BUILDING NETWORKS | CONNECTING BUSINESSES | CREATING OPPORTUNITIES THE BRITISHMAGAZINEOFFICIALOFTHECHAMBEROFCOMMERCESINGAPORE ISSUE 81 | APR 2021 34 MCI (P) 067/04/2019 44 50 57 60 In Focus: Sheela Parakkal, Chief Human Resources Officer, Prudential Singapore Workforce Transformation & Technological Developments IoT and 5G Set to Transform Industries Balancing the Learning Culture Shaping the Hybrid Work Future
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© All rights reserved. The views and opinions expressed or implied in Orient are those of the authors or contributors and do not reflect those of the British Chamber of Commerce, its officers or editorial staff. No reproduction of articles without the prior permission of the Chamber.
Unsolicited transparencies and articles are sent at owner’s risk and the Chamber accepts no liability for loss or damage. Copy is not for sale and images belong to their respective owners. They are for illustrative purposes only, and no copyright infringement is intended. commerce-singapore@british-chamber-of-@bccsingapore@britchamsg+65lucy@britcham.org.sgHaydon6718-0535
Editor: Lucy lucy@britcham.org.sgHaydon Co-Editor & Designer: Nicole Alison www.britcham.org.sgEmail:Fax:Tel:Singapore137alison@britcham.org.sgLimTelokAyerStreet,#06-03,068602+656222-3552+656222-3556info@britcham.org.sg
Orient is a bi-monthly magazine published by the British Chamber of Commerce, Singapore.
07 President’s Message 09 Executive Director’s Message 16 News 23 New Members 26 Recent Events & Webinars 29 Upcoming Events & Webinars 30 Special Feature: English Beef Showcase - Virtual 'Cook Off' & Exclusive British Cheese Tasting MasterClass with AHDB 32 Future of Work: 34 In Focus: Sheela Parakkal, Chief Human Resources Officer, Pru dential Singapore 40 Team Collaboration Tools Comparison Chart 44 Workforce Transformation & Technological Developments 47 Ignoring Employee Experience Could Jeopardise Your Digital Transformation 50 IoT and 5G Set to Transform Industries 54 Towards a Sustainable Future 57 Balancing the Learning Culture 60 Shaping the Hybrid Work Future 62 Let's Discuss: How will Digital Transformation Shape the Cities of the Future? 64 Let's Discuss: Carbon Capture, Utilisation & Storage and its Potential in Asia 68 Member Discounts CONTENTS03
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MANAGEMENT TEAM Executive Director: David Kelly Head of Marketing & Communications and Partnerships; Deputy Executive Director: Lucy Haydon Business Services Director: Nicole Wharfe Member Relations Administrator: Melissa Ng Head of Events: Helen Starr Events Executive: Safreen Anwardeen Events Executive: Sabeena Nayyar Senior Marketing & Communications Executive: Nicole Alison Lim Marketing & Communications and Events Executive: Samantha Nelson Trade Services Advisor: Aisyah Ariffin Finance Manager: Radhika Chauhan Office Manager: Anna C Garciso 05
FINANCIAL & FINTECH: Jeremy Leong (Co-Chair), Francesca McKee (Co-Chair)
WOMEN IN BUSINESS: Luciana Vichino (Chairperson), Wanying Lim (Co-Chair)
DIVERSITY & INCLUSION: Andrew Ashman (Chairperson), Toby Horner (Co-Chair) ENERGY & UTILITIES: Tim Rockell (Chairperson), Allard Nooy (Co-Chair), Mark Florance (Co-Chair)
OUR PLATINUMPARTNERSPARTNER GOLD PARTNERS SILVER PARTNERS BRONZE PARTNER SUPPORTING PARTNERS OUR BOARD PRESIDENT: Richard Warburton, Arcadis Asia VICE-PRESIDENTS: Michael Shearer OBE, McLaren Applied Fiona Carney, Microsoft SECRETARY: Haslam Preeston, Jardine Matheson TREASURER: David Fowler, Sanne Group BOARD MEMBERS: Angel Cheung-Horenfeldt, Barclays Caroline Underhill, The Fry Group Damian Adams, Watson Farley & Williams Damian Hills, The British Club James Hennah, BT Singapore Pte Ltd James Nesbitt, Standard Chartered Bank Shivkumar Seerapu, Lloyds Bank Corporate Markets Plc Steve Firstbrook, Department for International TradeLucyWatkins, British Council COMMITTEE CHAIRPERSONS BUILT ENVIRONMENT: Alisdair Gillies (Chairperson), Wendy McEwan (Co-Chair), Andy Marr (Co-Chair)
CHAMBER INFORMATION
STARTUP, ENTREPRENEUR & SMALL BUSINESS: Lara Quie (Chairperson), Mary Barrett (Co-Chair)
SUSTAINABILITY: Lorena Paglia (Chairperson), Mark Florance (Co-Chair) TRANSPORT, LOGISTICS & SUPPLY CHAIN: Simon Petch (Chairperson), Nicholas Potter (Co-Chair)
HEALTHCARE & LIFE SCIENCES: Thalia Georgiou (Chairperson) ICT: Derek Murray (Chairperson), Penny Murphy (Co-Chair), James Price (Co-Chair) LEADERSHIP, TALENT & PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT: Joe Tofield (Chairperson), Don Rapley (Co-Chair), Ellie Rich-Poole (Co-Chair) MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS: Suzy Goulding (Chairperson), Andrew Clark (Co-Chair)
For first-time subscribers Expat Living is a monthly edition available in print and digital format. Sold in major bookstores and newstands islandwide. *Free subscription is applicable only for first-time subscribers living in Singapore. expatliving.sg/britcham GET YOUR FREE SUBSCRIPTION TO EXPAT LIVING HERE! To claim your free subscription, scan the QR code or visit: Prefer the digital edition instead? Visit expatliving.sg/BC/digital
In the week that this issue of the Orient magazine is published, we will be hosting a special dialogue between our members and the Director of the Ministry of Manpower’s Work Pass Division. The Chamber Executive team maintain a constant dialogue with a number of Government agencies which has enabled us to secure this opportunity and to provide pertinent updates for members, which has since become even more relevant following the announcements of the changes in Dependent Pass entitlements. Please do continue to share your feedback and any concerns with the team as these inform our discussions with Government, so that we can support you on matters pertinent to your business.
