evidoria

← Back to browse

Good practice Imported

SMEs Go Digital — Singapore's Tiered Digitalisation Grant Programme

Singapore · Singapore · See the Singapore profile · See the Singapore profile

Evidence: Observational / pre–post Top 10% 86/100 · Ask Evidence Copilot about this practice

Singapore's IMDA-led SMEs Go Digital programme has supported ~88,000 SMEs since 2017 via tiered digital grants. A 2023 impact evaluation found productivity gains up to 6.4% for micro firms, with sector-specific solutions nearly twice as effective as generic ones.

88,000 SMEs
SMEs supported by 2024 (2017-2024)
30 %
Share of Singapore's SME population reached (2024)
3.0 %
Value-added per worker increase, PSG recipients (2017-2020)
2.2 %
Revenue increase, PSG recipients (2017-2020)
1.8 %
Value-added per worker increase, Start Digital recipients (2017-2020)
1.6 %
Revenue increase, Start Digital recipients (2017-2020)
6.4 %
Productivity gain, micro firms under PSG (2017-2020)
4.4 %
Productivity gain, micro firms under Start Digital (2017-2020)

Details

Maturity
Established
Promoter
Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA), with Enterprise Singapore and Cyber Security Agency
Period
2017–2024 (ongoing)
Keywords
SME digitalisation, productivity grants, digital transformation, e-commerce

Context

Singapore's SMEs Go Digital programme (SMEGD), launched in 2017 by the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA), gives small and medium enterprises tiered grants to adopt digital tools.

Objectives

Support SME digitalisation through a graduated set of grants from starter-level support up to advanced digital solutions.

Activities

The programme offers a S$500 Start Digital starter grant, the Productivity Solutions Grant (PSG) for over 100 curated solutions, and Advanced Digital Solutions for more complex technology; it is delivered jointly by IMDA, Enterprise Singapore and the Cyber Security Agency, alongside partnerships with AWS, Microsoft, Salesforce and Google.

Results

By 2024 the flagship scheme had supported around 88,000 SMEs, roughly 30% of Singapore's SME population. A 2023 impact evaluation by the Ministry of Trade and Industry, covering 2017-2020 outcomes, found PSG recipients saw value-added per worker rise by 3.0% and revenue by 2.2% on average, while Start Digital recipients gained 1.8% and 1.6% respectively. Micro firms benefited the most, with productivity gains of up to 6.4% under PSG and 4.4% under Start Digital, and sector-specific solutions proved nearly twice as effective as generic ones.

Conclusions

Newer tiers aimed at more digitally mature firms -- the Digital Leaders Programme and GenAI x Digital Leaders -- are still too new to have published impact results.

Implementation
Indicative cost
High (€500k–€5M) — Tiered grants from S$500 (Start Digital) up to Advanced Digital Solutions funding; reached ~88,000 SMEs by 2024, indicating a large aggregate public grant outlay.
Time to results
Medium (1–3 years) — Launched 2017; flagship tiers evaluated through 2020, with newer tiers added through 2024; ongoing as of 2025.
Staffing & skills
Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA), Enterprise Singapore, Cyber Security Agency, technology partners (AWS, Microsoft, Salesforce, Google)

Conditions for success

  • Tiered grant structure matched to firm digital maturity
  • Sector-specific solution curation (found nearly twice as effective as generic solutions)
  • Multi-agency delivery with private technology partners

Common failure modes

  • Newer, more advanced tiers (Digital Leaders Programme, GenAI x Digital Leaders) are too new to have demonstrated impact yet

Where it fits

Governance type
national government programme, multi-agency delivery
Scale
national (Singapore), covering roughly 30% of the SME population
Income level
high-income country (Singapore)

Commonly funded by

National / regional programmes

Indicative funding routes for practices of this type — always check each programme's current calls and eligibility rules.

Do you run this practice? Claim it — verified implementers get a public contact pathway and can propose corrections.

Data sources

Where this practice's information was retrieved from, and when.

Similar practices you may find useful