1 March 2006 - Welcome Address By Mr Chan Yeng Kit, Chief Executive Officer, Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore At the IDA Distinguished Infocomm Speaker Series: IBM Public Forum.
Welcome Address By Mr Chan Yeng Kit, Chief Executive Officer, Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore At the IDA Distinguished Infocomm Speaker Series: IBM Public Forum on 1 March 2006.
Mr Steve Mills, Senior Vice-President and Group Executive, Software Group, IBM Corporation,
Distinguished guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen.
1. It gives me great pleasure to welcome today's IDA Distinguished Infocomm Speaker, Mr. Steve Mills, Senior Vice-President and Group Executive for the Software Group of IBM.
2. Steve is distinguished in his own rights. Since his appointment as SVP and Group Executive for the software group in July 2000, Steve has been responsible for shaping IBM's overall software strategy and directing IBM's US$14 billion software business.
3. Steve, welcome to Singapore and it is indeed our honour to have you here with us!
4. IBM is a very long-time friend of Singapore. They have been an important part of our infocomm industry for almost 50 years, since 1958. This was even before Singapore’s independence in 1965!
5. In 1992, IBM was awarded the "International Headquarters" status by the Singapore government. It is also heartening to note that IBM boasts a 70-consultant strong Software Development Lab in Singapore, which specialises in the development of innovative Supply Chain Management solutions. Such commitment by one of the world's leading IT company further reaffirms Singapore's position as an ideal location for ICT innovation and product development in Asia.
6. As Singapore's close friend and partner, IBM has also been active in helping our local infocomm companies and professionals develop new capabilities and expand their businesses overseas. IBM has been a partner of IDA's Infocomm Local Industry Upgrading Programme (iLIUP) for 5 years and has to-date, nurtured more than 30 local infocomm companies. In addition, IBM is also IDA's Overseas Development Programme (ODP) partner and this partnership has helped numerous Singapore companies develop their capabilities and successfully penetrate the overseas market in the Asia Pacific region.
SOA Growth in Singapore
7. The Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) movement has been gathering strength globally. Singapore was amongst the earliest to realise the benefits of SOA. To support and accelerate the adoption of SOA in Singapore, we have recently collaborated with the Singapore Infocomm Technology Federation (SiTF) and Nanyang Polytechnic (NYP) to set up the SiTF-NYP SOA Centre. This vendor neutral Centre is a first in the region and it aims to provide Web Services Interoperability Testing for our locally-based enterprises.
8. I am glad that IBM is also part of this collaboration to certify and promote greater interoperability standards in Singapore.
9. Steve's speech today is most timely as SOA is reaching a new stage of its development and companies are working out how they can best "unlock the business value of SOA". As Steve puts it, SOA is the next step in the connectivity evolution. To all the IT professionals and businesses present here today, I hope you will be inspired by Steve, and seize the invaluable business opportunities ahead.
10. It now gives me great pleasure to once again welcome Mr Steve Mills!
11. Thank you.
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