develop their works under the Arts Housing Scheme;
  -	Organising and supporting 150 arts outreach programmes targeted at over 150,000 people; and
  -	Assessing and endorsing 650 quality arts education programmes to reach out to 330,000 students, as well as carrying out arts education initiatives for pre-schools.

  
  
• $69 million will be allocated to foster nationhood, identity and creativity, and to promote a more vibrant heritage sector in Singapore through:
  

  -	Organising exhibitions and programmes at the National Museum of Singapore, the Asian Civilisations Museum at Empress Place, the Singapore Art Museum, Reflections at Bukit Chandu and Memories at Old Ford Factory, with the aim of attracting more than 1 million museum visitors;
  -	Organising heritage outreach programmes, including the Singapore HeritageFest and International Museum Day, with the target of attracting 2.3 million participants to the outreach events;
  -	Converting the Asian Civilisations Museum at Armenian Street into a Peranakan Museum;
  -	Planning the conversion of the former Supreme Court and City Hall building into a national art gallery; and
  -	Expanding collections storage space at the Heritage Conservation Centre to cater to the growing national heritage collections.

  
  
• $156 million will be allocated to our libraries to support life-long learning among Singaporeans, and to promote a knowledgeable and engaged society, through the provision of:
  

  -	A national library that aims to become a one-stop centre for Asian collections and materials;
  -	A network of 3 regional libraries, 20 community libraries and 15 community children's libraries, which serve over 32 million library visitors and 2 million library members;
  -	Rich on-line information sources and content at the National Library Board (NLB)'s digital library which aims to serve 15 million on-line users;
  -	Rare materials and documents of historic significance which have been digitised for easy accessibility and the promotion of our heritage; and
  -	Digitised artistic heritage materials for greater accessibility so as to raise awareness of Singapore's many arts and cultural icons.

Fostering National Identity and a Better Understanding of Singapore and its Policies

• $15 million will be allocated to nurture a sense of rootedness among Singaporeans, and create affinity for Singapore amongst Singaporeans and the international community, through government’s information programmes, including:
  

  -	Developing an umbrella positioning for Singapore which articulates the best of Singapore and Singapore’s attributes that would provide a consistent overarching guide to all agencies in their marketing efforts for Singapore;
  -	Launching cultural diplomacy programmes like the Singapore Season in China and Singapore Week in India, which leverage on arts and culture to showcase the softer aspects of Singapore, increase awareness of Singapore as a cultural and business global city, as well as create networking opportunities for Singapore companies in the target city;
  -	Nurturing resilience and confidence among Singaporeans to overcome crises, through the sharing of information via various channels such as brochures, posters, books, and exhibitions; and
  -	Encouraging initiatives to foster a stronger sense of pride and national identity amongst Singaporeans.