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Singapore Companies Rapidly Bringing the Future of Work to Life: Aon Survey

  • 75% of surveyed organisations have made decisions on return-to-office timelines but only 25% of the companies have a return date.
  • 33% of companies expect returning workers to spend only two to three days per week in the office
  • Key issues shaping future-of-work definitions are addressing talent availability concerns, rethinking company cultures and digitalisation

SINGAPORE – Media OutReach – 2 June 2021 Aon plc (NYSE: AON), a leading global professional services firm providing a broad range of risk, retirement and health solutions, has released the results of a new global human resources (HR) pulse survey focused on the steps companies are taking to bring the future of work to life.

Aon conducted its pulse survey from April 20-28, 2021, with a total of 1,451 human resources leaders and professionals responding globally. Complete study results, across multiple geographies and industries, are available here.

“The ongoing disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the need for an agile and resilient workforce,” said Peter Bentley, Global Chief Commercial Officer & Future of Work Leader for Human Capital solutions at Aon. “The focus on flexible working, while not new, has resulted in an unpacking of additional ‘future of work’ initiatives as highlighted by our survey findings. We see this trend continuing and driving positive momentum as companies build a more flexible, healthy workforce and invest in developing existing employee potential to drive innovation and performance.”

Companies plan for return to the office, but not everyone and not every day

In Singapore, 75% of surveyed organisations have made decisions on return-to-office timeline but only 25% of the companies have a return date.

However, companies do not expect everyone to return to the office. Forty-nine percent of surveyed organisations expect fewer than 75% of office workers to return onsite once the COVID-19 pandemic is over.

Additionally, flexible or hybrid working options are on the rise, with 33% of companies expecting returning workers to spend only two to three days per week in the office, and another 17% of companies opting to give employees a choice in terms of how much time they spend in the office.


Supporting vaccine adoption through incentives

As workers head back onsite, companies are taking a proactive and supportive approach to vaccine adoption; however, they are largely stopping short of mandates. Only 5% of surveyed organisations in Singapore currently plan to make COVID-19 vaccines mandatory for employees where allowed by law, with another 9% of organisations actively considering this approach.

Meanwhile, 34% of organisations in Singapore are offering incentives to employees who receive COVID-19 vaccines, most often in the form of paid time-off to receive and recover from injections, and 46% of companies are actively educating employees on the benefits of getting vaccinated.


Future-of-work strategies and inclusion and diversity efforts are tightly linked

Focused on the future, almost three in four surveyed companies (70%) in Singapore have one or more teams or taskforces defining, managing and implementing the future of work. In addition, 80% of organisations say they now have a clear and consistent definition for what the future of work means for their business or expect to have a definition in the next six months.

The three most prevalent issues shaping future-of-work definitions in Singapore are addressing talent availability concerns, rethinking company cultures and digitalisation, cited by 93%, 86% and 80% of companies, respectively.

Looking more closely at inclusion and diversity efforts, 44% of surveyed companies in Singapore state HR teams are most responsible for leading programmes in this area. Additionally, 86% of firms have created or are planning to create inclusion and diversity metrics or goals to track progress, with diversity encompassing diversity of thought as well as employee demographics.

Efforts to rethink location-based compensation continue

With remote work on the rise, 69% of surveyed organisations in Singapore have adjusted, or are considering adjusting, geographic pay differentials as a result of the pandemic. Among companies actively adjusting pay based on shifting employee locations, 87% are re-examining pay rates using fresh market data and 39% are adding more granularity to the geographic zones they consider.

However, making adjustments of this nature isn’t without challenges. Top concerns for Singapore organisations include the difficulty of adopting and maintaining market-aligned pay rates across numerous locations (72%) and employment-related concerns and work policies (67%). In both cases, surveyed companied cited these issues as moderately, very or extremely challenging.


About Aon

Aon plc (NYSE: AON) is a leading global professional services firm providing a broad range of risk, retirement and health solutions. Our 50,000 colleagues in 120 countries empower results for clients by using proprietary data and analytics to deliver insights that reduce volatility and improve performance.

