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We see you in our future... SINGAPORE COMPUTER SOCIETY Annual Report 2018
We see you in our future...
SINGAPORE COMPUTER SOCIETY
Annual Report 2018
The Singapore Computer Society (SCS) is the leading infocomm and digital media society for industry professionals, leaders, students, and infocomm enthusiasts.
Established in 1967, the Society has a thriving membership base of over 33,000 members today. Through our nine Chapters, seven Special Interest Groups, we remain steadfast in our commitment to establish a strong reputation as the voice of Singapore’s infocomm and digital media community.
Armed with the mission of leading and driving vibrancy and growth of Singapore’s infocomm and digital media industry, we strive to add value to our members’ professional and personal development goals. From publications to training and development, networking opportunities and more, we support our members by fuelling their ambition to connect, collaborate and be inspired with infocomm innovation and excellence. We seek to raise the bar in the industry through our various certification programmes that enable skills upgrading and career advancement.
SCS is also actively engaged in developing future generations of infocomm and digital media talents. Our student members enjoy opportunities to meet, mingle with, and be mentored by leading practitioners for an invaluable head start in their chosen fields.
To be the leading infocomm and digital media professional society in Singapore
02 Up Close with Mr Howie Lau
04 #Bestof2018
06 SCS Executive Council
08 Building Future-proof Careers
10 Encouraging Lifelong Learning
12 Shaping a Close-knit Community
14 Nurturing Youthful Interests
16 Championing Collective Advance
17 Statement by the Executive Council
18 Independent Auditor’s Report
20 Statement of Comprehensive Income
22 Balance Sheet
23 Statement of Changes in Accumulated and Specific Funds
24 Statement of Cash Flows
25 Notes to the Financial Statements
Who We AreVision
Lead the WayTo lead and contribute to the vibrancy and growth of Singapore’s infocomm and digital media industry
Add ValueTo add value to the infocomm and digital media professional’s career and personal development
Be the VoiceTo engage and be the voice of the infocomm and digital media community
Mission
Contents
... because your future decides ours.The world today is different from yesterday. The world tomorrow promises more challenges, but also more possibilities. But no matter what the future brings, we are steadfast in our commitment to advance the interest of our members and build a stronger tech community – for our collective future.
Let’s embark on this shared journey together.
01ANNUAL REPORT 2018
Up Close with Mr Howie Lau
In what ways did 2018 stand out for SCS?The speed of tech increases every year. Everyday is different in tech. Naturally, as the leading tech professional society we are committed to keep pace and stay ahead so that our growing base of over 33,000 members can get value from their SCS membership. Here are a few of the highlights from 2018.
To support the strong momentum and interests, we had elevated our Supply Chain Management Special Interest Group (SIG) to a Chapter and formed a new Women in Tech SIG in 2018. As we speak, we are also preparing to launch a new Data Centre SIG and transform Enterprise Architecture SIG into a Chapter.
After another busy and fruitful year, SCS President Mr Howie Lau outlines highlights which made 2018 notable as well as sums up his four-year term as SCS President.
Building on the momentum from 2017, we had maintained a high frequency of events (2.6 events per week) to help our members stay relevant in this evolving landscape.
We had actively provided career support through the SCS Tech Skills Accelerator (TeSA) initiatives to help young professionals get settled and ahead in their careers, and mid-career professionals – especially those displaced – to boost their resilience.
Concurrently, we expanded our network of ICT Career Mentors; and partnered with Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA), Workforce Singapore (WSG), and Employment & Employability Institute (e2i) to foster sustainable growth for the tech industry and profession.
One new programme that arose from our partnership with Cyber Security Agency of Singapore (CSA) was the quarterly Cybersecurity Career Mentoring Programme, which looked to groom tech students and fresh graduates for the cybersecurity profession. The programme complemented SCS IT Youth Council’s (ITYC) increased efforts in engaging young tech professionals. In 2018, ITYC not only continued to organise the signature Youth Engagement Series (YES!), but also started a new series of in-demand skills workshops, SESSIONS.
We understand that you are ending your four-year term as SCS President. Can you share your journey thus far?Time flies. Four years ago, the executive council members came together to review and refine SCS’ vision and mission so that they can better define our purpose and guide our direction. It was a crucial exercise to help us focus and align our efforts towards the development of our members.
