Visit from Hungarian Delegates - 17 Jan 08

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

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

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SiTF 2008 ICT Business Outlook Agenda

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Singapore–Korea eLearning Business One-to-One Matching

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.

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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

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

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

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

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

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)

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Asocio Apicta ICT Summit 2007

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)

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

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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

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.

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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

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

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"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

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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.