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#Aon

The MDRT Academy continues to grow with new members from Sun Life Asia

SINGAPORE – Media OutReach – 2 June 2021 – The MDRT Academy — a new association helping financial professionals accelerate their careers — recently welcomed more than 670 advisors from Sun Life Asia to its membership ranks. The addition of Sun Life advisors from Hong Kong, the Philippines, Indonesia, Vietnam and Malaysia will make Sun Life the MDRT Academy’s largest membership company to date. The Academy will supplement Sun Life’s Brighter Gen and Brighter Pro training and development program, and together support Sun Life’s ambition to be a market leader in quality financial advice.

“Sun Life’s goal is to have the most respected advisors in the industry, known for the quality of their advice and their professionalism,” said Leo Grepin, Sun Life Asia President. “The MDRT Academy is a valuable addition to our Brighter Academy advisor development programs, which build the skills and capabilities to guide advisors along their career journey from rookie, to MDRT, and then leading agency manager. With access to the best training and experience, Sun Life advisors can achieve their career ambitions and deliver the best experience to our clients,” Grepin said.

The MDRT Academy was launched in 2017 to help financial services professionals reach greater production levels and join MDRT. The MDRT Academy was designed to be a fully digital experience, allowing members to access the tools, resources and community anytime and anywhere through an intuitive website and mobile app.

“We’re excited to work with Sun Life, and there is no doubt that the MDRT Academy will help their advisors increase their production, improve their client service skills and learn best practices from experienced MDRT members,” said MDRT President Ian Green, Dip PFS. “The tools for building a successful career in financial services are literally at their fingertips.”

The MDRT Academy features an assessment that helps members better understand and identify their strengths and growth areas — and personalizes content to a member’s needs and areas of interest. It also offers goal setting and performance-tracking tools, monthly webcasts featuring MDRT members, Performance Guides, as well as hundreds of articles, videos and podcast episodes. MDRT Academy members also have the opportunity to attend MDRT’s Annual Meeting.

About Sun Life

Sun Life is a leading international financial services organization providing insurance, wealth and asset management solutions to individual and corporate Clients. Sun Life has operations in a number of markets worldwide, including Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Hong Kong, the Philippines, Japan, Indonesia, India, China, Australia, Singapore, Vietnam, Malaysia and Bermuda. As of March 31, 2021, Sun Life had total assets under management of $1,304 billion. For more information please visit www.sunlife.com.

About MDRT

MDRT, The Premier Association of Financial Professionals®, is a global, independent association of the world’s leading life insurance and financial services professionals from more than 500 companies in 70 nations and territories. MDRT members demonstrate exceptional professional knowledge, strict ethical conduct and outstanding client service. MDRT membership is recognized internationally as the standard of excellence in the life insurance and financial services business. For more information on the MDRT Academy, please visit mdrtacademy.org. For more information on MDRT, please visit mdrt.org.


#MDRT

GeTS wins 2021 Global Finance – The Innovators Award for Outstanding Innovation in Trade Finance

SINGAPORE – Media OutReach – 2 June 2021 – Global eTrade Services (GeTS) is proud to be recognised as one of the Outstanding Innovators in Trade Finance category for “Global Finance The Innovators 2021” annual selection program.

In its ninth year, this unique program by Global Finance recognises organisations that consistently identify and innovate new ways and tools in finance. Award categories include Outstanding Innovations in Cash Management, Corporate Finance, Islamic Finance, Payments and Trade Finance.

Importantly, GeTS’ CALISTA Finance (part of CALISTA – a global supply chain orchestration platform) won this recognition due to the innovative process design and AI technology that enables trade financing to be more accessible, predictable and easier to fulfil for traders.

CALISTA brings together key trade activities such as logistics, regulatory compliance and trade finance on a digital eco-system that serves the shippers and logistics stakeholders. Through CALISTA, shippers can book and track their freight, fulfil regulatory requirements, and secure financing for their trades. CALISTA also supports Logistics Service Providers (LSPs) by helping them to digitalise their sales process and allowing them to collaborate seamlessly and efficiently.