07 MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT
Dear Members, We were saddened to learn of HRH Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh’s passing this month and have shared our condolences with the Royal Family on behalf of the Chamber and our members. In a moment of national sorrow and compassion for HRH The Queen, our team observed the National Minute’s Silence during the broadcasted funeral.
Best Regards, Message from the President Richard Warburton richard@britcham.org.sgOfBritishPresident,ChamberCommerce,Singapore
In this issue of the Orient we are focusing on the Future of Work, a topic which we have been discussing for several years alongside our Platinum partner, Prudential. I hope that you enjoy the special content in this area which continues the debate around the shape of the workforce, and workplaces, for the years to come. We know that our members miss meeting with each other and making new connections, and so I’m delighted to see the reintroduction of member meetups in our events calendar from next month, and I would encourage you to join these events. Until I have the opportunity to see many of you in person at a future event, I look forward to reporting on our past year of activities in our upcoming Annual General Meeting on May 20th.
In changing times, our values define us. When young people are empowered to be kind, they can change the world. Applications for August 2021 are now open. Enquire or book a tour with us today. Brighton College (Singapore). One of a Kind. +65www.brightoncollege.edu.sg65059790 A legacy of learning. Reinvented for today. Brighton College (Singapore) Pte Ltd is registered by the Committee for Private Education (CPE), part of SkillsFuture (SFSG) Registration Number: 201904884D Period of Registration : 14 October 2019 to 13 October 2023 Scan to find out more
09 MESSAGE FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
David Kelly Executive Director, British Chamber Of Commerce, david@britcham.org.sgSingapore
Dear PleaseMembers,clickon this video or scan the QR code to watch David’s full update. Best regards, Message from the Executive Director
STERLING MEMBERS
11 STERLING MEMBERS
21/2/2020 – 20/2/2024 Stamford American International School CPE Registration Number: 200823594D Period of registration: August 10, 2018 to August 9, 2022 IS WHAT GUIDES US AT STAMFORD COMPASSIONTostartyourchild’sjourney,speakwithourAdmissionsteamatadmissions@sais.edu.sgoron+6566537907.Alternatively,scantobookforyoursessiontoday. We are an inclusive school, home to 75 different nationalities where every student is accepted and feels they belong. Our teachers and counsellors care for our students social and emotional wellbeing and go out of their way to make them succeed, academically and non-academically. Our caring and collaborative community is a unique place where all students find their greatness and thrive.
EXCLUSIVELY FOR MEMBERS OF BRITISH CHAMBER OF COMMERCE Lifetime$4,280Membership Published Fee: $6,955 Call 6410 1100 or email membership@britishclub.org.sg to book a Club tour now! Above price inclusive of prevailing GST. Other terms and conditions apply. CLUB FACILITIES AND MEMBER BENEFITS • Excellent sports facilities including swimming pools, tennis courts, squash courts and a fully equipped gym • Four restaurants with dining specials and Chef speciality dishes • WorkHub with private work stations • Member exclusive events and activities such as Mahjong, Craft and Reading sections • Kids’ facilities comprising of a Teen Hangout and a supervised playroom for young children • Reciprocal arrangement with over 300 clubs worldwide including The Tower Club and ONE 15 Marina in Singapore 73 Bukit Tinggi Road Singapore www.britishclub.org.sg289761
GET TOUCHIN @britchamsg@bccsingapore@british-chamber-of-commerce-singapore 137 Telok Ayer Street, #06-03, Singapore 068602 Tel: +65 6222-3552 Email: /britchamsingapore/britchamsgSpotifyBritChamWebsite:info@britcham.org.sgwww.britcham.org.sgSingapore|ApplePodcasts Read the MagazineOrientonthe go! Available for mobile devices and tablets in the Google Play Store at bit.ly/orientplaystore, and in the iOS App Store at bit.ly/orientappstore! Hit subscribe or click here to get your regular copy of the Orient GET IN TOUCH
The British Chamber is proud to have achieved Carbon Neutrality for 2019 and offset our emissions for the year. Click here to visit the Road to Net Zero Hub
Official Partners:
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Education & Learning Hub
As relationships for the UK enter a new beginning, our ongoing Future of Trade campaign reflects our goal to strengthen our agenda and the support we can provide to the business community. The theme focuses on collaboration within trade, exploring the UK's trade relationships, supporting UK exporters, and the regional opportunities. Learn about:
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Check back regularly for the latest and quick access to services you need, whether you are here or considering future market expansion from the UK.
The COVID-19 Information Hub can be accessed at covid.britcham.org.sg, from the button below, or from the Talking Points menu on our website. Click here to visit the COVID-19 Information Hub
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The UK-Singapore Free Trade Agreement (UKSFTA) The UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement The opportunities for UK companies in Southeast Asia How we can help UK exporters
Explore the following offerings: Excellence of British Education Alumni Ambassador Scheme Our Members in the Education and Learning Sector Content Library Recommended Courses Education Events Trade Support for the British Education Ecosystem in Singapore
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The launch of our Education & Learning Hub, the only platform of its kind within the regional British Chamber network, offers options for members in the learning provider space a platform to share, promote and inspire.
