ESET test shows how much of a visionary thinker you are

ESET, a global cybersecurity provider, has launched the Progress Personas psychometric test. Developed in partnership with The Myers-Briggs Company, a pioneer in personality and professional development assessments, the test is designed for the curious and inquisitive, with the questionnaire allowing individuals to identify where they fit on the scale of visionary thinkers.

The Progress Personas test is designed to understand what makes people tick, innovate, and push society forward. After responding to a series of short questions, individuals will be provided with a bespoke report outlining the likely strengths and weaknesses of their forward-thinking personalities. The reports detail the specific innovative persona type they fall into, including The Changemaker, Flex Fury, Authentic Dynamo, Power Pro, Firestarter, Captain Conventional, Doctor Constant, The Chameleon, or The Inventor.

“We live in a changing world where we need to adapt and be resilient in order to progress. ESET believes that any inquiring mind has a role to play in contributing to progress that keeps the world turning,” said Ignacio Sbampato, Chief Business Officer at ESET. 

“Everyone has different ways of being progress-minded. This psychometric test will highlight an individual’s forward-thinking persona and provide hints and tips to help reach their full potential. We’re excited to be partnering with a respected institution like The Myers-Briggs Company, to bring something insightful and fun to our global audience.”

The Myers-Briggs Company publishes the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) assessment that reveals the differing psychological preferences in how people perceive the world and make decisions. The MBTI assessment indicates a person’s preference in four separate categories: extraversion or introversion, sensing or intuition, thinking or feeling, and judging or perceiving. The framework was developed in the 1940s by Katharine Cook Briggs and her daughter, Isabel Briggs Myers, who were inspired by Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung’s book Psychological Types.

“The Progress Personas assessment has been developed to be a reliable measure of innovation style and resilience,” said John Hackston, head of Thought Leadership at The Myers-Briggs Company. 

“By combining the scores of these two dimensions, the report gives people a unique insight into their individual style of achieving progress — their progress persona.”

The Progress Personas test follows ESET’s Heroes of Progress Awards which were announced in September, designed to shine a light on the visionary thinkers helping to make our planet a better place.

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Winners for MRM Business Award and MRM Business Innovation Award announced

Source: Dubai Chamber. HH Sheikh Ahmed Al Maktoum
honoured winners of the 10th MRM Awards.

HH Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, President of Dubai Civil Aviation Authority, who is also Chairman & Chief Executive of the Emirates Airline & Group, has honoured the winners of the 10th Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum (MRM) Business Award and the 2nd MRM Business Innovation Award in Dubai, UAE.

The awards ceremony, held under the patronage of H.H. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, was organised by Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

The MRM Business Award, which is part of Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Global Initiatives, was presented to:

Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank (ADIB);
Abu Dhabi National Insurance Company (ADNIC);
Al Khaleej Sugar Company;
All Food For Food Stuff;
Apparel Group;
Arabian Automobiles Company;
ASGC Construction;
British Orchard Nursery;
China State Construction Engineering Corporation (Middle East);
Doka Gulf;
Gulf Extrusions;
Gulf Petrochemical Industries Company (GPIC);
Jindal Shadeed Iron & Steel;
Network International;
RAK Hospital;
Tablix Technology;
TASC Outsourcing; and
Transguard Group.

The MRM Business Innovation Award was presented to:

Al Ansari Exchange;
ALEC Engineering and Contracting;
Almajdouie Logistics Company;
ASGC Construction;
Aster Pharmacy Group;
DuBox;
ENOC Retail;
Gulf Petrochemical Industries Company (GPIC);
Jebel Ali Free Zone;
Network International;
Samsotech;
Sharjah Islamic Bank; and
Transguard Group.

Gulf Petrochemicals Industries Co. (GPIC) was presented with the Outstanding Award for Business Excellence, while the Outstanding Award for Business Innovation went to ENOC Retail.

HE Sultan bin Saeed Al Mansoori, UAE Minister of Economy and Chairman of judging panel for the MRM Business Award and MRM Business Innovation Award, said the MRM Business Awards have fostered a culture of excellence within business communities in the UAE and GCC, facilitated the adoption of best practices and raised industry standards. He noted that the MRM Business Innovation Award, which was launched in 2015 by Dubai Chamber and the UAE Ministry of Economy during the Year of Innovation, reflects the vision of the UAE’s leadership to encourage companies to make innovation a major part of their organisational cultures.

HE Al Mansoori said the second cycle of the MRM Business Innovation Award registered a 21% increase in the number of participants, reflecting the growing importance that companies in the region attach to innovation excellence.

Source: Dubai Chamber. HE Al Ghurair.

In welcome remarks, HE Majid Saif Al Ghurair, Chairman of Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry said: “Since the establishment of the MRM Business Awards, we have worked to develop and improve the award programme in line with the changing needs of maturing business communities in the UAE and GCC. I am very proud at the progress that has been achieved by the outstanding companies that have participated in the programme to date.”

Dubai Chamber’s Chairman explained that the awards have served as a catalyst for enhancing business performance and boosting innovation activity on a regional level. He revealed that more than 1,800 companies have benefitted from the award programme since its establishment while 181 winning companies have been recognised for their outstanding achievements.

During the ceremony, HE Al Ghurair launched the Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Customer Excellence Award, a new award under the MRM Business Awards platform. The award aims to recognise the efforts of outstanding companies and organisations in the UAE and GCC that are adopting innovative strategies to improve customer experiences.

“The MRM Customer Excellence Award will provide companies with another incentive to apply and participate in the MRM Business Award programme, enhance their customer approach and adopt best practices in line with international standards. The launch of this award stems from our strong belief that customer experience is among the most crucial factors impacting business performance,” said HE Al Ghurair.

HE Hamad Buamim, President & CEO of Dubai Chamber and Chairman of the Steering Committee for the MRM Business Award said: “Over the years, the MRM Business Awards have become benchmarks for business and innovation excellence and they remain the highest level of recognition in these areas within the GCC. With UAE Innovation Month upon us, it is an opportune time to put the spotlight on the outstanding companies we are recognising today that are driving innovation in a wide range of economic sectors.”

HE Buamim noted Dubai Chamber had received an overwhelming number of strong applications for both awards, with a 46% increase in the number of applications. He added that the awards support Dubai Chamber’s efforts to fulfill the vision of HH Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, VP and PM of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, and lead the business community to a brighter future.

Stars facilitate innovation: INSEAD

Good mentors are worth their weight in gold, according to new research from INSEAD.

In Where Do Stars Come From? The Role of Star vs. Nonstar Collaborators in Creative Settings, published in Organization Science, Manuel Sosa, INSEAD Associate Professor of Technology and Operations Management, Jürgen Mihm, INSEAD Professor of Technology and Operations Management and Haibo Liu, Assistant Professor of Management, University of California Riverside, discuss the skills required to integrate, or synthesise, various raw materials in a way that will maximise creativity, and create innovations that help organisations outperform their competitors.

