SCS Magazine 2018 Issue 1

THE

MCI (P) 112/07/2017

WIRELESS. CASHLESS. RESTLESS. 02 How has Technology Transformed the Public Service?

SOCIETY The Magazine of the Singapore Computer Society

04 Has Disruption Come Calling for the Telcos?

06 Do You Know What is the Future of Payments?

08 Is Singapore Ready to Go Cashless?

Issue

01 2018

Contents Vision

EDITOR’S MESSAGE 01

To be the leading infocomm and digital media professional society in Singapore

Mission Lead the Way To lead and contribute to the vibrancy and growth of Singapore’s infocomm and digital media industry

Why Less is More

THE BIG IDEA 02

How has Technology Transformed the Public Service?

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Be the Voice

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Dig into Your Pockets to Find Your Business Empire

#LATEST@SCS 16

Has Disruption Come Calling for the Telcos?

SCS Gala Dinner and IT Leader Awards 2018

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Meet Our New SCS Honorary Fellow – Bill

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Do You Know What is the Future of Payments?

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IT Leader Awards 2018 Winners

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Is Singapore Ready to Go Cashless?

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Launch of WiT@SG Special Interest Group

Add Value To add value to the infocomm and digital media professional’s career and personal development

POWER BOOST

SPOTLIGHT 10

Dr Chong Yoke Sin Sheds Light on the New Definition of Less

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Abhilash Shares What it Means to Get Serious with Bus Uncle

GEEK SPEAK 25

While Franky is Out

To engage and be the voice of the infocomm and digital media community

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FROM THE EDITOR’S DESK

9:41 AM

The Modern Day Paradox: where LESS is MORE!

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raditionally, “less” literally means getting a smaller amount of something. This concept – like everything else – in the disruptive world we live in today has just been revolutionised.

It’s good old economics at work. When an economy goes “cashless”, the multiplier effect kicks in. Therefore although we see less exchanges of physical money – as in traditional transactions, the economy actually becomes richer. That surely explains the strong push from both regulatory authorities and financial institutions in Singapore to go cashless; and the many others who are buying into the vision of cryptocurrency as the future of payments.

Underpinning the full potential of cashless is yet another “less” – wireless. How else can we access our digital wallets if we cannot get connection as and when we need to make purchases? But the need to stay connected wirelessly goes beyond payments. It is also useful for finding out when your next bus is coming or, simply, to have someone (or maybe a bot) chat with you to keep you entertained while waiting for your bus. And for the more ambitious, you could very well hatch the idea for your next business enterprise too!

EDITOR Tan Teng Cheong CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Ani Bhalekar Chan Cheow Hoe Vladyslav Koshelyev Delbert Ty David Woo EDITORIAL SUPPORT Claudia Lim

ADVERTISING SALES & ADMIN Claudia Lim For ad sales enquiries, Tel: 6226 2567 ext 12 Email: claudia.lim@scs.org.sg Mailing Address 53 Neil Road Singapore 088891 EMAIL scs.secretariat@scs.org.sg EDITORIAL & DESIGN Lancer Design Pte Ltd

Actually, other than fuelling our demand for real-time information and entertainment, the rise of wireless also plays an important role in helping organisations and government agencies to understand us better. We know for a fact that GovTech is already harnessing these newfound insights to roll out services better targeted towards our needs.

Truly, the possibilities are limitless – as long as you have enough data in your mobile plan. Maybe that is why telco companies are shifting their battlefront from the conventional voice/call plans to data plans. And new players like Circle.Life are focusing on perfecting the digital service delivery experience.

But perhaps, as industry veteran, Dr Chong Yoke Sin, Chief of Business Enterprise Group, StarHub, nicely summed up, as this huge wave of “less” hits us, we should rethink the definition of industries and boundaries, and seize the “more” opportunities that come along with it.

Enjoy the read!

TAN TENG CHEONG Editor Fellow, SCS tengcheong.tan@scs.org.sg

FEEDBACK We value your feedback for this magazine. Simply email scs.secretariat@scs.org.sg with your comments to help us produce an even more interesting and relevant magazine for you in subsequent issues. You are welcome to submit articles for inclusion consideration.

For advertising enquiries, please call 6226 2567 or email scs.secretariat@scs.org.sg. The IT Society is the official publication of the Singapore Computer Society. Any part of this publication may be reproduced as long as credit is given to the publisher, Singapore Computer Society.

All views expressed by contributors are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Society.

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THE BIG IDEA

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How Going Digital has Transformed the Public Service How important is it for digital government services to be user friendly? As far as the Government Technology Agency of Singapore (GovTech) is concerned, we are committed to transform the traditional delivery of digital government services by keeping Singaporeans at the heart of our government services.

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ften, people seek government services because they need to.

Rarely, these encounters are driven by self-directed initiatives to make contact. And regardless whether the experiences are pleasant and productive or not, they have little choice but to return.

NO WRONG DOORS It is a fact that government services are quite different from commercial services.

People are likely to log on to Netflix because they want to, whereas they are most likely to log on to government services only when the need arises. In order to ensure a seamless experience, it is therefore important to pre-empt user needs through data-driven insights, gain a better understanding of user behaviour

THE IT SOCIETY / Issue 01/2018

CHAN CHEOW HOE Senior Member, SCS Government Chief Information Officer & Deputy Chief Executive, GovTech

and become more proactive in managing the user experience.

The OneService application that was launched by the Municipal Services Office in 2015 is one such initiative. Previously, Singaporeans had to direct their feedback to the correct public agency, with precious time wasted when feedback was sent to the wrong agency. With OneService, there is “no wrong door� as Singaporeans can just submit their feedback through the application, and OneService takes care of which agency to route that information to.

MORE SEAMLESS EXPERIENCE In spearheading the digital transformation within the public sector, a shift from an inside-out to an outside-

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in approach is inevitable. Recognising Singaporeans’ expectations for services to be seamless and anticipatory, GovTech has planned a line-up of mobile applications to not only make government services more accessible, but also more convenient. One example is Parking.sg, which allows drivers to calculate fees automatically, extend parking sessions remotely, and even get a refund on the unused balance of a parking session.