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Get official updates, all the latest member pulse checks, our latest related Chamber news and digital content in a new one-stop resource.
Official Partner: Click here to visit the Future of Trade Hub
• Upcoming
Since Earth Day 2020, we have been focusing on the progress industry is making towards carbon neutrality, holding sector-specific sustainability conversations, and building towards the 26th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP26), to be held in Glasgow in November 2021.
InformationCOVID-19Hub
Announcing our Bronze Annual Partnership with Dulwich College (Singapore) FROMNEWS:THE CHAMBER
Photography
Celebrating
The British Chamber is delighted to announce a Bronze Annual Partnership has been agreed with Dulwich College (Singapore), effective immediately. The College has been a member of the Chamber since 2011, with many of the leadership team and teaching staff engaged with Chamber activities. We look forward to working closely in the months ahead on this new phase. Find out more about the College in their video below or visit singapore.dulwich.org.
Introducing our finalists for this year's upcoming awards presentation for the 5th Annual Celebrating Diversity Photography WeCompetition.aredelighted to be able to continue this competition, which encourage all generations to consider diversity, inclusion and equality, despite the limitations on budding photographers imposed by the pandemic during 2020. The competition ran from 14th September 2020 - 31st January 2021, with final judging of the winners underway. Look out for the announcement of the awards ceremony soon Thankwww.britcham.org.sg/eventsat.youtothecontinuingpartnership of Barclays as our Official Diversity & Inclusion Partner, and to Swire Bulk, this year's Official Prize Partner.
Announcing the Finalists of the 5th Annual Diversity Competition
The UK-Singapore Universities Alliance for Entrepreneurship and Innovation (UKSAEI) – the first alliance of its kind to accelerate collaborations in entrepreneurship and innovation between the two countries – was launched on 8th April 2021, witnessed by H.E. Kara Owen, British High Commissioner to Singapore, and H.E. Lim Thuan Kuan, Singapore High Commissioner to the UKSAEIUK.brings together world-leading universities from the UK (Bath, Coventry, Cranfield, Dundee, Edinburgh, Glasgow, King’s College London, Newcastle, Nottingham, Manchester and Strathclyde) and Singapore (Nanyang Technological University Singapore, National University of Singapore, Singapore Institute of Technology, Singapore Management University, and Singapore University of Technology and Design) to share knowledge and facilitate collaboration in commercialisation and innovation. Enabling knowledge exchanges on technology transfer and commercialization, cross-border licensing of technologies, and training the next generation of entrepreneurs, the Alliance will boost efforts in accelerating ideas to market and value capture, and deepen cooperation between innovation ecosystems in the UK and Singapore.
• Act as the catalyst for commercialisation activities.
• Facilitate, share knowledge and co-operate in the respective efforts of UK and Singapore universities in the areas of technology transfer and commercialization through active engagement with government and industry.
• Develop cross-border licensing of technologies and human capacity building as well as to support and encourage innovation.
Launch of the UK-Singapore Universities Alliance for Entrepreneurship and Innovation
(UKSAEI)
On 20th April, we presented last year’s award trophies the winners in nine categories. The presentation was moderated by Executive Director, David Kelly, with addresses from Chamber President, Richard Warburton, and British High Commissioner, H.E. Kara Owen CMG CVO. With special thanks to our Video Partner, Asia Works. Congratulations again to all of the winners!
• Actively facilitate and enable collaboration between universities, public research institutes, Government and industry players in the innovation ecosystem in Singapore and the UK to co-create value.
The Alliance will aim to:
21st TrophyBusinessAnnualAwardsPresentation NEWS:17 FROM THE CHAMBER
Originally published by MOH
Effective from 5th April 2021, employers must ensure that no more than 75% of employees who are able to work from home are at the workplace at any point in time. This is an increase from the current 50% ratio. Employers are encouraged to continue allowing work from home options, virtual meetings and flexible working for their employees.
Events & employee social gathering
From 24th April 2021, MICE events under the current pilot and approval programme will be allowed to have up to 750 attendees, in zones of up to 50 attendees each with Pre-Event Testing in place. The Singapore Tourism Board will be releasing an updated safe events framework and application details. Information on Pre-Event Testing (PET) is being updated on a new webpage managed by the MOH here.
Easing of Travel Restrictions for Fravellers Entering Singapore From the UK
At the Workplace
Live performances at designated venues can have up to 750 attendees if they implement pre-event testing from 24th April or up to 250 attendees without testing. The National Arts Council will be releasing updated guidelines.
Work-related events (including those which primarily involve employees or stakeholders, such as conferences/ seminars, corporate retreats, staff training sessions, Annual General Meetings and Extraordinary General Meetings but not including social interactions) continue to proceed with up to 50 people with 1-metre safe distancing measures and avoiding being held over mealtimes.
2. Arriving travellers will continue to serve a 14day Stay-Home-Notice (SHN) at dedicated SHN facilities, with an additional 7-day SHN at their place of residence.
Education Minister Lawrence Wong announced updates to Singapore's Covid restrictions on March 24, 2021 as the Government moves away from work-from-home as the default way of working.
FROMNEWS:THE CHAMBER
1. Long-Term Pass holders and short-term visitors with recent travel history to the UK and South Africa within the last 14 days will now be allowed entry into Singapore after obtaining the relevant entry approvals.
