Recognising and Strengthening Support for Innovative Infocomm Companies

Inaugural Singapore Digital (SG:D) Techblazer Awards recognises nation’s best in tech innovation - eight winners clinched top honours in the Most Impactful, Most Promising and Best Adoption categories. SG:D Spark programme launched to support the growth of promising ICM startups.

• Inaugural Singapore Digital (SG:D) Techblazer Awards recognises nation’s best in tech innovation - eight winners clinched top honours in the Most Impactful, Most Promising and Best Adoption categories. 


• SG:D Spark programme launched to support the growth of promising ICM startups.

SINGAPORE – 7 November, 2018: Singapore’s most innovative infocomm media (ICM) companies - an important engine of growth and driver of digitalisation across the economy - were recognised at the inaugural Singapore Digital (SG:D) Techblazer Awards, jointly organised by the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) and SGTech. To further support the growth of promising and innovative startups, Minister for Communications and Information, Mr. S. Iswaran, also announced the launch of IMDA’s new programme, SG:D Spark at the Awards ceremony. As part of the initiative, IMDA will assist to address key growth challenges in hiring and building of customer reference and use cases as well as partner leading industry players to build capabilities.

Recognising Nation’s Best in Tech Innovation through SG:D TechBlazer Awards

This year’s Awards saw a record-breaking number of 331 applications. Eight companies emerged as winners in three categories – Most Impactful, Most Promising and Best Adoption, and received their awards from Minister at the gala dinner on 7 November 2018.

“In an expanding digital landscape, the winners have demonstrated that Singapore organisations are on the right track towards digital transformation. They have proven they have the capabilities and innovation that can transform current solutions and create new business models, resulting in enhanced customer experiences and greater value creation in the industries they serve.” said Ms Shirley Wong, SGTech’s Co-Chair of SG:D Techblazer Awards Organising Committee. 

Said Mr William Liu, Chairman and Managing Partner of Stream Global, and SG:D Techblazer judge, "The quality of participants has gone up this year. We are seeing companies with good value proposition and ideas that are scalable. Today, if you are unable to scale, you will not be able to compete. We also saw a good spread across various sectors, from medtech to education to media and security, as well as adoption of new technologies from AI to machine learning. I see a lot of passion from the entrepreneurs who are committed to their beliefs and willing to do the R&D. This is an encouraging sign that our entrepreneurs and industry are maturing.”

The details of the winners are as follows:

Most Impactful Award

• Gold: M-DAQ Pte Ltd for its Aladdin solution, which gives e-commerce platforms the ability to let merchants price products in customers’ local currencies while allowing merchants to receive their desired currency through a fixed conversion rate, using the most competitive FX rates available. This service enables greater cost savings to users, higher earnings for merchants and additional revenue streams for e-commerce platforms.
  
  
• Silver: CXA Group for the CXA Insurance and Health Digital Solutions, an AI-powered health and wellness distribution platform where employees and other end users get access to an eco-system of insurance, health, wellness and financial products that promote health through data-driven recommendation and personal choice.
  
  
• Bronze: AIDA Technologies for AIDA Smart Claims Straight Through Processing, an AI solution that ingests incoming health claims, performs intelligent information extraction from invoices, and makes claims decision recommendations in real time and at high accuracy. The solution reduces claims processing duration from 6 days to minutes.

Most Promising Award

• Gold: Biofourmis for its Biovitals^TM Analytics Engine, an AI-based personalised health analytics platform using continuous patient-generated data from wearable bio-sensors that results in accurate prediction of clinical exacerbation along with drug’s efficacy and effectiveness. It is able to predict worsening heart failure, two weeks before a critical incidence happens.


• Silver: BeMyGuest for Xplore, comprising multiple B2C e-commerce tools, B2B channel manager for offline and online sales, and distribution connectivity to BeMyGuest's global network of online travel agents, tailored to the unique needs of Asia's attractions, tours and activity operators. It provides the opportunity for Asian operators to automate their offline business, reduce operational costs and ultimately scale their online business.


• Bronze: KroniKare for its KroniKare Mobile Scanner, an AI-based smartphone system that assesses chronic wounds in under 30 seconds as opposed to 30 minutes currently. The added technology and portability allows uninterrupted continuity of care for patients from acute hospitals to rehabilitation and home.   

Best Adoption Award

• Private sector: Changi Airport Group for its Smart Airport Programme. The suite of solutions leverages artificial intelligence, sensors, data analytics and user-centric design to enhance customer experience and improve service, collaboration and productivity.  The programme comprises four main projects.  Some of the key outcomes achieved are a reduction in aircraft taxiing time by 120 secs during peak hours, resulting in savings of 5000 kg of airplane fuel burn and 15 tonnes of carbon emissions per day on the airside. In addition, passenger check-in throughput for T4 has increased by 30% as compared to the traditional manual counter process.