Specifically, the research zeroes in on the creative aspects of interpersonal collaboration from a new perspective: the quality of the collaborator, both stars - people able to generate a disproportionate amount of influential output - and non-stars.

“We wanted to understand, if by working with a star, you would be more likely to become a star; we found that indeed you would,” Sosa said. “The interesting question is how does this happen and why does this happen? What happens when you work with a star that is different from when you work with other people?”

By examining the creative performance of designers who have been granted design patents by the US Patent and Trademark Office over a 35-year period, the authors found that collaborating with star designers indeed significantly increases the chances of becoming a star. Interestingly, they found evidence that creative stars are more likely to possess creative synthesis skills required for creating breakthrough innovations and that they transfer such skill to their collaborators.

Such skills include the ability to understand existing innovation paradigms and create a new one by reconciling distant and often seemingly contradictory viewpoints and then continue to iterate and refine such a new paradigm until it leads to an outstanding innovation output.

All of these creative skills are highly tacit and unlikely to be learnt through a book or in a classroom, the researchers say. While some creative stars may pick them up intuitively or through years of trial-and-error experience, the likelihood of someone absorbing these skills is much higher if they work in close proximity with someone who already possesses them. This allows innovators to observe, learn and practice synthesis skills from the star.

“It is important to note that collaborating with stars doesn’t preclude collaborating with others who are non-stars,” Sosa noted. “Both types of collaborators benefit the innovator’s creative performance and increase the likelihood of creating a breakthrough innovation.”

In fact, some companies today avoid the idea of having a design team with a dominant star, and instead focus on the proven premise that diversity – having a wide-ranging pool of potentially innovative ideas – is key to creativity.

Sosa added, “What we found is that as well as bringing with them new data and experience like a non-star, stars contribute a set of creative skills, rarely found anywhere else, that can have a lasting transformation of the innovator’s creative abilities.”

The paper expands on this to assess the conditions required to maximise the chance of rising to stardom, and noted that this varies greatly depending on whether a star is part of the collaboration team.

When non-stars collaborate, shared expertise or a cohesive social network can limit diversity and steer the team towards “group think” - a phenomenon where everyone agrees with each other, even if the conclusion is wrong. This can negatively impact creative output.

However, when non-stars work with stars, greater shared social network connections and closer similarities in expertise facilitate the exploitation of creative synthesis skills. That is, the circumstances help to build a common insightful understanding of the problem at hand; it encourages collaborators to see similarities among their different perspectives and iteratively refine the most promising ideas, increasing the likelihood of breakthrough innovations.

Most importantly, such cohesive collaborative conditions facilitate the transfer of tacit creative skills from stars to his/her collaborators which in turn increases the chances of them becoming stars in the future.

MESTECC recognises 10 Malaysia Commercialisation Year award winners

Malaysia Commercialisation Year Award winners have been announced for 2018. The Malaysia Commercialisation Year Award, which the Malaysia Ministry of Energy, Science, Technology, Environment & Climate Change (MESTECC) introduced in 2016, is aimed at recognising, appreciating and motivating local R&D talents to penetrate local and international markets.

This year, MESTECC assessed 212 products in terms of technological and commercial readiness and arrived at 27 finalists who had to pitch their products to a panel of judges. There are 10 winners for the MCY Award 2018, a main winner and a consolation winner for each of five categories:

Commercial Deal Award criteria:

- Excellence in research commercialisation

- Outstanding innovation performance

- Innovative nature of the deal; and

- Potential for generating significant economic impact for Malaysia.

Source: MESTECC. DERMAGS skincare.

DERMAGS Skincare 
Biopro Cosmeceutical, a UTM spinoff and a Technology Park Malaysia (TPM) incubatee
Main winner, Commercial Deal Award 2018 

DERMAGS skincare products use alpha mangostin, an extract from mangosteen skin, delivered in niosomes - the effective ingredient is encapsulated in a 'vesicle' to prolong delivery. The products have been successfully exported abroad to Singapore, China, and India. The estimated commercialisation value up to September 2018 is RM 6.3 million.

Source: MESTECC. Detachable
electrical sockets.

Detachable Electrical Extension Socket 
Far East Pyramid
Consolation winner, Commercial Deal Award

This product is available in stores such as Harvey Norman and e-commerce platforms such as Lazada.

Research & Business Partnership Award criteria:

- Working relationship between a research organisation and businesses;

- Commercial value for Malaysia; and

- Joint development/collaborations between research organisations and businesses

RESCUE-I Monitoring System 
Petronas University of Technology (UTP) and Syarikat Semarak Motivation
Main winner, Business Research & Partnership Award 

Syarikat Semarak Motivation specialises in security engineering. RESCUE-I Monitoring System is a digital intelligent control system developed specifically for rescuers to monitor physiological activity during a rescue operation. This real-time system integrates software modules, hardware sensors and data communications via radio networks.

This product has been successfully tested by the Fire and Rescue Academy of Malaysia and provides rescuers with more confidence even in high-risk areas.

Figs: From Farm to product 

Source: MESTECC. Fig-based products.

Figsdirect, collaborating with the Malaysian Agricultural Research And Development Institute's (MARDI's) R&D
Consolation winner, Research Business and Partnerships Award 

These fig-based products are rich in bioactive material. The product is ideal for people with diabetes, eczema or other skin problems and may also attract consumers who are looking for sunnah-related functional foods**.

Researcher Entrepreneur Award criteria:

Recognising an entrepreneurial researcher who has made outstanding contributions to business innovation or has created innovative businesses in Malaysia through technology licensing, startup creation or by providing expertise to support business innovation.

Versatile Graphene 
Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM)
Main winner, Research Entrepreneur Award 

Researchers from UPM can produce large volumes of graphene directly from graphite with simpler, cheaper, environmentally-friendly methods. The graphene can be used in gloves, inkjet printer ink, oil absorbers as well as batteries and super-capacitors. The commercialisation value of this product for 2018 has been estimated at RM86,000.

QuikHalal Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM)
Consolation winner, Research Entrepreneur Award

Source: MESTECC. The QuikHalal logo.

A halal auditing application that reduces the complexity, time and cost of halal auditing processes. The app can capture photos from mobile devices and automatically generate halal compliance reports. The estimated commercialisation value of this product for 2018 is RM100,900.

As of 2018, the app has 25 local users. UTM plans to further develop the app to support countries with Islamic-friendly hospitality industries like Thailand, Korea, Japan and Indonesia.

