Special Thanks

First of all, we would like to thank Singapore Land Authority for organising Spatial Challenge 2012.

Secondly, we would also like to thank ESRI Singapore and other supporting sponsors for making this challenge a reality and giving us an opportunity to participate and excel.

Last but not least, we appreciate Ms Mitsy Ng and Mr Eric Koh from SLA and Mr Tony Halim, our advisor from Temasek Polytechnic, for their excellence hospitality and dedication to their role.

We wish all participating teams the best.
Ganbatte!!!!!!!!!

Love,
BizEngineers

SG Walker
A Walk you remember

Conclusion

Last but not least we are coming to an end of our report. Which is the conclusion. 

So here you go.

English is Singapore’s first language and this has enable tourists to easily travel on their own without the need of a tour guide. However, there are still limitations when they travel on their own. 
How are tourists able to explore and undiscovered Singapore on the first time of their visit being un-familiarised with Singapore? 
This is where SG Walker is created, to aid tourists around Singapore.

SG Walker is an application where users are able to undiscovered Singapore by foot. SG Walker makes use of the easily accessible public transport, Mass Rapid Transport (MRT), to allow users to explore Singapore with ease. Thus, SG Walker starts its standard walking routes at the nearest MRT station.

SG Walker integrates Global Positioning System (GPS) and Geographic Information System (GIS) into the application. Users get the best of both worlds as SG Walker makes use of the outstanding systems to capture, analyze and present the geographical data needed to provide the necessary navigation and walking directions.    

With the clear and easily understood instructions on the map, tourists are able to get around Singapore without much hassle. 
SG Walker has shopping, cultural, heritage and etcetera routes planned out for them. SG Walker also has ‘Rojak’ routes which include a mixture of different routes and recommended food places. We will continue to improve our application through feedbacks received by users.

SG Walker has achieve its aim of promoting and interacting the use GIS with the general public. When users choose “Plan as you walk” option while using the SG Walker, they are constantly using GIS to plan out their next destination. Also, SG Walker will constantly make use of GIS in the new future to integrate new routes into the application. With these, SG Walker makes use of GIS to its fullest potential.

SG Walker will serve well to change the impressions of tourist about Singapore as a “boring stop over country” and it will help tourists to discover and uncover Singapore’s charm.


A walk you remember brought to you by SG Walker.

Love,

BizEngineers

Continuous improvement

So how is SG Walker going to maintain our application, to ensure that we are up to date and constantly improving our idea and application?


Firstly SG Walker must first make sure that user complaints and feedbacks on platforms such as forums should be reviewed frequently. It allows SG Walker to identify the problems SG Walker’s users are facing and to take actions as quickly as possible.

Secondly, SG Walker can conduct surveys as it can provide a gauge of the success of efforts for continuous improvements in this application. Survey can focus on what changes should be implement to improve the quality of the application and what would our target users like to see in the future. Such surveys will give SG Walker an inside look of the company from the outside.

Thirdly, SG Walker will update our application frequently. This is to ensure everything in our application is up to date so that our users will be constantly updated with the latest event and anything else that is happening around Singapore. 

Lastly, SG Walker should use plan, do check act as it is a very important part of continuous improvement.

PDCA Cycle

Plan

Planning is an important part of continuous improvement. SG Walker needs to consider what they will do to meet certain business objectives. For instance, if SG Walker is interested in expanding into new service areas it must identify the areas it intends to move into and then plan for how this expansion will be accomplished.

Do

Once a plan has been developed, it is time to put that plan in place, or implement it. Well-developed plans will contain strategies, tactics and action plans that clearly outline for the organization and its members what is to be done, when and by whom.

Check

Once a plan has been implemented, the next step is to study the impact of that implementation. For instance, SG Walker plans to expand the business so that locals can also benefit from the use of the application. As the plan is implemented, SG Walker should study the impact of the plan. If SG Walker is able to improve the business by having top downloads and more company advertising in our application, SG Walker can assume that the plan have a positive impact. If remain the same or decline, SG Walker can assume that the plan did not have a positive impact.

Act

Based on the results after plan implementation, SG Walker then takes action. If the results have been favorable, SG Walker will continue to implement the plan and perhaps spread the plan and further improve it. If the plan has not been a success, SG Walker will consider what it has learned and begin the planning cycle--plan, do, check, act--again, as part of its continuous improvement efforts.


Uh huh, it's the end of today's post. Hope that we did not bore all of you readers out there! (:


Love, 
BizEngineers

Operational Plan

Hello fellow readers. We are back with a post on SG Walker's Operational Plan. We will be describing short term ways of SG Walker achieving it's milestones and explain how, or what portion of, a strategic plan will be put into operation. 