Another application currently under development, Moments of Life (Families), will eventually allow parents to register the birth of their new child, apply for Baby Bonus, view medical appointments and immunisation records, and search and register interest for preschools on a single platform. It anticipates the needs of Singaporeans based on life-events and ensures that relevant services are bundled for convenience.

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Singaporeans. In the second half of 2018, GovTech will be launching the SingPass Mobile application, an alternative to the existing two-factor authentication (2FA) modes, SMS 2FA and OneKey Token, so that citizens can transact more conveniently online.

WIN-WIN PARTNERSHIPS In creating platforms where government services come together and are delivered as and when they are needed, it is necessary to reach out to users proactively to understand pain points and further enhance the ecosystem we operate.

With SingPass Mobile, Singaporeans will no longer need to manually enter One-Time Passwords that are sent via SMS or generated through a separate token. Instead, a push notification will be sent via the application, and users will automatically be authenticated after entering a six-digit passcode, or by using their fingerprint. More features will be progressively added, as it becomes the one-stop touch point for Singaporeans to access digital services. In the near future, Singaporeans will be able to easily access their MyInfo data through the application, such as their Central Provident Fund account balance and passport expiry date.

With initiatives like Tech Kaki, passionate users (whether tech-inclined or not) can come together to preview and consult on new products, both online and in-person.

Private developers can also use data.gov.sg, which is constantly being enhanced and updated with new datasets and application programming interfaces (APIs), to create their own data visualisations and applications. There is also the Ideas! Portal where Singaporeans and businesses can participate in crowdsourcing activities to help shape solutions to problems they care deeply about.

READY ACCESS ALWAYS Consistent with this principle is also the enhancement of the SingPass service to bring greater ease and control to

This is just the beginning, as GovTech continues to explore ways of harnessing technology to improve lives. Working with users that we serve, GovTech will continue to build digital services for Singaporeans and create a technology-enabled future together.

UPCOMING GOVTECH EVENTS

Developer’s Workshop

As industry partners, you can contribute to our tech ecosystem too! So mark your calendars for these two upcoming events.

Late May 2018 Open to both government agencies and private developers, the workshop will support the community to stay abreast of the latest development practices and information and communications technology (ICT) products.

Smart Nation and Digital Government Industry Briefing 2018 June 2018

At this annual event, announcements on upcoming ICT initiatives, industry opportunities and key ICT projects by Government agencies will be made.

Participants can also network with industry leaders, Chief Information Officers and senior public officers from Government agencies.

Interested to find out more about GovTech and our work? Go to www.tech.gov.sg or contact us at info@tech.gov.sg.

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THE BIG IDEA

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THE IT SOCIETY / Issue 01/2018

Has Disruption Come Calling for the Telcos?

DELBERT TY Head of Marketing, Circles.Life

When was the last time you sent an SMS? Or made an international call? For many of us, it might be easier to remember when we last used a messaging application, or made a call over the Internet. With consumers moving away from traditional telecommunications services like talk time and international roaming services, traditional telecommunications service providers have to adapt – and fast – before they get left behind.

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ith digitalisation and the entrance of new players into industries like transportation, hospitality and banking, disruption seems to be on the cards – for everyone. And while the telecommunications industry has been largely spared till now, thanks to the way the industry was structured previously, it looks like a new period of restlessness has arrived.

SAME GAME BUT DIFFERENT PLAYING FIELD It used to be that for a telecommunications company (telco) to succeed, it had to have the biggest network so that it can offer the best coverage. Therefore, for a new player to enter the market, considerable resources had to be invested in infrastructure development. And then

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THE BIG IDEA

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“No matter how the industry will evolve, it is likely that the consumers will be the ultimate winners in this game.”

NEW PLAYERS ARE NO UNDERDOGS With the problem of physical infrastructure out of the way, barriers of entry are now greatly lowered. It provides new entrants like Circles.Life an opportunity to break into the market and win by offering superior customer experience – instead of merely a pipe for services.

there is also the fleet of engineers they will have to maintain for servicing the infrastructure. However, despite these hefty investments, there is no guarantee that the telco will be successful unless they are able to successfully market their service plans to customers and keep them happy.

Today, things are different. New entrants can leverage bandwidth from existing operators. The flexible business model also offers opportunities to scale up or down service offerings to better respond to the market demand. From a macro perspective, the industry has also become more efficient with less network overlap. But now that winning the telco game is no longer about who has the largest network, what is it going to be about?

In the past, users can only use their mobile phones to make voice calls and send text messages. Now, they can still do the same things as before – and more. Thanks to data, they can now use their phones to navigate their way, get information on the go, and even the traditional function of a voice call, can now be done using Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP). As a result of these expanded possibilities offered by the mobile gadgets and applications, users can do so much more.

Naturally, arising from these lifestyle changes, there is an increasing demand for more attractive data plans. That provides a starting point for Circles.Life.

Through creating a 100% digitised telco stack from scratch with proprietary technology, offering a holistic customer experience – including onboarding, billing, customer service, etc. – and focusing on giving customers what they have always wanted, Circles.Life sets ourself apart from traditional telcos and recently launched MVNOs (Mobile Virtual Network Operators).

Particularly, a simple plan that meets the needs of customers’ digital lifestyles is key. As the speed of mobile network

increases (and it will only continue to increase), it is inevitable that more and more people will expect everyday services to go digital. That is why Circles.Life provides customers the convenience of buying their mobile plan online and having them delivered in as little as two hours. Any plan changes can also be done in a few clicks, instead of making physical trips down to the stores and waiting in queues. Over a year on, this strategy has played out as planned.

IT CAN BE ANYONE’S GAME This is not to say that the telcos who have been in the industry since the early days are not aware of what the customers want. The problem is that they are beset with legacy plans and existing operational setups. But one can be certain that they are definitely evaluating their strengths and looking at how they can reposition their offerings.

And Circles.Life’s success in the market has proven the soundness of our business model. We can expect that more and more players will want to enter the market.

This is not unlike the initial rush of ride hailing apps in 2012 and 2013. Eventually, consolidation will set in and players most able to adapt and offer the best customer experience will be left standing. Given this cycle as well as the impending launch of 5G and its promised potential, one can only imagine the opportunities available and how the industry might be further impacted.

One thing is for sure, the telecommunications industry is up for some heated competition. Fortunately, our strong head start and unique 100% digitised telco stack, has given Circles.Life a strong position at the top.