The MOH is now welcoming pre-registration by residents aged 45-59 online. All vaccination enquiries and registrations are directed to www.vaccine.gov.sg.
Vaccination programme
Updates to Singapore's COVID-19 AnnouncedRestrictions
Sports events will be allowed to have up to 750 seated spectators with pre-event testing from 24th April, or up to 250 spectators without testing. SportSG will release further details on the pilot. The general restrictions on social and household gatherings remain the same and are being closely monitored as they have broader impacts to case transmission.
Effective from 22nd April 2021, 2359 hours:
3. Travellers with recent travel history to the UK and South Africa will now be allowed to transit through Singapore on airlines approved to operate such transfers. Singapore had earlier restricted entry and transit for all Long-Term Pass holders and short-term visitors with recent travel history to the UK and South Africa. This arose from concerns of a more contagious variant of the COVID-19 virus circulating in these countries/regions. Singapore Citizens and Permanent Residents in these countries/regions in the last 14 days before their entry have also been subjected to an additional 7-day SHN period at their residence, following their 14-day SHN at dedicated SHN facilities. Existing border control and domestic measures have been able to contain the risks of community spread from imported cases with such variants, which is now present in many countries beyond the UK and South Africa. The Ministry of Health will continue to evaluate the various strains of the COVID-19 virus as these emerge and review border measures accordingly. From 23 April 2021
1. The DP holder is a sole proprietor, partner, or company director with at least 30% shareholding in the business; and 2. The business hires at least one Singaporean/Permanent Resident who earns at least the prevailing Local Qualifying Salary (currently $1,400) and receives CPF contributions for at least three months DP holders who currently do not meet the above criteria can continue to run their business on their existing LOC until its expiry, or apply for a one-off extension of their LOC until 30th April 2022 when next renewing their DP. This is intended to provide sufficient time for them to make the necessary adjustments to their business.
MOM recognises that some DP holders who run businesses may not meet the eligibility criteria for an EP or EntrePass. DP holders will be eligible to continue running their business on an LOC, if:
The MOM team will work with organisations to establish the appropriate type of work pass on a case-by-case basis at the point of application. If you would like to discuss your case with the MOM’s support team ahead of application for your business planning, members are encouraged to contact the hotline on +65 6438 5122 (M-F 8.30-5.30 / Sat 8.30-1).
Next steps
LOC Policy Update for Dependent Pass Holders in Singapore
We recommend that organisations affected by the LOC changes evaluate their early renewal options as a first step and consider their work pass types for application; if this is not possible, consulting the hotline to discuss your case.
Last month, the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) announced that effective from 1st May 2021, spouses and family members of foreign talent working in Singapore who hold Dependant Passes (DP) will need to obtain a work pass to work in place of the current Letter of Consent (LOC) option.
The British Chamber of Commerce maintains constant dialogues with the MOM, MTI and other agencies, which have enabled us to react quickly to this policy announcement, gather feedback from members, and confirm relevant facts in response, which we are sharing with the business community below for your planning purposes. FROM
THE CHAMBER
FAQs Please refer below to some of the questions our members have been raising to us on the topic of LOCs, for which we have consulted the MOM for a response.
• Details on the sub-sectors considered part of Financial Services who will be subject to a higher minimum salary level for Employment Pass applicationsconsidered-part-of-the-financial-services-sectorfaq/employment-pass/how-do-i-know-if-my-company-is-www.mom.gov.sg/
NEWS:19
• Foreign worker quota calculatorworker-levy/calculate-foreign-worker-quotaand-permits/work-permit-for-foreign-worker/foreign-www.mom.gov.sg/passes-
The British Chamber has established two-way dialogues with the Ministry of Manpower, MTI and other Government agencies where we can swiftly feedback any member concerns as a group and receive guidance for your business planning. These conversations in the background happen on an ongoing basis, in addition to regular opportunities for members to address questions and feedback to the MOM within our events. We encourage all our members to continue to share their feedback with us, and we will, in turn, continue to support the needs of the community. For more information on British Chamber membership click here Useful links • Self-assessment tool for Employment Pass and S Pass applicationsemployment-s-pass-self-assessment-toolwww.mom.gov.sg/eservices/services/
Can an extension be granted for employees whose LOCs expire within 2021? If an LOC expires within 180 days of 30th Apr 2021, then an organisation can apply for a renewal, and this needs to be made before the 1st May 2021 policy change. No further extensions are planned at this time. Until what date can new LOC applications be submitted? Before the 1st May 2021 policy change date, new applications will be accepted as usual. Given the nature of the announcement, it follows that an increase in work pass applications may follow - will this cause further delays in processing? We have received assurances that sufficient resources to manage any increase in enquiries and applications will be in place to avoid delays. Will allowances be made for contract types that do not easily fall within the brackets of existing work pass eligibility, such as part-time and freelance employees, those running their own business, or acting as the local representative in the market? It is not the MOM's intention to inhibit employment in Singapore with this policy change; many current LOC holders will be able to transition to one of the above work pass options seamlessly.
Will there be an increase in quotas on S Passes to balance the withdrawal of the LOC route to employment for organisations hiring foreign talent?
There are no plans to redress the current quotas in place, which form part of Singapore's ongoing manpower strategy to sustain restructuring and improve manpower resilience. Will there be ongoing consultation with the business community as policies continue to be reviewed in the future?
If you have remaining questions and concerns, our members are encouraged to sign up to attend our upcoming event on 29th April, where questions can be asked directly to the MOM Work Pass Division – another example of an exclusive members-only Government engagement opportunity brought to you by the British Chamber.