Trade financing is traditionally a complex and timely process with many documents and interactions between the borrowers and financiers. To maintain economic growth and ensure smooth cross-border trade, businesses need access to adequate funds. For example, in Southeast Asia, around 39 million[1] small and medium-sized companies contribute 40 %[2] of the region’s gross domestic product (GDP), but these SMEs typically do not have access to financial support. During the COVID-19 crisis, global supply chains were severely disrupted, which further compounded the woes of SMEs.

Plugging the gaps in trade finance between the different trade parties – CALISTA Finance digitalises the entire trade financing application process through the use of optical character recognition (OCR) technology and an Artificial Intelligence/machine learning (AI/ML) credit engine. This enables CALISTA finance to offer fast and fuss-free financing with a turnaround time of within 72 hours from application to securing of loans, a process which generally takes approximately 2 weeks for the banks.

In addition, CALISTA Finance has an outstanding performance in risk management and mitigation. As a result, it offers lenders a viable channel to access the potential borrowers in the global trade segment.

“We are very honoured to receive this recognition from Global Finance,” said Chong Kok Keong, CEO of GeTS.

“We will continue to revolutionise the way trade is financed through a one-stop solution that provides financing options where businesses can strengthen their liquidity, get easier access to improve their cash flows and ultimately increase their competitiveness in their trade activities.”


[1] McKinsey Global Institute – Digital Finance for All: Powering Inclusive Growth in Emerging Economies (2016)

[2] SME Policy Index – ASEAN 2018 (Association of Southeast Asian Nations)

About GeTS

GeTS (Global eTrade Services) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of CrimsonLogic. As a global leading trade platform company, GeTS is shaping the future of trade and supply chain with its innovative use of technology and deep G2B and B2B domain expertise. GeTS enables the orchestration of logistics, compliance and financial requirements of trade and supply chain seamlessly, smartly and securely. Thus, powering global trade by making it more accessible, predictable and easier to fulfil. GeTS has linkages to more than 60 Customs nodes, 90 ocean carriers & NVOCCs across the world, with more than 175,000 connected parties and conducting more than 40 million transactions annually.

Our parent company, CrimsonLogic, is a partner to governments and businesses globally. For over 30 years, CrimsonLogic has partnered customers to innovate sustainable world-class solutions, products and services in Trade, Legal and Digital Government, enabling significant transformations that have positively impacted governments, businesses and communities. CrimsonLogic is supported by two shareholders – PSA International and Enterprise Singapore.

#CALISTA #CALISTA Finance #TradeFinancing #Fintech #Finance #BusinessLoans #SmallBusiness #Factoring #Creditline #ARfinancing #CashFlow

Laos Reports Five New Cases of Covid-19

Covid-19 Update

Laos has reported five new cases of Covid-19, including cases of community spread in Vientiane Capital.

GROUP8 Brings ‘The Standoff’ Closer With An Exclusive Online Tour

SINGAPORE – Media OutReach – 2 June 2021 – With a rise in cybersecurity breaches and the need for remote work amid the pandemic, GROUP8 recognised the need for more extensive and robust cybersecurity solutions across various industries in Singapore. To inspire the local cybersecurity community, GROUP8 recently co-organised The Standoff webinar to bring a guided tour of this globally recognised cyberbattle to Singapore’s virtual scene for the first time, on May 20, 2021.

The Standoff is an annual cyberbattle based in Russia, where the best offensive (Red) and best defensive (Blue) cybersecurity teams are brought from all over the world to compete for the control of a simulated digital metropolis. This year, GROUP8 partnered with Div0, Singapore’s foremost cybersecurity community group, and Positive Technologies to bring a virtual tour of the cyberbattle to audiences from all over the world.

In this one-hour livestream guided tour of The Standoff, Zoom attendees were able to step into the battlefield and observe how the offensive Red team tested the IT infrastructure of the simulated city, while the Blue team contested by defending against these attempts. Taking a leaf out of reality, this city was a digital copy of a modern metropolis – with complete OT and IT infrastructures, such as transportation networks and traffic systems, all powered by the latest technologies.

