(a) A major cornerstone for the Association was the execution of our inaugural IoT Asia which attracted > 1600 participants and delegates. We had a power-packed showcase of IoT solutions and many thought provoking sessions at the Conference. In a recent survey on the nomination for an IoT event of the year, IoT Asia came in 4th placing global - an outstanding achievement.

(b) A second breakthrough was the expansion of our network ... signing MOUs with 12 local associations as well as reaching out to at least 15 countries, including the US, Canada, UK, the Netherlands, South Africa, Australia and major countries in Asia. IoT is touching everything ... Its connectivity penetrates into most verticals and re-defines the way we do things. IoT has become our kernel vehicle to connect and form out network of Alliance.

(c) The third thing which we did that is worth sharing is the Strategic off-site session which the Executive Council had in September. Several breakthrough ideas were generated, and these will fuel our "burning ambition" to bring SIAA to another level.

That brings us to the year of the Goat. Again, we will do three significant program into the present year.

(a) From the Strategic Planning session in September, the Executive Council will take a bold step this year to prepare for a restructuring of the membership framework and benefits. As we focus deep into our vision, we also wanted to refresh our membership structure to meet the "burning ambition". As such, we intend to table a motion at the coming AGM to prepare our current and new members for the arrival of the SMART NATION.

(b) While stretching out into the making of the brave new world in IoT, the Association must also re-vitalise our roots ... many of you will know that SIAA had our roots in Robotics … 所为饮水思源 ... Collectively, the Executive Council has approved to venture into another signature show on Robotics. We have since appointed our Show organizer, and the secretariat is working hard with them in preparing for the Show. This is being scheduled for November 2015. Interestingly, we received tremendous support from the agencies even before we approach them.

(c) After 15 months of background work, we believe we have now arrived at a meaningful framework to skill our members and the workforce in the industry to be ready for the IoT and Automation world. Besides the two flagship shows on IoT and Robotics, SIAA will also drive a series of competency programs with both local and overseas partners to that effect. Locally, we will work closely with the polytechnics and dovetail into the SkillsFuture program. Across the border, we will be increasing our technology exchanges with Korea, Taiwan and perhaps Australia as well as Canada and France.

The future is … When IoT meets the Robot – when the time comes, three major transformations are expected to take place.

First to occur is the transformation of competency levels. New competencies at a higher order will be required with strong foundations in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) curriculum. It relates to the adoption of multi-disciplinary skills which must be adept in a variety of technologies. Such competencies are required to have a fair degree of business and intuitive workflow. All these come together to support a collaborative eco-system.

Second in line is the transformation of service levels. The convergence of competitive landscape will require new methods of attracting customers to the shop front. Businesses will need to adopt more flexible forms of service levels using analytics to transform from a “service improvement mode” to a “service innovation mode”. For example, retailers will need to draw their customers from an online interaction interface to an offline in-store activity (sometimes known as O2O – Online to Offline).

The next and major transformation will involve the economies. More and more cities around the world are setting the vision of a smart city, smart village … (and/or Smart Nation). Essentially, this clearly requires the governments to build global ready economies which are capable of servicing the ubiquitous society. With high-speed bandwidth and efficient processing power, the economies must now explore more effective ways of monetizing the investments – and data analytics play a pivotal role … this will pave the way for “the economy that never sleeps”.

With so much said, let wish all members another Fabulous New Year!

Yours sincerely

Oliver Tian

President (2012/5)