Nongsa Digital Park: Why startup founders in Singapore should consider tapping on a global talent supply
If your start-up is continuously on the lookout for fresh tech talent, why not look to the horizon? That’s especially if traditional hiring methods aren’t meeting your company’s needs. Smart companies have started to adopt unique ways of thinking and recruitment. One of these ways is going global and offshoring talent. This is especially so in the tech industry where rapid development and advancement happens every day. Introducing Nongsa Digital Park – Batam’s latest solution to solving your hiring needs.
Batam’s Nongsa Digital Park is a large-scale initiative from Infinite Studios. It’s a Singapore-based creative entertainment agency and subsidiary of Citramas Group.
The park project doesn’t come cheap and costs a whopping $700 million. The up-and-coming digital park is only slightly bigger than our own Botanic Gardens. It will contain resources and infrastructure for an environment friendly to tech companies and start-ups. The park is set to become a digital campus for talents and employers alike and will better bridge Singapore and Indonesia’s tech sectors.
One question you’re probably asking is, “How is building a tech team in Nongsa Digital Park better than in other locations like India, Vietnam, Yogyakarta, and Jakarta?”
For starters, Indonesia is home to around 260 million people. The fourth most populated country in the world has a massive domestic market, filled with opportunities for investments. And because of its large population, one of the best investments anyone can make in Indonesia is in its people.
Nearly half of the population in Indonesia is at a prime age, starting from 25. Batam alone is home to 1.2 million people, which still gives us a sizeable number. Unlike Jakarta, where the market is in full swing and is competitive, Batam still has an untapped pool of talent.
So instead of isolating your hiring efforts to Singapore, why not tap on the potential bubbling deep in Nongsa Digital Park? The young talent there are eager, passionate, and willing to work hard. Hiring them will strengthen your company and also serve as an early investment into Batam. As they say, “The early bird catches the worm.”
Everyone is likely familiar with traveling to Batam for quick getaways. Ferry rides to the island operate on a regular basis and only take around 45 minutes to an hour to get you there. So if Batam is a convenient place for a holiday, it’s also the perfect place in which you can expand your business into.
Your offshore talent won’t have to communicate with you across a time zone difference of 12 hours, and you’ll be able to get work done efficiently. Even conventional offshoring options to Ho Chi Minh or Yogyakarta can cause communication overheads and affect performance. Nongsa Digital Park will serve as a safe starting point for companies hoping to expand out of Singapore.
Save on hiring costs by investing in talent from Batam. This is especially key for tech start-ups that run on smaller budgets. The labour market in more populated areas such as Jakarta and Yogyakarta is already very competitive. So hiring talent there would be more expensive as compared to in Batam.
No matter which stage of maturity your start-up is in, you’ll want to fully maximise your resources while still recruiting interested and talented individuals to join your team. BSS Group, a Singapore-based IT solutions provider, can attest to this. Managing Director Mr Ho Wee Teck came away from the experience with good impressions of the community and its standard of work.
Likewise, Nongsa Digital Park’s launch will open up a community of passionate tech talents and meet your recruitment needs.
Nongsa Digital Park is filled with resources that allow a thriving tech community to grow and flourish. Some of these resources include an international data centre, a start-up incubator, and plenty of lodging options for technopreneurs and tech talent.
These features allow Nongsa Digital Park to be a productive and collaborative space for tech talent and companies. It’ll no doubt encourage continued upskilling in the years to come. Investing in talent from Nongsa Digital Park will reap great rewards later.
This collaboration between Infinite Studios and Batam is supported by Singapore and Indonesia’s governments, including governmental bodies like the Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB). The Singapore Infocomm Technology Federation is organising visits for companies to explore opportunities on the island to promote Nongsa’s potential. The park itself is currently communicating with six international data centre operators and over 80 companies in search of new tenants.
Companies like LiquidPay have already started their investments, with LiquidPay being Nongsa Digital Park’s second tenant. The cashless payment start-up now has a team of 24 tech talents working on new cashless and mobile payment systems. It’s an optimistic start to the start-up’s growth. Nongsa Digital Park is likely to play a big role in helping them flourish.
Find out how you can experience this growth by offshoring work at Nongsa today.
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