Meet the Members Session – 22 May 08

Welcome to Cisco

A meet-the-members session was conducted on 22 May 2008 (Thursday), 2pm to 5pm, at Cisco, Capital Tower Floor 28, Learn 1 & 2. For the first time this year, SiTF members were invited to network with the Council and Execute Committee members. About 100 participants attended the networking event, together with 20 new members showcasing their products.

Mr Craig John Gledhill, SiTF Membership Chairman

The session was opened by Mr Craig John Gledhill, SiTF Membership Chairman. By giving a quick update on what SiTF has done and is going to do, Mr Craig reaffirmed to the members that joining SiTF is the right choice – the correct decision to move their own businesses forward. Members would have a better understanding of the charter of SiTF and how they can leverage on SiTF after the whole session.

Support from the IDA Team

Next, Mr P Ramakrishna, Director of Industry Development Division, Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA), presented and lent his support to SiTF. Touching on the joint initiatives between IDA and SiTF, he reiterated that SiTF represents the voices of the industry. He said, “IDA has worked very closely with SiTF in terms of sharing our views about what is important in the industry.” This statement shows the strong ties SiTF has with the government body.

The various chapters of SiTF then sent a representative from the Executive Committee to give a short update of their chapter’s objectives and upcoming events. Members can now look forward to the many interesting events that would not had been available had they not join SiTF.

New members showcase their products

After the various presentations, the attendees were given time to visit the various exhibitor booths put up by SiTF's newest members. These new members were given the opportunity to showcase their products to the attendees, boosting their product awareness and sales.

Delicacies from Mum’s Kitchen

The attendees also got to enjoy a wide spread of refreshments while they network. Under a more relaxed condition, attendees casually chatted about work and various business opportunities.

Lucky draw winner!

The event was wrapped up with a lucky draw. Mr Foo Jong Tong, SiTF SOAC Chairman, drew the three lucky winners each walking away with prizes courtesy of the event sponsor, Dicota. The first prize goes to Mr Ravi Nair from Oracle Corporation Singapore. With that lucky draw, the event was brought to an end. Watch this space as SiTF plans for the next Meet-the-Members session in November 2008!

For more photos, visit our photo gallery.

Visit from Mexican delegates – 21 May 08

Team Mexico

A team of 5 Mexican delegates visited SiTF on 21 May 08. Among our guests was Mr Salomón E. Sacal K, Asia-Pacific Regional Director of Pro México, and Mr Carlos Eduardo Sánchez Pavón, Head of the underdirection for foreign investment attraction from the government of state of Mexico. About 10 local delegates from SiTF members were present to give our guests a warm reception.

Sharing between delegates

The session started as soon as everybody is settled down. To start off the sharing session, Mr Ng Tian Beng, councillor of SiTF, got the ball rolling by introducing himself to the delegation team. Each delegate then gave a brief introduction of themselves and their businesses.

What can Mexico do?

After that, Mr Gary Tan from the SiTF team gave a short introduction of SiTF and our charter. Mr Carlos then gave a presentation on Mexico’s strengths and the setting up of their Technology and Science Park, Tecnopolo Esmeralda Tech Pack @ TIzapán. With a strategic location that is beside a growing highway network and transportation corridors, the science park promises to attract heavy foreign investment. This would be the perfect opportunity for Singapore companies who wish to make headway into the Mexican market and set up branches in Mexico.

Contact me and we will discuss

The delegates from Singapore and Mexico continued to network and mingle for the rest of the session. By exchanging name cards, a win-win situation was potentially built as SiTF members looked to explore the options available to them in Mexico.

For more photos, visit our gallery!

Minister Of State Outreach – 20 May 08

SiTF was proud to host the Minister-Of-State (MOS) Outreach in collaboration with People’s Association (PA) and Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI). The MTI has arranged for a dialogue session with MOS Lee Yi Shyan as part of his Community Outreach Group (COG) efforts. Being the leader for the SME COG and also the sub-group leader of the Chinese COG for Trade Associations, MOS Lee, together with representatives from the various MTI agencies, engaged in a discussion with the attendees on enterprise or industry related issues.

Exchanging name cards

The dialogue session was held at The Wine Company on 20 May 2008. Prior to the arrival of MOS Lee, attendees took the opportunity to network and expand their social circle. Among the attendees were C-level personnel of iLEs, hence a great opportunity for smaller industry players to network.

MOS Lee Yi Shyan

Starting from 3.30pm, MOS Lee actively answered queries that were posted by the audience. These discussions were designed to drive 2-way interaction between MOS Lee and the audience. Air time was given to the floor for any attendees to speak up and bring forth the various issues they face in their businesses.

Understanding needs from the industry

This was a rare opportunity for industry players to be heard by the government. Business related issues were discussed as MOS Lee also explained the various supporting policies that may be given to iLEs to compete with MNCs.

Business over dinner

After the dialogue session, a buffet dinner was served. Along with an exquisite selection of wine, the ambience was set for an incredible chill-out session together with MOS Lee. Attendees talked about their businesses over dinner as they searched for unexplored opportunities available at the session.

The chance to be up close with MOS Lee does not come often. However, it is a value that SiTF can bring to its members. With the success of this event, SiTF hopes to organize more events with the opportunity to get up close and personal with high ranking government officials.

For more pictures, visit our gallery!

