eGov Chapter: Walk Like Egyptians II…

Following the successful discussion and hosting of our friends from Egypt back in Jun 2008, SITF and eGov Chapter is glad to catch-up with our friends again from the land of the pyramids!!

The delegates from Egypt comprised of government officials and business delegates from cyber security segment. However, this time round, the delegates were lead by Dr. Sherif Hashem Executive Vice President of ITIDA.

In our joint effort with IE Singapore, and the support of our members, the dialogue session had an overwhelming turnout and the followed-up discussion was warm and fruitful for both parties.















Mr Pang, Chairman of eGov Chapter received our guest with a warm welcome.

The theme this time round is to explore collaboration in cybersecurity.

The dialogue session ended with a buffet lunch, courtesy of IE Singapore, our Egyptian friends and SITF members had a good opportunity to network and explore business opportunities in cyber security partnerships.

Another area to look out for is the business contracts that would be dished out by the Egyptian government, the potential partnerships and contracts the secretariat could be facilitating is currently valued at over 70 million Egyptian pounds or S$18.5 million.

Day 2

The secretariat also had a chance to host Arabian cuisines lunch for our Egyptian delegates and members of SITF.

SiTF Volunteer Day 2008 (V-Day 2008) - S$70,888 was raised towards the President’s Challenge 2008

Singapore infocomm Technology Federation (SiTF) held its 6th V-Day on 16th August 2008 at Telok Ayer Hong Lim Green Community Centre. The V-Day flag-off event was graced by Guest-of-Honour, RADM(NS) Lui Tuck Yew, Senior Minister of State, Ministry of Education and Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts.

We were also honoured to have RADM(NS) Ronnie Tay, Chief Executive Officer of Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA) to join us and witnessed the success of this event

Ms Tan Yen Yen, the Organising Chairman of SiTF V-Day 2008, gave a warm welcome address to kick-off the day’s event while RADM(NS) Lui Tuck Yew delivered an opening address and awarded tokens of acknowledgement to all sponsors and participating companies in the volunteer work.

Through the generous sponsorship and donations of our partners, members and friends, SITF raised S$70,888 for this year President’s Challenge 2008.

V-Day also garnered almost 200 employees (including family members) from SiTF member companies to visit and provide voluntary services at 10 Volunteer Hosting Organisation (VHOs).

Some of the activities planned for that were:

- SiTF joined by its members, CBL Data Recovery, Kelly Services, and Orange Business Services, took the children from the Asian Women's Welfare Association (AWWA) School to lunch at McDonald and on a Duck Tour ride
- Hewlett-Packard Singapore also brought the children from Spastic Children’s Association of Singapore on a Duck Tour ride
- Siemens Pte Ltd to provide logistical aid to the Handicap Welfare Association for their flag day
- BT Frontline Technologies took up Voluntary services at St Hilda’s Community Services Centre

The event was an unforgettable day for all where we banded together to bring cheers to our less privileged friends. Volunteers were treated with the performance from MINDS and this had sent cheers to the volunteers and friends alike.

SiTF V-Day 2008 Fundraising Auction Dinner at Xi Yan – 30th July 2008

Singapore infocomm Technology Federation (SiTF) has been driving corporate citizenship initiatives such as Volunteer Day (V-Day) for the infocomm community in Singapore for the last 6 years. In support of this year's Volunteer Day 2008, SiTF organised an exclusive fundraising auction dinner at Xi Yan, a private dinning restaurant, on 30th July 2008 to raise fund from auction of exquisite art pieces and private wine collection of premium wines.

The evening started with a cocktail reception where the guests mingled and acquainted themselves with new and old friends. At the same time, art pieces and vintage wines were on display for appraisal before the auction.

The dinner was formally kicked off by Miss Tan Yen Yen, 1st Vice Chairman of SiTF and Chairman of SiTF V-Day Organising Committee with a brief welcome speech. Over the course of dinner, our guests were treated to a banquet of delectable yet creative concoctions. Whilst everyone savoured and indulged in each platable dishes, our performer Julian Cheong with her rich and melodious voice gave an entertaining rendition of familiar retro tunes.

The auction followed shortly and our guests who were enjoying the 14-course feast did not forget to do their part for charity. Bids came fast and furious. Many art pieces and all the vintage wine were snapped up in no time. Julian also contributed her bits for charity by providing humorous descriptions to some of the abstract art pieces to much laughter from the guests.

The highlight of the evening was the auction of a song sung by none other than SiTF’s Chairman, Mr Pek Yew Chai, 1st Vice Chairman Ms Tan Yen Yen and 2nd Vice Chairman, Mr Frank Koo. Amidst rousing cheers and applauds, the singers took the stage and serenaded the crowd with a ballad “Killing me softly with his song”. For the performance, the trio raised another S$2,800 to add to the coffers.

The night ended with more than S$50,000 raised from the bids which would be donated to the President’s Challenge 2008 at SiTF V-Day Kick-off on 16th August 2008.

SITF/IDA/Sun Microsystems ODP Sharing Session on 20th Aug 2008

SEC had the opportunity to jointly organize with IDA & Sun Microsystems for a sharing session about the iLIUP & ODP initiatives.

The sharing session was held at SITF and targeted at smaller group of iLEs.

Arena Zhang, from Sun Microsystems ODP Manager, who is based in Beijing, China, and Allen Lai, Regional Manager, gave a presentation of how iLEs could tap into Sun’s expertise for their venture into the flourishing China market!

In a joint effort by IDA, Louis Lam also provided an overview to our SEC members how the government is providing support to our iLEs in this collaboration.

These programs are efforts that we would want to share with our members so as to assist them and give them a boost in their internationalization efforts!

Another sharing session is being planned and would be made available to our SEC members at a larger capacity targeting at around March 2009. So, do look out for this in our newsletter!

Enterprise IT 2008

Enterprise IT returns to Singapore Expo from 17 - 20 June 2008, continuing its growth as a notable IT enabler, critical to the success of both Asia Pacific-grown and International IT service providers that are keen to capitalize on the massive market potential.

As information technology develops at rapid speeds, rules and practices that determine success are constantly being rewritten. CIOs & traditional managers alike are increasingly turning to IT solutions to help bring their businesses to the next level and Enterprise IT is the one-stop sourcing platform that matches the right enterprise solution to the evolving needs of your business.

As the premier infocomm industry group in Singapore, the SiTF — with a membership of almost 400 corporate members comprising MNCs and local companies — is making its strongest representation ever in this year’s Enterprise IT show. Our Singapore Pavilion in CommunicAsia, which have a total of 31 companies, has a 50% increase of local companies showcasing their innovations and services under the brand “Infocomm Singapore”.

That the event has become a major springboard for local ICT companies to gain visibility and to reach high potential markets locally as well as overseas is undeniable. Not only does Enterprise IT provides greater brand awareness for the participating companies in Singapore, it is also part of this major platform where industry leaders and innovators converge annually to keep updated on the latest trends, buyers and sellers forge new ties and renew old ones, and above all, the great opportunity for new and old players alike to launch their products and services to the world.

It is upon this belief of close collaboration and cohesion that the SiTF aims to help boost the reach of local companies to the region, and to help raise the overall ICT profile of the industry.