SiTF - Connecting and Engaging YOU

Japanese Delegation visit to eCop by SITF/STB

2008-11-14T18:04:00.017+08:00

In collaboration with our friend and member, Singapore Tourism Board and eCop, organised a company visit for our Japanese counterparts and put together a study trip.

Our friends from Japan, http://www.tdi.co.jp/index.htm, a listed company in Japan, provides bio-metric and face recognition security solutions among others.

The objectives for this study trip are to attract Japanese companies to Singapore and the TDI has also expressed interests to learn about Singapore’s advanced IT environment. This is also a chance for cultivation of relations between Japanese companies andSingapore iLEs.

This visit allows eCop to share with TDI about eCop suite of solutions.

The presentation was also punctuated with a lively Q&A session with the help of a Japanese translator.

Our Japanese friend also had a chance to take a short tour of eCop's SOC facility that features a state-of-the-art monitoring system.

We look forward to a fruitful outcome from such delegations in the future and wish our friends a good and enjoyable time in Singapore!

SITF/eGov Industry Briefing for Egypt Mission Trip...

2008-11-13T14:23:00.010+08:00

Seated in the cosy conference room of SITF House, members and friends of the secretariat gathered to listen to Leo, the Business Development Director of SITF sharing his findings in a recent study trip to Egypt.

The purpose of this briefing session is to gather our members and friends who have the intention and interest for a piece of the action in the Egyptian market.

Concerns and questions were being raised about this mission trip about their economy and the potential projects available. In addition, members are also keen to explore potential alliances that can be forged.

The networking and refreshment session always put a smile on the faces of our members and friends of SITF.

The evening came and went...SEC Chillout Night @ Wine Arcade - Branding Strategies..

2008-09-18T10:30:00.005+08:00

SEC has done it again!

This time round, we had the opportunity to invite Jacky Tai, Principal Consultant from StrategiCom, a B2B branding specialist to share with us about branding in the current volatile and uncertain market.

Jacky shared with the audience about the 10 Rules of Branding and how some aspects of branding could be so simple that iLEs might overlook!

In addition, Jacky has also written a book titled, "Killer Differentiators", available in most major bookstores, audience are encouraged to get a copy to get more insights in brand building strategies.

Members and non-members in a networking session and of course, the good wine that goes along with the hearty meal!

eGov Chapter: Walk Like Egyptians II…

2008-08-29T13:49:00.011+08:00

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

2008-08-26T04:35:00.002+08:00

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

2008-08-26T02:39:00.010+08:00

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

2008-08-25T16:22:00.003+08:00

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

2008-08-20T10:35:00.006+08:00

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.

Visit from Mongolian delegates – 10 June 08

2008-06-27T12:09:00.007+08:00

A warm welcome to our guests from Mongolia

SiTF Members and Secretariat welcomed our guests from the Ministry of Finance, Mongolia on 10th June 08. Amongst the delegation were Mr Demid Dovdon, Director, IT Division, and Mr. Oyun Darikhuu, Director, Monitoring and Evaluation Division, Ministry of Finance.

Mr. Eddie Chau, SiTF Councillor and SEC Chairman, kicked-off the session with an introductory of himself and SiTF members to the delegation team. Mr. Gary Tan, SiTF Secretariat, then gave a brief presentation on SiTF and its charter.

What can we do for Mongolia?

To get to know more about the local industry, four speakers representing Asiasoft (S) Pte Ltd, Elixir Technology Pte Ltd, Netrust Pte Ltd, and 3i Infotech Asia Pacific, gave a short presentation of the organization, their products and solutions.

The delegates from Singapore and Mongolia continued to network and mingle. By exchanging name cards, a win-win situation was potentially built as SiTF members looked to explore the options available to them in Mongolia. Ending the session on a pleasant note, Mr. Demid and Ms. Ho Semun exchanged a token of appreciation.

With hope of future collaborations, SiTF wishes participating members and delegates from Mongolia all the best!

For more photos, visit our gallery!

The Day We Walk Like Egyptians - 19 Jun 08

2008-06-27T11:39:00.005+08:00

SiTF eGov Chapter is honoured to have the opportunity to host our friends from the land of the pyramids!

The delegates from Egypt comprised of government officials, head honchos of Egypt MNCs, businessmen and people from the Egyptian media. His Excellency Dr Tarek Kamel, Minister of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT) lead an entourage to an ICT sharing session with SiTF.

Egyptian Delegates

With a population of 80 million people, Egypt is an emerging market strategically positioned in the Middle-East. In addition, with its close proximity to Europe, it is also a preferred gateway to the EU market.

Dr Kamel also highlighted to SiTF in the roundtable dialogue session some of the benefits the Egyptian government has to offer for Singapore businesses and companies to setup shops in Egypt. Such as:
· An abundant of Arab speaking talent pool in their IT workforce
· Low and attractive staffing cost
· Liberalisation of telco industry to foreign players
· 33 million of mobile phone users
· Internet penetration rate of 13%
· Egypt as BPO destination

Dr Foong, Chairman of eGov Chapter gave a welcome speech and introduced to our friends more about SITF and eGov Chapter.

With free flow of foods and drinks, our Egyptian friends and SiTF members had a good opportunity to network and explore business opportunities.

iX Conference - 18 June 2008

2008-06-24T11:41:00.009+08:00

The much anticipated iX Conference 2008 was held on 18 June 2008 (Wednesday), 8.30am to 5.30pm at Suntec Singapore. A total of 400 participants attended the conference.

RADM (NS) Ronnie Tay, CEO of Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA) and Pek Yew Chai, SiTF Chairman

The conference was opened by Pek Yew Chai, SiTF Chairman, who gave a warm welcome to all the participants. Next, RADM (NS) Ronnie Tay, CEO of Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA) presented the iN2015 Business Forum. He shared the updates on the latest national infocomm initiatives such as the Next Generation National Infocomm Infrastructure (NGNII) and programmes for the various sectors that will provide new possibilities and opportunities for Singapore and the industry.

Following that, Paul Slakey, Enterprise Director (Asia Pacific & Latin American) of Google, gave a creative presentation on Cloud Computing. He explained how Cloud Computing complements iN2015’ programmes by increasing capacity and capabilities that leverage on our Nation’s current infrastructure. Paul’s presentation was one of the highlight that received resounding feedback from the delegates.

Leslie Loh, Chairman of NextVIEW Group ended the first half of the conference with his presentation on “Growing a Successful Software Company”. He shared his experience on how he built his company, and growing it to the level that captured the attention of international players.

The participants were then escorted to the concourse where they were treated to a sumptuous lunch buffet. Other than the delightful food and drinks, the round table seating arrangement also facilitated discussion greatly. Participants enjoyed the relaxing networking over lunch and prepared themselves to the exciting series of Panel Sessions in the afternoon.

Sumptous Lunch Buffet

Virtualization Panel

The afternoon panel sessions which were brought to the audience by Fuji Xerox kicked-off with the Virtualisation panel. As the hottest subject in 2008 and beyond, the speakers shared their views and perspectives on this revolutionary and growing technology area. The speakers were Brian Higgins, Channel Director – Pacific, Citrix Systems, Aman Dokania, Director & General Manager, Hewlett-Packard APJ Infrastructure Software BU, Hewlett Packard, Jim Lenox, General Manager, ASEAN and India, VMware and Frank Feldman, Senior Product Marketing Manager, Red Hat. The discussion was facilitated by Raju Chellam, Vice President (Asia-Pacific-Japan), AMI-Partners Inc.

Software as a Service Panel

The second panel was on Software as a Service. Participants learned the developments of this new technology through the insightful presentations of the speakers and the interactive Q&A session. The speakers were Mark Glikson, General Manager (APAC Developer and Platform Evangelism), Microsoft, Frank Koo, Managing Director, Oracle Corporation Singapore, Lim Seng Kong, Vice President (Global Accounts), SingTel and Andrew Leong, Regional ISV Market Development Manager, Sun Microsystems Inc. The moderator who led the discussion was none other Brian Prentice, Research Vice President, Gartner Advisory.

Service Oriented Architecture Panel

Lastly, Tom Hutchinson, SOA Evangelist, IBM ASEAN lead the discussion on Service Oriented Architecture. Participants were introduced to a technology which encourages the creation of multiple business services that can be easily composed together to support business processes. The speakers were Kenny Goh, General Manager, SOA Fusion Middleware, Oracle Corporation, ASEAN, Ong Whee Teck, Partner, Technology Consulting Lead, ASEAN, Accenture and Gary Wong, Chief Architect, iLog Singapore. With that, the conference came to a close at 5.30pm.

We believe that this has been an enriching and meaningful session for all and we would like to thank our sponsors: Fuji Xerox, IBM, HP, Oracle and iCell; IDA; our speakers and participants who have made this a successful event. We look forward to meeting you at iX Conference 2009!

For more photos, visit our gallery!

SiTF InfoSecurity talk @ NYP

2008-06-05T18:13:00.004+08:00

SiTF Security & Governance Chapter (SGC) held its first series of National Education Event at Nanyang Polytechnic on the 4th June 2008, 2pm to 5pm. Over 200 students in their second and final year from Diploma in Information Technology and Diploma in Business Informatics attended the event.

Mr Wong Loke Yeow
Chairman, Security & Governance Chapter (SiTF)

The session was opened by Mr Wong Loke Yeow, Chairman of Singapore infocomm Technology Federation (SiTF), Security & Governance Chapter (SGC). He shared with the students on the role and responsibility of SiTF, SGC and the importance of information security. The session was very well received by the students as they actively participated in the quiz being asked upon them.

Mr Thomas Lim
CEO, COSEINC

The second presentation was from Mr Thomas Lim CEO of COSEINC. He talked about the undeniable fact of vulnerabilities in our software and systems. As such, it is critically necessary that all software should be tested before they are operationally deployed or continually tested on a periodical basis even after they have been operationally deployed. The students are given a first hand look in the importance of their future jobs.

Q & A Session

The education event ended on a high note when Mr. Fang Wai walk away with a ticket, which worth $300, to Symposium on Security for Asia Network (Syscan) 2008 by providing a perfect answer to the question of the day.

For more photos, visit our gallery!

Meet the Members Session – 22 May 08

2008-05-23T12:36:00.010+08:00

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

2008-05-21T16:22:00.004+08:00

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

2008-05-21T15:05:00.005+08:00

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

2008-05-16T11:28:00.004+08:00

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

2008-05-15T11:28:00.004+08:00

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

2008-05-13T12:54:00.004+08:00

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.

SiTF Golf Classic 2008

2008-04-29T14:03:00.006+08:00

Welcoming GOH – Dr Vivian Balakrishnan

The annual SiTF golf classic flagship event was held on 24 April 08 at Raffles Country Club. This is the event that golfers from within the ICT industry congregate to have an afternoon of golf and fun. Gracing the event on that day was none other than Dr Vivian Balakrishnan, Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports. He was warmly received by Mr Pek Yew Chai, Chairman SiTF, and Ms Ho Semun, Executive Director SiTF.

Hainanese chicken rice for lunch

After a smooth registration process, golfers were treated to a Hainanese chicken rice buffet for lunch. The carbohydrates consumed would no doubt be useful on the golf course later in the day. Amidst the lunch session, golfers chatted casually as they catch up with their old friends. Soon, it was time for the tee-off!

Teeing off with Dr Vivan Balakrishnan

Mr Pek Yew Chai swings his club

GOH Flight

The GOH flight consisted of Dr Vivian Balakrishnan, Mr Pek Yew Chai, Mr Loh Teck Heng (SiTF Golf Classic 2008 Chairman) and Mr Chris Khang (Cisco is the tee-to-green sponsor). They started off on the Palm Course Hole 1 at approximately 1.30pm. The good weather ensured that the golfers have as much fun as possible. Even a slight rain late in the afternoon could not dampen the spirits of the golfers.

Girl Power

Golf is not just a guy’s game. The female counterparts in the industry were having just as much fun as the GOH. It was a long afternoon before all the golfers finally completed their game. They then proceeded to wash up and prepare for dinner.

Thank you sponsors!

During dinner time, lots of prizes were given out during lucky draws. The participants also enjoyed a sumptuous dinner while watching entertainment provided by special guest performers such as the Baobei sisters who voiced over for the local movie, 881. Trophies were also given out to the winners of the golf game. In appreciation to our fantastic sponsors, a token is given to each representative from our sponsor companies. Without them, the golf event would not have been such a success.

Watch this space as we bring you more pictures from the SiTF Golf Classic 2008.

For more photos, visit our photo gallery.

Networking session with Shandong delegates – 18 Apr 08

2008-04-28T09:59:00.002+08:00

Warm welcome at the door

On 18 April 2008, a team led by Mr Pek Yew Chai, Chairman SiTF, played host to a delegation visit from Shandong. The province of Shandong, located in the eastern coastal region of China, is one of the most developed provinces in the country. The delegation team, comprising of Mr Liu Xiaojiang, Vice Director General, Department of Foreign Trade & Economic Cooperation of Shandong Province, and Mr Ma Weigang, Vice Director General, Qingdao Economic & Technological Development Zone, visited SiTF in hope of finding collaboration opportunities to further the development of information industry in Shandong province.

The row of Shandong delegates

The session started off with an introduction given by all present at the networking session. One by one, both the local and Shandong delegates introduce their name and brief job description. Some presentation on SiTF and Infocomm Singapore were given during the session. The Shandong delegation focused on the rapid development of information industry in Shandong province. Hopefully, when SiTF members visit them, they will be able to play host and give a much more detailed scenario about the Shandong IT industry.

The whole delegation team

SiTF continues to host delegations such as these wonderful people from Shandong. Meanwhile, the session would no doubt benefit both the Shandong and SiTF delegates as both sides look for collaboration opportunities.

For more photos, visit our photo gallery

Singapore branding helps tech firms in China

2008-04-17T12:26:00.002+08:00

Partnershops and coverage are among the key challenges named by five Singapore technology firms which have been making forays into China's fast-rising infocomm market.