Emerging Innovator Award criteria:

Recognising an upcoming entrepreneurial researcher who is making outstanding contributions to business innovation or is creating innovative businesses in Malaysia through technology licensing, startup creation or by providing expertise to support business innovation.

Emergency Evacuation System 
Anderes Fourdy
Main winner, Emerging Innovator Award

This RFID Ultra High Frequency-based platform solves the problem of manual tabulation during emergencies and can identify trapped victims inside a building. The system has been implemented at Kuala Lumpur Convention Center and also at Petronas Twin Tower 1. There is interest from other organisations, including Petronas Twin Tower 2 and Maxis Tower. The estimated commercialisation value of this product for 2018 is RM1,162,380.

STRIX Nest Fully Autonomous Unmanned Aerial System & Ground Sensor 
Precision Agriculture Robotics, a TPM incubatee
Consolation winner, Emerging Innovator Award 

Source: MESTECC. STRIX Nest.

The product is an autonomous air system capable of collecting agricultural data and aquaculture at low cost.

Social Entrepreneur Award criteria:

- Product that caters to social needs; and

- Transformative social change through the application of innovative and practical approaches / technology to benefit society overall

UNIMAS Crab House 
Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS)
Main winner, Social Entrepreneur Award 

This innovation aims to increase income for the B40 population band*, especially fishermen during the monsoon season. The product has low-cost construction, and is designed to be easy to monitor and control. A mobile app complements operations and creates a digital management monitoring system. The estimated revenue in 2018 for this product is RM58,800.

Source: MESTECC. Battery Pack C13.

Battery Pack C13
Conjunto Thirteen
Consolation winner, Social Entrepreneur Award 

This product can generate electricity without the need for oil or gas. This product can also be used during blackouts, for camping and also during natural disasters. Estimated revenues for 2018 run to RM95,000.

Today, winners receive support for: 

• Design including physical design and packaging

• Accreditation, certification, a technology audit and market research

• Incubation including mentoring

• Advisory services related to product development, financial management and intellectual property; and

• Participation in local and foreign exhibitions.

The main winners each receive RM130,000, 50% in cash and 50% in facilitation services. Consolation winners receive RM50,000, also half in cash and the rest in facilitation services.

While only 10% of the winners from previous years were from universities, academic institutions are catching up in 2018. Out of the 10 winners, four are from local universities (UPM, UNIMAS, UTM and UTP); three are companies from Technology Park Malaysia, one is a private company and one is a research institute (MARDI).

To date, MCY Award winners have exported their products worldwide. BNetwork, which won the Research Entrepreneur Award 2016 for its bWave IoT Platform for securing smart homes, has successfully held discussions with businesses in Indonesia, Pakistan, Egypt and the Middle East for domestic and regional markets with contracts until the year 2020.

CAISER (Computer Assisted Intelligent Event Processor) from Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), which won the Emerging Innovator Award 2016, is used in a vehicle monitoring system in Singapore and for a water quality notification system in South Africa as well as by local agencies in Putrajaya, Malaysia.

AnanoCoat, the winner of the Commercial Deal Award 2017, is the result of research by Universiti Sains Malaysia. The product uses photocatalysm (light-based stimulation) to decompose organic compounds, kill bacteria, eliminate odours and stunt the growth of fungi and viruses. After commercialisation by Ananosphere, a TPM incubatee, AnanoCoat is seeing sales on Alibaba.com.

Malaysia Commercialisation Year was first initiated in 2016. As of August 2018, 303 products have been successfully commercialised, accounting for sales turnover of RM290.88 million. The main target of MCY is to boost research, development and innovation (R, D & I) results from local research institutions as wealth generator through commercialisation process. MCY is also a platform to raise awareness of stakeholders and the people about the potential of innovation and commercialisation in raising the nation's revenue.

As part of the MCY Special KPIs, research institutes, universities and related technology development agencies have collectively pledged to commercialise up to 360 products/technologies from various categories by the year 2020.

They are supported by the Second Wave of MCY 2.0 (2017-2019), which focuses on:

- Strengthening the commercialisation ecosystem;

- Expanding cooperation with strategic partners from industry, states and international government; and

- Expanding markets for local research, development, commercialisation and innovation (R, D, C & I) regionally and internationally.

*B40 refers to the bottom 40% of household income earners.There are three population bands, with T20 being the top 20% of income earners and M40 the middle 40% of household income earners.

**A functional food is one which has health-giving properties.

Singapore and Japan to facilitate collaboration and support growth of enterprises and startups

Singapore’s Economic Development Board (EDB) and Enterprise Singapore have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Japan External Trade Organisation (JETRO) to bolster support for startups and businesses based in Japan and Singapore. 

The signing took place on the sidelines of the ASEAN Economic Ministers’ Meeting 2018. Under the MoU, EDB, Enterprise Singapore and JETRO will facilitate access and opportunities through creating initiatives, events and information exchanges for startups and businesses, strengthening linkages between the Singapore and Japan innovation ecosystems.

Ted Tan, Enterprise Singapore’s Deputy CEO said, “Japan is a global leader in innovation, especially in areas such as manufacturing and engineering. Through this partnership, we will work with JETRO and their partners to enable Singapore startups to tap on Japan’s strong innovation ecosystem, and work together with high potential Japanese startups to jointly enter the ASEAN market through Singapore.”

The MOU also expands Singapore’s Global Innovation Alliance (GIA) initiative with Japan now as part of the network. A key recommendation in the Committee on the Future Economy 2016 report, the GIA was launched in 2017 to strengthen Singapore’s connection to leading innovation hubs and key markets around the world.

Beh Kian Teik, EDB’s Assistant MD and Chief Digital Officer said, “Having Japan join the GIA network builds on the existing economic partnership and bilateral relations. This partnership will provide valuable access and opportunities for Singapore and Japanese enterprises to connect, partner and cocreate solutions, thereby bolstering the startup and innovation ecosystems in both countries.”

The future analysed at the GREAT Festival of Innovation in Hong Kong

Over 50 thought leaders and decision makers across industry and sector were at day 2 of the GREAT Festival of Innovation to talk about how we will live in the future. The event, running till 24 March in Hong Kong, involves industry leaders, entrepreneurs, artists, educationalists, futurologists to an audience from the UK, Hong Kong, mainland China, Japan, South Korea and wider region.

With predictions that 70% of the world’s projected populations will live in cities by 2050, the festival discussed implications for the way we experience life, eat, travel and coexist with nature through panel discussions and demonstrations. Highlights included:

Source/credit: GREAT Festival of Innovation. Dame Hall kicked off Day 2 with a keynote speech titled Social And Sustainable: The Future Of Impact Investing.