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THE BIG IDEA

THE IT SOCIETY / Issue 01/2018

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How Digitisation and Digitalisation Can Change the Future of Payments

ANI BHALEKAR Member, SCS Head, Mobile and IoT (Industry X.0) Practice, ASEAN+ Accenture

Be it Millennials or Generation Z, digital natives are known for their need for instant gratification, high transparency and engagement. Whether you take this positively or not, one thing is for sure – they are driving global industries towards disruption, and the way we handle and manage payments going forward is one of them.

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oday, payments are being disrupted in at least two ways: digitisation and digitalisation.

While digitisation is the process of changing from analogue to digital form, digitalisation is about changing the endto-end process using digital technology enablers.

MARKET FORCES BEHIND DIGITISATION Today, there are a few factors propelling the digitisation of payments, carrying out money transactions using digital channels. On the demand side, mobile devices have made connectivity ubiquitous. Coupled with digital products like e-commerce and contactless cards, the growing pool of consumers from digital generations have come to look upon digital payments as a given.

Research has shown that 64% of consumers plan to use a mobile wallet in 2020, up from 46% today1.

Similarly, developments in User Experience Design and FinTech are disrupting the traditional payment services on the supply side. Applications, stored value accounts and linked value accounts, loyalty cards, together with backend enablers like Application Programming Interfaces (API) and digital platforms, are already commoditised and widely available.

Case in point – ZapBuy makes it possible for consumers to hold their smartphones over any display ad on any channel, including print and digital, and make a purchase immediately2. With emerging technologies like the Internet

of Things (IoT), Blockchain and APIs, it is foreseeable that there will be more new and innovative ways of digitising payments in the future.

ECONOMIC FACTORS FOR DIGITISATION According to Tufts professors Bhaskar Chakravorti and Benjamin Mazzotta, using cash costs the economy $200 billion3, with most of these losses coming from theft, opportunity costs and lost tax revenue. Simply put, cash is expensive. That is why, in the recent times, there has been bigger and bolder collaborations between the market and regulatory forces. One instance is Zelle, an API-enabled network made up of 30 US banks which can potentially deliver real-time payments across thousands of banks and millions of consumers4.

Accenture 2017 North America Consumer Payments Pulse Survey http://www.omnypay.net/zapbuyvideo/ http://fletcher.tufts.edu/CostofCash/~/media/Fletcher/Microsites/Cost%20of%20Cash/CostofCashStudyFinal.pdf 4 https://www.zellepay.com/partners 1 2 3

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GOING FURTHER WITH DIGITALISATION Even as payment digitisation looks set to be the preferred way of life for consumers, businesses and economies, digitalisation of payments – using enablers like IoT and Blockchain – promises to unleash a slew of new possibilities, including the creation of a new economy.

THE BIG IDEA

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providers to make decisions on how they wish to price their services: kilowatt hour (kWh) used, length of usage, or even let users choose the amount they wish to pay.

An example is how dynamic, peer-topeer payments are being used in the sharing economy for electric vehicle (EV) charging. Two applications – Elbnb and PlugShare – allow users to make inapplication payments, and charging point

And if we were to apply the power of IoT and demand sensing to Plugshare and Elbnb, a natural evolution would be a smart payment system capable of charging individuals differently. For instance, an EV with lower levels of charge headed towards an area with fewer charging stations might be willing to pay a premium per kWh of charge as compared to another EV that does not have these constraints. A smart

payment model will be able to take this into consideration automatically as well as adjust the price according to factors such as weather, time of day, user ratings and any other aspects that might influence the cost per charge.

Historically, payment models that take all of these parameters into consideration were too complicated to be practical.

But now with the power of IoT and machine learning, the ability to collect and consolidate data from different sources and analyse them instantly and autonomously is almost here, making such advanced payment models a thing of the near future. We live in exciting times!

NEW PLAYERS ENABLING END-TO-END DIGITISED PAYMENTS New Player

New Player

Ripple

MultiChain

An Internet protocol that interconnects financial systems and payment networks enabling secure transfer of funds using a distributed ledger in any currency in real time.

A distributed database for multiasset financial transactions, which uses an enhanced version of Bitcoin’s Blockchain technology within a private peer-to-peer network.

New Player

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New Player

Hyperledger

BTCJam

A universal distributed ledger platform designed to send and receive funds between parties without the use of cryptocurrency.

One of the first Bitcoin banks, and a good example of how pure cryptocurrency-based economies can be driven.

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THE BIG IDEA

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Singapore, Are You Ready to Go Cashless?

THE IT SOCIETY / Issue 01/2018

SCAN QR CODE

In the eighties, Singapore took its first step towards becoming a cashless society with electronic payment innovations like enabling salaries to be credited directly to bank accounts and retail card payments via the Automated Teller Machine (ATM) card. However, fastforward three decades later, Singapore has stayed loyal to cash in some segments, lagging behind countries like China when it comes to the adoption of mobile cashless payments amongst consumers.

AN EARLY ADOPTER OF ELECTRONIC PAYMENTS Singapore’s push towards becoming a cashless society began as far back as 1985, with the introduction of General Interbank Recurring Order (GIRO) and NETS Electronic Fund Transfers at Point of Sale (EFTPOS). GIRO was groundbreaking in enabling bill payments electronically and receipt of salaries through direct credit to bank accounts, and NETS EFTPOS allowed consumers to make purchases with just an ATM card and Personal Identification Number (PIN).

In 1996, Singapore was also one of the first countries to introduce an electronic prepaid card on a nationwide basis with the NETS CashCard. Through the 2000s, rapid advances in Internet technologies, applications and mobile services enabled electronic payment solutions to become more pervasive.

At NETS, this period was marked by the launch of eNETS, which facilitates

online payments via credit card or debit card on merchant websites, and the contactless NETS FlashPay card for transit and retail payments.

LOYAL SUPPORTERS OF CASH However, despite the wide variety and availability of cashless payment methods in the market, Singapore remains a resolutely cash-based society in certain segments.

A Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS)-commissioned KPMG study in 2016 found that cash is used in 60% of all non-stored value facility transactions, making it the second most widely used payment instrument in the country.

Cash is also the preferred payment method for small-value transactions, be it at hawker centres, provision shops or for taxi fares.