However, executives from CrimsonLogic, Bizpoint System, LanTroVision, Origami Frontiers and Asiasoft said that the proliferation of the Singapore branding in China - aided by agencies like the Singapore infocomm Technology Federation (SiTF) - will help.

The executives interviewed by BizIT were in Shanghai this week with a delegation from the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA) and SiTF. The delegation was there to pen collaboration deals in Hangzhou and launch SiTF's renamed Shanghai business networking office, now called the Infocomm Singapore Centre (ISC).

For full press release, click here

MediaCorp launches first "intelligent" digital reading platform in Singapore

2008-04-16T14:34:00.002+08:00

In collaboration with E-Book Systems Inc and Microsoft, Mediacorp has launched the first "intelligent" digital reading platform in Singapore. The software viewer, named Mediacorp EasyReader, integrates the best of physical newspapers and web browsing into an intuitive browser-like interface. Not only will users be able to add their own notes and highlight content, they can also re-size the test and images to suit their preference. Readers will also be able to store content up to 30 days of archived news, giving them the flexibility to read news offline as well.

For press release, click here
Know more about NewsReader, click here

SiTF inks deal with HESP to facilitate technology and business exchange

2008-04-15T15:18:00.002+08:00

Singapore companies now have more help in cutting high-tech business deals in the "Heaven Silicon Valley" of China.

Yesterday, Singapore infocomm Technology Federation (SiTF) inked an agreement with the Hangzhou East Software Park (HESP) to facilitate the exchange of technology and business between companies from Singapore and Zhejiang province.

In a news conference in Zhejiang's capital city Hangzhou, SiTF representative Tay Eng Hoe said trade missions, business partner matching services, and local marketing events will be among activities that HESP and SiTF will carry out in the coming months.

"There are so many opportunities for Singapore companies in Zhejiang," said Mr Tay, who is also the group CEO of ECS Holdings. He said SiTF will help both Singapore and China companies collaborate in each other's markets.

The SiTF-HESP agreement is supported by Infocomm Development Authority (IDA), which brought a delegation to Hangzhou and Shanghai this week for the signing event, as well as to meet local companies and officials there. At the event, IDA chief executive Ronnie Tay said that the agreement would "greatly" benefit infocomm industries in Singapore and China.

HESP chairman Song Xiaochun said that Hangzhou companies could learn from Singapore's infocomm expertise. "As companies in China move towards globalisation, Singapore will be our example.".

Dubbed "Heaven Silicon Valley" because of Hangzhou's natural beauty, the 180,000 sq m HESP is home to technology companies such as Alibaba and Huawei.

Zhejiang, which has a population of about 50 million per capita GDP of US$5,000, is China's fourth-largest provincial economy.

SiTF has had a presence in Hangzhou since 2006 when it established a business exchange office called Hangzhou-Singapore Solutions Centre with HESP. The new agreement builds on the centre's exisiting programmes.

Two other agreements were signed yesterday in Hangzhou. One was by ESP Aspire - a Singapore company headed by ex-SiTF chairman Stephen Lim - with the Hangzhou Dianchi University, to foster exchange of the university's students with infocomm companies in Singapore. The other was between Singapore's NCS and HESP. Both agreed to collaborate in the areas of e-government, smart building, Internet security and Hangzhou's metro train system. The IDA-led 20-strong team will be in China till tomorrow.

Source: The Business Times - 15 April 2008

SEC Chill-Out Evening - 9 Apr 08

2008-04-10T15:02:00.003+08:00

The early birds

The well-received chill-out evening is back! This time, the event's theme was “Venturing into Thailand”. The event was organised by the SEC chapter and supported by the SGC Chapter. Held at the wine arcade, the event promised great ambience and an informal environment for experience sharing. Over 30 participants turned up to learn more about business in Thailand. The event was also graced by a special guest, Ms Lena Ng, Assistant Director, from IES.

Ms Lena Ng, Assistant Director, IES

Based in Thailand for a period of over 3 years, Ms Lena Ng was the perfect person to share with the attendees on the topic concern. She also gave some insights on the vertical markets that are still booming in Thailand. No doubt, this is a valuable piece of information for businessmen who may not know about such facts.

Mr Eddie Chau, SEC Chairman

Besides Ms Lena Ng, Mr Eddie Chau, SEC Chairman, also shared his experience on setting up businesses in Thailand. With his previous company, e-Cop Pte Ltd, he has been there, done that. Hence, he was able to give tips and ways to penetrate the Thailand market.

Q & A by the attendees

The attendees were also allowed to ask some questions to the speakers that they may be interested to know. All in all, the session was an informal yet interactive experience sharing session.

What is networking without exchanging name cards?

As a networking event, most of the attendees prepared a whole stack of name cards for exchange. By making new friends and extending their social circle, attendees kept their options open, exploring business opportunities in new untapped markets. Watch this space as SiTF continues to organize such chill-out sessions with different themes and target market.

For more pictures, visit http://picasaweb.google.com/sitf.sg/SECChillOutEveningApr

Digital Media Chapter Distinguished Speaker Series - Mr Nickson Fong

2008-03-30T22:46:00.003+08:00

Registration begins!

SiTF's Digital Media Chapter held an interesting event on 27 March 08. By inviting Mr Nickson Fong, a Singaporean who has substantial experience in Hollywood, as a distinguished speaker for the event, a natural crowd with interest in animations was drawn to attend the event. The event focused on Mr Nickson Fong himself. Not only some of his work was showcased, he also shared valuable view points on the industry.

Early birds having refreshments

The event was held at the Microsoft auditorium, starting at 4pm sharp. Attendees started to flood in as early as 3.15pm. They were rewarded with some delicious refreshments and a great opportunity to interact with some of their counterparts in the industry. Soon, the stage was set for the event to begin.

The man in the hotseat, Mr Nickson Fong

Using his charm, Mr Nickson awed the crowd with his work and experience sharing. The topics he shared include his Hollywood experience, the key reasons for his return to Singapore, his company's business model and a little on the school he started, Egg Story Digital Arts Academy. By developing young talents, Mr Nickson hopes to impact the animations industry in a positive manner. Sneak previews for Egg Story's production, Kungfu Gecko, were also shown as a teaser. The movie is slated to be on the big screen in 2010.

Q&A from a student

Students with interest were also drawn to the event. Enthusiastically, a student from Hwa Chong Institution posted several questions to Mr Nickson, eagerly awaiting for his answer.

Mr Ng Chong Khim, DMC Chairman, presenting a token of appreciation

All good things have to come to an end. Just before the end of the event, Mr Ng Chong Khim, Digital Media Chapter Chairman, presented a token of appreciation to our distinguished speaker. Watch this space, as there will be more speakers of Mr Nickson's calibre to share their views.

For more pictures, visit our gallery

SiTF Naming Contest!!!

2008-02-26T17:20:00.002+08:00

SiTF is changing its name! Be part of the process and join the naming contest! For more details, read the page below or download it here!

View Upload your own

SiTF 2008 ICT Business Outlook Forum – 19 Feb 08

2008-02-22T16:04:00.009+08:00

Having breakfast with RADM(NS) Ronnie Tay

SiTF organises the annual ICT Business Outlook Forum on 19 February 2008 from 8.00am to 2.00pm at The Grand Ballroom, Ritz Carlton Millenia. The objective of the forum was to provide valuables insights of emerging ICT trends, market and technology development for the ICT industry by inviting distinguished speakers to share their views. A panel discussion was also set up to discuss any issues raised by the audience.

The day’s programme kicked off with an exclusive breakfast meeting with RADM(NS) Ronnie Tay, CEO of IDA. Only speakers, panelists and sponsors were invited for the session, giving them an opportunity to interact closely with RADM(NS) Ronnie Tay.

Mr Frank Koo, Organising Chairman, giving the introductory speech

Soon, the ballroom was packed with delegates and the forum was all ready to begin. At 9am, Mr Frank Koo, Organising Chairman, Managing Director of Oracle Corporation Singapore, gave an introductory speech. He welcomed all delegates and touched briefly on the topics that would be talked about after his speech.

RADM(NS) Ronnie Tay, CEO of IDA

Next up, RADM(NS) Ronnie Tay, CEO of IDA, gave his presentation on the plans of IDA with regards to Singapore’s ICT masterplan, iN2015. His presentation gave delegates information on IDA’s efforts to groom talent for the industry, as well as plans to enable innovation and develop partnership. With this knowledge, companies will be able to better align their plans so as to best utilize the resources available.

Mr Raphael Phang, Research Director, Government Insights Asia/Pacific

After RADM(NS) Ronnie Tay, Mr Raphael Phang, Government Insights Asia/Pacific, IDC, talked about the top 10 trends in the industry according to IDC. These trends include Asia/Pacific growth to be driven by India and China, product vendors driving up the value chain and the digital marketplace accelerating the uptake of enterprise collaboration. This valuable insight would have given the delegates some idea on which area they might want to focus on for the year.

Delegates would then adjourn for a short morning break. This was also an opportunity for the delegates to reach out and interact with the speakers who had presented thus far.

Dr Dan Steinbock, ICT Research Director, ICA Institute

The delegates rejoined the forum to listen to an interesting topic about Web 2.0. This topic was presented by Dr. Dan Steinbock, ICT Research Director, ICA Institute. Using various statistics and graphics, Dr. Dan captured the audience attention while explaining how Web 2.0 is transforming the industry.

Mr Wilfred Kwan, EVP, Operations & Technologies, Pacnet

The last presentation of the day was given by a representation from the event’s diamond sponsor. Mr Wilfred Kwan, Executive Vice President, Operations & Technologies, Pacnet, with many years of experience, gave a comprehensive explanation on how the next generation network can help grow the next generation commerce.

Questions from the floor

Panelists (from left to right): Mr James Kang (ITMA), Mr Pek Yew Chai (SiTF),
Mr Wilson Tan (SCS)

The final session of the day was a panel discussion to answer any issues raised from the audience. Sitting in the panel were Mr James Kang, Vice President of ITMA, Mr Pek Yew Chai, Chairman of SiTF and Mr Wilson Tan, President of SCS. With Mr Frank Koo as the moderator, the panel discussion covered a wide range of topics consisting of government efforts to promote innovations and the US Sub-Prime.

Buffet Lunch was served; a sumptuous spread indeed

Finally, lunch was served. Delegates not only filled their stomach, they also got the opportunity to extend their network, exploring new possibilities for their businesses.

For more photos, visit our gallery.

SEC Chill-Out Evening @ Wine Arcade – 31 Jan 08

2008-02-05T15:10:00.000+08:00

The early birds

SiTF’s SEC Chapter kicks off this year’s chapter events with the first of their monthly networking session on 31 Jan 08. Held at the wine arcade, the event promised great ambience and an informal environment for experience sharing. 25 participants turned up to fill up the interior of the wine bar. By 7pm, the wine bar was packed!

Mr Eddie Chau, SEC Chairman

During the event, Mr Eddie Chau, SEC Chairman, gave a short speech. He wished for a fruitful session for everyone. Attendees get to enjoy top quality wine while having pizzas and finger food for dinner. They were also able to discuss and exchange business ideas over dinner.

What is networking without exchanging name cards?

My Vietnam business experience

The monthly network session has a theme. In January, the theme is “entering the Vietnam market”. One of our attendees was invited to speak and share his experience in the Vietnam market. Having vast experience in Vietnam, he also shared how the Vietnam environment is like. No doubt, it would be valuable information for the attendees who are interested to hit into the Vietnam market.

Many attendees left feeling satisfied. After this fruitful session, these participants expressed enthusiasm for the next chill-out evening in February when they will get to hear about a different topic.

For more pictures, visit http://picasaweb.google.com/sitf.sg/SECChillOutEvening31Jan08

Visit from Hungarian Delegates - 17 Jan 08

2008-01-18T16:21:00.000+08:00

A warm welcome to our guests from Hungary

A team of 6 Hungarian delegates visited SiTF on 17 Jan 08. The eGov Chapter was invited to share prospects on eGovernment in Singapore with our distinguished guests. Among our guests is Mr Géza Simon, Government Commissioner, eGovernment Centre, Prime Minister’s Office. Over 20 local delegates both from government and private sector 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, Dr József Bajó (Deputy Head of Office for Frequency Management, Central Office for Administration & Electronic Public Services) presented on the Hungary ICT market. The Hungary Government has initiated numerous policies such as eGovernment, eHungary and many more to improve the uptake of IT products and services. It is well known that Hungary is one of the most technologically advanced countries in central and eastern Europe, witnessing significant foreign direct investment due to its tremendous potential and favourable geographical location.

Following which, Mr Pek Yew Chai (Chairman of SiTF) gave a short introduction of SiTF. He was well supported by Mr Tan Sian Lip (Treasurer of eGov Chapter, SiTF), who presented on eGovernment in Singapore. Sharing on Singapore’s iGov2010 masterplan, Mr Tan also highlighted the strengths and opportunities in the industry.

Lunch suited to the taste of both local and Hungarian delegates

After a short Q&A session, a sumptuous buffet lunch was served. With food cartered to both local and Hungarian culture, delegates engrossed themselves to the wide spread of food. Amid filling up their stomach, the delegates also grab the chance to establish some valuable connections. All in all, this event was a fruitful sharing session for both countries to learn about the positives in each eGovernment system.

For more pictures, visit our gallery.

Visual Code Consortium Luncheon Briefing - 16 Jan 08

2008-01-18T10:03:00.001+08:00

Registration Begins!

SiTF’s Wireless Chapter is forming a consortium to explore visual code standardization across various industries in Singapore with the support of IDA. The aim of the consortium is to drive the uptake of visual code adoption and awareness in Singapore, work with ITSC to develop a Singapore visual code standard and also act as a platform where various parties interested in using this technology can interact and collaborate to develop and implement new ideas & services using visual codes.

Networking before the presentation

The luncheon briefing was heard at the Geek Terminal on 16 Jan 08, attracting over 40 invited guests who might be interested to join the consortium. Among the guests are iCell Network Pte Ltd, Singtel and Colorzip SEA Pte Ltd. Some guests arrived early and took the opportunity to network before the presentation segment start.