Unlike a typical Capture The Flag (CTF) game, The Standoff is a highly practical cyberbattle, where teams seek out cyber vulnerabilities found in real critical infrastructures that have been simulated into this hackable city. As an observer or as a contestant from either of the teams, participants were exposed and kept up-to-date with cybersecurity issues; how these issues could have a concrete impact on the digital city and by extension, the real world. Apart from gaining insights from cybersecurity experts and the Security Ops Centre (SOC) team, attendees were offered an analysis of common strategies that attackers utilise to access confidential digital assets.

With a successful close to the webinar, GROUP8 is honoured to bring the The Standoff virtual guided tour to Singapore’s cybersecurity community. Fret not if you have missed the webinar, you could catch it on The Standoff’s Youtube channel:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qI25kST2j_Y&t=2567s

GROUP8 is a home-grown cybersecurity and cyber intelligence company which provides solutions such as penetration testing services that are CREST certified in Singapore. With its dedication to offensive cybersecurity research, the team at GROUP8 offers web services that are tailored to any business needs.

For more information, please visit: https://group8.co/

#GROUP8

Charles Monat Associates Announces New Global Leadership Structure to Accelerate International Growth

  • Berry Wong appointed to newly created role of CEO, APAC
  • Nikki Koh appointed as CEO, Singapore
  • Elevated appointments for Klaus Kiessling to Group CFO and Li San Tan to Group COO
  • Global Advisory Council created to build greater synergies across regions

HONG KONG SAR – Media OutReach – 2 June 2021 – Charles Monat Associates (CMA), a pioneer in wealth planning and life insurance solutions, today announced major global leadership changes to advance the company’s business growth strategy and build greater synergies across regions, asset classes and liquidity solutions.

Yves Guélat, Group Chief Executive Officer, Charles Monat Associates

To capitalize on the extraordinary growth opportunities across Asia Pacific (APAC), driven by rapidly increasing wealth across the region, CMA has appointed Berry Wong to the new position of CEO of APAC. Wong, who previously served as CEO of Hong Kong where he drove revenue growth by 300% in the last four years, will be responsible for overseeing operations in Mainland China, Hong Kong, Malaysia, and Singapore. In this newly created position, Wong will continue to be an enabler of evolving client wealth planning objectives, while charting an ambitious expansion strategy across APAC.

Nikki Koh will succeed Martin Wong as CEO of Singapore, where he will be responsible for building on the firm’s success in this strategically important market. Koh, who has over 25 years of insurance and banking experience, will also drive the development of an emerging-market roadmap across South-East Asia. In addition to his new leadership responsibilities, he will continue to serve as Group Chief Commercial Officer. Martin Wong has been appointed to the new position of Group Chief Business Development Officer, where he will utilize his experience in expanding across Asia to focus on developing onshore opportunities across different regions and markets.

To support the firm’s aggressive global expansion plans, CMA has established a new Global Advisory Council to build greater synergies across APAC, Europe, the Middle East and Americas. The Council will report to CMA’s Group Executive Committee and will be charged with developing a blueprint to navigate the opportunities and challenges posed by the rapidly shifting landscape of global wealth.

The establishment of the Global Advisory Council comes ahead of a major expansion across Europe, and follows the exceptional growth of CMA’s Middle East operations over the last two years, managed under Rahul Chopra, Senior Executive Officer & Managing Director, Dubai, who has been appointed to the Council. As part of CMA’s strategic growth plans to increase its geographical footprint across Europe and bring more comprehensive services and solutions to clients, CMA is making further investments into its growing Swiss-based operations, and has appointed Marco Liardo as Head of Switzerland and Managing Director. Liardo reports into Simon Lo, Chief Executive Officer, International Business.