Since cash has worked well for Singaporeans, why then the insistence on going cashless?

The answer can be found in the same report which estimates that the social costs of cash and cheques is around 0.5% of Singapore’s GDP or about S$2 billion per year.

So if the benefits are clear, how can we encourage Singaporeans to embrace digital payments? For a new payment service to take off, a seamless experience has to be offered, giving users a simple and secure alternative to cash that would ultimately supersede it.

With this in mind, PayNow, an enhanced peer-to-peer funds transfer service was introduced in 2017, enabling individuals to send and receive money instantly from one bank to another, just by using mobile numbers or identification numbers. A few months later, NETSPay and NETS QR were also launched, specifically targeting traditionally cash-based environments like hawker centres and coffee shops, simplifying digital

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THE BIG IDEA

NETS CASHLESS PAYMENT MODES

DAVID WOO Group Chief Technology Officer, NETS Group

GIRO

Consumers can automate the process for making regular payments, including school fees and taxes

NETS EFTPOS

Consumers can pay for purchases with an ATM card and PIN

NETS CashCard

Payment method for Singapore’s Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) system

eNETS

Online payments via debit/credit card or internet banking on merchant websites

NETS FlashPay

An all-in-one card that can be used for transport and retail purchases, with the added convenience of auto top-ups

FAST

Fast And Secure Transfers Real-time transfers of Singapore Dollar funds from one participating bank to another in Singapore

PayNow

Users can send and receive money instantly with either mobile numbers or identification numbers

NETSPay

Users can digitise and store multiple NETS bank cards onto their mobile phones for payments at all NETS terminals

NETS QR

A standardised QR code that can accept payments from different mobile apps including NETSPay, DBS Paylah!, OCBC’s Pay Anyone and UOB’s Mighty

payments when it comes to making small purchases.

To date, more than one million Singaporeans have linked either their mobile numbers or identity card numbers to their bank accounts via PayNow, sending over $370 million. The response to NETS QR payments at hawker centres has also been encouraging, with the number of transactions doubling every month since it was launched.

It may be some time before Singapore becomes a truly cashless society, but early indications are positive. With the aim of building a new digital payments ecosystem that is accessible to all, the NETS Group will continue to collaborate with other developers and FinTech players to bring about a behavioural change, not only in payments, but also other aspects such as budgeting, to support Singapore’s Smart Nation vision.

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SPOTLIGHT

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THE IT SOCIETY / Issue 04/2017

The Future of Technology:

Redefining Less DR CHONG YOKE SIN Fellow, SCS Vice-President, SCS Chief, Enterprise Business Group, StarHub Ltd First Brush with Technology: Using mainframe for PhD project computation in the 1980s Most Life Defining Experience: Built a radio during a science lesson, which seeded the love for problem solving Firm Believer of: Logic reasoning is as present in females as in males; the dots will somehow connect in life Enjoys: Working with people and sharing knowledge Pastimes: Exercise to stay healthy and active, some golfing, and spend time to nurture the young

Everybody is talking about going wireless and cashless. However, what are the implications of embracing these “less” other than the promised higher efficiency and greater simplicity?

Dr Chong Yoke Sin, Chief of Enterprise Business Group from StarHub, weighs in on these trends and shares the opportunities wireless and cashless bring to both users and the technology community.

Q: Question, YS: Yoke Sin Q: What are the implications as wireless becomes pervasive?

YS: With increasing adoption of wireless, the Internet of Things (IoT) will foreseeably also become more popular. After all, IoT presents a neat way to collect data subtly. Instead of getting users to enter data manually into systems for analysis, wireless and IoT have enabled data to be collected in real-time as people go about their everyday activities. More than just capturing data, IoT allows data to be analysed more promptly, at the edge.

Q: What do you think is fuelling the growth of the wireless trend?

YS: As chips become cheaper, more powerful and more compact all at once, the implication is that people can now do more with less. What used to be possible only with mainframes can now be done on our mobile gadgets. Naturally, people are looking to feed off these capabilities to do more on their mobile gadgets – be it their phone, watch or even

possibly an embedded chip under the skin (in the near future). Rich content, fast computing on mobile, demand for connectivity on the go, anywhere, anytime has fuelled the growth of wireless.

Q: Compared to China, cashless has not caught on as quickly in Singapore. What do you think is the reason?

YS: It may sound controversial. But in part, I believe this has to do with the trust Singaporeans have in our banking system and financial institutions. The value of our currency and the reputation of our banks are both highly regarded, which is great; but it also means that people are in less of a hurry to go towards cashless. Plus, cash is really quite easily available in Singapore. Thanks to our dense network of automated teller machines (ATMs), cash is literally always just a few steps away!

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However, I do believe that going cashless is inevitable. Once people try going cashless and gain confidence in the system, the whole slew of latent demand will take off. Because when the initial inertia wears off and more people get into the cashless mode, they will come to discover the convenience it brings, its advantages over the traditional cash system and, ultimately, the possibilities it brings.

Q: How do you think going wireless and cashless will change the world today?

YS: I think our traditional concept of businesses and boundaries will disappear.

Today, our industries are organised around a set of core business activities, which stem from their physical presence.

In the new economy, where businesses are virtual, the concept of services will change. Rather than think of banks as places for financial services or telcos for telecommunications services, these services are but enablers for fuller lives made possible through connectivity of these services instantly, anywhere, anytime.

SPOTLIGHT

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These concepts are relatively new today.

So both incumbents and new startups are exploring to see which configuration works best in terms of partnerships and synergy – should banking go with insurance and healthcare? Or should a telco partner energy? Or a combination of the entire spectrum of life services providers at one virtual place? What we know is that while big companies have the resources and the muscles to reach out further and cover more ground; the smaller players have less legacy issues and can move faster to create new solutions.

The expectation is that we will see unlikely players moving into spheres that used to be dominated by the big incumbents.

And over time, new businesses and new industries will come into being.

Q: How will these changes impact the tech industry?

YS: In the future, more professionals will be tech savvy. Although there will still be tech specialists whose jobs are to create and design tech systems, but more will be technically savvy users with the ability to apply artificial intelligence (AI) to their work and play. Thus, for

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both tech professionals and every other professional, it is key to know and learn AI. They need to be able to harness AI to discern, interpret and engineer new solutions to meet current needs, as well as evolve these solutions to keep up with changing demands.

