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

"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

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

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

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

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

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!

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!

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

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

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

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

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