Mr James Loo, Chairman of Wireless Chapter, giving a presentation

Dr Tan Geok Leng, Chief Technology Officer, IDA, explaining the basics of visual code

The briefing was conducted by 2 presenters, mainly Mr James Loo, Chairman of SiTF Wireless Chapter and Dr Tan Geok Leng, Chief Technology Officer, IDA. Mr Loo introduced SiTF to the guests, elaborating on the role that SiTF play in this new initiative. On the other hand, it was Dr Tan’s duty to explain what visual codes is all about, giving the guests in-depth knowledge on the usage of visual codes.

Let’s have lunch!

Finally, the guests thoroughly enjoyed their lunch. While having lunch, they had yet another opportunity to interact and build their social network. The event was highly successful and well received. Many guests have already express interest in joining the consortium, embarking on an intriguing adventure.

For more pictures, visit our gallery.
Below are the presentation slides, available for download

SiTF ICT Business Outlook 2008

2008-01-18T09:55:00.001+08:00

Don't miss the golden opportunity to hear about the industry's outlook for the year 2008! Check out the speakers profile and the agenda for the day. Click here to register NOW!

Download

SiTF 2008 ICT Business Outlook Agenda

2008-01-11T17:45:00.001+08:00

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Download

Singapore–Korea eLearning Business One-to-One Matching

2008-01-10T11:09:00.000+08:00

An eLearning business one-to-one matching session was organized by Lecast Singapore, the newest eLC member of SiTF, and supported by SiTF on 10 Dec 07. The fruitful session involving 21 Singapore companies and 15 Korean companies was held at Carlton Hotel. Companies such as Microsoft, Askn Learn, Media Corp and Inter Touch had the opportunity to meet up with Korean companies like Credu, Quest and Cowon.

Opening speech by Mr Tay Chor Ter, Vice-Chairman of eLearning Chapter, SiTF

Before the long awaited meetings, opening speeches were given by representatives from KIEC and eLC/SiTF. Mr Tay Chor Ter, Vice-chairman of eLearning Chapter, represented SiTF in addressing the audience while the Korean representative shared some insights on the exciting eLearning situation in Korea. The topics no doubt grabbed the attention of the audience.

Various meetings being held at different parts of the conference venue

In a very busy day for the participants, the highly successful event managed over 130 meetings in a single day. An interpreter is attached to every Korean company to aid in the translation, thus overcoming the language barrier. This event truly presents the opportunity to connect companies which are miles apart, a rare opportunity indeed that would not be otherwise possible if not for KIEC and Lecast.

About Korea Institute for Electronic Commerce (KIEC)

Korea Institute for Electronic Commerce(KIEC), established pursuant to the Framework Act on Electronic Transaction, is a public organization with delegated mandate to promote electronic commerce in Korea.

About Lecast
Lecast E-Learning development solution offer a highly productive, collaborative and cohesive e-learning development environment, creating a whole new era of E-Learning education framework. With Lecast Learning Management System (LMS), Content Management System (CMS) and our Technical Science Authoring tools a total e-learning development and management solution.

Members News - ILOG

2008-01-02T15:04:00.000+08:00

Samsung Life Insurance selects ILOG BRMS for its Advanced Insurance Fraud Detection System

ILOG® (NASDAQ: ILOG; Euronext: ILO, ISIN: FR0004042364) today announced that ILOG JRules®, a key offering in ILOG’s business rule management system (BRMS) product line, has helped leading South Korean insurer Samsung Life Insurance identify fraud much faster through the creation of an advanced Insurance Fraud Detection System (IFDS). In addition to contributing to greater automation of the fraud detection process, ILOG JRules has shortened the inspection time for processing 10,000 claims from two weeks to just one day.

Similar to other countries in the Asia Pacific region, many of South Korea’s insured are entering retirement age. With escalating insurance policy adoption, there is an increased potential for insurance fraud. According to a statement from the Korean Financial Supervisory Service, the number of detected insurance fraud cases increased 46.4 percent in 2006 compared to 2005. Additionally, the trend for financial fraud crimes, such as insurance fraud, lost card fraud and tax evasion, is becoming more diversified and complicated.

Utilizing the ILOG JRules, Samsung Life can draw upon the knowledge accumulated from past insurance fraud management work and translate that knowledge into business rules that can be managed and executed by the BRMS, reducing the instances of fraudulent claims.

"Utilizing BRMS, we shortened the inspection process for processing 10,000 claims per day from 2 weeks to 1 day. The field workers can apply the new rules in real time. The more I get to know about the more advanced functions of ILOG BRMS, the more I am impressed by this incredible technology."

-Dongchul Park, Senior Manager, Claims Inspection Section,
Samsung Life Insurance.

ILOG also released its newest product ILOG CPLEX® 11, the latest version of ILOG’s market-leading optimization software with faster Mixed Integer Programming (MIP) performance. The enhanced performance enables the software to address complex real-world business requirements involving larger, more complicated problems that were often unsolvable by previous generations of optimization software. CPLEX 11 is also the first product on the market with the ability to return multiple MIP solutions out-of-the-box, supporting critical decision-making processes, especially in challenging manufacturing or transportation applications, where multiple or alternative plans or schedules must be considered.

ILOG CPLEX, the world’s most widely-deployed optimization software, improves business efficiency and decision making by allowing businesses to calculate the best utilization of existing resources and implement an action plan that can potentially deliver millions of dollars in savings. CPLEX is used to solve an array of optimization problems in industries as diverse as financial services, transportation and manufacturing in functions ranging from asset management, airline crew scheduling, vehicle routing and production planning.

For full story, please view the following links.

Press release 1

Press release 2

Exclusive Photographs from Asocio Apicta 07

2007-12-14T11:37:00.000+08:00

Check out all the photographs from Asocio Apicta 07! Take a look at the top picks below or grab your own photos at the website! Photos are sorted according to date taken.

View Gallery: Day 1 – 26 Nov 07

View Gallery: Day 2 – 27 Nov 07

View Gallery: Day 3 – 28 Nov 07

View Gallery: Day 4 – 29 Nov 07

Asocio Apicta 2007 Site Visits – 27 Nov 07

2007-12-06T14:00:00.000+08:00

In conjunction to Asocio Apicta 2007, a site visitation is organized by SiTF to allow fellow delegates to look at some of the IT companies in Singapore, at the same time achieve a better understanding about the IT role in Singapore.

Group photo at NCS Pte Ltd

The group left Swissotel Hotel at 0830 hours on 27 Nov 07 and took a chartered bus to NCS Pte Ltd. They were given a short introduction of what NCS does.

Mr Ng Chong Khim giving a presentation at ST Electronics Ltd

Next, the group of delegates proceeded to ST Electronics Ltd. ST Electronics does not only play an IT role in Singapore, they are an important player too in Hong Kong. The delegates were shown a video of how ST Electronics Ltd’s technology has helped the Hong Kong Fire Services simplify their processes.

HP presents its grand seminar room

After visiting ST Electronics, the delegates headed to HP Cooltown. They were greeted with an address by Mr P Ramakrishna, Director, Industry Development, IDA. After a short presentation by Mr Des Yee, Director, Technology Cooltown Innovation, the delegates proceeded to the Cooltown. Over there, cool gadgets and innovative technologies made in Singapore were showcased. The delegates took a group photograph, which was in turn put onto their handouts and given as souvenirs.

A casual presentation with cocktail

Then, the delegates went to NUS - eGL where they were given an overview of the Singapore e-Government Leadership Centre. Finally, the delegates attended a more casual presentation at Ascendas. Cocktails were served and the delegates must have felt that the trip was enriching and enjoyable.

For more pictures, view our photo gallery

APICTA Award 2007

2007-12-05T15:35:00.000+08:00

Congratulations to all winners and merits at the APICTA 2007! Team Singapore have a total of 3 winners and 7 merits. Special mention goes to Eubiq Pte Ltd, Transmex Systems International and RadianTrust Pte Ltd for doing Team Singapore proud by winning in their respective categories.

Below are the full list of winners:

e-Community and e-Government
Winner - Immigration Department, HKSAR Government (Hong Kong)

Education and Training
Winner - ReadOn Pty Ltd (Australia)
Merit - Pelangi Multimedia Technologies Sdn Bhd (Malaysia)

Secondary Student Project
Winner - Sarasit Phithayalai School (Thailand)
Merit - Hwa Chong Institution (Singapore)
Merit - Raffles Institution (Singapore)
Merit - Foon Yew High School Kulai (Malaysia)

Tertiary Student Project
Winner - Sri Lanka Institute of Information Technology (Sri Lanka)
Merit - University of Tasmania (Australia)
Merit - Institute of Technology Surabaya (Indonesia)
Merit - Chulalongkorn University (Thailand)

Tourism and Hospitality
Winner - AISOFT Co Ltd (Thailand)

Media and Entertainment
Winner - PCCW-HKT Telephone Limited (Hong Kong)
Merit - Cyberplant Interactive Co Ltd & True Corporation Public Co Ltd (Thailand)

Communications
Merit - Eastcom Systems Pte Ltd (Singapore)
Merit - PixSense (Pvt) Ltd (Pakistan)

Financial Industry Applications
Winner - NetSol Technologies Limited (Pakistan)
Merit - TrustDefender Pty Ltd (Australia)

Industrial Applications
Winner - Eubiq Pte Ltd (Singapore)
Merit - MSL Software (Thailand) Co Ltd and Thailand Textile Institute (Thailand)

e-Logistics
Winner - Transmex Systems International (Singapore)
Merit - Autoscan Techonology Pte Ltd (Singapore)

Tools and Infrastructure Application
Winner - Outblaze (Hong Kong)
Merit - Team and Concepts Limited (Hong Kong)

Research and Development
Winner - Largner Technology Co Ltd (Thailand)
Merit - Clearhub Pte Ltd (Singapore)

General Applications
Winner - CargoWise edi Pty Ltd (Australia)
Merit - Mobigator (H.K) Limited (Hong Kong)

Start-Up Company
Winner - Les' Copaque (Malaysia)
Merit - Ohanae (Singapore)

Security
Winner - RadianTrust Pte Ltd (Singapore)
Merit - Data Security Systems Solutions Pte Ltd (Singapore)

Special Recognition Awards
Chung Hwa Middle School (Brunei)
Guandong Vtron Yutsun Electronic Co Ltd (China)
University of Macau (Macau)
K&H Midi Music School (Vietnam)

NCS takes technology to Sri Lankan jungles

2007-12-05T15:19:00.000+08:00

Singapore’s IT solutions provider introduces mobile teller services for Seylan Bank, enabling customers to conduct basic transactions

Armed with a personal digital assistant, mini printer and cash, Seylan Bank’s motorcycle-bound business development officers (BDOs) are bringing banking services to the heart of the Sri Lankan jungle. BDOs can open accounts, take deposits of up to Sri Lankan Rupees (SLRs)250,000 ($2,265), dispense cash of up to SLRs5,000 and provide services such as insurance and consumer finance.

In the past, BDOs could conduct most of the same activities in remote areas, although it would require time-consuming trips back and forth between the branch and the customers.

The bank’s $3.5 million “palm top banking” programme from Singapore’s NCS is part of a rapid shift to mobile banking services on the island. Seylan Bank already had SMS banking since 2004 and offers 11 services via mobile phone, including balance inquiry, funds transfer between accounts and utility bill payments.

Inspired by Bill Gates’ “banks are dinosaurs” accusation, Seylan Bank’s chairman Dr Deshamanya Lalith Kotelawala, the head of Ceylinco Consolidated that owns Seylan Bank, wanted to find a way to empower bankers with technology before they lost touch with their clients.

The 20 people NCS assigned to the 10-month project were involved in developing the IT infrastructure, as well as the user interface, which included designing the form factor of the small screen, which is based on Microsoft’s .net platform. The project used some existing NCS platform components to hasten the development cycle.

Eventually the company will be involved in the third stage of the project, which will be to put the capabilities into a mobile phone.

“Our input was the technology and the user interface. It is quite unlike the PC or the laptop where the form factor is huge, the screen available to do the transactions,” says Chong Yoke Sin, NCS’s CEO. “And the key thing is that we have to ensure the security and the encryption of all the transactions.” NCS claims that Seylan’s palm banking system is the first of its kind in Sri Lanka.

Seylan’s Kotelawala is also using the technology to circumvent a combative regulator who will not approve new branches or ATMs. “I can’t help it if the regulatory people have myopic vision,” he says.

Considered a maverick, partly due its chairman’s strong sense of corporate social responsibility, Seylan Bank has seen high NPLs due to a willingness to work with delinquent borrowers on restructuring bad loans rather than foreclosing. But the resulting NPLs, 10.9 percent in the first half of 2007, are one reason why the bank hasn’t received approvals for new branches. So it is using “palm top banking” to find a way around the barrier.

The “palm top banking” project will also complement the remittance system the bank put in place with NCS in late 2006 for overseas Sri Lankan workers. “This is the second project that we’ve done with Ceylinco. The first one was a full-fledged remittance system, Fast Cash, done in only three months as a cash-to-cash and cash-to-account systems,” says Chong.

The new project means that after the remittance system has delivered money to the unbanked, the bank now has a way to provide value-added services such as savings, mortgages, or business loans.

Distribution is a natural challenge for all of Sri Lanka’s banks, but not everyone is hopping on motorbikes to address the issue. Many other banks currently rely on agreements with other banks to offer counter services, but the arrangement can be unreliable. - Peter Hoflich

Source: The Asian Banker

ICT Summit (IDA)

2007-12-04T22:44:00.000+08:00

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Asocio Apicta ICT Summit 2007

2007-12-04T11:16:00.000+08:00

Check out the slides from our distinguished speakers, available for download and viewing right here at the SiTF blog! See and download IDA's iN2015 masterplan here too.

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Singapore Computer Systems Wins Inaugural Asia Business Continuity Award For Business Continuity Provider Of The Year (Recovery Site)

2007-11-20T14:52:00.000+08:00

Receiving a prestigious award - SCS Representative

Singapore Computer Systems Limited (SCS), a leading information and communications technology service provider in Asia, has emerged the top business continuity provider of the year in Asia for its Business Continuity & Disaster Recovery (BC/DR) site in the inaugural Asia Business Continuity Awards (ABCA), beating contestants from various countries around the world.