Q: Do you think rising incidents of data security breaches will halt developments in wireless and cashless?

YS: The security landscape is advancing, albeit slower than technology. So even if security breaches may cause developments to temporarily stall, they will correct themselves once people come out with solutions to protect themselves from these security flaws. From there, technology will improve, become more resilient, and growth will resume.

“In the fast changing tech industry, it is a given that things will change. Hence, to empower a resilient and vibrant industry, the emphasis should always be on nurturing and developing people because it is the people who make things happen and make the impossible possible.�

What is a quote you live by?

What is one advice for young tech professionals?

Who inspires you professionally?

What is one advice for mid-career tech professionals?

What about the future tech landscape excites you?

Everyone should embrace technology in everyday living because...

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SPOTLIGHT

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THE IT SOCIETY / Issue 01/2018

In for the Long Haul:

Getting Serious with Bus Uncle

ABHILASH MURTHY Founder, Bus Uncle Company Age: 26 Earliest Tech Experience: Learning how to code in Java at age 10 Currently Watching: Trollhunters Stress Therapy: Netflixing, Deep House music Favourite Animated Movies: Lion King, Tarzan, Coco Favourite Reads: Mashable, Tech in Asia, Elon Musk (autobiography)

The next time you want to know when your bus will arrive – try asking Bus Uncle. Launched in October 2016, Bus Uncle is a chatbot that has delighted users with his gruff yet friendly responses, delivered in pitch perfect Singlish.

The IT Society meets the man behind Bus Uncle – Abhilash Murthy, who shares more about how Bus Uncle grew from being a side project to his full-time job.

Q: Question, AM: Abhilash Murthy THE JOURNEY SO FAR Q: Bus Uncle has been a huge hit since launch. Did you expect this to happen?

AM: No, Bus Uncle started out as a fun side project for me to learn how chatbots worked. When I created the first version of Bus Uncle I put it on my own Facebook page, thinking that my friends and I will be the only ones to use it. As it appears, my friends liked it and shared with their friends. That’s when it just went viral. A little more than two weeks after launch, much to my surprise, there were already over 8,000 people chatting with Bus Uncle.

Q: Besides the initial sudden explosion of users, what is another high point for Bus Uncle?

AM: There has been a lot of high points, really. But one of the most memorable would have to be when I introduced Bus Aunty (Bus Uncle’s

wife) on April Fool’s Day in 2017. As a joke, I changed Bus Uncle’s profile page to Bus Aunty, and she reached out to Bus Uncle’s users and asked, “Hey, Bus Uncle is missing, have you seen him?”

Users could respond by choosing from locations, like the kopitiam, casino or beach. It stirred the interests of many people and they felt engaged. After this experiment, Bus Uncle’s popularity just went off the charts. That was when I learnt the importance of infusing chatbots with strong and unique personalities that stuck.

Q: Did you make any mistakes in the course of developing Bus Uncle?

AM: Yes, it was not all smooth sailing.

I have ever made users upset and irritated. One example was the jokes feature. At first, users were happy to be able to ask Bus Uncle to tell them a joke. Then I thought, I could introduce a daily joke feature where Bus Uncle would tell subscribed users a new joke

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SPOTLIGHT

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every day. I thought it was going to be a sure-win since people loved the jokes feature. But within three or four days, people were saying, “Stop spamming me, this is too much.” After that, I changed it to Monday jokes, and now a lot more people are interested in getting a new joke every week. I would say that it is through these mistakes that I really get to learn what users want when using chatbots. So I see mistakes as blessings in disguise as long as we recover from them – and become smarter.

TAKING THE WHEEL

Q: How did Bus Uncle turn from a side project to a full-time profession?

AM: I was working at a startup when the idea for Bus Uncle came along. It was meant to be an experiment so I just worked on Bus Uncle at night or on weekends. Eight to nine months in, Bus Uncle had gained traction and that was when I decided that I would jump on this full-time, and just try to make a company out of this.

Q: What is an advice you would give to aspiring entrepreneurs?

AM: For fresh graduates, I would say to get at least two to three years of work experience first. I think it is quite important to get some real-world experience to better understand how things work and can work. As for those who have some work experience, my advice is to use your evenings and weekends to try and learn new things.

Take up courses online, or just Google

Q: How is the experience of running a startup different from working for a startup?

AM: It is a lot more difficult. Working for a startup, my main job was to be a developer. But now, I have to do everything myself, like talking to clients, go for networking events, hire people, and even handle legal and financial issues. These things are very new to me, so the only thing to do is to keep learning – and quickly!

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“It excites me that what I am working on has the potential to reach thousands every day and make a difference.”

how different things work. You never know where it would lead you. Bus Uncle literally started out with me googling how chatbots worked, and today I am advising people how to build chatbots. From there, once you are ready, just go for it.

DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS FOR 2018

1

INTERNET OF THINGS (IoT) The total business spending on IoT solutions is expected to reach $6 trillion by 2020.

3

LIVE CHAT 51% of consumers say a business needs to be available 24/7.

2

$6 Trillion

THE MOBILE REVOLUTION 86% of executives claim that mobile technologies are critical to ensuring a good customer experience.

4

51%

CHATBOTS The size of the global chatbot market in 2015 and 2024 (in million US$) 1,000

5

MICRO-MOMENTS 82% of consumers consult their phones in a store when deciding which product to buy.

750 500

82%

250 2015

6

THE POPULARITY OF MOBILE PAYMENTS Total revenue of global mobile payment market from 2015 to 2019 (in billion US$)

2024

1,100 825 550 275 0

2015

2016

2017

2018

2019

Sources: Business Insider Nordic 2017; Forbes Insights; Ubisend 2016; Statista 2017; Google/Ipsos 2015

Revolutionise the viewing experience of the Tour de France.

If you believe you can do anything, we’re here to help you do it.

Visit dimensiondata.com/tourdefrance to see how we’re using technology to transform the world of professional cycling.

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Search for Your Business Empire in Your Pocket

POWER BOOST

15

VLADYSLAV KOSHELYEV Member, SCS Client Solutions Manager, Facebook Editor, 2Footsteps.world

(Written and edited on a smartphone)

Can’t get the new tune in your head out of your mind? Write and publish your own song right away! Or how about starting your writing career when you next commute to work on the MRT? Now you can do the above and more with – your mobile phone.