Our village may have grown over the years and tech has become more pervasive, but our community spirit of supporting each other has never stopped growing. It is stronger than ever.”
02 SINGAPORE COMPUTER SOCIETY
Since then, we have aligned all our initiatives to support our vision and mission closely.
Incidentally, these past few years had been the most exciting period of the tech industry. Globally, we saw rapid transitions to Industry 4.0 – which came with a huge wave of opportunities for some, and disruptions for others. Some previously valued skills became less important. Meanwhile, demand for new skills increased significantly within a short time.
As the largest tech professional society in Singapore with over 33,000 members, it was important for SCS to help our members navigate challenges while empowering them with access to new opportunities. That led to the setup of SCS TeSA and SCS Career Compass in 2016. Two years on, we are seeing a positive difference both programmes have made for our members and the tech industry at large.
Tech is now increasingly embedded in many other industries. As such, we extended SCS’ certifications beyond the tech industry with the launch of the Digital Proficiency (DigiPro) Programme for non-tech professionals, managers, executives and technicians (PMETs) in October 2018. Through this series of tech-lite certifications, we aim to help PMETs across all sectors pick up essential tech skills to meet demands of the digital economy.
SCS celebrated SCS50 in 2017, an amazing 50 years of growing with Singapore! It was momentous and heartwarming when 1,200 attendees and many of our founding presidents joined us at the SCS50 Gala Dinner to kick off the celebrations. The grand finale event – SCS50 Drone Experience – held on 28 October 2017 was equally memorable. Over 3,000 people of various ages came, learnt and experienced the fun technology brings.
You have certainly had a productive journey. Which are some of your proudest accomplishments?SCS is what it is today because of the strong foundation that had been laid, the strong teamwork, an amazing secretariat and wonderfully supportive members and partners.
We have seen good growth in membership, launched a few new initiatives and saw stronger participation in our programmes.
All of us in the executive council are proud of our decision to initiate SCS TeSA in 2016 as it has brought good value to our members and provided a strong foundation for the continued growth of SCS. Building upon that success, the rollout of SCS TeSA 2.0 in 2018 expanded SCS’ impact to benefit non-tech professionals and industries. The effectiveness of TeSA is recognised with SCS winning the Partners Award and Digital Learning Transformation Award in 2017 and 2018 respectively at the NTUC May Day Awards.
Most importantly, it is always most rewarding to witness the growing number of members volunteering their time and energy to support SCS’ programmes. Our village may have grown over the years and tech has become more pervasive, but our community spirit of supporting each other has never stopped growing. It is stronger than ever.
What are your hopes for SCS’ future?The rate of change will continue to increase. I am hopeful that SCS will continually find ways to serve our members better and develop future generations of infocomm and digital media talents.
Talent remains Singapore’s primary resource and there is tremendous opportunities for our tech talents to punch above our weight on a global stage.
How do you intend to engage with SCS after your term as SCS President?As a tech professional myself, I have vested interest in the well-being of the tech industry. SCS has always been about teamwork; and while my term may have ended, I will continue to support the industry and SCS in ways that I can contribute. I also hope to continue working with my SCS colleagues to build and grow SCS TeSA initiatives.
Do you have any concluding thoughts to share?Yes. A big thank you to the executive council, and various SIGs and Chapters and all our committees for their dedication, advice and support. Their diverse perspectives and expertise had made programmes robust while their relentless efforts in championing knowledge exchange and a more cohesive tech community are an inspiration.
My appreciation as well to the awesome and ever-reliable secretariat who had ensured the success and sustainability of our programmes.
Of course, unwavering support from corporate sponsors and industry partners was also instrumental to many of our programmes.
I would like to also express my gratitude to our advisory council members and past presidents for their guidance and support.
Finally, I am very thankful for the friendship. It has been a tremendous privilege to serve.