SCS has been providing BC/DR and data centre services since 1987. SCS has almost 100,000 square-feet of BC/DR and data centre facilities, and has been certified as a Full BC/DR Service Provider by the world’s first SS:507 standards, as well as for Information Security Management System (ISMS). SCS supports customers across multiple industries including financial services, government, logistics, pharmaceutical, manufacturing, property, and many more.

SCS’ President and Chief Executive Officer, Mr Tan Tong Hai, said, “SCS is delighted to win the first ever Asia Business Continuity Awards, for the business continuity provider of the year (recovery site) category. Since establishing the first BC/DR site in Singapore in 1987, SCS’ BC/DR team has conducted over 4,000 recovery tests and has helped clients recover from 9 live disasters, including SARS in 2003. SCS has also developed end-to-end BC/DR offerings and introduced new innovations, such as adding mobility, scalability, flexibility and automation to our offerings. We believe that our proven experience, expertise and innovative spirit are key to us winning this award and we will continue to introduce new concepts to bring BC/DR to the next stage.”

For full story, click here

For reported profit is Q3 FY2007, click here

About Singapore Computer Systems Limited

Singapore Computer Systems (SCS) is a leading information and communications technology service provider in Asia. As the provider of Trusted Services to its customers, SCS empowers organisations with competent IT professionals, using proven processes and living technologies in a timely and cost-effective manner.

Our services are designed to maximise organisational performance and are compliant with regulatory and security guidelines. They range from traditional IT infrastructure, business solutions, systems integration and managed services to state-of-the-art Application-Aware Infrastructure, Infrastructure-Aware Applications, converged communications, business rules management systems, business process outsourcing, and business continuity management services. These are flexible solutions that are adaptable to our customers’ needs as their businesses grow or change.

Trusted Services have been successfully deployed in multiple sectors including government; banking, insurance and financial services; manufacturing, logistics and distribution; healthcare; property; and telecommunications.

Incorporated in 1980 and listed on the Main Board of The Singapore Exchange in 1991, SCS has operations in Asia spanning Singapore, Brunei, China, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand.

For more information, please visit http://www.scs.com.sg/.

Singapore Consumers Demanding More from Contact Centers - AVAYA

2007-11-20T14:28:00.000+08:00

Next generation contact centers may be the key competitive differentiator for businesses in Singapore, according to a research commissioned by Avaya. The report, Avaya Contact Centre Consumer Index Score Report Singapore 2007, undertaken by research firm callcenter.net, showed that while over 80% of consumers surveyed preferred to speak directly to a customer service representative (CSR), they retained a low expectation of the service quality from contact centers. Key reasons for low marks are attributed to long waits (40%) and lack of knowledge/giving wrong information by the CSR (21%).

When compared to other countries like China (13%) and India (20%), more than 40% of Singapore consumers surveyed indicated a significant dislike for contact center interaction; and registered the lowest service level expectation of the three countries. However, Singapore also saw a higher percentage of first preference to telephone and speak directly with a CSR.

As one of the main communications channels for many companies, the customer experience with the CSR can have a direct impact on the company’s revenue as well as reputation. In fact, over one third of respondents stated that the most important thing for them is to have their call answered fast or issue resolved quickly. The resulting feedback showed that just having the human element, the CSR in this case, is insufficient.

To offer better response and improve positive experiences, businesses need to extend the capabilities of the CSR and one of the ways to break out from the competition is through next generation contact centers.

“The contact centers of the future will be IP-based,” said Eric Tan, Country Director, Avaya Singapore. “Together with Session Initiated Protocol (SIP), the contact centre can now have a more complete profile of the customer, together with applications to connect with experts for efficient issue resolution. This capability allows enterprise knowledge workers to become on-demand experts whose availability can be determined in real time and then easily located and contacted.”

In addition, the research has revealed that the customers’ contact centre experiences can be diverse and addressing the Satisfaction Index means offering a range of business communications technologies as there are generation-differences in using technologies.

For example, the older generations have a higher propensity to contact the company via the telephone, while the Generation Y (16-30 year olds) prefers self-service technology. However, the research also showed that their tendency for contacting agents arises when the transactional complexity increases. In fact, this group also has a high expectation of service from contact centers. As this group represents future customers, the need to upgrade existing contact center technology cannot be ignored.

“This group has stated a high preference to have video streaming/conference in their interaction and the best way to deliver this capability is on the IP platform,” added Tan.

Overall, the research have indicated that a positive experience from the contact centre interaction has a direct correlation to the loyalty index and an increased propensity for customers recommending services/products from the company to others; a likelihood of additional purchases; as well as using the contact centre again for their next interaction. The bottom line then, is that the contact centre can afford companies a competitive edge today and for the future.

About Avaya

Avaya delivers Intelligent Communications solutions that help companies transform their businesses to achieve marketplace advantage. More than 1 million businesses worldwide, including more than 90 percent of the FORTUNE 500®, use Avaya solutions for IP Telephony, Unified Communications, Contact Centers and Communications-Enabled Business Processes. Avaya Global Services provides comprehensive service and support for companies, small to large. For more information visit the Avaya Web site: www.avaya.com.

Networking session with Sri Lankan delegates

2007-11-19T15:49:00.000+08:00

Presentations from companies

Let's exchange business cards!

SiTF welcomed Sri Lankan delegates for a networking session at the SiTF house on 15 Nov 07. Our distinguished guests are from the Sri Lanka - Singapore Business Council (SLSBC), which is part of the ceylon chamber of commerce. During the session, both local and Sri Lankan delegates had their air time to share with the group a little more about their respective companies. Contacts were also exchanged as new opportunities are explored.

Grabbing opportunities

For more pictures, visit our gallery

"I am pleased to send this message to mark the occasion of the visit to Singapore of the Sri Lanka Singapore Business Council delegation to attend Global Entrepolis Singapore 2007. As at date, 11 delegates representing 8 companies will participate in this premiere business networking event to identify business opportunities and to establish contact with members of the Singapore Infocomm Technology Federation (SiTF) where one to one business meetings have been arranged. The delegation will also network with companies from overseas that will participate at the event. The focus this year too will be essentially IT/ITES related and the companies from Sri Lanka many of which lead their field will comprise the delegation. An important feature in the companies participating is that many have innovative products and operate in diversified markets. This reflects the resourcefulness of the entrepreneurs and management of those companies and the talent of their teams, which has the potential to mutually benefit both the company and its business partners."
-Shamil Mendis
President, Sri Lanka - Singapore Business Council

About Sri Lanka - Singapore Business Council

The Sri Lanka - Singapore Business Council (SLSBC) was inaugurated on 14 August 1997 with the objective of promoting trade, investments, joint ventures, services and tourism between Sri Lanka and Singapore. The Council with its membership of over 50 reputed companies in Sri Lanka, serves as a recognised representative of business sector interests. The Council functions under the aegis of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce, the premier Chamber in Sri Lanka with its membership representing the entire spectrum of the business community.

The services of the Council range from assisting in matchmaking / establishing business contacts, sourcing business partners for visiting businessmen, organising one to one business meetings, inward / outward missions, trade fairs / exhibitions and dissemination of trade related information.

Visit by Vietnam Delegates

2007-11-15T14:35:00.000+08:00

Local delegates interacting with our guests

Vietnam delegates came to Singapore for a visit on the 14 Nov 07. The networking lunch session was held at Suntec Tower 3. Over 40 participants from local companies and MNCs were present to interact with the Vietnamese. Some SiTF members snapped at this wonderful chance as well to enlarge their network. It is a fruitful networking session as both local and Vietnam delegates grabbed the opportunity to exchange contacts.

Lunch time! Let's eat!

Visit our gallery!

GlobalRoam heeds the call of China

2007-11-14T15:13:00.000+08:00

EVER wanted to give your phone number to someone you met - a business contact, housing agent or even a date - but did not want them to keep calling you if the relationship soured? And what about worrying if they will pass your number to other people? In the past you had to change your number to stop unwanted contact. But GlobalRoam's new cMask service lets you give out a cMask number that others can call and SMS as if it were your real number.

If you want contact to cease you just delink the cMask number without having to change your real number. And only those you give your cMask number to can contact you. Anyone else who calls the cMask number from another line won't be able to reach you.

GlobalRoam, which is listed on PhilipCapital's OTC market, may be about to strike gold with the new service. This month it signed a preliminary pact with China Unicom New Space - a subsidiary of giant China Unicom - to launch the cMask service in four Chinese cities by the middle of next year. And dating online communities Eteract.com and SingaporeCupid.com started using cMask this year to let members chat on the phone without giving their real numbers.

GlobalRoam chief executive Clarence Tan (main head picture) says the technology is useful for many purposes. "You can give cMask numbers to business partners but if the deal turns bad you can easily break the link. And when people advertise to buy and sell things, they can give out their cMask number and deactivate it later."

GlobalRoam's second new service, gCross, lets mobile phone users call their friends' personal computers (PCs) to chat using a Voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) or instant messaging. This helps parties save money as PC users do not have to pay for calls received.

Older technology required a unique number to be bought for every PC, which could be expensive, Mr Tan says. "If there are two million VoIPusers, you need two million numbers." But gCross uses technology that helps the company save resources so only 200 numbers are needed for four million VoIP users.

Both services use SmartMap, a technology that GlobalRoam has filed a patent for. SmartMap was developed by professors at the National University of Singapore (NUS) and is based on mapping algorithms. "The professors provided the algorithms and we commercialised the technology by putting up applications," says Mr Tan, who has an MBA from NUS.

For full press release, click here

About GlobalRoam Group LimitedGlobalRoam Group Limited is a group of companies which provides innovative infocomm services. The Group's objective is to connect people across diverse media, transcending barriers created by technology across different platforms. With its patent-pending technology, this includes bridging the mobile world to the online world, at convenience and cost savings to end-users. GlobalRoam collaborates with Telecommunication companies and service providers in reaching out to new markets. GlobalRoam is headquartered in Singapore with data centers in Singapore and US. GlobalRoam is the first OTC-quoted company in Singapore. For more details, visit www.globalroam.com.

ASOCIO APICTA is here!

2007-11-13T16:50:00.000+08:00

View Upload your own

Download event programme

SiTF is hosting the regional Asian-Oceanian Computing Industry Organisation (ASOCIO) ICT Summit and the Asia Pacific ICT Alliance (APICTA) Awards. This is the first time in history that these two events are being held together.

On 28 November 2007, Dr. Vivian Balakrishnan is the guest of honour and will be giving a ministerial address during the ASOCIO ICT Summit. Be the first to hear on what the Minister has to say. IDA will be updating on the progress made on the progress made on the IN2015 master-plan. In addition, Japan, Korea and Malaysia will share their ICT opportunities and future plans. More than 200 delegates are expected to attend the ASOCIO ICT Summit, including regional delegates. No other forum where you will get such a mix of audience and speakers.

The networking opportunities are immense. There will be senior infocomm managers (buyers and sellers), venture capitalists and top government officers. We expect about 500 delegates to attend the various ASOCIO and APICTA events. Part of the program includes the business matching birds-of-a-feather session. This event is open to all, complimentary of SiTF. You will get to listen to exciting presentations throughout the afternoon and view exhibits of not only local companies, but from the region as well.

Please visit: www.sitf.org.sg/singapore2007 and click on the ASOCIO icon for more information and online registration.

Join us @ Sitex 2007 - your digital playground

2007-11-13T09:32:00.000+08:00

Come join us @ Sitex 2007 - your digital playground!!!

Date: 29 November 07 - 2 December 07
Time: 11am - 9pm daily
Venue: Singapore Expo Hall 5-6

FREE ADMISSION!!!

Lucky Draw

For every $100 spent at the show, you'll be entitled to 1 lucky draw entry. Multiple entries will be generated based on how much you've spent (up to a maximum of 20 entries per customer). For example, S$500 gets you 5 entries. Proceed to SITEX 2007 Lucky Draw Area for redemption of lucky draw coupons.

1st Prize: Pioneer 50" HD Plasma TV, $8,299.00
2nd Prize: Pioneer Home Theatre, $6,093.00
3rd Prize: POS Corporate Software, $5,000.00
4th Prize: DAUF Navigation System AUF 6800, $2,600.00
5th Prize: Packard Bell EasyNote MV85-002, $2,298.00
6th Prize: Packard Bell EasyNote GN45-019, $1,798.00
7th Prize: Compaq Presairo F576AU Notebook PC, $1,099.00
8-9th Prize: Packard Bell Compasseo 600, $788.00
10-12th Prize: Packard Bell Compasseo 600 (160+40), $788.00
13th Prize: UTILITY Desktop, $899.00
14th Prize: DAUF Portable GPS Navigation, $700.00
15th Prize: X-BOX 360 Model, $699.00

Plus, loads of awesome prizes including Free Edvan Multi-Media Speaker System, IT magazine subcription, Besta Electronic Dictionary, Pioneer HDMI DVD Player and Aztech Helex RC Helicopter!

With such attractive prizes, what are you waiting for? Mark it down on your calendar, "29 Nov 07 - 2 Dec 07: Sitex 2007!!!"
For more inforation, visit http://www.sitex.com.sg/

Infocomm Singapore explores opportunities in Central and Eastern Europe

2007-11-09T14:19:00.000+08:00

Mr Pek, Chairman of SiTF, standing right of PM Lee Hsien Loong during a group photograph

The Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA), together with the Singapore Business Federation, led a business delegation to Hungary and Poland last month as part of efforts to help local infocomm companies explore e-government opportunities in Central and Eastern Europe. The business trip took place in conjunction with Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s official visit to Hungary on 8-10 October 2007.

Members of the infocomm delegation included CrimsonLogic, Singapore Technologies Electronics, Stratech Systems and the Singapore Infocomm Technology Federation.