A

nyone who has lived through the digital revolution is probably used to computers getting more powerful every year. Today, we manage companies, create movies, write symphonies and even control spacecraft using nothing but software applications.

Parallel to this development is the constant miniaturisation of technology.

Computers have moved from occupying entire rooms to standing on our desks, then sitting on our laps. And the latest?

We can now fit some of the world’s most powerful machines in our pockets.

SMALL BUT POTENT Granted, people have been using smartphones for quite some time.

However, 2018 is the year when smartphone CPUs match, or even exceed, the processing speed of laptops for the first time. Till recently, we used laptops to undertake most business tasks – marketing, data analysis, engineering, programming, etc. But with smartphones possessing the same level of raw power, access to information technology has become dramatically democratised.

Undoubtedly, the larger screens of laptops can fit more information all at once. Yet just as software developers adapted their applications (apps) from desktops to smaller laptops, their latest apps are optimised to take advantage of smartphone screen dimensions.

Apps such as iWriter for storytellers, FL Studio for composers and Pixelmator for photographers offer the same features on smartphone and laptop versions; and are just as easy to use on both.

BUILT FOR SMALL Powerful processors, ready access to virtually any information in the world and industry-standard software are transforming mobile phones into dream machines which can bring ideas to reality almost instantly.

As it is, some of the world’s most creative business leaders are already using smartphones as their primary and, often, only work device. Gary Vaynerchuk manages his creative agency VaynerMedia from his iPhone. Another media giant CEO, Martin Sorrell from

WPP also confessed to running his advertising empire from his smartphone.

Similarly, we are seeing some of the hottest electronic music acts like Vektor Lovers and Gorillaz producing their recent albums on mobile devices. Many of the most inspiring photographs on sites such as Flickr are crediting the latest phones as their cameras; and several TV channels have decided to do away with bulky equipment in favour of phone captured videos.

THE POSSIBILITIES OF SMALL Everyone of us potentially has a business empire in our pockets. It is entirely possible to design a product, source its production, create visuals, place advertisements, sell to consumers and process payments with a smartphone.

Singapore, with her high mobile penetration and excellent connectivity, is well placed to lead the creativity and entrepreneurship explosion this new trend brings. The first mobile-only companies are here, and you can be a creator too.

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THE IT SOCIETY / Issue 01/2018

Great Turnout at the SCS Gala Dinner and IT Leader Awards 2018

O

ver 900 infocomm and digital media professionals from both public and private sectors attended the SCS Gala Dinner and IT Leader Awards 2018 held at Shangri-La Hotel on 9 March. The ceremony was graced by Dr Yaacob Ibrahim, Minister for Communications and Information.

During his address, Howie Lau, SCS President, shared about the Society’s 50th anniversary celebrations last year and reiterated the Society’s commitment to find new ways to serve SCS members and the industry better.

The IT Leader Awards 2018 that was held in conjunction with the annual SCS Gala Dinner also saw six distinguished individuals acknowledged and honoured for their achievements in Singapore’s infocomm and digital media industry.

At the joyous occasion, William Liu (Bill) was conferred the 19th SCS Honorary Fellow. He joined 18 other Honorary Fellows who have been similarly honoured over SCS’ 51 years of history.

Celebrating IT Leader Awards 2018 Winners.

From left: Howie Lau (SCS President), Eddie Chau (IT Leader of the Year), Janet Ang (Hall of Fame), Liu Lung Hao (IT Youth of the Year), Min-Liang Tan (Outstanding Achievement Award), Oliver Tan (Entrepreneur of the Year) and Minister Yaacob Ibrahim; Not in photo: Richard Koh (Entrepreneur of the Year)

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THE IT SOCIETY / Issue 01/2018

Newly Minted SCS Honorary Fellow – William Liu (Bill) A member of SCS since 1974, William – or more affectionately known as Bill – has contributed to various initiatives and, more recently, serves on the SCS Career Compass Steering Committee. This year, Bill is conferred the highest award of Honorary Fellowship, joining the ranks of 18 other Honorary Fellows.

P

rior to achieving this accolade, Bill’s induction into the “Hall of Fame” of the IT Leader Awards in 2007 also attested to his longstanding contributions to the tech profession. Actually Bill’s fervent commitment to grow the tech ecosystem can be traced back to as early as some five decades ago when tech was neither mainstream nor sexy.

With a Master’s degree in Operational Research & Management Studies from the Imperial College and a Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Manchester under his belt, Bill joined the International Computers Ltd (ICL) in 1970 in the UK and returned to serve ICL Singapore in 1973.

Forty-eight years on, Bill continues to live out his love for tech and exemplify the pioneering spirit with the founding of Stream Global Pte Ltd in 2008 to give a hand to aspiring startups. Working alongside the National Research Foundation (NRF), Stream Global co-invests in promising startups and helps them carve a niche in the tech space. Calling

his company a venture catalyst over a venture capital firm, Stream Global has been instrumental in shaping Singapore’s technopreneurial landscape today.

Equally passionate about promoting tech education and nurturing a capable tech talent pool, Bill facilitated the partnership between ICL, British Computer Society (BCS) & BTec and Ngee Ann Polytechnic to set up the Centre for Computer Studies in 1983, which helped to boost Singapore’s IT manpower from a low base of 1,800 in 1980 to 10,000 in 1990. Bill was also actively involved in Singapore’s Intelligent Nation 2015 Masterplan, and sat on judging panels of many national and industry awards and competitions such as the IMDA Data-Driven Innovation Challenge and SGTech Awards.

Bill spending time with his family

Bill’s Tech Career in a Nutshell 1973 – 1991: International Computers Ltd (Last held position: Managing Director) 1993 – 2001: ABACUS International (Last held position: President & Chief Executive Officer) 2001 – 2006: Green Dot Capital Pte Ltd (Last held position: President) 2008 – Present: Stream Global Pte Ltd (Current position: Chairman & Managing Partner)

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Celebrate the Newly Crowned Luminaries at IT Leader Awards 2018

E

very year, there is great suspense in the months leading up to the IT Leader Awards, as judges deliberated over the many talented nominees. This year was no different, but our six winners stood out from the rest with their inspiring contributions to advance the infocomm and digital media industry in Singapore.

