Mr Tan Kok Yam is the Deputy Secretary of the Smart Nation and Digital Government Office (SNDGO), in the Prime Minister’s Office. He is responsible for plans to realise impactful projects for Smart Nation, raise quality and interoperability of Government IT and Smart systems, grow ICT-related capabilities for Government, and engage citizens and businesses to be part of the Smart Nation journey.

Mr Tan is also a Deputy Secretary in Strategy Group and oversees issues related to data, technology and climate change. Prior to his current post, Mr Tan served in a number of other Ministries within the Singapore Public Service. He was Director of Manpower in the Ministry of Defence, in charge of the human resource and national service policies of the Singapore Armed Forces, and also in the Ministry of National Development and the Ministry of Education previously, dealing with public housing and higher education policies respectively.

Mr Tai graduated with honours from NUS in 1987 and has practiced as architect and urban planner since 1990. His key projects won both local and international award and was featured in URA exhibition “20 under 45” in March 2004. He held the position as President of Singapore Institute of Architects from 2007 to 2009. From 2013 to 2017, he was elected President of Design Business Chamber Singapore and oversaw the launch of Singapore Good Design Mark in 2014.

On the sustainability front, Mr Tai was elected President of Singapore Green Building Council in 2011. Under his leadership, the first green building product certification scheme in Singapore was established. In 2013, he was officially appointed as a Board Director and was subsequently elected global Chairman of World Green Building Council for a 2 year term between 2016 and 2018.

On the professional front, Mr Tai was a partner/Director in DP Architects from 2000 to 2010 and Group Managing Director, Ong&Ong Group from 2010 to 2016. He also provides advisory for prominent public sector developments including Health Sciences Authority HQ, Singapore Sports SG Masterplan and Mandai Zoo Development Masterplan (2016-2018). Mr Tai currently holds the position of Executive Director, BuildSG, Building Construction Authority. BuildSG focuses on industry transformation map of the built environment sector.

Date of Birth: 1961.3.9
Place of Birth: Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan
Education: Faculty of Engineering, Department of Urban Engineering, Tokyo University

1983.4 Employed by Ministry of Construction (MOC)
1998.7 Director of City Planning Division, Public Works Department, Gunma Prefecture
2000.4 Senior Deputy Director for Urban Policy Division, City Bureau, MOC
2001.1 Senior Deputy Director for Urban Renewal Promotion Division, City and Regional Development Bureau, MLIT
2003.7 Senior Deputy Director for Urban Development and Improvement Division, City and Regional Development Bureau, MLIT
2006.7 Director for City Transportation Survey and Information Office, City and Regional Development Bureau, MLIT
2008.4 Director-General, City Bureau, Chiba City Hall
2009.9 Vice Mayor of Chiba City Hall
2014.7 Director for Regional Development Division, National Spatial Planning and Regional Policy Bureau, MLIT
2015.7 Vice President, Urban Renaissance Agency
2017.7 Director for Urban Development and Improvement Division, City Bureau, MLIT
2018.7 Deputy Director-General for Engineering Affairs, City Bureau, MLIT

Professor Freddy Boey is Deputy President (Innovation & Enterprise) and oversees the University’s initiatives and activities in innovation, entrepreneurship and research translation, as well as all Graduate studies.

An alumnus of NUS, Prof Boey was Deputy President and Provost at Nanyang Technological University (NTU) from January 2011 to September 2017. From 2004 to 2010, he was the Chair of NTU’s School of Materials Science and Engineering (MSE), during which it became known as one of the world’s foremost and largest MSE schools.

A keen inventor, Prof Boey pioneered the use of functional biomaterials for medical devices in Singapore. He has filed 118 patents, and founded several spin-offs. His customisable hernia mesh has received US and China FDA approvals, with US-China funding. His fully biodegradable heart stent company, Amaranth, which is funded by a Silicon Valley VC, has received buy-in from the US-based Boston Scientific for wide- ranging US FDA clinical trials. His recent spin-off, Peregrine, which uses a nano drug delivery system for glaucoma, won the 2014 Singapore President’s Technology Award. Prof Boey’s research has been published in over 361 top journals with 18,000 citations. He has an H-Index of 72.

Prof Boey was conferred Singapore’s highest scientific award, the President’s Science & Technology Medal, in 2013 for his contributions to the country’s science and engineering landscape. He was awarded Singapore’s Public Administration Medal (Gold) in 2016 for his contributions to the development of the Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine, and the Imperial College London Fellowship in the Faculty of Medicine in 2012. He received an honorary doctorate from Loughborough University in 2011, and the Distinguished Alumni of the Year Award from Monash University that same year. Prof Boey holds honorary professorships from the University of Indonesia, the Nanjing Postal and Telecommunication University and the Nanjing Technological University.