Your Questions Answered:
As the team leads on the Education Trade support for the UK DIT, in February, we were very proud to launch our Education & Learning Hub which aims to bring together all the UK education propositions in Singapore and provide a high profile platform for all providers within the network to share news, highlight specific offerings and create collaboration with industry. The chamber will continue to develop this hub as further offerings arise for UK Education in Singapore, but please reach out to the Trade Team should you wish to understand how you can get Theinvolved.UKAgriculture
and Development Board have also kept the team busy as we delivered two projects showcasing their Dairy and Meat producers who currently import to Singapore abut are seeking further routes to market. We continue to plan additional activity for the AHDB which will provide Britcham members with multiple opportunities to try out these goodies for yourself! Finally, we continue to support companies directly with our Business Matching services with particular success in facilitating the export of Food & Beverage items, and Consumer Goods into Singapore from the UK. Products such as Pack’d smoothies, Choc in Play and Planet Organic can be found in Little Farms, whilst Wiston Estate wines are now available through our Britcham member, The British Beverage Company.
Updates from the Trade Services Team
If you do wish to reach out to the Trade Services team at any point, please feel free to email our Business Services Director, Nicole Wharfe, at nicole@britcham.org.sg
FROMNEWS:THE CHAMBER
The delegation of the DIT South West ‘Tech for Good Trade Mission’ held in January and the Northern Powerhouse Trade Mission held in March, continues to generate interest from relevant parties within the business communities and all delegates are still open to expressions of interest in meeting them. (Delegate Profiles: ‘Tech for Good’, NPH ).
The end of Q1 for the Trade Services Team brought numerous successes in support of UK Trade. It was a great pleasure for the team to be able to deliver such a variety of activity including Trade Missions, Consultation and Research projects to our first intimate event showcasing UK Dairy producers to key decision makers in Singapore.
The North Sea Transition Deal sets out an ambitious plan for how the UK’s offshore oil and gas sector and the government will work together to deliver the skills, innovation and new infrastructure required to meet stretching greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets.
• investment of up to £14-16 billion by 2030 in new energy technologies, with supported by business models to enable CCUS and hydrogen at scale • a voluntary industry target of 50% local UK content across the lifecycle for all related new energy technology projects by 2030, as well as in oil and gas decommissioning. This will be supported by the appointment of an industry supply chain champion who will support the coordination of opportunities with other sectors • a 60Mt reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, including 15Mt through the progressive decarbonisation of UKCS production over the period to 2030
The North Sea Transition Deal
Available Now: Department SingaporeInternationalforTradeIPWebinar Click here to view the Department InternationalforTradeIntellectual Property Webinar Slide Deck
To read the report of the Deal in full, click on the image above or here
NEWS:21 AROUND THE CHAMBER
Specifically, this Deal includes: • early reductions in offshore production emissions of 10% by 2025; 25% by 2027; and 50% by 2030, against a 2018 baseline, to meet the sector’s aim of creating a net zero basin by 2050. This will be supported by joint work to address the commercial and regulatory barriers to electrification of offshore platforms to realise these targets
The Deal aims to support and anchor the expert supply chain that has built up around oil and gas in the UK, to both safeguard and create new highquality jobs. The Deal will transform the sector in preparation for a net zero future and catalyse growth throughout the UK economy.
• support for up to 40,000 direct and indirect supply chain jobs in decarbonising UKCS production and the CCUS and hydrogen sectors • To read the report of the Deal in full, click on the image below or here.
The challenges of protecting Intellectual Property (IP) impact all businesses globally, and the maritime industry is no different. In order to learn more about what can go wrong, and how to safeguard your business, DIT Singapore has produced this IP webinar.
Member company Pacific Prime Acquires CXA Group's Brokerages to Become the 3rd Largest Employee Benefits Broker in Singapore and Hong Kong
CXA's insurtech business is backed by HSBC, Singtel Innov8, the Singapore Economic Development Board's investment arm EDBI and B Capital Group, the venture firm of Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin.
Endorsement by COBIS is challenging, rigorous and standards are examined in ten areas that include Safeguarding and Safer Recruitment, Ethos and Values, Learning and Teaching, Extra-Curricular, Enrichment and MarlboroughEngagement.
The Master, Mr Alan Stevens, stated “The COBIS team described the report as “outstanding” and it genuinely is, acknowledging the high standards, hard work, mutual support and pride that they found here in what they described as “the remarkable community that is MCM.” It is excellent to have this validated externally by such an esteemed organisation.”
Marlborough College Malaysia receives the highest recognition from the Council of British International Schools
MEMBERNEWS: NEWS
Historically, Pacific Prime has built all of its own insurtech in-house; 15% of its 600 staff are IT-focused. This insurtech approach has been largely responsible for Pacific Prime's growth over the past decade. The technology it is acquiring as part of the CXA deal is extremely complementary to Pacific Prime's in-house technology, and will allow Pacific Prime to offer employee benefits flex solutions to large multinationals, as well as smaller SMEs.
College Malaysia is delighted to have been awarded 16 commendations, signifying excellence in each of the standards, in addition to the highest accolade that can be awarded, “Beacon School” status, which designates Marlborough College Malaysia as a centre of global best practice.
Global insurance brokerage Pacific Prime has solidified its foothold in Asia Pacific by acquiring the Hong Kong and Singapore brokerage arms of CXA Group, an insurtech company that has exited this sector to focus on its cloudbased enterprise SaaS business.The acquisition deal took place on February 4th, 2021.