Yves Guélat, Group CEO of CMA, said: “The changes we have announced today signify a new and exciting chapter for Charles Monat Associates. We are proud to be the uncontested market leader and premier broker of choice, having had the privilege of serving over 8,000 high-net-worth individuals and families for 50 years. These moves are testament to the strength and vision of our team, and position us to capitalize on the significant global opportunities ahead of us.

“Over the last few years, a new, highly-competitive wealth planning ecosystem has been emerging. Covid-19 has accelerated the pace of this change as the entire world was brought to a standstill, with borders closing and travel restricted. The uncertainty has highlighted the importance of succession planning, while reaffirming the need for wealth consultants to be nimble and agile to adapt to the fast-moving environment and bridge their capabilities globally. Today’s announcement puts us in a unique position to do this, as we aim to get closer to our clients and partners, become the world’s most ‘global broker’ and continue to build our legacy and the legacies of our clients.”

Berry Wong, CEO, APAC, said: “I am humbled, yet excited to take on this role. CMA was born in Hong Kong and the business has been shaped by the APAC region over the course of its 50-year history. As we embark on this new chapter, I am energized by the opportunity to sharpen our organization’s focus and lay the foundation for another 50 years of growth and expansion throughout the continent. Asia’s rise has been nothing short of remarkable, with the number of ultra-high-net-worth individuals growing faster than anywhere else in the world. I am extremely proud of our team’s contributions to making a difference to our partners and clients, always putting their needs first. With this team of extraordinary professionals, together we will continue to play a significant role in helping individuals, families, and businesses plan ahead with peace of mind that guarantees the continuity of their life’s work.”

Nikki Koh, CEO, Singapore, said: “The opportunity ahead of us cannot be overstated. Singapore is already home to one of the highest concentrations of high-net-worth individuals in the world and the emerging markets of South East Asia represent a new and exciting frontier. As a people-centric organization with a culture built on trust, passion and family-values, we always take the time to understand what’s important to our clients to cater to their unique needs. As CMA begins this new chapter, we do so with the industry’s best talents and a clear sense of organizational purpose.”

Aligned with the company’s strategic move to accelerate its international growth plan, Klaus Kiessling has been elevated from Group Chief Operations Officer (COO) and will now take charge of CMA’s global financial strategy as Group Chief Financial Officer. Li San Tan has been appointed as the new Group COO, and will be responsible for optimizing operational processes globally, and overseeing the company’s digital transformation across markets, including the enhancement of IT infrastructure, security, and cybersecurity. Tan will also take the lead in automation integration to streamline business processes, and ensure a seamless experience for CMA’s clients and partners on user-facing tools and platforms.

Established in 1971, CMA has become an industry leader preserving the wealth of more than 8,000 clients from 50 countries, and placed more than US$40 billion worth of solutions during this 50-year tenure. CMA operates across Asia with a strong presence in Mainland China and operations in the Middle East, Europe and North America. CMA has an agile team of on-the-ground experts who understand the nuances of each market.


About Charles Monat Associates

Charles Monat Associates (CMA) is a leading global insurance broker with more than 200 professionals operating in Hong Kong, Singapore, Dubai, Switzerland, Miami, Kuala Lumpur, and Liechtenstein. Founded in 1971 by Charles S. Monat, the company has established a reputation as Asia’s most trusted premier consultancy. With 50 years of experience, CMA delivers world class expertise in liquidity planning and wealth transfer for Ultra-High-Net-Worth and High-Net-Worth individuals, families and businesses. For more information, visit www.monat.com.

#CharlesMonatAssociates #CMA

China Promises 500,000 More Doses of Sinopharm Covid-19 Vaccine

China to provide Laos with a further 500,000 sinopharm vaccines

The Chinese government has confirmed it will provide another 500,000 doses of Sinopharm Covid-19 vaccines to Laos.

NCS Makes Top Hires to Drive Growth

Industry veterans to boost senior leadership team

 

SINGAPORE – Media OutReach – 2 June 2021 – NCS today announced the appointment of three industry veterans to its Senior Leadership Team to drive its next phase of growth and transformation. Their appointments come as NCS creates a new Corporate Development portfolio focusing on Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A) and a partner ecosystem, as well as two new Strategic Business Groups dedicated to NCS’ business in the government and telco sectors.