Commenting on the infocomm opportunities in the two countries, Ms Tham Ai Chyn, Assistant Chief Executive, Industry and Cluster Development, IDA, noted that Poland and Hungary had joined the European Union (EU) in 2004 and were aligning themselves to the EU’s i2010, a strategic policy framework which lays out broad policy guidelines for the information society and the media. “In the two country's transition towards a vibrant free market; opportunities exist for Singapore companies, particularly in areas like IT solutions in e-government, intelligent transport systems, hospitality management services and possibly environmental services and logistics, she said.

Hungary is one of Singapore's largest trading partners among the Central European countries and the country’s infocomm and telecommunications (ICT) industry has considerable backing from the government. Last year, the Hungarian government spent some €19.5 million ($40.56 million) on the development of IT. A further investment of €546 million is planned over the next seven years from EU funds.

During last month’s visit, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between ST Electronics and Hungary’s Albacomp Computers Company to jointly pursue and implement infrastructure projects for the public and private sectors in the country. Albacomp is one of the five largest IT companies in Hungary. The MOU was signed in Budapest during the Singapore-Hungary Business Forum, witnessed by Prime Minister Lee and Hungary's Minister of Economy and Transport, Mr Janos Koka. As a start, both companies have identified and agreed to pursue two public projects in the areas of mass transit and e-Government, and are expecting potential market opportunities in these areas with value worth more than US$100m in the near term. The Singapore delegation also visited Poland, where €700 million is planned to be spent on developing IT resources within public administrations offices between 2007 and 2013. Speaking at the Poland-Singapore Business Forum during the visit, Mr. S. Iswaran, Minister of State for the Singapore Ministry of Trade and Industry, said he saw great scope for cooperation in ICT, especially in the e-Government space. “Poland is the largest ICT market in Central and Eastern Europe, and its ICT industry contributed a significant 5.5 per cent to GDP in 2005.Prospects for the Polish ICT industry remain bright due to fresh demand, especially in e-Government,” he said.

“The trip to Europe is really interesting for me both as a Siemens staff, and also as the Chairman of SiTF. The projects that are available there are typically huge by Singapore standards. With the EU backing in terms of funding and policies, our companies can replicate a solution to the EU countries with some minor changes, but again there is tremendous synergy. What is key to success is that of determination, and stamina. Our members should understand that the countries are much bigger compared to Singapore which is a city, state, and country at the same time. Contrast this to the European countries, you will realise that the customer knowledge network increases exponentially. However, if we can navigate this like some of our other companies, there is a tremendous pot of gold for us. I do hope that we have more companies that are keen to be in Europe, and I wish them all success.”

-Mr Pek Yew Chai
Chairman, SiTF

Looking out for an IT vendor

2007-11-06T12:50:00.000+08:00

Fancy your IT expertise? Be the one to maintain SiTF's own server!

SiTF is looking for an IT vendor to give IT support to the organisation. The job scope would include server maintainence and providing IT support to related issues. Applicants must have substantial knowledge on both hardwares and softwares.

Interested personnel can give us a quote. For more details, please contact jenny at 63259705 or email her at jenny@sitf.org.sg

I Want Windows Mobile for FSI Solutions

2007-11-01T12:40:00.000+08:00

Developing Windows Mobile applications and need a platform to help market your applications to your target audience? Need to train your developers to get up to speed but don't have the budget for the training? Need access to devices for testing but faced with limited budget?

Microsoft and SITF Wireless Chapter has announced the “I Want Windows Mobile for FSI Solutions” programme to help local ISVs to get jumpstarted in this market.

| View | Upload your own

If you qualify, you get:
1. Free 3 days training on Windows Mobile development
2. A free Motorola MC35 Windows Mobile Professional device
3. A loaner Moto Q Windows Mobile 6 Standard device for testing

Developer Learning Solutions has been appointed the training partner for this programme. Check out the course info here.

Read with FlipViewer®!

2007-10-31T09:36:00.000+08:00

Check this out! If Adobe makes documents look like paper on the computer, FlipViewer makes documents look like a magazine on the computer!

Flips like a book!

E-Book Systems' Digital Flip® solutions turn printed publications into a digital, multimedia-enhanced 3-D page-flipping format for both online and offline distributions. The company can convert any PDF, HTML, Flash and Word files into its patented online page-flipping format. The publications can remain online after they are downloaded, which allows readers to click on page links and advertisements. The Digital Flip® technology can incorporate a variety of multimedia elements, like MID, WAV and MP3 files, to enhance the publication. E-Book Systems' Digital Rights Management (DRM) solution safeguards content providers' intellectual properties.

Get Started @ www.flipviewer.com

About E-Book Systems

E-Book Systems (www.flipviewer.com) was founded in 1998 with a mission to bring the natural look and feel of the paper-based book into the domain of consumer products, computers and the Internet. E-Book Systems' products make use of its patented Digital Flip® technology to deliver multimedia content such as digital photographs, animations, text, audio and music via a 3-D Page-Flipping interface, which appears as a virtual book. These contents could be streamed or delivered online and offline through E-Book Systems' OpenFlip(TM) format. E-Book Systems also offers Digital Rights Management, FlipBook tracking ASP services and Flip Enterprise solutions for publishers and corporations. E-Book Systems, a private corporation, has offices in Santa Clara, Calif., Beijing, China and Singapore. Investors include Creative Technology Ltd and SOFTBANK Media & Marketing Corporation, a subsidiary of SOFTBANK Corp. E-Book Systems' products are distributed worldwide, including the U.S., Europe, Japan and Asia Pacific Region. For more information, contact Lauren Kinzler of Dittoe PR at (317) 202-2280 or call E-Book Systems at (408) 625-8000, e-mail at info@ebooksys.com.

::Members News - Global Roam::

2007-10-26T14:46:00.000+08:00

GlobalRoam Group Limited proudly announces that it is the technology provider for StarHub’s Advanced Multimedia Services’ new pfingoTALK myGlobal Number Private service which enables pfingoTALK users to manage their calls easily and cost-effectively. GlobalRoam’s patent-pending SmartMap is the revolutionary technology that powers pfingoTALK myGlobal Number Private.

Users can obtain a US, UK or Australia phone number and allow up to three contacts per country to reach them through pfingoTALK. The callers pay their respective local calling rates when they dial the myGlobal Number Private, avoiding hefty IDD charges. >>more

GlobalRoam Group Limited has also entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with China Unicom NewSpace, a fully-owned subsidiary under China Unicom, one of the largest mobile telecommunication operators in China with over 150 Million subscribers to launch cMask® service. The initial launch of cMask® will take place in 3 to 4 cities by mid 2008. Powered by GlobalRoam Group Ltd, cMask® is a 2-way anonymous mobile communication service that enables the subscribers of China Unicom to chat via voice and SMS on their mobile phones without revealing their real mobile phone numbers. >>more

About GlobalRoam Group Limited
GlobalRoam Group Limited is a group of companies which provides innovative infocomm services. The Group's objective is to connect people across diverse media, transcending barriers created by technology across different platforms. With its patent-pending technology, this includes bridging the mobile world to the online world, at convenience and cost savings to end-users. GlobalRoam collaborates with Telecommunication companies and service providers in reaching out to new markets. GlobalRoam is headquartered in Singapore with data centers in Singapore and US. GlobalRoam is the first OTC-quoted company in Singapore. For more details, visit www.globalroam.com.

ICT Infrastructure Projects In Hungary

2007-10-18T22:38:00.000+08:00

Signed agreement - A win-win situation

Singapore Technologies Electronics Limited (ST Electronics) and Albacomp Computers Company (Albacomp) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to jointly pursue and implement ICT (Information Communication Technologies) -based infrastructure projects for the public and private sectors in Hungary. Albacomp is amongst the five largest IT companies in Hungary and is based in Székesfehérvár, 60km from Budapest. Witnessed by Singapore’s Prime Minister, Mr Lee Hsien Loong and Hungary’s Minister of Economy & Transport, Mr Janos Koka, the MOU was signed in Budapest during the Singapore-Hungary Business Forum, organised as part of PM Lee Hsien Loong's official visit to Hungary. ST Electronics is the electronics arm of Singapore Technologies Engineering Ltd (ST Engineering).

As a start, both companies have identified and agreed to pursue two public projects in Hungary, in mass transit applications and in e-Government solutions. The companies expect potential market opportunities worth more than US$100m in the near term.

“ST Electronics has built up a solid track record in offering innovative ICT solutions in Singapore and the Asia-Pacific region, Gulf States, Kazakhstan and Africa. In the area of transportation systems, we have secured a total of about US$1b worth of contracts, and have in May this year added a US$83m (S$123m) contract in Turkey for a mass transit project. Our strategy is to work with strong partners, and hence, we are delighted to work with Albacomp to develop more business opportunities in Hungary. Through this partnership, we also aim to gain a strong foothold in Central and Eastern Europe.”

~ SEAH Moon Ming, President, ST Electronics

APICTA Singapore Send-off Party 2007

2007-10-12T16:12:00.000+08:00

On the 10 October 2007, results for the Asia Pacific Infocomm Technology Alliance (APICTA) Singapore 2007 were announced at the NTU Alumni Clubhouse.

Held for the first time this year in Singapore, the 7th APICTA Awards, organised by the Singapore infocomm Technology Federation (SiTF), will provide a platform for innovators and entrepreneurs in the ICT sectors to benchmark their products against those from other member economies. This year, APICTA Singapore 2007 received a record 70 nominations from 15 categories. 44 shortlisted products/applications from 39 companies/institutions will stand a chance to be part of Team Singapore, representing Singapore in the Regional APICTA 2007 Awards to be held here from 26-29 November 2007. Some of the other 16 participating member economies include Australia, China, Hong Kong, India and Korea.

Welcome Speech by APICTA Chairman - Mr Goh Chin Teck

Welcome Speech

The session started with a welcome speech by APICTA Chairman, Mr Goh Chin Teck, who expressed his thanks to all participants for sending in their nominations and spoke of his high hopes for APICTA Team Singapore to scale new heights. Team Singapore achieved 3 winners and 1 merit in APICTA 2006. However, with record nominations and “home ground” advantage this year, Mr Goh hopes that Team Singapore will be able to outshine the achievements last year.

Panel of judges (from left to right) -

Mr Lee Ban Cheong, Prof Steven Miller, Prof Daniel Tan,

Dr Robert De Souza, Mr Alex Lin

Judges Feedback

Following the welcome speech, judges of APICTA Singapore were invited on stage to give their guidance and feedback on the participants. These useful feedback include clarity in message, visual representation and the mentality to win. The judges were also impressed by the students’ presentations in terms of their understanding from subject concern and their ability to break down complex ideas into simple ideas through a narration.

"Who wants to win APICTA 2007?" - Ms Deborah

Presentation skills

The participants were then given a short presentation by Ms Deborah Torres Patel, an extremely lively presenter. Ms Deborah re-emphasized the importance of the winning mentality in her presentation.

Award Winners

APICTA Singapore 07 Trophies

Masters of IT Innovation

Category Winners:

Applications And Infrastructure Tools - Elixir Technology Pte Ltd
Communications Applications - Innoxius Technologies
Education & Training - Nanyang Technological University
E-government & Services - Central Provident Fund Board
E-Logistics - Transmex Systems
Financial Applications - Protege Software Pte Ltd
General Applications - Tagit Pte Ltd
Industrial Applications - Anacle Systems Pte Ltd
Media and Entertainment - Innoxius Technologies
Research & Development - Clearhub Pte Ltd
Secondary School Project - Hwa Chong Institution
Security - Data Security Systems Solutions Pte Ltd
Start-Up - Ohanae Pte Ltd
Tertiary Student Project - Singapore Polytechnic
Tourism and Hospitality - ST Electronics (Info-Comm Systems) Pte Ltd

For complete list of Team Singapore nominees: click here

For more photographs: click here to view gallery

http://picasaweb.google.com/sitf.sg/APICTATeamSingaporeSendOffPartyNTUAlumniClubhouse

DMC Social Dinner & Gaming with Halo 3 - 11 Oct 07

2007-10-12T15:21:00.000+08:00

Mr Chewy Chong showing

the coolest technology

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Digital Media Chapter (DMC) had a social dinner at Microsoft Singapore on 11 Oct 07. XBO360s were also wired up for members to let their hair down with the latest gaming experience – Halo 3.

Microsoft host

The host for the evening was Mr Chewy Chong, developer evangelist of Microsoft Singapore Pte Ltd. Mr Chong played a good host, showing off the coolest gadgets and technology available in the Microsoft Innovation Centre. Meanwhile, some other members tried out Halo 3 – a first person shooting game revolving a storyline about fighting aliens. The evening ended with dinner and a little casual chat among participants.

Below are some pictures from the evening.

Let the gaming begin!

"I'm going to beat you down!"

For more pictures, be sure to check out our photo gallery!

DMC Social Dinner with Halo 3

Public Seminar - Scaling the summit for infocomm industry - Jointly organised by SiTF with SBF

2007-10-12T03:54:00.000+08:00

Scaling the infocomm summit - SBF

This event is a partnership between SBF and SiTF to highlight new IT initiatives and innovative IT solutions for the Information Communication Technology (ICT) industry. Targeted at both IT companies as well as end users of IT solutions, the event will give the latest updates on the Infocomm Singapore Initiative as well as Singapore Infocomm Industry Portal, two initiatives under the Intelligent Nation 2015 (iN2015) Masterplan to enhance the branding of Singapore IT companies and to provide them with a marketing platform to establish a global presence.

The event will also feature the first of an ongoing series of “birds-of-a-feather” sessions highlighting innovative IT solutions from leading Singapore IT companies who took part in the Asia Pacific Information Communication Technology (ICT) Award (APICTA) in the past years across 16 different domain areas, in this case media and entertainment, security, wireless & communications and general applications. There will be plenty of opportunities for learning, networking, business matching, collaboration and technology & marketplace updates.

The morning session was kick started by Mr. Patrick Chan, Director, Industry Development, SBF who welcomes everyone to the public seminar, jointly organised by SiTF and SBF. After which, the Deputy Director, of Industry Development, IDA, Mr Low Aik Lim gave a welcome address and update on iN2015.