Marlborough College Malaysia set the pace globally by partnering with COBIS (the Council of British International Schools), the oldest and largest premier association of British schools overseas, to achieve the first-ever fully online Patron's Accreditation and Compliance with flying COBIScolours.is a membership association that represents more than 250 British schools globally. To gain the COBIS Patron’s Accreditation every school must go through a robust and thorough membership process followed by ongoing monitoring and development. This tough process ensures that COBIS member schools operate within specific guidelines of ethical practice and good governance which reflect the high standards and ethos expected of a first-class British school. The actual accreditation process lasted from November 2019 to January 2021 with online tours, lesson observations and interviews conducted in December 2020 and January 2021. The process involved pupils, parents, staff and Governors. In addition, thousands of digital documents, dozens of films and hundreds of emails were scrutinised.
The acquisition of CXA Group’s brokerage arms in Hong Kong and Singapore is a breakthrough, as Pacific Prime seeks to continually expand in the Asia Pacific region and globally. The acquisition gives Pacific Prime the technology to offer full-flex and simplified flex solutions to all of its clients around the world.
The acquisition will serve to bolster Pacific Prime’s employee benefits and compensation technology, enabling global HR teams to simplify plan administration across multiple jurisdictions and leverage valuable insights from data, as well as streamline total rewards management.
Penningtons Manches Cooper is a leading UK and international law firm which provides high quality legal advice tailored to both businesses and individuals. We address the specific objectives of each client through our flair and technical expertise and offer a personal service founded on a strong team ethic. We have a strong reputation in a variety of sectors, particularly shipping, international trade, technology, property and private wealth. Visit penningtonslaw.com for more information.
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VF SINGAPORE OVERSEAS SERVICES
23 NEW MEMBERS
Founded in 1899, VF Corporation is one of the world’s largest apparel, footwear and accessories companies connecting people to the lifestyles, activities and experiences they cherish most through a family of iconic outdoor, active and workwear brands including Vans®, The North Face®, Timberland® and Dickies®. Our purpose is to power movements of sustainable and active lifestyles for the betterment of people and our planet. We connect this purpose with a relentless drive to succeed to create value for all stakeholders and use our company as a force for good.
Representative Member: Matt Bennett, CEO PENNINGTONS MANCHES COOPER LLP
STERLING MEMBER CORPORATE MEMBERS
Speyside is a global emerging market corporate affairs and public policy specialist with a 25+ year track record helping leading companies and organizations with market entry and growth. We work at a headline corporate level and around license to operate issues, with teams of local experts providing intelligence and insight on relevant political, policy, and regulatory developments, as well as to help to build relationships with key stakeholders to support clients’ reputational and commercial goals. Visit speyside-group.com for more information.
Representative Member: Malcolm James Reid, CEO SPEYSIDE CORPORATE RELATIONS
NEW MEMBERS
Representative Member: Oliver Budgen, Founder & Managing Director HENSHAW ADVISORY
Representative Member: Paul Young, CEO
SGS is the world’s leading inspection, verification, testing and certification company, recognized as the global benchmark for quality and integrity. With over 89,470 employees, we operate a network of more than 2,600 offices and laboratories around the world. We partner with you to deliver services that will help you to improve operations, reduce risk and develop smart solutions. Enabling a better, safer and more interconnected world. Visit www.sgs.com for more information.
SGSMEMBERSTESTING&CONTROL
CORPORATE SME
Representative Member: Ian Herbison, CEO BUD COMMUNICATIONS
SERVICES SINGAPORE
Bud Communications is an award-winning technology PR and marketing agency, helping challenger tech brands to disrupt, enter and build markets across Asia Pacific. With a relentless dedication to giving our clients an unfair share of attention, our expertise and insight in this space is unrivalled. Whether it is fintech or esports, global enterprises, or fast-moving scale-ups, we understand how technology businesses work, and the bespoke growth strategies they require to succeed. Visit us at www.budcomms.com
Henshaw Advisory is a boutique business advisory firm that enhances business performance, supports growth and generates enterprise value. We help re-position the organisational direction of your business; devise and execute value creation plans and drive projects; build effective financial models; provide interim/contract CFO/COO/CEO and ‘Non-Exec’ roles; and offer financial and non-financial business advisory services. Find out more at www.henshawadvisory.com
GABA PRINCIPLE
25 NEW MEMBERS
Representative Member: Chin Wei Kue, Vice President
Livinguard is a hygiene technology company with a laser focus of reinventing hygiene in the 21st century by bringing our technology to where it is most needed. Clients across the globe rely on our technology to provide innovative hygiene solutions for enhanced safety and better health to billions of people. Visit www.livinguard.com for more information.
Representative Member: Sophie Brown, Advisor
At My Writing Coach, we train teams and individuals to think and write more strategically and more clearly. After our programs, participants have more impact at work. They cause action and influence people. We blend workshop training (virtual or face-to-face), with personal coaching. This ensures that participants transfer their skills from the classroom environment into the workplace environment and that they get the specific help that they need. Visit www.mywritingcoach.org for more information.
Representative Member: Victoria Vinning, Program Director
Representative Member: Michael Hodgson, Founder & Director
CORPORATE START-UP MEMBERS
LIVINGUARD ASIA
MACGREGOR Macgregor’s aim is to make investment in residential real estate as simple as possible. Macgregor is a real estate agent specialising in New Build and Refur bished apartments in prime UK city centre locations. Whether you are looking for a single apartment or a large block of apartments, we can look after you. Based in Edinburgh we serve clients across Asia, Europe and the Middle East, virtually and in person. Visit www.macgregorproperty.co.uk for more information.