Internet pioneer and Regius Professor of Computer Science at the University of Southampton Dame Wendy Hall urging the audience at her keynote to help realise a socially-ambitious future for technology, driven by a diverse workforce with equal gender representation and the input of professionals across industry sector.

“Artificial intelligence (AI) is too important to be left to the experts,” Dame Hall said.

Source/credit: GREAT Festival of
Innovation. A live fashion showcase
displayed the latest wearable technology.

The festival also hosted the unveiling of previously-unseen footage of Dragonfly, a concept by UK transportation designer PriestmanGoode. A 90-second trailer revealed the full extent of the much-talked-of initiative which, combining old and new technology, uses existing waterways and autonomous drones to deliver goods to customers.

The reveal was made by the company’s Chairman, Paul Priestman, during a discussion with Hong Kong’s Professor Frederick Ma Si-Hang, Chairman of MTR Corporation and Alex Cruz, Chairman & CEO of British Airways. Acknowledging the importance of protecting our environment for future generations, the three speakers agreed that a critical issue facing transport in the future is the elimination of congestion in cities, from airport to road.

Priestman said, “We’ve imagined cities in the future being adapted to accommodate drone technology leading to a big step change in city development and does not require the use of the already congested road network. Buildings, for example, could be designed to enable access from different levels, not just by the front door. The banks of rivers, where all cities first emerged, are used again as major transport corridors supporting the delivery of the drone network.”

Delegates also saw the results of a pioneering partnership between McLaren Automotive and UK startup Vector Suite, with a live demonstration of how designers are using virtual reality (VR) to develop its new cars.

Mark Roberts, Head of Design Operations at McLaren Automotive said, “McLaren is the first automotive company to utilise VR from the very beginning of the design process to fast track the way in which we design new models. We’re able to speed up the process and maximise the creativity with greater accuracy and, in turn, help our business ultimately build beautiful cars that meet our customers’ expectations."

Source/credit: GREAT Festival of Innovation. Kerridge (left) watches as Gong presents XAIRCRAFT during a panel on the Future of Food and Farming.

Drones were also a theme for a chat between Richard Deverell, Director, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, British culinary maestros Tom Kerridge and Tom Aikens and Justin Gong, Co-Founder of XAIRCRAFT Company on the future of food. Gong shared that XAIRCRAFT used AI to create drones that can tell whether plants on farms have been treated with pesticides, so these can be skipped during pest management activities.

Asked about the future of food production, Deverell commented on improving the diversity of plants used as food to cope with the twin pressures of growing population and unpredictable climate change. He said, "We need champions who are going to experiment and help opinion formers and the public understand the incredible things that can be done with food diversity.”

The event is part of the GREAT Britain campaign, which showcases the best of what the nation has to offer to inspire the world and encourage people to visit, do business, invest and study in the UK.

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Hashtag: #GREATInnovation

Fikra Labs to accelerate travel and tourism innovation

As part of UAE Innovation Month in February, which aims to strengthen the country's position as a global innovation hub and celebrate innovators across the UAE, four Abu Dhabi organisations – The Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi, Miral Asset Management, the Abu Dhabi government organisation responsible building lifelong visitor value for the Emirate, Etihad Aviation Group and Abu Dhabi National Exhibitions Company (ADNEC) – supported by international financial centre Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM), have partnered with Wamda, an entrepreneurship empowerment platform, to launch a new acceleration programme called Fikra Labs.

Aimed at driving innovation and fostering entrepreneurship in the Abu Dhabi travel and tourism sector, the Fikra Labs acceleration programme will provide startups with mentorship opportunities and the chance to win a potential monetary investment. Held at the Etihad Innovation Center, the acceleration programme will take place across multiple phases and is open to startups across the MENA region. 

Following the initial registration and screening process, selected participants will take part in a four-week incubation process where they will tackle specific travel and tourism challenges set by the four partners. They will be mentored on their ideas throughout, before refining their business plans and developing prototypes in partnership with industry experts as well as major travel and tourism players Abu Dhabi.

Gain knowledge to succeed in the fourth industrial age

Source: Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Knowledge Foundation. The summit was inaugurated by HH Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, VP and PM of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai (6th from left). He was accompanied by Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai (2nd from right), and Sheikh Ahmed Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum (right).

Knowledge will be key to succeeding a digital world, said speakers at the opening ceremony of the fourth Knowledge Summit in the UAE. The fourth edition of the summit, under the theme Knowledge and the Fourth Industrial Revolution, is studying the impact of the new industrial revolution on individuals, institutions and nations.

Dr Hani Al Mulki, PM of Jordan and the guest of honour, told the audience that the Arab world must continue to embrace change caused by the fourth industrial revolution (4IR). “The digital revolution is a competitive and collaborative campaign between man and machine,” he said.

Dr Al Mulki said the 4IR is an opportunity for all nations to develop expertise on human development, technological change and sustainability. “The question is, are we ready to absorb [the impact of the 4IR] and use it for the development of our countries?” he asked.

He stressed that emerging technologies such as drones, autonomous vehicles and 3D printers are meant to empower humans. “This revolution is not taking place to empower machinery, but to collaborate with people in order to empower them and to result in higher levels of productivity, and less pressure on natural resources — and accordingly, a better living standard for everyone,” he said.

Dr Al Mulki also emphasised on education in the Arab world and referred to the global initiatives launched by HH Shaikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, VP and PM of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai. “Education is the true indicator of a country’s progress and success in addressing the fourth industrial revolution,” he said.

Dr Al Mulki predicted that the Arab world will see more education and less unemployment as it embraces the digital revolution. “We will witness smart projects, digital marketing projects, flying cars, driverless cars, and a world without disease,” he said.

Dr Al Mulki also spoke of the need to empower Arab youth with technological skills. He pointed out that job requirements in the near future will differ from those needed in the traditional job market. “The economic, social and human structure must be developed,” he said.

The Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Knowledge Foundation (MBRF) separately announced that Switzerland tops the Global Knowledge Index, followed by Singapore, Finland, and the Netherlands. The Global Knowledge Index 2017 was launched by the Foundation in collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to study knowledge at an international level, identify opportunities and challenges in the Arab world and compare them with those of other countries around the world. The Index studies 131 countries over six categories, namely ICT, research and innovation, the economy, pre-university education, technical education and training, and higher education.

Hashtags: #KnowledgeSummit, #4IR

Personalisation engages Millennials

Infographic based on a keynote at the Millennial 20/20 Summit 2017 in Singapore about how AI will customise the customer journey. The keynote was presented by Avis Easteal. Head of Consumer, Luxasia, and Vivek Vaidya, CTO, Marketing Cloud, Salesforce.

Chatri Sityodtong, Chairman and CEO of ONE Championship. opened the summit’s first day with a keynote on how to engage and embrace an audience at scale. Infographic based on the keynote. 