He previously served as director on the boards of the Government Technology Agency of Singapore (GovTech) and Defense Science Organisation. He remains a Director for the Health Sciences Authority, Prof Boey also contributes on many boards of nationally-funded research centres. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Materials (UK) and the Institution of Engineers Singapore, a Founding Fellow of the Academy of Engineering, Singapore, and had been a member of the National Cybersecurity R&D Laboratory and Singapore Rail Academy Board.

Mr Teo Eng Cheong joined Surbana Jurong Group as CEO (International) on 1 January 2016. He spearheads the Group’s efforts to expand its international footprint in Singapore, Southeast Asia and North Asia. Mr Teo also serves as a Director on SMEC’s Board, is a council member of NUS Business School’s China Business Centre and a council member of the Singapore Manufacturing Federation.

Before joining the private sector, Mr Teo was a senior government official with the Singapore Administrative Service. From 2011 to 2015, he was CEO of International Enterprise Singapore (“IE Singapore”), the lead government agency responsible for spearheading the overseas growth of Singapore-based companies through trade and investments. Under his leadership, IE Singapore established itself as the go-to agency for Singapore companies interested in various markets such as China, India and Myanmar.

Prior to this, Mr Teo held several leadership positions in the Singapore Government, including as CEO of the Competition Commission of Singapore from 2008 to 2010 and Director-General of Singapore Customs from 2004 to 2007. In his earlier years, Mr Teo was involved in investment promotion in the Economic Development Board, financial sector development in the Monetary Authority of Singapore, and government policy formulation in the then Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports. He also spent two years in Suzhou working on the China-Singapore Suzhou Industrial Park development. For his service with the government, he was awarded the Singapore National Day Medal for Public Administration (Silver) in 2006.

Previously, Mr Teo also sat on the boards of IE Singapore, Singapore Cooperation Enterprise, Agri-Food & Veterinary Authority, Ascendas Funds Management (S) Limited, the ASEAN Infrastructure Fund, Council for Private Education, Health Promotion Board, and Singapore Sports Council. He has also served on the Advisory Board of Singapore Management University’s Lee Kong Chian School of Business.

Mr Teo holds a Bachelor of Science (Economics) from NUS and a Master of Science (Economics) from London School of Economics and Political Science. He is also a Lien Fellow with the Lien Ying Chow Legacy Fellowship.

Lena currently acts as the Chief Investment Officer for Amata Corporation Public Company Ltd. and oversees Smart Cities development, Urban Transformation, Strategic Investments and Mergers & Acquisitions. She is the Chairperson of Investment Committee for China’s Belt & Road Initiative for Greater Mekong Sub-region. She is also the Chairperson/ Director of Amata Thai-Japanese Co. Ltd, the Joint-Venture company for Hotel Nikko Chonburi development and Director of Amata Global Pte Ltd in Singapore. Lena was honored as a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum in March 2014 and nominated as a Global Agenda Council Member of World Economic Forum.

Prior to her current appointments, she was also the Chairperson (Audit Committee) and Board Member of the Singapore National Paralympic Council. Ms. Ng was a former Singapore Diplomat (Commercial Attaché) based in Thailand and Director (ICT)/ Green Programme Office of IE Singapore, an agency under Singapore Ministry of Trade and Industry. With more than 25 years of public policy and international investment, Lena’s expertise has been tapped for developing key Nation-wide masterplan and G-to-G collaboration platforms. These include Singapore-Thailand Enhanced Economic Relationship (STEER), Singapore-Tianjin Eco-city FDI Promotion, Singapore-Guangzhou Knowledge City FDI Promotion, Singapore-World Bank Infrastructure Collaboration, APEC E-Commerce Taskforce and Singapore Logistics Masterplan.

Toru Hashimoto is in charge of program Y- PORT (Yokohama Partnership of Resources and Technologies). Y-PORT is public private partnership endeavor to deliver knowledge and cutting-edge technology for urban solutions. He was instrumental to initiate collaborations under City Partnership Program with the World Bank and to conclude Memorandum of Understanding between ADB and the City of Yokohama in regards of urban management and solutions. Before joining the City of Yokohama he took technical as well as managerial positions in World Bank and Asia Development Bank Institute. He was educated in University of Tokyo, Asia Institute of Technology, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology on urban planning, engineering and human settlements. For further information regarding Y-PORT, please refer to the following website.