Gaba Principle specialises in financing all classes of Real Estate (residential, industrial, student, hotel, care homes, office) in the UK with all types of lending (investment, development, bridging, mezzanine and joint venture). No upper limit on the quantum of debt. Visit www.gabaprinciple.com for more information.
MY WRITING COACH
OVERSEAS CORPORATE MEMBER
18 February 2021: Singapore Budget 2021 Overview Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance, Mr Heng Swee Keat delivered Singapore's 2021 Budget Statement in Parliament. BritCham shared our analysis of the announcements within the same week.
23 February 2021: 2021 Asia Property Market Outlook: Leading Recovery - Why Asia Will Leapfrog Innovation in Real Estate Watch the discussion to hear why Asia will lead innovation from here and compare notes on what's worked for your business and what you'll drive forward into 2021.
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RECENT EVENTS & WEBINARS
RECENT WEBINARS Discover more webinars britcham.org.sg/webinarsat
24 February 2021: Your Southeast Asia Expansion –People Before Product
This webinar is focused purely on CCUS, a high growth, high potential and scaleable industry which has yet to make inroads within the South East Asia region.
2 March 2021: Carbon Capture, Utilisation & Storage (CCUS)An Imperative for Asia
We dissect Southeast Asia's highly contested market and how newcomers can have the support from HQ and tools to build out a winning local team.
Find out how best to navigate a crisis as public relations and communication professionals come to the rescue - are you prepared to respond at a moment's notice? Survive through Signal AI's interactive Crisis Simulator!
31 March Interactive2021:Crisis Communications Wargame: Can You Save Your Reputation?
27 RECENT EVENTS & WEBINARS
17 March 2021: Building an Inclusive Workplace & Pride Networks
16 March 2021: A UK Outlook : UK Budget Review Review the latest UK Budget with Martin Rimmer, Mark Addy & H.E Kara Owen, as they discuss the Inheritance Tax system and Capital Gains Tax systems and how the Government might continue to raise money from pensions, property and of course large corporates.
Official D&I Partner: Event Partners:
From this webinar, we hope to initiate a more visible and accessible discussion between companies to share knowledge and provide guidance to other organisations on how to build an inclusive workplace for people of diverse sexual orientation and gender identity.
BritCham's ICT Committee brings you a webinar on the Future of Data in APAC, exploring how data and creative are connecting to maximise business potential, as well as the use of Artificial Intelligence and machine learning.
23 March 2021: The Future Of Data In APAC
03 March 2021: Leaders in Business Lunch ft. H.E. Kara Owen CMG CVO In this first in-person event of 2021, attendees received updates from Kara Owen on the UK's recent trade negotiations, followed by a question and comments discussion. 25 March 2021: From Peak to Peak with Explorer Grant ‘Axe’ Rawlinson Participants joined us once again for an in person training session with Explorer Grant 'Axe' Rawlinson at the ShangriLa Hotel as we explored his new experiential team decision making program. Event Partner: WELCOMING MEMBERS BACK TO OUR EVENTS RECENT EVENTS & WEBINARS
EVENTSUPCOMING&WEBINARS Visit our Upcoming Events page at www.britcham.org.sg/events to find out more about the following events, or contact the events team at events@britcham.org.sg 2021May18 Members Networking Meetup 6:30 PM 8:30 PM Various Harry's Bar Outlets DATE NAME TIME VENUE EVENT PARTNERS 2021May04 Tackling Biases in Artificial Intelligence (AI) 4:00 PM 5:00 PM Webinar 2021May05 The Future of Work with Marcus Buckingham 7:00 AM 8:30 AM Webinar 2021May11 Company Registration and Key Information for New Business Owners 12:00 PM 1:00 PM Webinar 2021May20 Annual MeetingGeneral2021 6:00 PM 7:30 PM CeremonyVirtual 2021May25 Shaping the Hybrid Work Future 9:00 10:30AMAM Webinar 29 UPCOMING EVENTS & WEBINARS
This activity coincided with FHA Match in Singapore, which took place on the week 13-14th April focusing on Meat and providing a platform for UK exporters to connect with contacts and unlock new business opportunities virtually.
The positive response to the AHDB event has led to a second virtual cook-along being organised, again in partnership with the Trade Team at Britcham, which will see two chefs cook the ‘famous’ Sunday roast, featuring prime cuts of British beef and offering an opportunity for the wider community to win a ‘Great British Sunday Roast’ – keep your eyes peeled for more information!
Susan said: “Singapore is a key target market for our red meat exports and while the volumes of meat shipped is relatively low, the value of cuts provides a fantastic boost for the UK’s red meat sector.
“This virtual cook-along was organised to ensure that we continue flying the flag for our red meat in this important market and do all we can during these challenging times to reach key contacts and continue boosting our exports.”
On Monday 5th April, Chefs from a variety of restaurants, importers, distributors, and retailers in Singapore had the chance to sample British beef to target this all-important market. 15 key influencers were invited to join a virtual cook-along where they had the opportunity to try their hand at creating their very own dish of English beef ribeye with maitake mushrooms, croutons, celery cress and black truffle. That morning the Britcham team had distributed an ingredients box to all guests across the island and at 4pm we welcome with Paul Hallett, the executive chef at Singapore’s exclusive restaurant Skai, who had curated the recipe, to host a live stream ‘cook-along’. In rounding off the experience, selected influencers had the chance to be talked through the recipe, understand more about cooking this fine cut of beef and enjoy their very own fruits of their labour with a delicious dish of British beef, in the comfort of their own home.