The second edition of the Millennial 20/20 Asia Summit has charted the future of retail marketing and commerce as it is likely to impact Asia’s digitally-savvy consumer landscape. A record 3,000 attendees from 31 countries examined innovation and disruption across key industries in anticipation of the “experience revolution” for future commerce over two days.

This year, the Millennial 20/20 Asia Summit welcomed new industry segments and content such as finance, AI as well as virtual and augmented reality, plus hosted experiential showcases by Facebook, Salesforce, Unilever Foundry, The Economist, Mondelēz International, Blippar, and Ksubaka.

The brand showcases allowed visitors to interact with innovations and technologies set to unlock new possibilities and frontiers, unearthing greater insight and analytics that will better equip them to tackle challenges from tomorrow’s ever-evolving marketplace.

Free tacos from The Economist's booth.

Feeding the Future by The Economist gave visitors a taste of manmade, sustainable meat, while A Vision of Marketing of Tomorrow and a Plan for Today showcase by Facebook saw visitors order coffees through a chatbot. Salesforce, one of the main sponsors for the summit this year, showcased Salesforce Einstein that helps businesses connect to their customers in a whole new way. Finally, the Unilever Foundry Start-up Street brought together some of the world’s most ambitious startups.

Speaking at the close of the summit, Simon Berger, Founding Partner, Millennial 20/20 said: “It’s great to see that the success of last year’s event has reached a new level this year! The lineup of speakers sponsors and showcases raised the bar this week, and I am already excited for next year’s agenda. The highlights for me this year included the Salesforce closing party and the successful launch of the inaugural Millennial Ones to Watch Awards. I thank all our partners and trendsetting brands and industry innovators that support the summit and I look forward to seeing you all again soon! M20/20 really embraces the new way to do business!”

Highlights from day one included the opening keynote by Chatri Sityodtong, Chairman & CEO of One Championship, who shared how the largest sports media property in Asia, which he built from scratch, answers the painpoints of engaging a younger audience. Personalisation in e-commerce and the revival of brick-and-mortar through curating in-store experiences as discussed by Levi Strauss & Co., Kimberly-Clark, and Criteo were also a hot topic.

Standout sessions from day two included a presentation by pioneers of the sharing economy, Uxin Group, Homeaway, Agoda, and Go-Jek on how to market products they do not own, and what ingredients are essential to define a unique value proposition for their company. A panel in the Food & Beverage track discussed how Accenture, The Coca-Cola Company, and Uber are leading the Asian consumer revolution with their grasp on the region’s demand for personalised services, multiple languages, channel agnosticism, delivering services and solutions that meets Asia’s immediate desires, and its "collective personality".

Facebook encouraged visitors to order coffee by chatbot.

Personalisation was the name of the game in the discussions.

· Fusion of traditional values with innovation needed for the travel and hospitality industry

Speakers in the Travel & Hospitality track deliberated on how there is still a need to accelerate the pace of change and innovation while still holding traditional values that work in reaching out to today’s Millennial traveller. Personalised and bespoke experiences formed the crux of many of the successful case studies shared by speakers.

· Fashion and beauty: it’s all about me!

Fashion and beauty brands and retailers today are being tasked with knowing customers better than they’ve ever known them before, and delivering an experience tailored to them. Personalisation continues to be the key to success in retail. Major brands discussed the demand to blend creativity into experiences that can be rolled out across all consumer touch-points.

· E-commerce of tomorrow to focus on frictionless, “human-first” approach

The hyperconnected consumer of today has more than one way to buy products and services, and to discover and interact with brands. Today’s consumers are also the most tech-savvy to date, expecting seamlessness in omnichannel commerce. Speakers on this track concretised strategies that put the consumer at the forefront, also discussing how best to remove hindrances that could mar the consumer’s overall experience and overall impression of the brand.

· Personalisation key to demand generation in food and beverage industry

With street food, popups and unique food experiences on the up, established brands are facing an uphill task of generating demand for their products. Major players in the food & beverage industry discussed how they can leverage newer technologies to create lasting relationships with consumers.

· Convergence of finance and technology giving rise to the future of banking and money

Speakers of this track converged to discuss the rise of mobile money, cryptocurrencies, and other digital technologies that continue to take banking beyond its physical branch context. Industry veterans also debated on whether physical cash is heading towards extinction, given the sharp rise in mobile wallet payments in the region.

· Decentralised media consumption key to defining marketing and advertising

Marketers and advertisers of today are challenged with engaging technologically-savvy consumers across generations. Future-ready marketers discuss the decentralised approach to marketing to the masses, harnessing new platforms and formats to reach consumers in creative and unique ways. Games, influencers and artificial intelligence (AI) formed some of the positive case studies shared during this session.

· Innovation beyond “brand gimmicks” to define the future of e-commerce

Innovation towards tomorrow’s e-commerce should revolve around the empowerment of communities. Brands need to constantly evolve and adapt to not only avoid losing market share, but to also drive effective consumer experiences and growth. The region’s most innovative companies came together to explore the future of mobility, which sees services going to consumers rather than the other way around, as is traditional.

· AI and bots will be a retail mainstay

With a strong indication that a majority of customer interactions in retail will be managed by AI by 2020, retailers gathered to discuss how best to leverage this technology in meeting the dynamic demands of tomorrow’s consumers. Retailers also discussed how new-age partnerships with non-retail firms may be needed to meet the demands of Millennial consumers.

"The brands and showcases at Millennial 20/20 congregated some of the brightest minds in retail, marketing and commerce. The customer of today is in control of their shopping experience. The holy grail for retailers and marketers is to meet them on their terms," said Simon Tate, APAC Area VVP, Marketing Cloud, Salesforce.

This year’s summit also saw the launch of M20/20 Backstage, a closed area of the summit that hosted brand and retailer roundtables, workshops and lunches. The backstage programme included closed-group discussions on opportunities and challenges facing the industry. Highlights of the programme included:

· The Future of Brands and Retailers: Commerce Marketing hosted by Criteo. In the discussion, brands and retailers discussed the future of technology to shape customers’ expectations, personalisation, retention of a strong voice with consumers and the ingredients to create a vibrant future.

· Data Driven Customer Experience Management hosted by Salesforce. C-suite brands and retailers addressed the fourth industrial revolution.

This year’s summit also supported the Accenture Consumer Technology Awards (ACTA) as well as the launch of the Millennial 20/20 One’s to Watch Awards (MOWA). The MOWA were designed to celebrate the ecosystem catering to consumers. Winners included:

• Mondelez for their China Oreo Music Box Campaign in the Killer Campaign category, 
• Ksubaka for Best Retail Solution, 
• DBS for Millennial Brand 2017, 
• Unilever Foundry & Level 3 for Eco-system Star of the Year and 
• Arcadier for Millennial Commerce-Enabler. 