03ANNUAL REPORT 2018
Membership reaches
33,328
Launched new Women in Tech SIG
Launched new Data Centre
SIG
Maintained high frequency of
2.6events per week
#Bestof2018
Splash Awards 2018
AI Innovation
SCS Gala Dinner & IT Leader Awards
Tech3 Forum
The Future of Work in the Digital Age
04 SINGAPORE COMPUTER SOCIETY
Launched new Digital
Proficiency Programme
(DigiPro)
Launched SESSIONS
A Tech Workshop Series by ITYC
151career mentors
Chapter
SCS Career Compass
15Career Mentoring
Sessions and Career Support Activities
Supply Chain Management SIG
became a
05ANNUAL REPORT 2018
Mr Howie LauPresident
Dr Chong Yoke SinVice-President
Mr Ong Whee TeckVice-President
Mr Yap Chee YuenVice-President
Mr Khoong Hock YunCouncil Member
Dr Kwong Yuk WahCouncil Member
Mr Andrew LimCouncil Member
Ms Lum Seow KhunCouncil Member
Mr Tony TayCouncil Member
Mr Yeo Teck GuanCouncil Member
Mr Chak Kong SoonCo-opted Member
Mr Jason ChenCo-opted Member
Mr Han Chung HengCo-opted Member
Mr Keith LeongCo-opted Member
Mr Bruce LiangCo-opted Member
Prof Miao Chun YanCo-opted Member
SCS Executive Council
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Mr Tan Teng CheongHonorary Secretary
Mr Adrian ChyeHonorary Treasurer
Mr Dennis AngCouncil Member
Dr Timothy ChanCouncil Member
Mr Lawrence NgCouncil Member
Mr Leslie OngCouncil Member
Mr Harish PillayCouncil Member
Mr Joshua SohCouncil Member
Ms Stephanie DavisCo-opted Member
Mr Foong Sew BunCo-opted Member
Ms Fung KayleeCo-opted Member
Mr Peter GohCo-opted Member
Mr Ong Chin AnnCo-opted Member
Dr Toh See KiatHonorary Legal Advisor
Mr Gilbert LeongHonorary Legal Advisor
07ANNUAL REPORT 2018
Tech Mentoring SessionsTech Mentoring sessions feature experiential sharing by veteran tech professionals in various domain areas. It serves as a neutral and conducive platform for younger professionals to learn and understand latest trends in the tech landscape, address work issues and deepen and hone their skills and competencies.
Quarterly Cybersecurity Mentoring SeriesThe programme generates awareness and interest in cybersecurity as a profession and provides guidance for aspiring young professionals with interest in cybersecurity as a career.
Building Future-proof Careers
The speed of change continues to accelerate for the tech industry. In ensuring that our members are prepared for these changes, we maintained the momentum of our Career Compass and SCS TeSA initiatives as well as expanded our focus to include students and young professionals.
Career Preparatory WorkshopsThe workshops equip professionals with the skills to build and enhance their career development.
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Career FairsSCS collaborates with partner organisations to organise career fairs to facilitate job matching of jobseekers with potential hiring companies. Onsite career advisory is also provided by SCS ICT career mentors to help jobseekers confront difficult choices.
SCS TeSA 2.0SCS partnered with IMDA to prepare for the launch of SCS TeSA 2.0 in early 2019. Leading up to that, the first two modules of DigiPro programme were rolled out in October 2018 – Cybersecurity and Digital Content Creation.
SCS was conferred the Digital Learning Transformation Award at the NTUC May Day Awards 2018 for the second time, in recognition of SCS’ strong partnership and contributions to the national career support movement.
Career Crossroads Group Mentoring Sessions,
Cybersecurity Mentoring Sessions, Career Preparatory Workshops
Expanded Pool of ICT Career Mentors to
Career Support Activities for Professionals
Career Mentoring Series
15151
See page 16 to understand more about SCS TeSA 2.0.
More Career Compass Services, More Career
Support –
09ANNUAL REPORT 2018
Certifications• 7 Professional Certifications
Encouraging Lifelong Learning
The best way to stay relevant in the evolving landscape is to keep learning. To help members along this journey, we provide avenues such as Chapters and Special Interest Groups (SIGs) as well as publish materials to facilitate their keeping abreast with emerging trends. In addition, we offer structured learning opportunities through our professional certification programmes.
Publications – Printed and Online• InfoPier
The platform was regularly updated to ensure that our members can benefit from the latest ongoing discussions pertinent to their practice.
• The IT Society Magazine The magazine features thought pieces on some of the most current development in the tech industry, provoking members’ interests to engage in discussions or read up on the issues.