• Public Sector: Housing & Development Board for its HDB Smart Hub, a digital platform that integrates, manages and analyses data centrally. Data generated from building services like utilities, lighting and lifts can be analysed to identify areas for improvement, to bring about more convenience for residents while optimising the estate operations of HDB towns. It can also help Town Councils to monitor and deliver estate services more efficiently and effectively. Besides enabling the optimisation of municipal services, the Smart Hub also supports HDB’s planning and design processes, and community development efforts.

The SG:D Techblazer Awards is a merger of the National Infocomm Awards (NIA) and the SiTF Awards. It will serve as a national-level endorsement for Singapore-based companies that have exemplified the spirit of innovation in technology development or adoption. 

SG:D Spark to Support Growth of Promising ICM Startups 

The key growth challenges for most startups¹ lie in their ability to access talent, funding, experienced mentors and building initial business traction. SG:D Spark helps promising B2B and B2C Singapore-based ICM startups build their business and compete through Government support and industry tools. 

Through the programme, startups will be able to access and leverage existing TechSkills Accelerator (TeSA) manpower programmes to support and scale their businesses. These companies will also enjoy priority processing in relevant Government funding schemes. Furthermore, qualified SG:D Spark enterprise product startups will be able to gain increased access to Government technology projects through a more streamlined process, to help them  build up their customer track record. 

Through the programme, promising ICM companies will also gain access to networking opportunities and pro-bono expert advice from a community of leading venture capitalists in Singapore, global consultancy and legal firms, reputable integrated communications and product design firms, tech giants and Institutes of Higher Learning (IHLs)

IMDA will be partnering SGTech and seven venture capitalists to identify promising ICM companies to nurture under the programme. The thirteen industry partners and IHLs will support the companies with specialised expertise and assist their growth journey in the areas of fund raising, deal structuring, risk management, corporate governance and processes, product and brand development, go-to-market strategies as well as talent acquisition.

Said IMDA Chief Executive, Mr Tan Kiat How, “Through the SG:D Techblazer Awards and the SG:D Spark programme, we hope to grow our pool of digital champions to create a more vibrant and collaborative tech ecosystem in Singapore. Digital transformation is a national priority and we will continue to co-create new, exciting possibilities with the industry.”  

Related Resources
Annex A: (258.36KB) Write-ups of SG:D Techblazer Award Winners
Annex B: (94.88KB) Details on Award Categories & Judging Criteria for SG:D Techblazer Awards 
Annex C: (417.79KB) Quotes from SG:D Spark community partners
Annex D: (425.21KB) Factsheet on SG:D Spark 

ISSUED BY THE INFOCOMM MEDIA DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY

About Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA)
The Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) leads Singapore’s digital transformation with infocomm media. To do this, IMDA will develop a dynamic digital economy and a cohesive digital society, driven by an exceptional infocomm media (ICM) ecosystem – by developing talent, strengthening business capabilities, and enhancing Singapore's ICM infrastructure. IMDA also regulates the telecommunications and media sectors to safeguard consumer interests while fostering a pro-business environment, and enhances Singapore’s data protection regime through the Personal Data Protection Commission. 

For more news and information, visit www.imda.gov.sg or follow IMDA on Facebook IMDAsg and Twitter @IMDAsg.

About SGTech
SGTech is an active and responsible advocate of the technology industry in Singapore. With the evolving technology landscape, SGTech strives to create an ecosystem to anticipate changing technology trends and develop sustainable initiatives that can further strengthen the community and help the industry grow. SGTech’s 700 members range from innovative startups, vibrant small and medium-sized enterprises to top multinational corporations that leverage technology as a core driver of their business. 

For more information, visit www.sgtech.org.sg or follow SGTech on Linkedin SGTech ; Facebook SGTechSocial ; Twitter @SGTechSocial

For media clarifications, please contact: 
Rozlin Bte Farid Vanzandt (Ms)
Assistant Director, Communications & Marketing, IMDA
DID: (65) 6211 1295
HP: (65) 9476 2502
Email: rozlin_vanzandt@imda.gov.sg 

Aung Thi Ha (Mr)
Assistant Manager, Communications & Marketing, IMDA
HP: (65) 9338 2594
Email: aung_thi_ha@imda.gov.sg 

Raymond TAN (Mr)
Arcis Communications for SGTech
HP: (65) 9673 9029
Email: raymond@arciscomunications.com