So, here you go.

Outcome

We hope that with SG Walker, tourist visiting Singapore will feel that Singapore is more than just a boring stop over city. It will greatly help them in guiding themselves around different parts of Singapore to visit some of Singapore’s landmarks, the best scenery in Singapore and also gaining more knowledge of Singapore’s history and culture.

Limitation

Of course there are some limitation to SG Walker. We were unable to include every single food store around the places of interest due to limited sources. Also we were unable to plan routes to suit every single user hence we came up with the “rojak route” which means mixture in Malay. We hope it will be able to cater to all users including Singaporeans because as for now this application does not attract local users but we will be working on it. Lastly, in order for our users to enjoy our planned routes, they will have to make their own way to various MRT stations in Singapore in order for them to start the self-guided tour.

Implications

A straightforward implication will be the erratic weather in Singapore. If the venues our users are visiting have no shelter, or if they were travelling from one place to another and it suddenly rains’, it will be a total mood killer. Although we have integrated a weather forecast in the application, the weather forecast is only accurate to a certain extent. Hence, implications are hardly avoidable. Also, if technical errors such as our application being bugged will cause inconvenience to the users and consequently lose confidence in our application.

Short term plans

Firstly, SG Walker’s short term plan will focus mainly on continuously updating the application. Introducing more attractions we have discovered, recommending more dining locations and also continuously promoting our application to the general public. Secondly, SG Walker will target to expand the application so that not only the tourists will be interested but also Singaporeans. In order to do so, SG Walker will broaden the areas of attractions into the neighborhood where locals are able to unearth the little-known interesting places. Lastly, SG Walker will integrate different languages to target users who are unable to understand English. Languages such as Chinese, Tamil, Japanese and Korean will be integrated into the application as their tourist profiles are higher.

Long term plans

We hope to make the majority of Singapore’s tourist to use our application upon visiting Singapore. Also plans on going international such as developing HKwalker for HongKong tourist etc. We will most probably start from South East Asia and countries which have high tourist arrival rates.

So yes, we have come to an end of our operational plan. We will be updating on our continuous improvement on our next post. 

Love, 

BizEngineers

Financial Projection

Year 2012 Financial Projection

Month 2012	Expenses ($)	Receipts ($)	NP ($)
January	47,760	2,000	-45,760
February	41,760	2,000	-39,760
March	41,760	2,000	-39,760
April	62,760	23,000	-39,760
May	62,760	23,000	-39,760
June	62,760	23,000	-39,760
July	83,760	65,000	-18,760
August	83,760	65,000	-18,760
September	83,760	65,000	-18,760
October	104,760	129,000	24,240
November	104,760	129,000	24,240
December	104,760	129,000	24,240

Total sum of money ($)

885,420

657,000

-228,420

Year 2013 Financial Projection

Month 2013	Expenses ($)	Receipts ($)	NP ($)
January	125,760	170,000	44,240
February	125,760	170,000	44,240
March	125,760	170,000	44,240
April	146,760	233,000	86,240
May	146,760	233,000	86,240
June	146,760	233,000	86,240
July	167,760	296,000	128,240
August	167,760	296,000	128,240
September	167,760	296,000	128,240
October	188,760	378,000	189,240
November	188,760	378,000	189,240
December	188,760	378,000	189,240

Total sum of money ($)

1,887,120

3,294,000

1,406,880

As you all know, SG Walker is a new application, therefore making it more difficult for us to make a stand in the market. 
At the start of the first financial year, our expenses tend to be more than our receipts,which lead to a negative net profit. Advertising has also caused an increase in expenses during the first year. In addition, the increase in receipts is also because of the increase in retailers advertising on our application.
But a negative net profit at the start of the financial year is common, there will be an increase in net profit as the business runs longer, this will thus shows that our business is growing gradually.

At the start of the second financial year, the net profit is increasing. Continuous advertising will increase the number of retailers wanting to advertise on our application. 
SG Walker is predicted to breakeven on the second financial year and subsequently earning a profit. 


Wow! We hope our financial projection will be accurate, then we can also consider working on this application and make it happen! (:


Till our next post~

Love,

BizEngineers

SG WALKER

Today, we are going to introduce to you guys our application!

SG WALKER

When user clicks on the SG WALKER’s icon, the homepage on the top will appear. Users are able to access to different tabs at the bottom such as Home, Attraction, Events and More.

On the Home tab users are to choose which category of walks they prefer.