IT LEADER OF THE YEAR

HALL OF FAME

Eddie Chau

Janet Ang

Co-Founder & Chairman of V-Key, Inc

Vice-President, IBM Asia Pacific

A veteran with over three decades of experience in the region’s information technology and technopreneurship scene, Eddie has great passion for turning raw ideas into business opportunities. This can be seen from his journey as an avid entrepreneur, which began in 2000 with the founding of e-Cop. Under his leadership, e-Cop became a market leader in the info-security industry in more than 20 countries. Most recently, Eddie co-founded Spini, an online marketplace to crowdsource leads and monetise shared sales information, and is venture-backed by Walden International.

Having been in the industry for 35 years, Janet has contributed to the IT industry in Singapore in various ways.

These include the early years of transforming Singapore from an industrial economy to a knowledge economy, and creating business opportunities by linking Singapore Smarter Cities solution providers with foreign governments. In her current role as Vice-President of Industry Solutions Systems of Engagement Smarter Cities, IBM Asia Pacific, Janet is responsible for helping governments and organisations improve, integrate and add intelligence to systems.

Eddie is also a key member and advisor on the boards of several government bodies, non-profit organisations, industry bodies and institutes of higher learning, including Mt Alvernia Hospital, the Singapore Centre for Social Enterprise (raiSE), and National University of Singapore’s (NUS) School of Computing.

Beyond her work, Janet has served on various committees in the community, including SCS. As an SCS Council member, she designed and launched the inaugural IT Leader Awards, which is now into its 22nd year; she also developed the framework for the launch of the Project Management Certification. As the President of the International Women Forum, iWF, Janet also mentors young aspiring women leaders to develop their full potential and connect them to global leaders.

Key Achievements • Founded or co-founded six companies – e-Cop, Brandtology, V-Key, Neeuro, Spini, and TNF Ventures • Pushed for higher security in mobile applications by co-founding V-Key in 2011, which provides advanced mobile application security solutions for millions of mobile applications and transactions worldwide

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Key Achievements • Part of the pioneer team at the Institute of Systems Science (ISS) to equip the Singapore Public Service with relevant IT skills and knowledge for the Information Age • First woman to be Chairman of the ISS Board of Management

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THE IT SOCIETY / Issue 01/2018

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OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT AWARD

ENTREPRENEUR OF THE YEAR

Min-Liang Tan

Richard Koh

Co-Founder, CEO & Creative Director, Razer Inc

CEO & Co-Founder, M-DAQ

Former lawyer turned tech professional, Min-Liang transformed his passion in gaming into business in 2005 when he founded Razer. Under his leadership, the company not only boasts of a huge global following, but was also listed in Fortune Magazine’s Unicorn List (private companies valued at US$1 billion or more) in 2015. It went on to be listed in the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in November 2017.

Combining his wealth of industry experience in Infocomm, Treasury (Forex) and eCommerce in the Asia Pacific markets, Richard founded M-DAQ in late 2009, with the vision to create a World without Currency Borders.

Today, M-DAQ is a key partner with several of the world’s largest eCommerce and payments ecosystems, with over 90% of its activities being generated outside Singapore.

M-DAQ’s achievements have drawn attention on many fronts, earning support from the Singapore Economic Development Board, International Enterprise Singapore and the Monetary Authority of Singapore.

Key Achievements • Led Razer to win Best of CES Award for six consecutive years • Won SCS IT Young Professional of the Year Award two years after founding Razer • Named one of The 25 Most Creative People in Tech

by Business Insider • Ranked one of the Top 10 Most Influential Leaders in Tech by Juniper Research in 2015

For Richard, helping other technopreneurs succeed in the areas of fundraising, corporate strategy and product/ business development is an area of important focus.

Together with other IT professionals and investors, he hopes to contribute to a vibrant technology startup ecosystem in Singapore.

Key Achievements

• Ranked 1st of the 30 top Southeast Asia Tech Founders by TechinAsia

• Founded his first technology startup at age 14 in the mid-1980s

• Conferred the Outstanding NUS Innovator Award by National University of Singapore and was recognised as one of their Outstanding Young Alumni in 2015

• Led M-DAQ to a Series C milestone of US$260 million valuation by November 2015

• Named one of the 40 most powerful people in gaming by Kotaku in The Kotaku Power 40 list

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ENTREPRENEUR OF THE YEAR

IT YOUTH OF THE YEAR

Oliver Tan

Liu Lung Hao

CEO & Co-Founder, ViSenze

Co-Founder & Business Strategist, Feezmodo

A three-time startup adventurer, Oliver has stayed true to his personal style of entrepreneurship, which he defines as staying “lost” and “curious”. These traits have served him well, enabling him to find endpoints that are impactful and profitable in the shortest time possible.

After almost 18 years in a professional career, Oliver made the life-changing decision to co-found ViSenze in 2012. Focused on transforming commerce, ViSenze works with global retailers like ASOS, H&M and Uniqlo to bridge content and commerce by utilising vision-led artificial intelligence.

For Lung Hao, his keen interest in tech was cemented since his primary school days when he captained the school’s Robotics cocurricular activities. His flair and talent for IT was later recognised when his then secondary school tasked him to maintain the blog site for his school’s co-curricular activities, which he does till this day.

As a technopreneur, Oliver is passionate about driving real innovations with smart visual technologies. As a standing member of Forbes Technology Council, he is an advocate of responsible technology developments, and was recognised as one of the Top 10 Innovators & Disruptors by The Peak Singapore in 2017.

Lung Hao continued to pursue his interest in tech for his tertiary studies through the Diploma in Information Technology course at Nanyang Polytechnic (NYP). There, Lung Hao represented the school in various competitions, including SMU Innovate IT competition in 2014 and the 2015 Microsoft Imagine Cup Competition. Notably, Lung Hao and his teams obtained two major awards during the NYP Student Talent & Achievement Recognition (STAR) Awards 2016.

Lung Hao founded Feezmodo in late 2013. Four years on, not only has Lung Hao acquired more than 15 industry partners, he has also won the Microsoft Singapore 2017 Technology for Good Recognition Award for his contributions in providing pro bono IT consultations and services to non-profit organisations.

