On the cusp of innovation
The University's contribution to the country's technology scene was recognised by Singapore Minister for Trade and Industry (Industry) Mr S Iswaran at the inaugural Huawei Innovation Day Asia, which was held at the Raffles Singapore on 12 November.
The event, themed ""Building Innovation Ecosystems for a Better Connected Asia was co-hosted by global information communications technology (ICT) solutions provider Huawei in partnership with NUS. Graced by Mr Iswaran and Mr Chen Xiaodong, Ambassador of the People's Republic of China to Singapore, it was attended by more than 150 regional government officials, as well as experts from universities and research institutions. The event aimed to build a platform for ICT players in Asia to communicate on how to build an ecosystem.
In his opening address, Mr Iswaran cited two NUS-related examples to highlight Singapore's commitment towards developing both talent and solutions in the field of technological innovation. The first example was the partnership between NUS, IBM and Singapore's Economic Development Board to establish the NUS-IBM Centre for Business Analytics, one of the four Master's and five Bachelor's programmes for data analytics in Singapore. He also mentioned the autonomous vehicles developed by NUS and the Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology Centre, which have been on trial at the One-North district since October.
""The need for smart cities solutions in Asia provides exciting opportunities for our people and businesses, said Mr Iswaran. ""I am confident that Singapore can play a meaningful and valuable role in that regard, through collaborations and partnerships between the industry, research community and public agencies, to develop innovative solutions that address the growing needs and challenges of cities in Asia.
Innovation Day is a flagship series focused on global innovation hosted by Huawei. The event has been successfully held in Stockholm, Milan and Munich and this is first time it was held in Asia. Event attendees discussed a wide range of topics, including transforming mega cities for a Smarter Asia through Better Connection.
One of the event's sessions, ""How ICT Transforms City Management and Fuels Economic Development was moderated by NUS Business School Visiting Senior Fellow Keith Carter.
Later that afternoon, about 40 regional journalists who had attended the event visited NUS Enterprise's start-up community space, Blk71. They were given a brief introduction to NUS Enterprise by its CEO Dr Lily Chan. This was followed by presentations from employees of three NUS start-ups 'Algo Access, ViSenze and Ampotech' who gave the journalists an overview of their companies and innovations.
Dr Chan addressing journalists at Blk71.