• International Journal of IT Through featuring tech application articles from authors around the world, the journal shares information on how leading technologies are applied to positively impact the society.
TecHourThese sessions provide participants with insights and workings of the industry. There is also a segment where Singapore’s startups share business strategies and challenges faced during the startup journey.
IDEAS This bimonthly series is aimed at growing the local analytics community and seeding new and innovative ideas for Big Data Analytics and Data Sciences.
Cloud 201 With a strong focus on cloud-related topics, Cloud 201 is derived from the Cloud Computing Body of Knowledge jointly developed with IMDA.
ASCENT The ASCENT series promotes sharing of successful use case studies in Supply Chain Management from industry adopters.
SESSIONS SESSIONS is a series of workshops designed for young professionals to gain digital competencies in in-demand tech skills.
Tech Series
• Certified Over 4,000 Professionals
10 SINGAPORE COMPUTER SOCIETY
New developments in Professional Groups• Supply Chain Management SIG
became a Chapter The Chapter works with the business
community to learn and understand the different supply chain business and operational requirements and challenges. The Chapter also supports supply chain management professionals in their career development.
• Launched Women in Tech SIG (WiT@SG)
With the mission of increasing female participation in the technology sector, WiT@SG provides a platform for tech woman professionals to connect, learn and lead in the industry.
• Launched Data Centre SIG Data Centre SIG aims to explore
innovations and technologies to grow Data Centre as a profession through supporting expert knowledge sharing and professional networking to meet the growing needs in the industry.
16 Professional Groups –
Events per Week
Professionals Certified in 7 Professional
Certifications
Digital Resources for Infocomm Professionals Quarterly Magazine
2.6Chapters
&SIGs
9 7 4,000
InfoPier
Over
High Frequency of
11ANNUAL REPORT 2018
Signature Events
Shaping a Close-knit Community
There is strength in numbers. As the largest infocomm society in Singapore with over 33,000 members, we have the advantage of not only being able to learn from one another, but also positively influencing one another towards greater passion and a more vibrant industry.
SCS Gala Dinner 2018Over 900 Infocomm and digital media professionals from both public and private sectors attended the SCS Gala Dinner held at Shangri-La Hotel on 9 March. The ceremony was graced by Dr Yaacob Ibrahim, Minister for Communications and Information.
22nd IT Leader AwardsThe IT Leader Awards that was held in conjunction with the annual SCS Gala Dinner also saw six distinguished individuals honoured for their achievements in the Singapore’s infocomm and digital media industry.
• IT Leader of the Year Eddie Chau, Founder & Chairman, Neeuro
• Outstanding Achievement Award Min-Liang Tan, CEO, Razer
• Hall of Fame Janet Ang, Vice-President, IBM Asia Pacific
• Entrepreneur of the Year Richard Koh, Founder & CEO, M-DAQ Oliver Tan, CEO & Co-Founder, ViSenze
• IT Youth of the Year Liu Lung Hao, Co-Founder, Feezmodo Consulting
12 SINGAPORE COMPUTER SOCIETY
Business Continuity Management ConferenceThe 10th annual conference of SCS Business Continuity (BC) Chapter on 10 April 2018 was themed Leveraging BCM for Preparedness and Industry Transformation to reinforce the importance of levelling up the industry’s state of preparedness and boosting corporate resilience in support of industry transformation.
Members
33,000Over
Volunteers800
Committees60
Over SCS Golf Day 2018One of the most anticipated events in the tech community, the annual SCS Golf Day saw over 160 avid golfers, beginners and enthusiasts alike, came together, networked and had fun.
Tech3 Forum 2018Tech3 Forum is an annual event which advocates engagement of tech professionals and industry experts to share their thoughts and points of view. It is a forum for tech and non-tech professionals to express their views and grow their network. In 2018, the participants gathered to discuss the The Future of Work in the Digital Age.
Over
13ANNUAL REPORT 2018
IT Youth Council (ITYC)Featuring a new logo, new hashtag #GenTech, ITYC ran a total of eight events and engaged over 670 young tech professionals.
• Youth Engagement Series (YES!)The speaker series provides an interactive platform for young professionals to network with one another whilst gaining insights into emerging tech issues. In 2018, the four sessions covered topics ranging from cybersecurity to artificial intelligence (AI) and blockchain.
