The Singapore Tourism Board is among the first organizations in Singapore to contribute information on Microsoft's data-sharing platform, Project Nimbus, and has developed two new smartphone applications as a result of the collaboration.

STB will publish comprehensive listings of data, including hotels, attractions, business events taking place in Singapore as well as MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conventions and Exhibitions) organisers. The information will be updated on a regular basis.

"Our partnership with Microsoft is a strategic one to advocate and to synergise private and public sector efforts in promoting innovation in the tourism arena. By sharing information on a common platform and in a coherent user-centric manner, we want to encourage the creation of new services and applications that will enhance the experiences of tourists in Singapore, enabling them to seamlessly tap into our concentration of sights, sounds, tastes, cultures and attractions in Singapore." said Paul Tan, director of strategic marketing, STB.

At the same time, STB has developed two smartphone applications – the City Advantage Guide, a compact directory comprising a suite of lifestyle-related deals and privileges, and Wassup?, a youth-oriented location-based application that will provide youth-centric information such as F & B, nightlife and entertainment offerings, movie listings, youth activities, and social networking functions.

With Wassup?, (picture shows launch of the product at an event in Orchard Road), visitors can tap into a smorgasbord of youth-centric activities that are off the beaten track with ease and convenience. The smartphone application is available for download on the iTunes app store.

John Fernandes, director, business and marketing organisation, Microsoft Singapore, said that Project Nimbus, the first cloud-based information marketplace in Asia, addresses an unmet need in the market by offering a platform for organisations to enable access to publicly available information to developers who can use them to build applications such as Wassup? and City Advantage Guide.

"Built by a passionate community of developers based on existing Microsoft's cloud Azure technologies, Project Nimbus enables companies to bring their innovations to market faster and without having to invest in additional infrastructure."

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