Information about us is available on the home page as well.

There is also an advertising column at the bottom which will be where our main profit is coming from. Company can promote or publicize their latest event etc on SG WALKER. 

Firstly, upon clicking on SG WALK on the home tab, the page on the top will appear. There are seven categories: Bugis; City Hall; Chinatown, Clarke Quay, Little India, Orchard and Raffles Place.

We focus on these seven categories as these are the main tourist attraction destination in Singapore.

After clicking on the Bugis attraction icon, there will be two selections: Cultural Walk and Rojak Walk.

There are different selections such as Museum Walk, Heritage Walk, Shopping Walk, Sightseeing Walk and Nature Walk upon clicking on different attractions.

This is to cater to users with different needs.

 Once the user select on the walk they prefer, in this case; Rojak Walk, the route sequence will appear just like the picture on the top.

In this case, there are 8 destinations excluding Bugis MRT station which will be the starting and the ending of the walk. We chose to start and end at the nearest MRT station as it is more convenient for tourist. We also encourage tourist to take public transport as to initiate “Going Green” actions.

The first stop will be Kwan Im Thong Hood Cho Temple followed by Sri Krishnan Temple, Albert Centre Market for a local taste of lunch, Bugis Street, Bugis Junction, Sultan Mosque, Haji lane/ Arab Street and the last stop will be Liang Seah road for local steamboat dinner.

 Upon clicking on the Start Walk, a map on the location will appear.

The map will guide you as you proceed with the walk.

The red food icon as shown on the left will be popping out, recommending food along the walk.

 There will be a brief description on the different destination as seen on the picture on top.

Secondly, upon clicking on the Plan as you walk on the home tap. The Map will flash up and it will locate the user’s current location.

It will show a 400meters boundary with different icon showing up.

The icons include; shopping, food, museum, church, temple and other tourist attractions.

This is to allow users to click on their preferred destination. SG WALKER will thereby plan their walking routes according.

 Lastly, the picture on top is the About Us tab on the home page.

It is a brief description of SG WALKER.

As seen on top, it is the attraction menu.

It includes adventure, entertainment, food, museums, national parks and night life.

Users are able to browse on different tabs according to their preference.

In the next few picture we will be elaborating more on the adventure and food tabs.

Subsequently, if the user picks Adventure, SG WALKER will recommend places with adventuring activities. Clarke Quay, Sentosa and Others are shown up.

In this case, Sentosa is selected.

 These are some of the attraction at Sentosa; Gogreen Segway, iFly Singapore, Sentosa Kayaking and Universal Studio Singapore.

 Users are able to access to a brief description of the different attraction.

For example, iFly Singapore

 If the user selects the food icon on the attraction page, a list of locations will flash up and they are Bugis, Chinatown, Clarke Quay, City Hall, Little India, Orchard, Sentosa and Others.

For example the user is at Bugis and do not know where they can dine at, they can simply click on the Bugis tab and it will lead you to the picture below.

 User can select from the following category; Bistro, Cafe, Food Court, Fast Foods, Pastry, Pub and Restaurants depending on where they are comfortable dining at.

For instance, the user selects Restaurant and the following restaurants will appear.  

Upon clicking on the restaurants in this case 'My Secret Garden', users are able to know the type of food the restaurant serves and the ambience of the restaurant.

There is also a brief description of the restaurant selected as seen on top.  

The two picture above is an example of the events tab.

This section allows user to know the latest event happening in Singapore.

It works like a smart phone calendar whereby users are able to view it month by month. This can ensure that SG WALKER is user friendly.

For example, for the month of September 2012 the Formula One Grand Prix will be held on the 23^rd. Upon clicking on the event, there will be a brief information on where the event is held and the time of the event.

On the More tab, there are three main features.

The AR Browser, Weather and Promotions. 

After selecting on the AR browser, it will help users to recognize monument though their phone camera.

User can just simply flash their camera onto the monument and a brief description of the monument will pop up just like the example of the Merlion on the left.

Upon clicking on the Weather tab. SG Walker will provide users with the current and 5 days weather forecast.

This is to ensure that our users are aware of Singapore’s weather and will be able to plan their itinerary more wisely and to avoid planning outdoor activities on raining days.

On the Promotion tab it consists of discount coupons and card discount.

These are a few examples of our discount vouchers. It is also where our profits will be coming from. Interested company can advertise their latest discount with us.

Users can just simply flash these discount coupons to enjoy the great deals.

We hope you guys have a clearer picture of what SG WALKER is about now. (:

Till then.

Love,

BizEngineers