• SESSIONSSESSIONS is a series of workshops organised to help young professionals gain digital competencies. The hands-on learning platform provided ambitious young professionals an opportunity to pick up in-demand tech skills such as coding and data analytics. In 2018, four sessions were held.
Nurturing Youthful Interests
Youth interest and passion is necessary for sustained growth and vibrancy of the tech industry. Therefore, SCS explores ways to engage with young professionals, youths and students through activities which support their career aspirations, challenge their imagination and expose them to exciting tech developments.
14 SINGAPORE COMPUTER SOCIETY
Splash Awards 2018Splash Awards 2018 challenged students to come up with projects which harness AI in the realms of community building, education, family and lifestyle, healthcare and transport, and logistics and communications.
This year, the four-month long competition attracted close to 200 entries, and over 40 training sessions were conducted for interested students to teach them how to code the smart assistant bot – Xiao Bai.
The final showcase on 7 July – comprising three fringe seminars on Artificial Intelligence, Blockchain and Digital Transformation – also saw a strong turnout with over 400 visitors showing up to learn about latest trending tech.
Into its 15th edition, Splash Awards 2018 proved to be another successful event with an impressive participation of over 1,000 tech enthusiasts.
AI Innovation
Splash Awards 2018
Student Chapters20
and
Tech Series by IT Youth Council –
SESSIONS
YES!
15ANNUAL REPORT 2018
ICT Skills Framework for Tech ProfessionalsSCS’ advice was sought to co-create the ICT Skills Framework. The framework provides the standard for skills level definition, development pathways and basis for training grants given to companies and individuals.
With the new ICT Skills Framework, tech professionals can better assess their career interests and take charge of their skills upgrading. Complementarily, SCS’ 16 tech specialist groups support their professional growth and help them stay informed about tech trends, applications and developments.
Championing Collective Advance
As the biggest tech professional society in Singapore, we see our role to be pivotal in enabling the well-being of the local tech community. For that reason, we actively work with partners to further the interests of our members and the industry at large.
CybersecurityDuring the year, SCS Infocomm Security Chapter responded to Cyber Security Agency’s request for SCS’ recommendations on measures to enhance incident response plans, better protect SingHealth’s patient database system, and reduce attack risks on public sector IT systems containing large databases of personal data. This came on the heels of the Committee of Inquiry’s investigation on the recent cyberattack on Singhealth’s IT system.
What is SCS TeSA* 2.0 about?a) DigiPro Programme for Non-Tech PMETs
Made up of a series of bite-sized training, DigiPro aims to elevate digital skills of working professionals across various sectors so as to improve productivity on both personal and organisational levels.
b) Tech Interest Groups for Non-Tech Sectors SCS, with the support of IMDA, will reach out to non-tech associations to encourage participation of their non-tech professionals in SCS’ Tech Interest Groups – curated tech-centric events and sector dialogues.
c) Global Specialist EvaluationTo build tech talent pool in support of Singapore’s digital economy growth, SCS would leverage our member experts to evaluate suitability of global tech specialists who want to work in Singapore. SCS would
also integrate foreign tech talent into our local tech community through SCS Chapters/SIGs and networking activities, and encourage knowledge sharing.
d) SkillsFuture Speakers at Institutes of Higher Learning (IHLs)SCS would identify and deploy suitable members to be guest lecturers to co-teach and share topics and industry case studies in emerging tech areas so as to enrich classroom learning for students and better prepare them for the industry after graduation.
e) Courseware EvaluationSCS would contribute to the nurturing of students by having our experts evaluate courseware of IHLs and training providers to ensure curriculum currency and industry relevance.
* TeSA is a SkillsFuture initiative driven by IMDA in partnership with WSG, SkillsFuture Singapore, industry partners and hiring employers. It aims to enhance training and placement opportunities for tech jobs by facilitating the reskilling or upskilling of individuals to meet industry needs.
16 SINGAPORE COMPUTER SOCIETY
SINGAPORE COMPUTER SOCIETY53 Neil Road Singapore 088891
T 65 6226 2567 F 65 6226 2569
www.scs.org.sg
Singapore Computer Society @SCSsg @Singapore Computer Society