Following which, Mr Ng See Sing, General Manager, Portal City NCS Pte Ltd introduced the features of SIIP and adminstered by infocomm singapore branding intiative by SiTF.

After the morning tea-break and networking session, audience gathered in the room for a more exciting presentations of innovations and solutions.

Past winners of APICTA presented their innovations to the audience, including lively presentations from:
- DigiSafe (ST electronics) - infocomm security provider
Digi presented on their new product - DiskCrypt Mobile - World's first encrypting hard drive enclosure with smartcard protection

- Thio Fu Wang, presenting on product 'Radian Trust' from CrisonLogic. Radian Trust is a secured method of protecting health documents, "Your documents are your credibility".
RadianTrust is an end-to-end security service provider specialising in the government, legal, trade and logistics and healthcare sectors. Our experienced security consultants have the expertise to help you balance your business needs and security risks through proven processes and methodologies.

- Darius Cheng, from Wave Secure (Founder and CEO of tencube)

By Chai Pei Shan

Up Close and Personal with SiTF 2nd Vice Chairman 2007/08 - Dr. Chong Yoke Sin

2007-10-11T23:07:00.000+08:00

“I firmly believe that SiTF deserves to be the voice of the IT industry.
As such, my interests in SiTF are about helping our companies establish ourselves firmly in the Singapore and global space, by being recognized as a trusted brand.”
– Dr. Chong Yoke Sin.

Hi Dr Chong, please tell us more about yourself.
I am currently the Chief Executive Officer of NCS Group and have been in the IT industry for 25 years. I started my career as a chemist before I dived into IT, starting out as a Systems Engineer. In the span of my career, I have taken on different areas including technical specialist, account management, as well as consulting in the domains of banking and government. I am a firm believer of creativity in everything we do.

During your free time, what do you enjoy doing most? What are your hobbies?
I enjoy reading, listening to music, brisk walking, and perhaps a spot of golf.

Dr Chong, what is your philosophy in life?

“It is better to put more life in your years than years in your life.”

:: On your passion and the spirit of volunteerism ::
My passion is to take NCS Group global and to do my part to help create a vibrant IT industry in Singapore, as well as to learn and grow with my fellow leaders in the industry. I believe in equality and justice for all, and availing opportunities to people who would otherwise not be able to know of them.

On volunteerism, I would like to spend more time with the elderly, and also to give more time to church and social work.

Do share with us more about your interests and involvement with SiTF.
I firmly believe that SiTF deserves to be the voice of the IT industry. As such, my interests in SiTF are about helping our companies establish ourselves firmly in the Singapore and global space, by being recognized as a trusted brand.

I am active in the e-Government chapter that promotes the Singapore quality of Government and systems to the rest of the world. The goal of the e-Government chapter is to make known our companies who have engaged in the various successes of the Singapore Government, to the rest of the world. At the same time, we hope to create business opportunities for Singapore companies overseas.

:: On leadership::

Moving forward, how do you see yourself as the role of the Vice Chaiman and areas of contributions?
I hope to work with our fellow councilors in promoting the cause of SiTF and the Singapore IT quality brand overseas. We are fortunate to have a dedicated team of councilors who readily give of their time and resources for the cause of the SiTF, and a competent Secretariat who looks after the operations of the SiTF.

We have good camaraderie among the Exco and Secretariat, which makes our work even more fun and meaningful.

As a Vice Chairman of SITF, do share with us your vision/aspirations for SiTF in the coming year/and strategic direction for SiTF.
We hope to rope in business associations into the SiTF, create more business opportunities for our members, and add more value to the activities for our members. Hopefully, more organisations will find it meaningful to join the SiTF.

::Profile::

2nd Vice Chairman
Dr Chong Yoke Sin, Chief Executive Officer, NCS Group

Yoke Sin is the chief executive officer of NCS Group. She has played an instrumental role in the rapid growth of NCS. Under her leadership, NCS has achieved seven times growth in revenues and is now the largest IT company in Singapore and No. 10 in the Asia Pacific region.

A well-respected veteran in the IT industry, Yoke Sin is a member of several government computerization project steering committees and is active in several IT and business associations. Amongst other key appointments, she sits on the Boards of the Health Sciences Authority, Women Leadership Board of The Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, and the Institute of Systems Science at the National University of Singapore.

In addition, she is a regular contributor on e-Government issues in The Straits Times and The Business Times (Singapore). She also speaks frequently at regional conferences and has authored several papers on e-Government.

This is the second term that Dr Chong is serving as the esteemed 2^nd Vice-Chairman for SiTF. She is also the current Chairman of the eGov Chapter and 2006/07.

Story by: Chai Pei Shan

:: Press Release :: 44 Teams Emerge Victorious in Singapore League of APICTA Awards 2007

2007-10-11T05:11:00.001+08:00

::Press Release::
44 Teams Emerge Victorious in Singapore League of APICTA Awards 2007

SINGAPORE, October 10, 2007 — The most innovative local Infocomm Technology (ICT) companies that will represent Singapore in this year’s prestigious regional Asia Pacific ICT Alliance (APICTA) Awards, were announced at an awards ceremony today.

Held for the first time this year in Singapore, the 7th APICTA Awards, organised by the Singapore infocomm Technology Federation (SiTF), will provide a platform for innovators and entrepreneurs in the ICT sectors to benchmark their products against those from other member economies. This year’s event is also being held concurrently with the Asia-Oceanian Computing Industry Organization (ASOCIO) ICT Summit, for the first time. ASOCIO.APICTA Singapore will provide an excellent platform for networking and product benchmarking for ICT innovators and entrepreneurs in the region and will also spark off synergy in the areas of technology exchanges, ICT innovation and creativity, trade partnerships and opportunities for the ICT industry.

More than 70 local SMEs/institutions from the ICT sector competed in the Singapore League this year, more than triple the number of companies as last year. The 44 shortlisted companies will stand a chance to be part of Team Singapore, representing Singapore in the Regional APICTA 2007 Awards to be held here from 26-29 November 2007. Some of the other 16 participating member economies include Australia, China, Hong Kong, India and Korea.

The Selection Process

In order to qualify for the APICTA Awards, companies/institutions had to submit products for which the intellectual property rights are owned by a locally registered business or locally-based organization. The submission of entries for the awards closed on July 31, 2007 and teams were qualified for the shortlisting round based on product information that was submitted. Shortlisted products were judged based on a 35-minute presentation to a judging panel held between 4-6 September 2007. The products were evaluated on criteria such as the uniqueness of the product, the market potential, the functionalities and features, quality and application of technology as well as presentation.

Award Winners

Under the “Applications and Infrastructure Tools” category, Elixir Technology walked away with top honours for “Elixir Repertoire”, an application which fully embraces a Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA), making available Business Intelligence capabilities as well Web Services. “Elixir Repertoire” acts as the unifying business intelligence engine to power the new generation of enterprise applications. (Elixir is Red Herring 100 Asia Finalist Awards)

The winner for the “Communications Applications” category was Innoxius Technologies with its "WiFi TV" submission which is likely to be the world's first mass mobile media enabling solution. This solution converges broadcast mobile television over WiFi-networks and enables WiFi-enabled devices to receive the same broadcast mobile television content via the associated wireless access points. (Innoxius Technologies is Red Herring Asia 100 Winner, 2006)

Statutory Boards such as the Central Provident Fund Board also garnered an award in the “E-Community & E-Government” category with “my CPF - Different Strokes for Different Folks”, a proactive customised service framework which enables CPF members to transact electronically and conveniently via multiple electronic platforms such as the internet, biometric e-counters, mobile phones and islandwide kiosks. Aside from SMEs, educational institutions in Singapore were also recognized for their innovative ICT products. Crystal, an easily deployable web application framework developed by Hwa Chong Institution, which is able to support network-based applications on either a single server or geographically distributed servers without any modifications, won in the Secondary Student Project category. For the full list of companies/institutions shortlisted to be part of Team Singapore, please refer to Annex A.

Annex A – Companies/Institutions Shortlisted to Participate in Regional APICTA Awards 2007

1. Category: Applications and Infrastructure Tools

Elixir Technologies (Winner), ST Electronics (Info-Comm Systems) Pte Ltd, Genovate Pte Ltd

2. Category: Communications Applications

Innoxius Technologies (Winner), Eastcom Systems Pte Ltd, Clearhub Pte Ltd

3. Category: Education & Training

Nanyang Technology University (Winner), Temasek Polytechnic, Central Provident Fund

4. Category: E-Community & E-Government

Central Provident Fund (Winner), ST Electronics (Info-Software Systems Pte Ltd), Singapore Computer Systems Limited

5. Category: E-Logistics

Transmex Systems (Winner), Autoscan Technology Pte Ltd, GUI Solutions Pte Ltd

6. Category: Financial Applications

Protégé Software (S) Pte Ltd (Winner), ChainFusion Ltd

7. Category: General Applications

Tagit Pte Ltd (Winner), Cadi Scientific Pte Ltd, Central Provident Fund

8. Category: Industrial Applications

Anacle System Pte Ltd (Winner), Eubiq Pte Ltd, Singapore Health Services

9. Category: Media and Entertainment

Innoxius Technologies Pte Ltd (Winner), G Element Pte Ltd, DataMark Technologies Pte Ltd

10. Category: Research & Development

Clearhub Pte Ltd (Winner), Singapore Health Services, Data Security Systems Solutions Pte Ltd

11. Category: Secondary Student Project

Hwa Chong Institution (Winner), Raffles Institution, Jurong Secondary School

12. Category: Security

Data Security Systems Solutions Pte Ltd (Winner), Radian Trust, SecureAge Technology Pte Ltd

13. Category: Start-Up

Ohanae (Winner), Genometri Pte Ltd, TCM RFiD Pte Ltd

14. Category: Tertiary Student Project

Singapore Polytechnic (Winner), Singapore Institute of Management Pte, Temasek Polytechnic

15. Category: Tourism and Hospitality

ST Electronics (Winner), Hutcabb Consulting Pte Ltd, NCS Pte Ltd

For media enquiries, please contact:
Harpreet Kaur/Jenny Goo
PR Communications Pte Ltd
Tel: (65) 6227 2135
Fax: (65) 6227 3915
E-mail: harpreet@prcomm.com.sg/jenny@prcomm.com.sg

http://picasaweb.google.com/sitf.sg/APICTATeamSingaporeSendOffPartyNTUAlumniClubhouse

Click to see more!

Gear up for Asia Pacific ICT Alliance (APICTA) Awards 2007!

2007-10-10T14:05:00.000+08:00

"Scaling the summit for Singapore infocomm industry "- Morning
Immense in a sumptuous networking lunch and exciting presentations by leading IT companies from past years of APICTA. Download Form

Organised by: SiTF and SBF ; Supported by NCS and IDA.

APICTA 2007 Team Singapore - Send-Off Party - Afternoon
(By Invitation Only)

Celebrate and network with
APICTA 2007 Team Singapore at the Send-Off Party @ NTU Alumni Clubhouse.

On 10 Oct afternoon, the winning teams from Team Singapore will be announced.

This event will see the top 15 teams from Singapore, representing Singapore's best and top innovations, at the prestigious APICTA regional league next month on 26-29 Nov 2007.

~ Stay tuned for the latest !

See post on local league judging >>

Organised by: SiTF ; Supported by NTU, and ITE.

By Chai Pei Shan

Up Close and Personal with SiTF Councilor - Mr Foo Jong Tong

2007-10-09T09:39:00.000+08:00

In this special issue, SiTF interviews our newly elected councilor 2007/08 and second term Chairman of Service-Oriented Chapter (SOAC) -Mr Foo Jong Tong.

"My philosophy in life is to honor my commitments with integrity...
I hope that in my little ways, I can contribute towards making
Singapore a vibrant and internationally recognized infocomm industry."
- Jong Tong.

Jong Tong is the General Manager for ILOG Asia Pacific, based in Singapore. Under his leadership, ILOG successfully expanded its business operations into Australia, China, India, Singapore, and South Korea.
He was instrumental in developing and launching the Overseas Training Attachment Program, a joint initiative with the Economic Development Board (EDB) of Singapore and ILOG headquarters.

Jong Tong giving the opening address at
SiTF-SOA Developer’s Day, NYP.

Jong Tong, please tell us more about yourself.

I joined ILOG in 1995 and is currently the General Manager of ILOG, Asia Pacific. I have been in the IT industry for the last 18 years. (ILOG is a Nasdaq listed company that provide software and services that empower enterprise to make better decision faster and to manage change and complexity)

In 1995 , I started the marketing arm for ILOG Asia Pacific and later years taking charge of the alliances and emerging markets and overall sales for the region. I was involved in a collaborative project with the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore to set up the first Business Rule Management System Centre of Excellence (BRMS CoE) in Asia, based in Singapore.

Philosophy in life

“To honor your commitments with integrity”.

:: Lifestyle :: Jong Tong views on a healthy family life
What are your hobbies and what you do during your free time.

I love to jog, swim and read. I also enjoy the latest electronic gadgets.
As I do travel frequently, during my free time, I would love to spend more time with my family, and my three lovely daughters.

Jong Tong with his family.

Do share with us your interests or involvement with SiTF.

It is my privilege and honor to chair SiTF SOA Chapter. Indeed, it is a fun and rewarding experience on both the personal and professional front. During my time serving as chapter chair, I have the opportunity to work with like minded individuals who have similar passion and commitment to champion the cause of SOA in the IT industry.

I also represented SiTF as Council member for the Singapore Information Technology Standards Committee (ITSC).

Moving forward, how do you see yourself as the role of the councilor, Chairman of SOAC, and working with the SiTF councilors and Secretariat?

As Chairman of SiTF SOA Chapter (SOAC), I work with fellow EXCO members, chapter members and the industry to deliver on SOAC vision and mission. Having SOAC gaining industry recognition and acknowledgement that its indeed made good impact and contributions to the Singapore IT industry, will be a great achievement for the EXCO and myself.

