Microsoft debuts first experience centre in Singapore

Microsoft's Experience Center Asia has been launched at its new Asia Pacific headquarters in Singapore.

The facility, its first worldwide, is designed to offer a comprehensive and immersive technology experience for businesses in Asia Pacific, helping organisations visualise, learn and adopt innovations for their digital and cultural transformation journeys.

“AI will transform industries and societies, so governments, technology companies, businesses, academia and society will need to work together to co-create trustworthy solutions that are human-centred. To realise Singapore’s vision of a Smart Nation powered by AI, the Experience Center Asia represents Microsoft’s commitment to address the unmet needs of organisations in the region by empowering them with the tools and capabilities to go from envisioning to rapid prototyping,” said Kevin Wo, MD, Microsoft Singapore.

“As a leader in driving new tech innovation, Microsoft’s decision to launch its first Experience Center outside of the US here will serve to drive digitalisation across various industries and grow its regional mandate from Singapore. We look forward to building on our partnership with Microsoft to further strengthen Singapore’s capabilities, and enhance our competitiveness as a global hub for companies in the technology sector,” said Kiren Kumar, Chief Digital Industry Officer, Digital Industry Singapore.

“By bringing together the industry, our partners and our customers through Experience Center Asia, we can help to further accelerate AI-enabled digital transformation for all organisations, build coalitions to nurture a vibrant local technology ecosystem, close the digital skills gap and create societal impact from innovations in AI,” added Wo.

The practices within Experience Center Asia are:

• The Experience Zone, which showcases immersive demonstrations and current implementations across industry sectors. A team of specialists can take visitors on a customised journey through these experiences that allows them to experience firsthand relevant technology solutions that are unique to their businesses and enables them to envision the art of what’s possible.

• The Microsoft Technology Center (MTC), which provides facility-based technical engagements. MTCs bring together the right resources to help customers close deals faster and expand deal size, while increasing customer satisfaction.

• The Cybersecurity Center, showcasing Microsoft’s threat intelligence analytics, creates awareness about rising cybercrime threats, and increases the understanding of trusted digital platforms and cloud computing.

• The Innovation Factory, where through ideation and hackathons innovative ideas come to life.

“Situated in the heart of Asia Pacific, Singapore is the regional headquarters for many multinational companies, has a powerful ecosystem of entrepreneurs and is an international event destination for industry leading experts along with our strategic partners – the value of having Microsoft’s first Experience Center worldwide in Singapore is to provide organisations with immediate access to a curated experience of innovations and experiences with Microsoft leaders and technology.

"Microsoft has always been at the forefront of offering a large portfolio of experiences for our customers, many of whom have been to our Executive Briefing Center in Seattle and are looking for a similar experience close to their business to accelerate time to value,” said Rebecca Hick, Director, Microsoft Experience Center Asia.

Spread across 12,500 sq metres and six floors, the new Microsoft office brings 1,400 people together in an environment which reimagines the future of work. Artificial intelligence (AI)- enabled cameras allow frictionless access to maintain secure spaces. Employees have seamless movement between the six floors, efficiency-driven IT support with smart lockers and IT vending machines that streamline the process and complement Microsoft’s IT service desk.

A common request from employees was for an instant replacement for IT peripherals, such as keyboards, mice, headsets, cables and more. The smart vending machine automates the distribution of such products. A swipe of the employee badge will log the product for inventory tracking.

Employees and staff use Smart Building CampusLink, an application that is fully integrated with Microsoft Outlook and Microsoft Office 365, taking navigation to the next level by enabling employees to find directions, room occupancy and book facilities in real-time. Built on Azure App Services and powered by Azure Data Lake and Office 365 Graph API, Microsoft’s regional headquarters in Asia Pacific is the first Microsoft office outside of Redmond, Washington in the US to implement Smart Building CampusLink.

Employees played a crucial role in planning for the move to Frasers Towers, from choosing furniture, artwork and other interior design elements to voting for the brand of coffee in the pantries and submitting their photographs to display on a wall. Employees have dedicated quiet corners for focused work, phone booths, a large communal dining area on level 10 with a café, barista and wide variety of food options. Multiple seating styles cater to different ways of working, from standing desks to huddle rooms to open collaborative team spaces.

At the new office, Microsoft celebrates the diverse cultures in Singapore and the region with murals by local artist, May Lim, and peranakan-inspired designs across the office. Microsoft has also ensured that the new office is inclusive by making it accessible for everyone, regardless of how they communicate, see, hear, or move. Microsoft follows a global standard of accessibility for every Microsoft office and in Singapore, they comply to the Building and Construction Authority of Singapore‘s Accessibility Code in the Built Environment (2013).

All meeting rooms and common use spaces have identifiers in Braille; floor layouts, pantry and kitchens items are optimised for movement and carefully planned for ease of use for wheelchair users; meetings can be started with one touch; height-adjustable tables cater to employee preferences; and wayfinder screens, badge scanning points and identifier cameras enabled by AI are height agnostic. Gender-neutral bathrooms and inclusivity spaces have also reinforced Microsoft’s commitment to providing a workplace where everyone can feel safe being their authentic selves.

Microsoft donated the legacy office furniture, carpets and audio-visual equipment to the Base of Pyramid Hub (BoP Hub). As a Singapore-based non-profit business accelerator platform that aims to create an efficient marketplace for communities at the base of the pyramid, their vision is to break the cycle of poverty by enabling entrepreneurs, connecting partners and providing mentoring and resources. It also acts as the gateway for business ventures, technologists and manufacturers to access markets in the region and is a co-working space.

“It was amazing to see first-hand Microsoft's culture at play. Every person I met wanted to help our mission to end global poverty. It started when I met a staff from Microsoft Hyderabad, who connected me to his colleagues in Singapore, who in turn introduced me to their team in Redmond. Here in Singapore, Microsoft gave us enough seats to fill up our entire new BoP Hub of 65,000 sq ft. They paid for transportation and brought more than 100 employee volunteers to lay the carpet and fix the furniture. We are now ready to host at least 50 startups and social enterprises for the first year,” said Jack Sim, Founder of Bottom of the Pyramid.