A time of great potential: SCS IT Leaders

From left: Lau Shih Hor, SCS Council Member and CEO of Elixir Technology as emcee, Alex Lau, Chang, Saw, Lim and Yeo at a media briefing before the awards ceremony.

The winners of the Singapore Computer Society's 21st IT Leader Awards have looked back on illustrious careers and agreed - technology has never ever had as much potential as it will have today.

Bill Chang, CEO of Group Enterprise and, concurrently, Country Chief Officer at Singtel and the Singapore Computer Society (SCS) IT Leader of the Year, said while IT and computerisation has been around for many years, it is now a time of unprecedented change.

"There is just so much that the power of digitalisation and this new world of IT can really bring to businesses, to economies. There is an abundance of opportunity that lies ahead," he said.

SCS Hall of Fame award winner Saw Ken Wye, who is CEO, CrimsonLogic as well as Chairman of the Singapore IT Federation (SITF), said, "What's interesting about this industry is that it doesn't stand still. We're now at the point whereby we're finally able to realise... the visions that were initially presented in the 1988 video by Apple* - many of the concepts are only just becoming reality."

Saw has worked to secure and establish a number of multinational software development centres and helped local companies develop products.  He spent 15 years at the National Computer Board (now the Info-communications Media Development Authority) and, in his last position as Assistant Chief Executive Industry – he championed industry development, manpower development and adoption of IT by local small and medium enterprises (SMEs). 

Dr Lim Woo Lip, VP of SmartHub and Cyber Security at StarHub and the SCS Professional of the Year said that this is the most exciting time for technology ever. As a firm believer in building the local ICT ecosystem for long term sustainability in Singapore, Dr Lim has helped to establish links between government agencies, institutes of higher learning (IHLs) and commercial companies for collaborations and joint developments in data analytics and cyber security. Since joining StarHub in 2013, he has worked to innovate and develop its data analytics capabilities. SmartHub, the data analytics arm of StarHub, is now providing data analytics support to various government agencies/ministries and commercial companies.

"The reason why all these technologies are reaching that near-perfect stage is because of the ability to capture data. In order to do deep learning you need to have a variety of data and a lot of data. It's an opportunity for ICT professionals to create and innovate," he said.

The future is bright for Singapore's companies planning to become global household names. Chang said that Singapore companies could well become global brands with the right mindset and a good understanding of trends and markets. As head of Singtel’s enterprise arm, Chang has transformed the division by building new businesses based on cyber security, cloud services and smart city developments. He has also broken new grounds in forging partnerships with the National University of Singapore and the National Research Foundation to create intellectual property and develop the next-generation cybersecurity technologies, making Singapore a key R&D hub for Singtel's global cybersecurity business.

Singtel chose to globalise and has moved aggressively to take market share, he said. "We are very focused, very targeted. There is a means to break out and do this," he noted. "We no longer have a Singapore-centric view - 'what can we lead globally?' is our mantra."

"It's not about the product (alone) - it's the product, it's marketing, it's positioning, it's opportunity," said Saw. He observed that while Singapore has world-class IT services, not many Singapore companies are selling and reselling their IT services worldwide. 

"If you ask what makes a company a success - it's good products, good solutions and sometimes luck. In Singapore we're finding that sometimes you can't wait you have to create your own luck. I've gone into Africa and the Bahamas because that's where the interest is," he shared.

Other SCS IT Leaders include SCS Entrepreneur of the Year Alex Lau, Founder and CEO of Anacle Systems, and Yeo Quan Yang, founder, NUS Greyhats, who won the SCS IT Youth award.

Lau has transformed Anacle Systems from a startup into a listed company on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange with a market presence across Southeast Asia and the Middle East. He believes strongly in nurturing the innovative and go-getting spirit of the younger generation, actively participating in internship programmes among tertiary institutions and inspiring them with his “why not?” mentality.

Yeo is a Computer Science undergraduate at the National University of Singapore (NUS). He taught himself to code using PHP and has worked at Google Switzerland as a Software Engineering Intern in the Security and Privacy team. He is expected to complete his honours degree this year.

Interested?

Browse the TechTrade Asia blog posts on:

SCS' 50th anniversary celebration

SCS' 21st IT Leader Awards

SCS' 50th anniversary plans for 2017 

*Apple created a video of the Knowledge Navigator in 1988 which showed a touchscreen tablet with a voice-activated personal assistant and videoconferencing.

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