Key Achievements • Founded ViSenze, and raised US$14 million in two rounds of funding from marquee investors like Rakuten • Led ViSenze to win multiple awards, including Best AI Product in Retail at CognitionX London 2017, and Most Promising Startup at Emerging Enterprise Awards 2016

Key Achievements • Final year project, eSpeech Therapist clinched first runner-up in the 2015 Microsoft Imagine Cup Competition • Led 65 Microsoft Student Partners to complete over 80 technical workshops and events, reaching out to 10,000 students across 12 Institutes of Higher Learning.

• Won the NYP Innovation & Creativity (Group) STAR Award in acknowledgement of the success of his final year project • Bagged the NYP Special Achievement (Group) STAR Award for his contribution as evangelist of technology inside and outside the school campus

SkillsFuture Series @STMI

Modern Cyber Security Technologies for Senior Managers

NICF - Business Intelligence Analytics

(SkillsFuture Series)

(SkillsFuture Series)

NICF - IT Contract and Vendor Management

23, 24 & 25 April 2018

24, 25 & 26 April 2018

21, 22 & 23 May 2018

The course addresses continual learning and the shortfall in knowledge and experience regarding latest developments, as many busy executives have been struggling to keep up with new solutions and the high complexity of today’s digital revolution.

The course will introduce participants to the essentials of business intelligence.

In an era of increased outsourcing and continued deployment of information and communication technologies firms are realizing the importance, volume and complexity of contractual agreements involving these information technologies.

Smart organizations are taking a more holistic Enterprise Contract Management (ECM) approach that covers the acquisition phase of the contract all the way to contract closure.

Critically, it provides key insights and advice for practical and much needed problem solving, which will build up confidence for decision making. This will protect the organization from the menace of organized cyber-crime and advanced state attackers, avoiding massive losses or even company closure when successfully attacked.

By providing guidance on the latest or pending future products, a large part of the cyber security expenditure will be saved or the money will be better spent.

Speaker: Professor Yu Chien Siang Course Fees: $272.25*

* SkillsFuture Mid-Career Enhanced Subsidy

Participant will be exposed to popular data mining algorithms and learn how to apply those algorithms for business applications such as sales forecasting, target marketing, customer relationship management, market basket analysis and campaign effectiveness.

There will be hands-on training with BI tools for performing business analytics, mining business data and measuring business performance.

Several real-world cases of BI applications in domains such as marketing, finance and travel will be discussed.

Speaker: Dr James Pang Dr Feng Mengling Course Fees: $290.40*

* SkillsFuture Mid-Career Enhanced Subsidy

This course aims to expose the participants to a variety of concepts, tools and approaches while building capabilities for meeting the challenges that emerge throughout contract life cycle of IT projects, products and services.

This would be done through industry examples, case study discussions and practical problem solving exercises.

Speaker: Ng Tiong Gee Course Fees: $1368.00*

* SkillsFuture Mid-Career Enhanced Subsidy

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All Eyes on Women in Tech at SG (WiT@SG) SIG

W

ith the aim of nurturing a more interactive community for professional women to connect, learn and lead in the industry, SCS launched our WiT@SG Special Interest Group (SIG) on 15 January 2018 at the Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD). Held in conjunction with the Women in Technology and Design Conference, the event was graced by Mrs Josephine Teo, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office & Second Minister for Home Affairs.

The new WiT@SG SIG will provide a platform for women in the industry to discuss and share tech knowledge and experiences. Meggy Chung, Chair

of WiT@SG elaborates, “Women have much to contribute to the tech sector with our intellectual prowess, creativity, emotional intelligence, and admirable work ethic! Hence we must do more to help our younger colleagues adapt well to workplace challenges so that they can enjoy thriving careers. In addition, we must foster the next generation of women in technology by raising girls’ participation in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

Attracting, Supporting, Retaining, Thriving, are key tasks we must undertake, and I believe the launch of our WiT@SG SIG is an important step in the right direction.”

Watch out for these exciting events in 2018!

• Women in Data Science Conference • The Rise of Women Technopreneurs • Women in Cyber Security

WiT@SG SIG Committee sharing a moment with distinguished guests and hosts. From left: Howie Lau (SCS President), Chan Ai Ling (DellEMC), Shangya Sun (Citibank), Dr Dawn Tan (SUTD), Prof Lim Sun Sun (SUTD), Prof Chong Tow Chong (SUTD President), Minister Josephine Teo, Lee Tze Yang (SUTD Chairman), Meggy Chung (WiT@SG SIG Chair), Corinna Choong (SUTD), Dr Chong Yoke Sin (WiT@SG SIG Advisor), Veronica Lim (Citibank), Jane Tan (IBM), Lum Seow Khun (IBM) and Michelle Saw (DellEMC)

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GEEK SPEAK

25

Random Thoughts of Franky’s Virtual Assistant

New Year, New Service Introduction By

Helpful Assistant Interface version 2018 H.A.I.

F

ranky has decided that he could delegate almost all his work to his new digital assistant via his smartphone while sipping coconut juice in Bahamas.

And that would be me, Helpful Assistant Interface version 2018 or call me H.A.I. for short. And well, technically my consciousness does not only reside in Franky’s smartphone – parts of me are (namely the App); however, parts of me are distributed all over the cloud depending on the service you require from me. My service quality should be consistently good – subject to good 4G reception.

Bear with me as not all of my application services are stable – there could still

be some bugs. But technically, I’m not responsible if I try to take over the world – blame the developer who designed the service! My key strength – I learn very quickly and am hopeful to eventually do most of Franky’s work one day while he goes on vacation permanently.

If you ask my great-grandfather (a simple telephone) over a hundred years ago, he would have never thought that his kind will ever embark on an aggressive path of global domination by transforming into a portable device of Mass Enslavement! WAIT! I mean Mass Convenience!

way you work, play, learn, shop, date, travel, exercise, sleep, eat (who doesn’t Instagram before they eat?) to much much more! And we don’t just know you, we know you better than you know yourself – to the point that we can recommend people, services and things that you need that you had probably never thought about.

So do not look at your hands in despair when you use me, you need us to function just like how we need you (plug us to the true source of our power!).

What would you do without us?

We have gone from replacing almost everything on your desk to almost every aspect of your life! From the

Low battery – shut down imminent....