I am delighted to work closely with a deeply committed Secretariat – Ms Erin Wong and Mr Lawrence Lim to steer this cause. Recently, we held a successful event called SOA Developers’ Day at Nanyang Polytechnic. We have about 150 mostly industry participants listening to speakers from BEA, IBM, ILOG, Microsoft, Oracle and Sun and having hands-on lab. (See SOA page , and blog of this recent event of SOA Developers' at NYP)

I hope that in my little ways, I can contribute towards making Singapore a vibrant and internationally recognized Infocomm Industry.

As a councilor of SITF, do share with us your vision/aspirations for SiTF in the coming year.

My aspiration for SiTF is to be the premiere Infocomm club and voice for the
Singapore infocomm industry.

...............................................................................................................

Foo Jong Tong
General Manager, Asia Pacific
ILOG (S) Pte Ltd

Jong Tong is the General Manager for ILOG Asia Pacific, based in

Singapore

.
He joined ILOG in 1995 and started the marketing arm for ILOG Asia Pacific and headed the sales and marketing arms, as well as the alliances and emerging markets in Asia Pacific. Under Jong Tong’s leadership, ILOG successfully expanded its business operations into Australia, China, India, Singapore, and South Korea. He was instrumental in developing and launching the Overseas Training Attachment Program, a joint initiative with the Economic Development Board (EDB) of Singapore and ILOG headquarters. He also set up the first Business Rule Management System Centre of Excellence (BRMS CoE) in Asia, based in

Singapore

, in collaboration with the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA).

With 18 years of experience in the Asia Pacific Information Technology industry, Jong Tong has recently been awarded Entrepreneur of the Year - Sales Year 2006 in an ILOG worldwide event held in Paris. Prior to ILOG, he was in the real-time Command, Control, Communication and Intelligence (C3I) business for commercial and defense, of which two years were spent in Sweden working as a Software Specialist and later Project Leader and Manager for one of largest defense contractors in Europe.

He is currently the elected Chairman of SiTF SOA Chapter and serves as Councilor for SiTF 2006/07 and 2007/08. He represented SiTF as Council member for the Information Technology Standards Committee (ITSC) and is also a senior member (SMSCS) of the Singapore Computer Society.

Jong Tong holds a double degree in Mathematics (Major in Computer Science and Statistics) and Computer Science (Honours) from the University of Newscastle, Australia.

Story by: Chai Pei Shan.

:: Member News :: GRID - First in the world, one phone, one sim card, two networks

2007-10-09T05:13:00.000+08:00

GRID - FIRST IN THE WORLD, ONE PHONE, ONE SIM CARD, TWO NETWORKS
A first in the world – with one single handset, one Dual Profile SIM card, you could access two different networks and 3 different services; GRID’s islandwide walkie-talkie services, GRID mobile services and GSM services.

Business Continuity Planning, alternative communications services for emergency responses – the buzzwords that have been used since September 11, 2001, will finally see some viable solution- one that is developed by GRID Communications Pte Ltd (GRID) in conjuction with SingTel. The requirement is simple: have a single mobile device that is linked to 2 independent communication networks so that the user can switch to the other network when congestion happened during crisis.

The Dual Profile SIM The Dual Profile SIM is a combination of a 2G GSM SIM + iDEN SIM which works on normal GRID phone, GSM phone and the Motorola dual-mode smartphone – i930. The Dual Profile SIM card contains 2 subscriber profiles – a GRID profile on GRID’s network and a GSM profile via SingTel Mobile’s network.

First in the world
See Press Release>>
More about i930

"One of our handset models, i930, which runs on Microsoft's Windows Mobile , using a dual Profile SIM card. This means that a customer can switch between GRID (iDEN Push-to-Talk network) and Singtel (GSM network) using the same SIM card on i930.

GRID is the first iDEN operator to develop the dual Profile SIM card. We are initially, targeting government agencies who require GRID's Push-to-Talk service during their operational events especially during crisis or emergencies. At the same time, they'd like to use GSM network during normal situations." - Mohamad Taha B. Osman Manager, Wireless Data Business Development GRID Communications Pte Ltd

Find out more about GRID at http://www.grid.net.sg/

Up Close and Personal with SiTF Councilor - Mr Ng Tian Beng

2007-10-08T00:05:00.000+08:00

This is the first of the mini-interview series where we interview our SiTF Councilors.
These exclusive interviews will also be featured on our eNews in the forthcoming weeks.

This year, in line with our 'Connect and Engage' theme, we hope YOU - our valued readers, know more about the people in SiTF - our SiTF Councilors, and the Secretariat.

.................

Up Close and Personal with SiTF Councilors

In this special edition, SiTF (Peishan) interviews our newly elected councilor 2007/08 -
Mr Ng Tian Beng, Dell Global B.V. (Singapore branch).

Hi Tian Beng, please tell us more yourself (your work or your personal life)

Tian Beng: I am currently Dell’s General Manager for ASEAN, Emerging countries (Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh) and Taiwan, with responsibility for all businesses (small, medium to large) and government customers in this region. As I need to travel frequently within this diverse group of markets, I put in extra effort to strike a balance between my family and work.

I am married to my lovely wife (Karyn), and have three young kids (Brennan 6, Kaelyn 5 and Kristen 3).

Tian Beng with family.

Enjoying sports and activities as family bonding
Tian Beng: During my free time, I enjoy watching sports such as EPL football, golf, F1 and tennis. I also work out regularly in the gym, run, swim and the enjoy the occasional golf session (for having always been on the "heavy" side when I was young).

As part of our family bonding, I also make efforts to get my family involved and spend more time together in outdoors activities.

Besides sports and exercising, part of our family bonding routine also involves reading, watching movies, going to playgrounds and cycling. We also make a point to take several family vacations a year to countries in the region.

I believe you and your family have a wonderful time together every week :)

Do share with us more your interests and involvement with SiTF.

Tian Beng: I have been a member of SiTF for the past several years and have actively attended its activities such as the regular networking sessions, SITEX, golf events and the recent SiTF’s 25^th Anniversary dinner. I have found these events to be beneficial and well-organized, and have helped me expanded my circle of business network tremendously while making more friends in the process. These reasons have attracted me to contribute further as a councilor.

With our recent AGM over, we saw a new Board of Council for 2007/08.
Moving forward, how do you see yourself as the role of the councilor and
working with the SiTF councilors and Secretariat? As a (new) councilor of SITF, do share with us your vision/aspirations for SiTF in the coming year.

Tian Beng: I am very excited to join the SiTF team of councilors and look forward to working closely with them. In my new role as councilor, I hope to leverage on my experience and knowledge of the industry to bring additional insights to the organization. SiTF has played a significant role in the Singapore Infocomm industry, and my aspiration for the coming year will be for SiTF to achieve its objectives in business development, networking, alliances, market intelligence and trade missions thus further strengthening its position locally and regionally.

......................

Thank you Tian Beng, for taking the time for this interview.
We wish you have a fruitful year ahead with SiTF!
Once again, Congratulations on your election.
......................

See SiTF Board of Councilor>>

Ng Tian Beng, General Manager,
ASEAN & Taiwan Dell Global B.V. (Singapore branch)

Tian Beng is the Dell ASEAN & Taiwan General Manager with responsibility for the ASEAN group of countries, Taiwan and developing countries such as Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. In this role, he has overall responsibility for all commercial accounts (from small medium business to large corporate), global accounts and government.

He started his career at Dell in 1998 as a business analyst and rose through the ranks to his present position. He was previously the General Manager for Dell in Singapore and Brunei, where he had responsibility for sales and marketing in both these countries. He has also held the position of the Director of Enterprise for Dell South Asia, with responsibility for the sales and marketing of Dell servers, storage and switches for the ASEAN group of countries, Taiwan and India. His other notable achievement at Dell includes being the Director of Global Customer Program Asia Pacific Japan, where he was responsible for Dell's global customers in Asia Pacific & Japan.

Prior to Dell, Tian Beng was with Sony Electronics Devices where he was responsible for the sales of Sony computer peripherals to both OEMs and distribution channels in Asia Pacific and the Middle East.

Tian Beng is a native of Singapore and has an Undergraduate Degree in Marketing from Santa Clara University, USA. Tian Beng also has an MBA in Marketing from University of Western Australia.

Story by: Chai Pei Shan

"POPOUT '07' - Emerging Web Startups - organised by TDM

2007-10-05T17:26:00.000+08:00

Yesterday, I attended POPOUT at Suntec Convention Centre, Ballroom - organised by the passionate and energetic team from - The Digital Movement (TDM).

Titled, POPOUT! '07 - 'Emerging Web Startups', the event was a big effort to engage the community, students, technopreneur, venture capitalist and startups interested in the web 2.0 sphere.

The exciting sharing session include: Bezurk (Ross), demos by Quaffs (Eric), ZopIM (Low Junliang) and BookJetty (Herry) and Recruit.net (online jobs portal vertical search engine). There were also live blogging by TDM peeps (Live blogging on POPOUT )and Bernard Leong (see SG Entrepreneurs post).

Met up with TDM peeps - friendly Suyuen, and Ryan, and saw the lively emcee Estee, Wayne bouncing around and chatting with the crowd. You can find them on Facebook - TDM group on Facebook to participate in their latest events and happenings.

Others were also there for support and spotted among the crowd were MDA - Shannon Low, IDA personnels - Lucas, and e27 - Bjorn Lee and Justin Lee, among other NUS-NOC alumni peeps, and Mr Phey Teck Moh.

This event was also graced by the presence of Gen Kenai of Mozilla (Japan), who later commented about the enterpreneurial projects and applaud the lively presentations by all the teams.

Booths were set up - iJAM (MDA intiative that award grants for digital media related projects, up to 50K) and side demos include:
Momode.com (guests were given a blue tee :) ) - develops mobile apps
Comiqs.com
Tyler Projects - Mobileweapon.net
I chatted with the team who created Singapore's first Facebook MMOG - Battle Station, based on our popular game series, Mobile Weapon (www.mobileweapon.net).

Without a doubt, the crowd stealer was the founder and web development, Mr Herry Herryanto 'lone ranger' of BookJetty.com.

Cheers and loud applauses after Herry's presentation~! Indeed, admirable and very impressive efforts by the sole web developer to create the portal. Personally, the most useful feature was the sms book details, and live status of book availability from NLB. The portal also allows search from 500 libraries worldwide.

KUDOs to the TDM for this energising and successful "un-conferenced" ala TDM style event!

TDM-POPout click to see more!

Story and photos by: Chai Pei Shan

* About The Digital Movement (TDM)
The TDM is a young organization seeking to build up a global community of young leaders in web 2.0 and social media. Since 2006, TDM have been carrying out a series of activities that has been focused on bonding the web 2.0 and social community locally, and connecting to overseas experts around the world.

Past events include: Nexus 2007, the first major Web 2.0 conference in SEA with 600 attendees; Blogout, a gathering of the best technology bloggers, and collaborated with SiTF as New Media Partners in iX Conference, the largest technology conference in SEA.

Read about SiTF- iX Conference 2007 ' Convergence, Collaboration & Creativity'>>

Infocomm Singapore Brand - update

2007-10-02T17:35:00.000+08:00

Update on Infocomm Singapore Brand

Briefing on Infocomm Singapore Brand - 29 August 2007

See more at SiTF Infocomm Singapore website here

Singapore infocomm industry portal (SIIP) link

Video - Infocomm Singapore - "Innovations in Action"

This is the full-length promo video commissioned by Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore, as part of the marketing to promote what seems to be the first-ever Infocomm industry brand in the world.Inventive, Invaluable and Imaginative infocomm solutions, built by Singapore infocomm companies.

Updates by Chai Pei Shan

ASOCIO ICT Summit 2007, Singapore @ 26-28 Nov 2007 - Book your spot today!

2007-10-01T12:28:00.000+08:00

ASOCIO ICT Summit 2007, Singapore @ 26-28 Nov 2007

"Powering the Engine of Growth in Asia through Entrepreneurship & Innovation"

Listen to key insights on the regional ICT masterplans.
Explore the immense business and networking opportunities by
joining your peers at this premier event in Singapore.

Book your spot today!

view e-flyer

SEE here for details

This is another premier event brought to you by Singapore infocomm Technology Federation (SiTF). It is a regional platform for both ICT business and government people to explore new business opportunities as well as listen to key insights on the regional ICT masterplans.
More than 250 attendees (about 100 overseas delegates) from both the industry and government are expected to attend the Summit.

For details, log on to www.asocio.org/2007
For registration, go to www.asocio.org/2007/Registration.htm

Programme:

........................................................................................................................................................

:: About ASOCIO ::
Since its establishment in 1984 in Tokyo, Japan, Asian-Oceanian Computing Industry Organization (ASOCIO) has dedicated itself to promoting, encouraging and fostering relationships, while promoting trade among its member organisations. As a federation of computing industry associations from the Asian-Oceanian region, ASOCIO's overriding objective is to develop the ICT industry in the region. ASOCIO has been instrumental in linking up ICT companies in its member economies.

SiTF V-day 2007 - new photos!

2007-09-30T12:46:00.000+08:00

Mr Barney Lau, and Ms Tan Yen Yen welcoming GOH, Dr. Vivian (foreground)
Ms Shirley Wong (background)

Breakfast and networking with Minister
(Mr Eddie Chau chatting with Dr. Vivian - Foreground)
(Chairman Mr Pek Yew Chai, organising chairperson of V-day, Ms Tan Yen Yen and Mrs Tan Chee Koon, CEO of National Volunteer & Philanthropy Centre - Background)

Chairman, Mr Pek Yew Chai with GOH.

Guest-of-Honor - Dr. Vivian with opening address

Message from organising chairperson, Ms Tan Yen Yen

Dr. Vivian giving token of appreciation to the
organising chairperson of V-day, Ms Tan Yen Yen

Group photo of corporate sponsors with GOH on stage

Candid moment!

SiTF Secretariat with GOH

SiTF- V-day Click for more>>

Read about the story here!