Mr. Yuichi OKA is Associate Vice President for International Business of the Urban Renaissance Agency(UR), a semi-governmental organization established to realize national housing and urban development policies, and virtually the largest real estate entity in Japan. Since joining the agency in 1983, he has been in charge of numerous development projects that contributed to the　achievement of policy goals such as urban revitalization and improvement of living environment. Currently, he is heading international business part of the UR. He is the First-class architect and the Professional Engineer (Urban & Regional Planning), and holds Master of City Planning degree from the Waseda University, Japan.

Mr Lim Teng Leng joined the Centre of Liveable Cities (CLC) as Deputy Director of the Capability Development & Advisory team in 2017.

In CLC, Mr Lim leads the team to engage and work with a range of stakeholders including subject matter experts, governmental agencies, non-governmental organisations and industry players to design, develop and deliver effective training programmes to share Singapore’s experience and expertise in urban planning and development with international participants. Mr Lim also engages international bodies such as UN and ASEAN to support CLC in raising Singapore’s international profile in the liveability and sustainability of cities space. Mr Lim led the team, together with the Singapore Ministry of Foreign Affairs, to develop and execute the ASEAN Smart Cities Network – Singapore’s key deliverable as the ASEAN Chairman in 2018.

Mr Lim has served with the National Youth Council, Confucius Institute (Nanyang Technological University) and the Civil Service College (CSC). During his service with CSC International, Mr Lim was in charge of organising training programmes and study visits for foreign civil servants to understand Singapore’s public sector management and governance. He has actively forged close working relationship between CSC and its Chinese counterparts. Mr Lim has also served with the Institute of Governance and Policy in CSC to develop thought leadership in, as well as to enhance the understanding and to advance the practice of public policy in Singapore.

Mr Lim graduated from the National University of Singapore with majors in Statistics and Japanese Studies. Under the Scholarship Programme of CSC, he completed and obtained a Master of Public Administration from Tsinghua University School of Public Policy and Management in 2012.

Mr George Loh spent more than 20 years from in the defence industry as a government employee from 1989 to 2011. He was responsible for large scale systems integration and acquisition of defence systems as well as for formulation of defence R&D strategy and for technology management of defence R&D programs. George was the Deputy Head, Defence Technology Office (United States) at the Embassy of Singapore in Washington DC from Mar 2003 to Oct 2006. He was responsible for defence technology cooperation including the US DoD, Military Services, research institutes and universities. In Nov 2006, Mr Loh was appointed the the Head (Maritime Systems), Defence Research & Technology Office in Ministry of Defence to develop the Research and Technology (R&T) portfolio in Naval and Maritime Systems.

George Loh, Director (Services & Digital Economy), joined National Research Foundation in Oct 2011 and was responsible for the development of the scientific and R&D strategy as well as R&D capabilities in the local ecosystem in Singapore. He developed scientific research programmes in physical sciences and engineering with the stakeholders in the government agencies, in the academia and the industry, which included the National Cybersecurity R&D programme, National Robotic R&D programme, Virtual Singapore Programme, Quantum Engineering Programme etc.

George works closely with the industry and academia to establish Corporate Laboratories in the local universities, which aim to translate of research outcomes and commercialize industry-relevant technologies, thereby strengthening the link between innovation and economic growth. He has also established several technology consortia, in the areas of cybersecurity, photonics, synthethic biology etc., to enhances knowledge sharing and technology transfer through collaborations among academia and industry partners.

Professor Andrew Lim is Head of the Department of Industrial Systems Engineering and Management and the Director of the Centre of Maritime Studies at the National University of Singapore (NUS). As an academic-technopreneur, Andrew’s work draws from knowledge in computing, engineering and commerce to drive the design and development of innovative and effective industrial systems and processes. As a technopreneur, Andrew has spearheaded numerous industry projects that have not only resulted in multi-million dollar savings for his clients, his work has also been recognized through the numerous organisational, national and international awards and innovation prizes that he has won.

As an academic, Andrew’s work into helping companies and organizations compete effectively have been published in key journals in Operations Research and Management Science, and disseminated via international conferences and professional seminars. Before Andrew was recruited by NUS under The National Research Foundation's Returning Singaporean Scientists Scheme in 2016, he spent more than a decade in Hong Kong where he held professorships in The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology and The City University of Hong Kong. In 2013, Andrew was recruited by Nanjing University under the Thousand Talents Program that was launched by the Chinese government in 2008. Andrew is currently involved in a number of initiatives.