The ACTA recognises and rewards early-stage innovators that are pushing the boundaries to better engage with the Millennial consumer in the automotive, consumer goods & services, retail and travel industries. Raincheck, LittleSea, Simgo and ProxToMe walked away with the Millennial Shopper, Millennial Consumer, Millennial Traveller, and Millennial Driver prizes respectively.

Teo Correia, Senior MD, Accenture, noted that the company has been the global title partner of M20/20 since the beginning. He said the event continues to be relevant and lead the way for future business events. "Accenture and M20/20 promote the new way of doing business!’’ he said.

Highlights from the showfloor included:

Salesforce had a discussion area set out like a camping ground.

Boxgreen snacks are packaged in snack-sized packs and come packaged in handy boxes which can also act as a display case.

Subscribe to get Boxgreen snacks for the office pantry.

Cafebond for offices offers freshly roasted coffee for office pantries. There are two blends to choose from, Espresso Dark Chocolate & Spice which is full-bodied with low acidity and Filter Caramel & Raisins which has a finish of "rum and raisin, pecan, buttered fruit toast and taffy". Subscriptions begin at S$12 per bag for individuals, and S$34 a kg for offices.

Digimind offers social media and competitive intelligence. Statistics displayed at its booth included the fact that 60% of the 2.3 billion Millennials in the world live in the Asia Pacific region. 

Key takeaways from the sessions at the event include:

Augmented reality is changing the retail experience, says Chris Bell, Commercial Director, APAC, Blippar.

The five keys to enabling digital conversions at scale are deliverability, design, content, contextualisation and globalisation, says Scott Heimes, Send Grid CMO.

The Millennial 20/20 Summits focus at a unique time in the industry, where brands and retailers are dealing with a more-complex and ever-evolving consumer that requires them to think of innovation, disruption and technology as key components of their future. The event series looks to address this like no other event series has done before through a curated experience of multiple conference stages, immersive and experiential showcases and organised networking experiences.

Each of the regional summits look into the future of next-generation commerce from the perspective of a digitally savvy consumer with a micro-focus on key pillars that include: retail, marketing, mobile, payments, video, social, e-commerce, customer relationship management (CRM), advertising, big data, virtual reality, augmented reality, voice, Blockchain and AI. The multiple conference stages are run with industry specific tracks including retail, e-commerce, marketing & advertising, innovation, travel & hospitality, food & beverage, finance and fashion & beauty.

Explore:

The 2018 Summit will take place again at the ArtScience Museum in Singapore on 3 and 4 October 2018. Email Millennial 20/20 at team at millennial20-20.com to participate in 2018.

Hashtag: #M2020

Adapting workforce culture to the new normal

Source: Microsoft. Digital transformation requires change both externally and internally.

The changing face of Singapore’s workforce has resulted in a need for organisations to foster a new culture of work to achieve digital transformation success, a Microsoft study* has concluded. In fact, 77% polled felt that more can be done by their organisations to invest in culture development.

The Microsoft Asia Workplace 2020 Study found the following factors influencing the culture of work in Singapore today:

Increasingly mobile workforce and exposure to new security risks

The rise of mobility and proliferation of mobile and cloud technologies have resulted in individuals working across multiple locations and devices. In fact, the study found that only 38% of respondents are spending all of their work hours in the office, and 84% of respondents are working off personal smartphones. The latter raises new security challenges for organisations.

The rise of diverse teams

The research also found that 26% of workers in Singapore are already working in more than 10 teams at any one point in time. This makes the availability of real-time insights and collaboration tools crucial to get work done.

Gaps in employees’ digital skills even as leaders are in the process of embracing digital transformation

As the bar is raised with new technologies adopted across industries, deployment is uneven. In fact, 74% of respondents feel that more can be done to bridge the digital skills gap among workers.

Said Borko Kovacevic, Director, Productivity Solutions, Microsoft Singapore: “The rise of digital technologies, along with a new generation of Millennials entering the workforce, has brought about a need to address changing workers’ expectations, knowledge and skills, as well as the tools they use. And with more than half of the world’s Millennials residing in Asia, the workplace will need to transform to adapt to the technology habits of these digital natives. In addition, due to deployment of advanced and emerging technologies, organisations need to relook at reskilling its workforce to develop creative and strategic skills for the future.”

Even as 75% of business leaders in Singapore acknowledge the need to transform into a digital business in order to succeed**, successful digital transformation will ultimately depend on people and the tools they are provided with.

“People are at the heart of digital transformation. Their expectations, knowledge and skills, as well as the tools they use for work, are determining factors in the level of transformation that any organisation can achieve. The challenge that they face now is how to implement new ways to foster a modern culture of work to better empower Asia’s workers, especially those at the frontline. By estimates, there are 2 billion firstline workers globally, and make up majority of our workforce today,” said Kovacevic.

Firstline workers serve as the initial point of contact between companies and the rest of the world - they are first to engage customers, represent brand, and see products and services in action, Microsoft said. The company suggests unlocking the potential of employees, organisations need to address and elevate their workforce, especially firstline workers, through addressing the core values of the new culture of work: 

Unlocking employees’ creativity

Collaboration fuels innovation through sharing of ideas and enables flexibility in how people work through a connected experience, while working seamlessly across devices. However, the Microsoft Asia Workplace 2020 Study found that majority of respondents feel restricted in the way they work today, with 58% highlighting that they needed to be physically present in office as equipment or tools used for their line of work is only available in the workplace.

Fuelling teamwork

By giving all workers a universal toolkit for collaboration, organisations offer its people choice and ownership as to how they work together and collaborate in real-time. In fact, the Microsoft Asia Workplace 2020 Study found that two in five workers highlighted that access to technology for collaboration such that they can respond in a timely manner to internal and external requests was important in their line of work. 

Strengthening security

Today, 61% of respondents are working on employer-issued PCs, but 84% are also working on personal smartphones or using corporate devices for personal activities, which underscores potential security risks. In fact, 66% of respondents admitted to checking personal emails on company-issued devices, and are doing so for the convenience. Therefore, leaders need to strengthen their security not to put organisation’s confidential data at risk to address the need for workers to work without barriers and without impeding productivity. 

Making it simpler

With the rise of apps, devices, services and security risks in the workplace, there is a need to streamline the IT management, break down service siloes so that disparate data can be combined and reasoned in new ways and reduce complexity. In fact, a Microsoft Asia Pacific IT leaders study*** found that 72% of IT decision makers (ITDMs) in Singapore agreed that there is a need to reduce complexity of managing their existing IT security portfolio.