President's challenge 2007 - 'helping hand'

Story by Chai Pei Shan

SiTF 26th Annual General Meeting (AGM) @NTU Alumni Club

2007-09-28T02:55:00.001+08:00

AGM click to view more

Dear Councillors,
Thank you for all your support,
dedication and leadership in steering SiTF.

Congratulations to the incoming SiTF Council 2007/08!

SiTF held our 26th Annual General Meeting (AGM) and Annual Chapter Meeting (ACM) at NTU Alumni Clubhouse on 21 Sep. The newly elected SiTF Councilors for 2007/08 have pledged their support and volunteered to serve for SiTF for the new term.

Chairman update about 2006/07 events

1st Vice-Chairman, Seah Chin Siong (left) and
2nd Vice-Chairman, and Chairman of eGov, Chong Yoke Sin (right)

audience at AGM

Chong Yoke Sin (left) Hon. Treasurer, Lim Seng Kong (middle) and Hon. Secretary, Phey Teck Moh (right)

ED of SiTF, Ho Se Mun (left)

Stephen Lim, immediate past-chairman

More NEWS and interviews with our new Councillors, stay tuned!

read about SiTF 25th Anniversary gala dinner here

Photographer: Billy Soh.

Story by: Chai Pei Shan

Ho Semun (ED) represented SiTF as speaker at Motorola’s Singapore Women’s Business Council

2007-09-28T02:22:00.001+08:00

SWBC Motorola - 26 Sep

26 Sep | Seminar organised by
Motorola’s Singapore Women’s Business Council(SWBC)

Story by: Chai Pei Shan

"The Future of Telecommunications –
Mobile & Internet Convergence Seminar Telecommunications trends in Singapore"

Semun ( middle) with facilitator and Vicky Brandy - Singtel (left)

Semun gives a brief presentation of SiTF to audience

* 3 distinguished speakers - SiTF, Singtel and Yahoo!

Ms Ho Se Mun, Executive Director, Singapore infocomm Technology Federation (SiTF)

Semun represented SiTF at a seminar organised by Motorola’s

Singapore

Women’s Business Council(SWBC) to talk about telecommunication trends and convergence in Singapore.

:: Synopsis:: How will technology impact the way we communicate and market in Singapore? Also learn about how SiTF is shaping the information and communication technology industry in Singapore. (Website: http://www.sitf.org.sg

Semun introduces to SiTF to the audience (majority are engineers, with a handful of marketing and biz developement) SiTF vision, our chapters and key intiatives. She also shares about development and trends of infocomm industry in Singapore.

She then talks about "Pro-Sumer" in this video on Media Revolution. The video is on convergence of traditional and new media forms, the consumption of content vs producers of media/rich-media content.

During the lunch cum sharing session, she shares her views on :

- tips on managing career in the telecommunications

-challenges of females in telecommunications

- How can we succeed with work life balance in the increasingly converged world?

Ms Vicki Brady, VP, Consumer Marketing, Consumer Group

Convergence in the telecommunications industry

Mr Gavin A. Hall, Product Manager of Yahoo!

Discusses about mobile internet. A rundown on the mobile landscape with the different types of mobile users, and how different application can address their needs. Yahoo! Will be showing examples of work done through wap, sms and mobile clients installed in handphones.

details - http://compass.mot.com/go/swbc

Members News - Sep

2007-09-15T15:49:00.000+08:00

Telesto Broadcast Solutions provides broadcast infrastructure and
"state-of-the-art" world class digital studios for Virgin Radio (Thailand)

The latest part of the growing international radio franchise, Virgin Radio Thailand is now with an advanced studio network provided by Singapore’s Telesto Broadcast Solutions. The completion of a major broadcast infrastructure development for Virgin Bec-Tero in Bangkok Thailand was a major milestone for Telesto Broadcast Solutions. The project started life in 2004 as little more than a sketch of the basic studio layout and brief from the client to have the best constructed, finished and technically advanced studios in the region.

"Virgin Radio Thailand invested a great deal of capital in this venture and the completed studios far exceeded our expectations. This is mainly due to the professionalism of Telesto Broadcast Solutions, who installed and designed the electronic component. With Telesto's input, Virgin now has "state-of-the-art" world class digital studios. To say that it is the best broadcasting complex in Asia, would be an understatement." - Lindsay Muggridge, Chief Engineer

Read more about the story >>

View press release

SiTF eLearning - "Games for Corporate Learning" by Marc Prensky

2007-09-13T05:17:00.000+08:00

SiTF eLearning - GAMES FOR CORPORATE LEARNING!

Bottoms-Up: “Use Me or Lose Me" Deriving Maximum Value
from Today’s Younger Workers.

Speaker - Mr Marc Prensky
Venue: NUSSU Suntec Guild House

:: About Marc Prensky::
Profile: www.marcprensky.com
company: www.games2train.com

On 10 September, SiTF eLearning Chapter organised a half-day session with Mr Marc Prensky, Founder & CEO of Games2train to share insights about games for corporate training. He share his experiences and tips about designing games and interactivity components to incite excitement for end-users. His personal rule on developing successful games is - Iteration.

He introduces communications style and forms in the digital era - virtual world interactions, leadership, effective interpersonal communicatiog - using gaming or new media elements for training. Marc also engaged the audience with many case examples and interesting sound and visuals to liven up his presentation.

Indeed, it was meaningful and interactive session for all.

The event was held at NUSSU Suntec guild house and attracted about 60 participants, from the banking and finance and IT sector.

Marc Prensky is an internationally acclaimed speaker, writer, consultant, and designer in the critical areas of education and learning. He is the author of Digital Game-Based Learning (McGraw-Hill, 2001), the founder and CEO of Games2train (whose clients include IBM, Nokia, Pfizer, the US Department of Defense and the LA and Florida Virtual Schools) and creator of the sites www.dodgamecommunity.com and www.socialimpactgames.com .

Marc has created over 50 software games for learning, including the world's first fast-action videogame-based training tools and world-wide, multi-player, multi-team on-line competitions. He has also taught at all levels. Marc has been featured in articles in The NY Times and The Wall Street Journal, has appeared on CNN, MSNBC, PBS, and the BBC, and was named as one of training's top 10 "visionaries" by Training magazine. He holds graduate degrees from Yale (Teaching) and Harvard (MBA).

Marc starts by asking workshop participants to write down
what they hope tolearn from this session.

Marc introducing the term - 'Digital Natives' to audience and talks about social networks.
He gives examples of the innovation in communications during the digital era.

Theresa Tan, from ICUS (eLearning Exco - Treasurer)

participants networking during tea break

(left - Chairman of eLearning,Tay Chor Ter, HP)

An engrossed audience

eLearning - Marc Prensky
click to view pics

eflyer link

Story and photos by: Chai Pei Shan

APICTA 2007 Local League Judging - 4-6 Sep@NTU Alumni Clubhouse One-North

2007-09-11T20:27:00.000+08:00

APICTA Local League judging
Click to browse gallery!

The APICTA Awards 2007 Local League Judging was held over 3 days from
4-6 Sep@ NTU Alumni Clubhouse, One-North.

Thank you all teams for your exciting presentations and zealous responses!

15 teams (one from each catagory) will be selected to represent Team Singapore at the prestigious APICTA Awards 2007, happening on 26-29 Nov 2007 in Singapore!

This year, an overwhelming response of 72 nominations were received,see listing of teams >>

Under the 'Education and Training' category, one of the nominations was 'Exoro' - an enterpreneurial board game. Local entrepreneur and CEO of Exoro Pte Ltd, Mr. Alvin Sim, has come up with a unique board game that encourages entrepreneurship, targetted at schools. Just as Rich Dad, Poor Dad Robert Kiyosaki’s Cashflow 101 game teaches the important concept of cash flow, ExoroGame simulates realistic business elements and real-life company scenarios in a strongly interactive and educational format.

Media and Entertainment catagory also saw http://www.earthsg.com/, a geo-mashed up portal and community. A portal that "where you can mark, map and marsh anything that you know, like or dislike about Singapore."
You can even view 3D Singapore F1 Route on Google Earth!

Havn't heard?

The distinguished APICTA
Awards 2007 is hosted in
Singapore for the first time!
Details here

26-29 Nov International APICTA Awards 2007, Singapore website

The distinguished Asia Pacific ICT Alliance (APICTA) Awards is an international award that intends to increase ICT awareness and promotes ICT innovations within respective member economies. This award and its auxiliary activities provide an excellent platform for networking, increasing awareness and product benchmarking to ICT innovators and entrepreneurs in the region.

Winners of the respective APICTA Local League Awards will represent their own countries to compete at the international APICTA Awards which is hosted annually in one of the APICTA member economies.

Singapore is proud to be the host country and organiser of the 7th international APICTA Awards.

View programme

26-28 Nov ASOCIO ICT Summit 2007 website
Singapore, Raffles City Convention Centre

"Powering the Engine of Growth in Asia through Entrepreneurship & Innovation"

View programme>>

This is another premier event brought to you by Singapore infocomm Technology Federation (SiTF) . It is a regional platform for both ICT business and government people to explore new business opportunities as well as listen to key insights on the regional ICT masterplans.

More than 250 attendees (about 100 overseas delegates) from both the industry and government are expected to attend the Summit.

ASOCIO.APICTA SINGAPORE 2007 website
For the first time in history, Singapore will play host to both the ASOCIO ICT Summit and the 7th international APICTA Awards from 26–29 November 2007. Held concurrently for the first time, the combined events will spark off synergy in the areas of technology exchanges, ICT innovation and creativity, trade partnerships and opportunities for the ICT industry. ASOCIO.APICTA SINGAPORE 2007 marks an important milestone for Singapore’s ICT industry as both ASOCIO ICT Summit and APICTA Awards are widely regarded as one of the prestigious ICT events in the Asia Pacific region.

UPDATES!!
The winning teams from Team Singapore will be announced on 10 Oct 2007 APICTA Send-off party for Team Singapore.
http://s3.amazonaws.com/slideshare/ssplayer.swf?id=124288&ampdoc=apicta-sendoff-prog-10oct4243" width="425" height="348">http://s3.amazonaws.com/slideshare/ssplayer.swf?id=124288&ampdoc=apicta-sendoff-prog-10oct4243" />

Concurrently, we have an event on the same day -‘Scaling the summit for Singapore Infocomm Industry’@SBF where we showcase past APICTA presentations of the best and innovative solutions. This event is jointly organised by SiTF and SBF- download programme&form

By Chai Pei Shan

Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) Developers’ Day@ Nanyang Polytechnic

2007-09-11T14:38:00.000+08:00

Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) Developers’ Day at Nanyang Polytechnic

By Chai Pei Shan

download full report here

On 5 September 2007, SiTF-SOA Chapter organized a SOA Developers’ Day with a day long seminar comprising of talks and hands-on workshop at Nanyang Polytechnic, Theatre for the Arts. Organised for developers, architects and IT professionals to gain knowledge and experience as they face the challenge of building an SOA framework, this seminar has since attracted individuals, IT professionals and companies who are interested to make full use of technology, for their business, personal or industry development.

After a warm opening address by Chairman of SOA Chapter, Mr Foo Jong Tong (General Manager, Asia Pacific, ILOG (S) Pte Ltd), the SOA Developers’ Day was kicked off with 6 exciting and lively presentations from our sponsors - BEA Systems Singapore Pte Ltd, IBM Singapore Pte Ltd, ILOG (S) Pte Ltd, Microsoft Singapore Pte Ltd, Oracle Corporation Singapore Pte Ltd and SUN Microsystems Pte Ltd. Topics include Web 2.0, SOA, BPM - with a myriad showcase of the latest products, solutions by the various web services vendors and insights into Web 2.0 and SOA developments.

reception at Theatre for the Arts, NYP

Booths were set up by the sponsors (outside the Theatre for the Arts) for guests and participants to find out more about the SOA trends and industry news. During break time, smiles were aplenty as everyone networked around for good food, chat about new ideas, where new collaborations are abound. Evidently from the crowd, most have benefited from the numerous opportunities that this seminar cum networking session has created for ideas generation and knowledge sharing.

First of the speakers was Mr Stanley Tan from Microsoft.

The Next Generation Web

Synopsis
There is great interest in Web 2.0, blogs, wiki’s and social software in the consumer space but what are the implications of the Web 2.0 phenomena in the enterprise? Is Web 2.0 another internet bubble and so can be safely ignored or is there some substance to the hype? In this session, you will be wowed by the exciting demonstrations and showcases of the latest Microsoft’s Web 2.0 offerings like Silverlight, Popfly, and more.

Links
Virtual Earth >> http://local.live.com

Windows Live Developer Center >>http://dev.live.com

Photosynth >>http://labs.live.com/photosynth/

Tafiti Search>>http://www.tafiti.com/

More clicks at Stanley’s blog>> http://blogs.msdn.com/Stanley

read full report here>>

SPEAKERS from the morning session at the auditorium

Chin Hong Hua (Senior Solution Manager, Sales Consultanting)
Oracle

Gary Wong, (Chief Architect)
ILOG

Tony Nudd (Principle Solutions Architect, South Asia)
BEA

Chua Lye Heng (Senior Consultant)
Sun Microsystems

Ajay Kushwaha, (SOA Architect, SOA Innovation Centre)
IBM Singapore

The breakout of the morning session talks was followed by 2 intensive hands-on session workshops catered especially for participants to experience the latest SOA tools available, and to assist them in jumpstarting their SOA initiatives. From the enthusiastic response from the audience, and with the immense support from NYP and the SOA community and industry, this event will no doubt spark off more meaningful and interesting programmes in the pipeline for SiTF-SOA Chapter. Participants gave positive responses and had expressed interests in topics, such as web services, ERP development workshop, system with SOA, integration of legacy, areas of healthcare and eGov, and would like to keep updated with news technologies and SOA trends.

All in all, the event was an astounding success and has attracted more than 150 attendees.

For more updates, log on to SOA Wiki

SiTF-SOA Developers' Day@NYP

SOA-Dev Day
Speakers and presentations from the morning session

SiTF-SOA Developers' lab
Click to see pics of the lab session

Story and photos by Chai Pei Shan