SINGAPORE officials revealed yesterday that they are in talks with one of Japan's top schools in the hope of enticing it to set up a digital media research centre here.

The move to woo the prestigious Keio University is widely seen as another attempt by the country to grab a piece of the multi-billion-dollar digital media industry.

Keio, Japan's first private university, is known for producing top-notch leaders in fields like economics and politics.

It is the most recent in a list of research institutions being wooed by Singapore in a bid to create a highly skilled new media workforce.

They include the renowned Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a top Chinese institution.

The possibility of the latest addition was announced by Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam at the Computer Games, Multimedia and Applied Allied Technology 2008 conference yesterday.

The gathering saw researchers discuss hot fields like computer gaming, Internet television and virtual three-dimensional worlds.

These industries, though, require a stable of highly trained workers, say experts.

And Singapore is revving itself up: it aims to get at least 10,000 students trained in the various fields of new media, according to Mr Michael Yap, deputy chief executive officer of the Media Development Authority (MDA).

Officials also discussed details of an ambitious new project designed to create a virtual Singapore.

Called Co-Space, users will be able to walk through the city's streets and visit landmarks in three dimensions on the Internet.

The MDA is calling for proposals, which will close on June 2, to build this virtual city.

TAN WEIZHEN

This article was first published in The Straits Times on Apr 29, 2008.