In a strategic review announced last week, NCS was cited as a new growth engine for the Singtel Group which would see NCS expand into the enterprise sector and major markets of Australia and Greater China. Earlier this year, NCS was carved out as an autonomous unit within the Group as a first step towards realising this new remit and ambition.

Commenting on the three new senior leadership appointments, Mr Ng Kuo Pin, Chief Executive Officer, NCS said, “I’m really excited to welcome our three new senior leaders into NCS. They are joining NCS at a crucial time when we are repositioning ourselves, to build a better technology services firm in Asia Pacific for both public sector and enterprise clients. They will help boost our senior leadership team, as we strive to transform NCS into a B2B services champion. The creation of two new Strategic Business Groups for the government and telco sectors underpins our focus to reinvent ourselves to better serve the public sector and expedite growth in the enterprise sector. The next chapter of NCS is about to unfold, and we hope to get support from all in the industry, especially our clients, our people and our partners.”

Howie Lau, Managing Director, Corporate Development and Partnerships

Howie joins NCS from 1 June 2021 as Managing Director of Corporate Development and Partnerships. Howie will spearhead NCS’ efforts in M&A to accelerate its expansion in the key markets of Singapore, Australia and Greater China. Besides inorganic acquisitions, he will review and develop strategic partnerships that will establish NCS as a leader in the digital ecosystem in Asia Pacific. Howie will also lead the marketing and communications function, and drive sustainability efforts to support NCS’ new purpose and aspiration to advance communities across Asia Pacific through harnessing technology.

Prior to joining NCS, he was the Assistant Chief Executive, Media & Innovation Group at the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA), with oversight in developing the technology, telecommunications, and media business in Singapore as well as driving technology capability development. Howie brings with him more than 25 years of experience in corporate development and marketing in his previous appointments as Chief Marketing Officer and Head of Consumer Business at StarHub, as well as Vice President of Corporate Development at Lenovo and IBM.

Sam Liew Lien Ban, Managing Director, Government Strategic Business Group

Since its inception, NCS has always partnered with government agencies to deliver reliable, secure and innovative ICT services impacting the lives of citizens and communities. Underpinning NCS’ strategic intent to reinvent its business in the public sector, NCS will set up a dedicated group of practices to build NCS’ digital government portfolio, and drive collaboration efforts to propel NCS as the go-to digital catalyst for governments and smart cities across Asia Pacific.

Sam Liew will join on 1 July 2021 as Managing Director, Government Strategic Business Group to lead this group of practices; which serves the Singapore Public Service, Defence and Homeland Security agencies, and government clients across Asia Pacific. He will focus on the key challenge of helping government agencies digitalise the core of public services to enable holistic public service transformation.

With 24 years of industry experience, Sam is the Managing Director of Technology Group at GIC, responsible for delivering Technology, Data Analytics and Data Science projects and initiatives, across GIC globally. Prior to GIC, Sam was Managing Director for Accenture’s ASEAN Technology business and was part of Accenture’s Global CEO Circle strategy & leadership team. He was also a member of Accenture’s Global Technology leadership council.

Sami Luukkonen, Managing Director, Telco Strategic Business Group

Sami Luukkonen will join on 1 July 2021 as Managing Director, Telco Strategic Business Group, a dedicated group of practices focused on scaling NCS’ business in the Telco sector. Leveraging NCS’ strengths and domain experience as the technology service provider for the Singtel Group, Sami will focus on helping telcos digitalise their operations, and go to market competitively and innovatively. He will co-create at-scale, telco-centric solutions and offerings with telco clients across Asia Pacific.

Sami has more than 25 years of extensive experience in the Communications, Media and Technology (CMT) sector. He was a Senior Managing Director at Accenture as the Europe Strategic Sales across all industries and led Accenture’s Electronics & High Technology business global strategic initiatives which encompasses its acquisition strategy and ecosystem plays within the CMT industry globally. Sami is a thought leader in various international forums and served as the chairman of Research and Innovation select group for Confederation of Finnish Industries.

