The island nation’s decades-long focus on building resilience could make all the difference in its efforts to be ready for anything.

No matter how you slice it, Singapore's economy is an outlier. Born out of political turmoil, the city-state blazed a trail of economic prosperity to become one of the most technologically advanced nations and an example for big cities everywhere to emulate.

Thanks to its prioritization of human capital, the natural resources-starved nation is the best in the world in human capital development, as well as one of the most competitive countries. As a result, Singapore’s businesses have access to unmatched digital infrastructure and talent compared with many of their peers.

But the Asian tiger faces harsh climate realities. With almost 30% of its land less than five meters above sea level, the country has set ambitious targets to mitigate environmental risks. Singapore’s businesses realize their role in this evolving landscape, but they also face a unique set of demands. For instance, there is growing demand for additional digital skills among already highly skilled digital workers. There is also room for improvement in sustainability efforts and deriving value from tech investments.

In our work to define what it takes to be future-ready—and how close businesses are to reaching a future-ready state—Cognizant commissioned Economist Impact to conduct a survey of 2,000 senior executives, including 130 executives from Singapore, across industries and geographies, as well as create a future-ready benchmarking tool (see our full report, “Ready for anything: What it means to be a modern business”).

Our own analysis of this data underscores what executives in Singapore and globally need to do now to prepare.

For more, visit the Modern Business section of our website, or contact us.