Since 2014, Singapore has promoted the Smart Nation initiative to transform the country through the use of technology in various areas such as urban living, transport, health, and services. One major challenge is the digitalisation of the urban environment as a precursor to digital innovation. Today, implementing this digital twin concept of Singapore through 3D environmental modelling has been made more viable through several technological advancements in LIDAR scanning and point cloud detection technologies. Virtual NUS, a university-level initiative led by Professor Andrew Lim, has developed the world’s largest 3D point cloud of the NUS campus. This allows NUS to serve as a testbed to explore future smart urban solutions for both consumer and commercial applications such as outdoor-to-indoor navigation, crowd sensing and rooftop solar energy optimisation, in realising the vision for a digitalisation-enabled automatic economy.

Education
March 1989 Masters of Science in Sanitary Engineering, Kyoto University

Work History
April 1989 - Joined Yamatake-Honeywell Co., Ltd. (now Azbil Corporation) Integrated Building Promotion Department of Development Headquarters, Building Systems Division (BSD)

April 1998 - Transferred to Yamatake Building Systems Company, Ltd. (BSC) Group 1, Instrumentation Department 1, Tokyo Head Office

March 2003 - Energy Environment Group of Business Development Department, BSC, Yamatake Corporation (now Azbil Corporation)

April 2007 - General Manager of Marketing Department, Marketing Headquarters, BSC, Yamatake Corporation

April 2011 - General Manager of Marketing Headquarters, BSC, Yamatake Corporation

April 2014 - Director and General Manager of Corporate Planning Department, Azbil Corporation

April 2017 - Executive Officer, General Manager of Corporate Planning Department and of Marketing Headquarters, BSC, Azbil Corporation

April 2018 to Present - Managing Executive Officer and General Manager of Marketing Headquarters, Building Systems Company, Azbil Corporation

Ravi Krishnaswamy heads Frost & Sullivan’s Energy & Environment Practice in the Asia Pacific region and is based in Singapore. Ravi has spent more than twenty years in the Energy & Environment sector. He is also Frost & Sullivan’s in house expert on clean technologies and utilities.

Ravi has advised clients on market entry, geographic expansion, new product launch, competitive strategies, roadmap development, business planning and strategic partnering. Ravi has directly managed and guided several consulting engagements on industry areas as diverse as Smart Cities, Smart Grids, Renewable Energy, Power & Gas Transmission, Datacenter Energy, Water & Wastewater Treatment, Building Automation and Oil & Gas upstream technologies

Ravi has also worked on economic and regulatory consultancy for the Energy market regulator in Singapore, including review of CAPEX plans submitted by the power utility, review of the gas retail market and establishment of secondary gas trading market.

Ravi’s current management responsibilities in Frost & Sullivan include business unit profit & loss, growth strategies, research planning, quality control, industry thought leadership, strategic review of consulting delivery and managing client relationships.

Specialising in managing and supporting early stage Japanese technology start-ups to enter the global market, David has experience with establishing subsidiaries and localising business models in the Japanese, US and Singaporean markets. He is currently managing the global business initiatives and strategy at ABEJA, Inc., providing expertise, education and consultation for enterprises and conglomerates in the ASEAN region on how to successfully implement Artificial Intelligence into their business processes. Smart city solutions is one of the most exciting topics in recent years. However, the subject’s broad definition means a more practical approach for successful implementation needs to be discussed. This will be complimented by examples of how AI can be implemented successfully onto the field using real world examples.

Kelvin leads the corporate partnerships role in NUS Enterprise and also heads up the Business Development in Smart Systems Institute (SSI). SSI has advanced data analytics and AI research partnerships with Tsinghua University, Zhejiang University, Southampton University and Keio University.

He is identified with co-developing corporate accelerator programmes, including Bayer Grants4Apps, L’Oréal Startup Runway, Mercedes Startup Autobahn, Huawei i5Lab and Symphony Creative Systems of NYK Japan as well as innovation challenges with Singapore Airlines, Shell, P&G, Microsoft, SMRT, Ikea and THero of Guangzhou, China.

Currently, he is the NUS Enterprise lead for a 3-year old Modern Aging Singapore programme which was funded by the Ministry of Health and has inspired startups in developing innovative services and products for the seniors. In research, he is involved with assistive technologies like telehealth and robots which could be applicable in the community and home settings.

Prior to joining NUS, he founded an interactive multimedia startup and held management positions in HP, AT&T, M1, ServTouch-WyWy and Telecoms Authority of Spore.

He is a Phd Candidate (HKU) and Student Fellow (Sau Po Center for Ageing, HKU), and holds a Master in Gerontology (SUSS, Spore), MBA (Oklahoma City University) and BEng in Electronic and Communications (University of Manchester, UK).