APPENDIX A – EXECUTIVE PROFILES

Howie Lau

Managing Director, Corporate Development and Partnerships, NCS

Howie brings with him years of deep experience and thought leadership in the Info-Communications and Technology (ICT) sector. Prior to joining NCS, he was the Assistant Chief Executive, Media & Innovation Group at the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA), which has oversight of developing the technology, telecommunications and media business in Singapore as well as technology capability development.

Prior to IMDA, Howie was the Chief Marketing Officer and Head of Consumer Business at StarHub, and Vice President of Corporate Development at Lenovo. He has more than 25 years of experience in corporate development, business leadership and marketing in Lenovo and IBM across Asia Pacific, China, India and Latin America.

Howie serves on several advisory committees and boards, including the Governing Council of the Singapore Institute of Directors and board of Science Centre Singapore. He was recognised as IT Leader of the Year 2020 by Singapore Computer Society and received the Philip Kotler Marketing Excellence award in 2018.

Sam Liew Lien Ban

Managing Director, Government Strategic Business Group, NCS

Sam Liew will join NCS on 1 July 2021 as Managing Director, Government Strategic Business Group. With 24 years of industry experience, Sam is the Managing Director, Technology Group at GIC. As Director of Technology and Division Head of Business Partner and Solutions, Sam is responsible for delivering Technology, Data Analytics and Data Science projects and initiatives, across GIC globally. Sam is also a member of GIC’s Corporate Management Committee, Group Risk Committee, and the Technology Business Group.

Prior to GIC, Sam was Managing Director for Accenture’s ASEAN Technology business. Sam was part of Accenture’s Global CEO Circle strategy & leadership team, Global Technology leadership council, ASEAN Geographical leadership council and APAC Technology leadership team.

Sam contributes his time and expertise across several boards, committees and industry associations such as: board director at Gardens by the Bay, council member of IT Standards Committee at Enterprise Singapore and vice president at the Singapore Computer Society where he is a conferred fellow.

A keen contributor to developing talent in the ICT industry, Sam is a board member at the Singapore Management University (SMU) School of Computing and Information Systems, advisory committee member at Singapore Polytechnic School of Computing and sits on the data analytics advisory board at the SMU School of Accountancy.

Sami Luukkonen

Managing Director, Telco Strategic Business Group, NCS

Sami has extensive experience in the Communications, Media and Technology (CMT) sector where he has worked for over 25 years. Prior to this, Sami was a Senior Managing Director at Accenture as the Europe Strategic Sales across all industries and led Accenture’s Electronics & High Technology business global strategic initiatives which encompasses its acquisition strategy and ecosystem plays within the CMT industry globally.

Sami is a CMT industry thought leader who shares in various international forums, and has a passion for the next industrial revolution and the disruption opportunities resulting from customer intimacy, 5G, digital, AI, robotics, IoT, machine learning, etc. Sami also served prior global roles such as the regional lead for CMT Nordics region, the global lead for Electronics, High Tech, Aerospace and Defense industries, and the Asia Pacific lead of CMT Strategic Sales.

His career has taken him across the globe to Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Philippines, Australia, Norway, Denmark and the Netherlands. Sami served as the chairman of Research and Innovation select group for Confederation of Finnish Industries. He was also an advisory board member of ICT 2015 initiative, a special program to reinvent the ICT industry in Finland launched by its prime minister.

About NCS

NCS is a member of the Singtel Group and the leading information, communications and technology (ICT) service provider with presence in the Asia Pacific region. NCS delivers end-to-end ICT and digital solutions to help governments and enterprises realise business value through digital transformation and the innovative use of technology. NCS invests in NEXT capabilities of digital, cloud, platform and cyber while continuously strengthening its core offerings of Applications, Infrastructure and Engineering. NCS also believes in building a strong partner eco-system with leading technology players and research institutions to support open innovation and co-creation.

#NCS