“We believe that every worker – from the factory floor to the front desk, to the executive boardroom – can contribute to an organisation’s collective endeavours. It is our view that involving firstline workers in digital transformation will drive unprecedented opportunity – for workers, the organisations that they work for, and the industries and society at large,” added Kovacevic. “At Microsoft, we see the opportunities that can be unlocked with technology by equipping frontline workers with the right tools, such as Microsoft 365. Ultimately, digital transformation projects can only succeed if the right tools are in place for workers to leverage and maximise upon.”

Microsoft has been diversifying the Microsoft 365 family to address workforce challenges with Microsoft 365 F1, a version of Microsoft 365 which provides purpose-built capabilities that help foster firstline culture and community, train and upskill employees, digitise business process, deliver real-time expertise, and minimise risk and cost. New intelligent search capabilities, a vision for intelligent communications centring on Microsoft Teams, and security and IT management enhancements to help customers stay secure and compliant were also introduced at Ignite:

- Microsoft 365 F1 brings together Office 365, Windows 10, and Enterprise Mobility + Security to empower the more than two billion firstline workers worldwide, who serve as the first point of contact between a company and its customers, or who are directly involved in making products.

- A new vision for intelligent communications, including plans to bring Skype for Business Online capabilities into Microsoft Teams, along with cognitive and data services. This makes Teams the true hub for teamwork in Office 365, including persistent chat, voice and video.

- Intelligent search experiences use AI and machine learning to deliver more relevant search results across Microsoft 365.

- Microsoft 365 is delivering improved advanced threat protection (ATP) features like enhanced anti-phishing capabilities, expanded protection to SharePoint Online, OneDrive for Business, and Microsoft Teams and integration between cloud and on premises identity threat detection capabilities.

- For organisations still on Office 2007, end of support will happen on 11 October. Customers who are still using Office 2007 products and services are encouraged to move to Office 365 or Microsoft 365 to stay supported, and ensure uninterrupted support from Microsoft.

Kovacevic said: “With cloud-based productivity tools being a key pick among Asia’s mobile workers to drive greater collaboration among teams, we urge organisations to take the opportunity to evaluate Microsoft 365 as an option to modernise their workforce.”

Source: Microsoft. Infographic illustrating findings of the Microsoft Asia Workplace 2020 Study,

Interested?

Read the TechTrade Asia blog post about the Ignite announcements

*Microsoft Asia Workplace 2020 Study, conducted between February and March 2017 involving 4.175 respondents in 14 Asia markets. The 14 markets include Australia, mainland China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, India, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam. All respondents were prequalified as at least spending 30 hours per week in a full-time role, or spending at least 20 hours per week in a part time role. This included 307 respondents from Singapore.

**Microsoft Asia Digital Transformation Study. The study surveyed 1,494 business leaders from Asia, including 118 from Singapore. All respondents were prequalified as being involved in shaping their organisations’ digital strategy. The study found that only 34% of business leaders in Singapore have a full digital transformation strategy while half are in progress with specific digital transformation initiatives for selected parts of their business. Another 16% of respondents said they had a very limited or no strategy in place.

***Microsoft Asia Pacific survey of 1,200 IT leaders across 12 markets, including Australia, mainland China, Indonesia, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. Four in 10 (41%) of respondents are working in organisations with 250 to 499 PCs; 59% work in organisations with 500 and more PCs.

Innovating in green buildings and construction spaces

Build Eco Xpo (BEX) Asia, the Southeast Asian trade exhibition for the green building market, has kicked off at the Marina Bay Sands Expo and Convention Centre. Visitors from more than 50 countries are expected to attend the event to get a firsthand look at the latest innovations and insights in the Asian green building, HVAC-R*, water, energy and heating industries.

Running until 14 September 2017, BEX Asia is co-located with Mostra Convegno Expocomfort (MCE) Asia, the regional trade exhibition for energy-efficient solutions that power industrial, commercial and residential buildings. The events anchor Singapore Green Building Week (SGBW), and are part of a larger movement contributing to the future wellbeing of the planet. SGBW hosts events that galvanise the community to act on sustainability, reaching out to international green building experts, policymakers, academics, built environment practitioners, end-users, as well as members of the public and students.

A key theme throughout the exhibition were smart devices that promise to power next-generation homes, offices and buildings.

A close up of the Halio glass when it is in transition. These patterns only appear while the glass is becoming darker or lighter, disappearing completely thereafter. Transitions occur in under three minutes and are detectable in 20 seconds. The darker tints can reduce the need for HVAC solutions and artificial light, with savings of up to 22%. There is a 360-degree Halio experience available.

“We are glad to be able to participate in this year’s edition of MCE Asia 2017,” said David Yim, Marketing Manager at AGC Asia Pacific. “It is a great opportunity for us to share Halio, our smart-tinting glass that brings active glass technology into the market to deliver powerful and responsive natural light management. Through the event, we are not only able to reach out to new and potential clients, but are able to network with some of the brightest minds in the industry. We are looking forward to gaining many new insights into the business, and hope to interact with more experts and end-users over the next few days.”

Kinestral's Halio from AGC is a smart tinting glass that can darken and lighten as required for sun-blocking, anti-glare and privacy purposes, automatically or on demand, in just under three minutes. The glass can be voice-controlled or controlled with a dimmer-type switch.

Other companies debuting their latest solutions include: 

The AL-SUS Step Lift takes up 15 cm of the width of the staircase when it is in use. Starting and stopping is extremely smooth.

AL-SUS Technologies’ Step Lift, a lift that can be quickly installed to fit existing staircases, eliminating the need to build expensive escalator or lift shafts. Meant to complement the use of staircases, the step lift is a platform that smoothly and automatically moves up a single flight of stairs, and can take loads of up to 150kg.

Belimo’s Energy Valve is a smart HVAC control valve for air conditioning. With integrated smart sensors, the Energy Valve automatically calibrates the chilled water needed to maintain optimal temperatures in buildings, thereby lowering costs and reducing energy wastage.

The ITALIA WOW snow-textured paint enhancer is brushed onto an emulsion paint surface to give a snow-textured finish. The ITALIA family of textured paints is from SAN Cora Paint, a KANSAI Paint company.

KANSAI Paint's ALES-SHIQUY air purifying paint can eliminate odour, deactivate bacteria and viruses, and clear indoor air pollution. The company set up two boxes containing vinegar to demonstrate how effective its paint is. The box on the left smelled of paint and vinegar whereas the box on the right - painted with ALES-SHIQUY paint - smelled of vinegar two hours into the exhibition. According to the booth representative the paint would ensure the vinegar smell would also dissipate over time. ALES-SHIQUY paint is recommended for restaurants, hospitals and schools.