Seminar on Interoperability in the industry – 15 May 08

Register to know more about interoperability

SiTF joined forces with Microsoft on 15 May 08 (Thursday) to bring members a fresh look at interoperability in a world of open source solutions. With an increasing demand for data and information integration as organizations seek to optimize process performance, the half-day seminar will present interesting collaborative technologies between Microsoft and their respective companies. The event was held at the Singapore Computer Society (SCS) Resource Centre, drawing a crowd of 60 developers.

Mr Oliver Bell, Keynote speaker from Microsoft

The seminar kicked off at 2pm with a keynote speaker from Microsoft. Mr Oliver Bell, regional technical officer, Microsoft, gave a brief introduction and explained the key to interoperability. Through his years of experience, he was able to explain how the industry has evolved and how interoperability would help.

Attentive audience

The seminar covered various topics such as interoperability through virtualization and running PHP on windows server. Speakers from Novell Singapore, Zend Technologies Indonesia and SiTF provided the course information.

What NYP-SiTF SOA Centre can do?

The last speaker of the seminar was none other than Mr John Lim. He represents the NYP-SiTF SOA Centre to talk about interoperability capabilities of documents and spreadsheets using open XML. Seminar attendees also learnt of the test offerings of the SOA Interop Lab at NYP. By giving a good account of the SOA Centre, attendees were more aware of the support SiTF can provide.

For more photos, visit our photo gallery.

GCIO Luncheon - 14 May 08

Registration counters are now open!

The Singapore Enterprise Chapter (SEC) held its annual GCIO Lunheon at the Suntec Convention Centre (Meeting Room 325-326, Level 3) on the 14 May, 12pm to 2pm. Held in conjuction with IDA Annual Industry Briefing on “Business Opportunities in Infocomm for the Public Sector”, over 90 delegates join in for the luncheon, together with almost 30 government CIOs. The event was highly successful with a standing and free moving format to facilitate mingling and networking among the guests.

Mr Eddie Chau, SiTF SEC Chairman

The session was opened by Mr Eddie Chau, SiTF SEC Chairman. A brief introduction about the SEC chapter and its initiatives was given to the guests. Along with Mr Eddie Chau, 3 APICTA 2007 winners also got their opportunity to address the crowd and briefly present their winning product. The presentation segment was wrapped up with an introduction to the list of GCIOs present at the luncheon. Delegates would find value in knowing which government departments they would be able to reach out to.

Time for our mouths to work!

Shortly after these presentations, a sumptuous lunch buffet was served. Food variety ranging from pasta to sushi and savoury desserts pampered the guests’ taste buds as they munched on their lunch. As the guests ate, they mingled with each other in search of business opportunities.

Look at our products

Besides lunch, 11 table tops were also set up for various vendors to showcase their major products. This is no doubt a golden opportunity for the vendors to impress upon the GCIOs who were present. With such opportunities present at the event, many delegates will be looking forward to next year’s luncheon as SiTF looks to bring more value to its members.

For more photos, visit our photo gallery.

I Want Windows Mobile Solution Event - 12 May 08

Registration begins!

The annual wireless event, “I Want Windows Mobile” solution showcase event was held on 12 May 2008 (Monday), noon to 5pm, at the Intercontinental Hotel Singapore, Ballroom 1 & 2. For the third year running, the event managed to draw exhibitors, showcasing their applications on the popular Windows Mobile platform. Over 80 participants attended the showcase event to understand the platform more so as to bring value to their own organizations. Each participant was also given a goodie bag containing showcased solutions and upcoming events from SiTF. This event was proudly sponsored by Microsoft and Motorola.

Sumptuous lunch buffet

Enjoying lunch

Lunch was served promptly at 12.30pm. The participants enjoyed a free sumptuous buffet lunch consisting of both western and Chinese cuisine. While the guests eat, they also took the opportunity to interact with each other.

Opening speech by Mr James Loo, SiTF Wireless Chairman

The session was opened by Mr James Loo, SiTF Wireless Chapter Chairman. He gave a short introduction of SiTF Wireless Chapter, along with the upcoming events to look forward to for SiTF. The sponsors and exhibitors were then given the chance to present their solution to the audience. The solutions covered many aspects of daily life, including tracking home bills and crisis communication. The exhibiting companies include Inspire Tech Pte Ltd, SQL View Pte Ltd, ICSP Solutions Pte Ltd, Y3 Technologies Pte Ltd, RPI eSolutions Pte Ltd and hSenid Software (Singapore) Pte Ltd.

What Windows Mobile has to offer?

After the various presentations, the attendees were given time to visit the various exhibitor booths at the solutions marketplace by the side of the ballroom. By engaging in depth with the vendors, attendees would understand better if that particular solution best suit their needs for personal or organizational use. No doubt, this opportunity was a win-win situation for both vendors and end-users.

Networking remains a highlight

Apart from gathering information on Windows Mobile solutions, networking remains part and parcel of the event. As always, networking is an important component for attendees at the event. Participants took the opportunity to understand their counterparts better and kept a look-out for potential partnership deals.

Lucky lucky – a free MC35 Windows Mobile device!

The event was wrapped up with a lucky draw. Ms Grace Ho, director, business segment marketing, Microsoft Corporation, drew the one lucky winner who walked away with a MC35 windows mobile device. The winner of the draw was Mr Teo Yee Cheong, managing director of Bizpoint System Pte Ltd. With that lucky draw, the event was brought to an end. We shall look forward to more innovative solutions and more overwhelming responses for next year’s “I Want Windows Mobile” Solution event. Watch this space!

For more photos, visit our photo gallery.