KANSAI Paint Singapore will be showcasing its air-purifying paint that detoxifies indoor air pollution to deactivate bacteria and viruses for better health and wellbeing, as well as textured paint that can be overlaid onto existing painted surfaces.

Lumani aims to reduce the global carbon footprint from buildings and reduce energy costs through autonomous lighting control solutions that automatically adjust according to occupants’ needs. Lumani Lumazones, an autonomous lighting and HVAC system, uses sensors to decide the best energy-saving operating mode, without sacrificing user comfort.

Another highlight is the Future Home, curated by Surbana Jurong Consultants, themed Life in the Time of Climate Change. The focal display showcases the integration of building and sustainable innovation in the form of a house, highlighting that sustainable living starts from home. In these spaces, visitors can learn about products that can enable cost savings on energy and water, thermal comfort, digital connectivity and environment wellbeing. Companies featured include AGC Asia Pacific, Cityneon, Ecosoftt, Greenology, Hubble, Hydrabath, Mobike, SoundEye, Waldmann Lighting and Whiteblack – Greenblue.

Bike sharing, as represented by Mobike bikes outside the Smart Home, offer a green solution to last-mile travel between home and public transport. The bikes can be rented affordably and are located, locked and unlocked using a mobile app.

Ecosoftt showcased a smart bathroom in the Future Home which collects lightly-used water from baths, showers and hand basins for flushing toilets and household cleaning. 

The SoundEye Ark sensor, showcased in the Future Home, detects sounds of distress such as screaming or crying with high accuracy. It can also detect motion and supports a two-way voice intercom and live video feed, helping to monitor the elderly and children.

Hubble, which had a booth inside the Future Home, harnessed cloud-based mobile and web data analytics platforms for their "ERP for construction" to improve construction management across functions such as quality, safety, workforce, inventory, and fleet management. The solution is uniquely tuned towards sectors where the workforce is typically in the field most of the time, and is used by Woh Hup, Hexacon, Sante, KKL and Chuan Lim.

Greenology is known for its vertical greening solutions. A pavilion created on-site with double-sided vertical greening creates a serene, cool private yet open space. Its Greenologix subsidiary offers sensors and drones to help in plant maintenance.

Other solutions include:

Crestron Singapore’s Crestron Fusion, an intelligent energy management solution that provides data analytics and centralised environmental controls

En-trak Hong Kong’s En-trak Energy, which allows businesses to leverage real-time data to save costs and improve energy efficiency

The exhibition will also shine a spotlight on green building materials that can potentially reduce wastage of natural resources. Products showcased will include eco-friendly tile adhesives from PAREX Group; and Innovative Precast Builders’ patented interlocking precast block system that minimises wastage.

Kel Low, Senior Manager for Specifier Relations, Nippon Paint (Singapore), one of the key exhibitors at BEX 2017, said, “In the paints industry, there have been new innovations. For example, the development of anti-mosquito paints featuring unique knock-down formulation, seeks to provide passive protection to consumers by knocking down mosquitoes when they come into contact with painted surfaces. At Nippon Paint, we are excited to share our innovations with the wider market and are also honoured to be part of the movement towards greener buildings.”

Some companies also launched products and solutions new to Asia. Highlights include:

AET Flexible Space from the UK, which introduced underfloor air conditioning systems that optimise energy performance, leading to cost savings of up to 48%. The solution is highly compatible with green building certifications such as LEED.

The Finch unit showcased is made of solid wood. 

G3 Industry of Netherlands' Finch Buildings, a portable and stackable modular building system that utilises sustainably harvested timber. Finch modules are highly sustainable, due to their long lifespan, energy efficiency and closed-loop system.

Slovakian company TapHome rolled out a smart home energy management system that can control various modules, including thermostats, lighting, and doors. Its heating algorithms can learn the preferred energy requirements of each room. The system is controllable through a mobile app. 

Crestron's Mercury Tabletop Meeting Solution acts as a phone, support web collaboration, wired and wireless presentations, as well as room-booking capabilities. A built-in occupancy sensor offers usage and data reporting. For larger groups, Crestron offers "it just works" presentation facilities that configure automatically based on the number of connected devices.

Big Ass Fans showcased a number of fans, including the Haiku which has an integrated motion sensor so that it knows when to speed up or slow down to adjust the temperature in the room.

BEX Asia and MCE Asia both feature seminars, titled Green View and Mostra Xchange respectively. The seminars will kick off with the Interior Design Confederation of Singapore (IDCS) Forum, which will feature experts discussing strategies for creating living spaces that are not only functional and aesthetic, but sustainable too.

“I am honoured to be able to participate in knowledge and information exchange with my industry peers in the coming days at MCE Asia’s Mostra Xchange,” said Chan Chow Fong, Principal Engineer at ST Electronics (Satcom & Sensor Systems). “Through our intensive R&D efforts over the years, ST Electronics has garnered deep insights into energy conservation that does not compromise user experience. I look forward to sharing these, as well as our experience in designing and deploying smart lighting systems. I’m excited at the prospect of hearing from other industry experts in various fields, as we strive to create more sustainable living environments in Asia and beyond.”

Over the next few days, attendees of the Green View seminars will be hearing from experts such as Vincent Chow, CEO, En-trak Hong Kong, on How to Reduce Lighting Energy Wastage Using One Simple App, as well as Alex Lau, CEO, Anacle System, on A Bold Vision for Energy Management in the Age of IoT. At MCE Asia’s Mostra Xchange, insights will be shared by industry leaders such as Jayant Kaushal, Director – Product & Project Management Office, Camfil Singapore, on Air Filtration Types and its Correct Applications, and Stewart Tai, Manager (Sustainability & Innovation), Khoo Teck Puat Hospital, Singapore, on Air Quality & Water Sustainability in Healthcare. 

Other highlights include the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) Seminar on Designing & Managing Energy Efficient Buildings, conducted by Dr Yang Junjing, a Research Fellow at the Centre for Integrated Building Energy and Sustainability in Tropics, National University of Singapore, as well as Chair of Research Promotion Committee of the ASHRAE Singapore Chapter. Dr Benny Chow, Director of Sustainability at Aedas, will also be sharing the latest research on leveraging computational tools to design people-centric, sustainable urban neighbourhoods. Dr Chow, a sustainable design expert, is also Chairman of the Industry Standards Committee of the Hong Kong Green Building Council, as well as a Committee Member and Expert Panel Member of the China Green Building Council.

In all, professionals can look forward to gain up to 11 professional development units (PDUs) through these seminars over the next two days.

Interested?

View the Instavideos on the
Step Lift from AL-SUS

Haiku polished aluminium fan from Big Ass Fans
Botanicaire air purification solution

Hashtag: #bexasia2017

*Heating, ventilation, air-conditioning and refrigeration