The event was organised by AHDB’s Export Manager Susan Stewart in partnership with the Trade Team at the British Chamber of Commerce, in a bid to add value to farm businesses and continue boosting UK red meat exports to the Singaporecountry.is a hugely important high-end market for the UK’s red meat exports, with both volumes and value of beef exports increasing in 2020. Last year, exports of fresh and frozen beef, lamb and pork, including offal, were worth £2.6 million to the UK, with 1,558 tonnes shipped over the 12 months.
AHDB Meat English Beef Showcase: Virtual 'Cook Off'Obvious as it may seem, given we use all our senses when buying into any consumable, being limited to online activity during this period has presented some challenges in showcasing the great British variety of food products. Hence over the past month the UK Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board embraced the opportunity to deliver ‘something different’ to enable Singapore decision makers to still enjoy the best of British Beef and Cheese.
2021Apr5 SPECIAL FEATURE: ENGLISH BEEF SHOWCASE - VIRTUAL 'COOK OFF' WITH AHDB
29 & 2021Mar30 SPECIAL FEATURE: EXCLUSIVE BRITISH CHEESE TASTING MASTERCLASS WITH AHDB
AHDB Dairy
The Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) has identified Singapore as an important Asian market and is committed to a long-term strategy in which we aim to expand our reach into the foodservice industry. As a sophisticated and discerning market, we have seen that once chefs and key influencers taste our products, they are excited to include us in their menus and on cheeseboards. Therefore, AHDB has been flying the flag for British Cheese exporters in Singapore and will continue to do so, in conjunction with Britcham Singapore. Most recently on the 29th and 30th March, we were delighted to host 16 buyers from the foodservice industry for an intimate tasting of 9 different cheeses, (including the award-winning Cornish Kern) all currently available in Singapore. Following Singapore regulation, it was very exciting for AHDB to be able to deliver our first in-person event in over a year! We were joined by our local ‘cheese guru’, Andrew Manktelow, of The Cheese Shop who talked guests through the making and history of each cheese, as well as Mike Parsons from Britcham members, the British Beverage Company, who perfectly paired each cheese with a delightful English wine.
Established in 2008 and classified as a Non-Departmental Public Body, it supports the following industries: meat and livestock (cattle, sheep and pigs) in England; horticulture, milk and potatoes in Great Britain; and cereals and oilseeds in the UK. AHDB’s remit covers 72 per cent of total UK agricultural output. Further information on AHDB can be found at www.ahdb.org.uk
But what makes our cheese so appealing? Not only are we rightfully proud of our rich and diverse history of cheesemaking, with recipes dating back centuries, but Britain also boasts a new, young generation of cheesemakers who are bringing an innovative twist to their creations. This exceptional talent, coupled with the country’s high welfare standards and lush green countryside, has helped British cheesemakers carve a name for themselves around the world for creating high quality, natural and beautiful tasting cheeses.
AHDB is a statutory levy board, funded by farmers, growers and others in the supply chain. Our purpose is to inspire our farmers, growers and industry to succeed in a rapidly changing world. We equip the industry with easy to use, practical know-how which they can apply straight away to make better decisions and improve their performance.
Exclusive British Cheese Tasting MasterClass
Subsequent to this activity, it’s a great compliment to have had all the cheeses featured in Tatler Magazine, where you can read more about each cheese and also find out how to buy them in country.
Be it on a cracker, in a sandwich or added to a recipe, cheese is an age-old staple – loved the world over for its flavour and versatility. In the past, quality cheese was synonymous with France, largely due to the country’s rich culture and historic reputation as a leading authority on cheesemaking. But the tide is turning. British cheese is growing in popularity, and for good reason. With over 750 varieties and the original producer of the much-loved Cheddar, British cheese is setting standards around the globe and even winning the hearts of consumers and connoisseurs in far-flung corners of the world.
One region enjoying British cheese is Singapore – a key market for UK exports with shipments more than doubling in the past five years. Despite a challenging year in 2020 which saw a reduction in foodservice businesses, exports of cheese from the UK actually increased by four per cent.
SPECIAL FEATURE: FUTURE OF WORK
The Future of Work
The past twelve months have taught us that with the right tools — we can deliver against our goals effectively, under pressure, from just about anywhere. So what will the traditional 9-5 look like in the future? What technology will organisations need to leverage? In this special issue, we bring you various perspectives from members to help shape your thinking for your own companies.
OFFICIAL PARTNER: 33 SPECIALFUTUREFEATURE:OFWORK
In PrudentialResourcesChiefSheelaFocus:Parakkal,HumanOfficer,Singapore
By Lucy Haydon As Singapore eases back into office life, our Editor discussed navigating the future of the workforce and workplace changes with our long-term partner, Prudential Singapore.
35 IN FOCUS INTERVIEW WITH THE EDITOR: SHEELA PARAKKAL, CHIEF HUMAN RESOURCES OFFICER, PRUDENTIAL SINGAPORE
Moving on to workspaces, what do you think the workplace of the future will look like?
So really this whole piece on being more digital, being at the forefront of what technology could do for us, that paid off for us when the pandemic landed last year as well. It placed us in a position of strength and allowed us to respond promptly in terms of not just how we work as an organisation, but more importantly also enabling our distributors, who are also a critical part in meeting our customer needs.
When you look at the future of work, it sounds pretty big, but how we chose to look at it was through the lenses of being the best possible insurer, and in the lives of everyone in Singapore.
We always talk not just about happy people, happy customers, but people who truly understand customers. This must surely come from a workforce with people of different backgrounds, experiences, demographics, age groups, segments, gender, etc who can all provide different perspectives.
So for us, the future of work was, from very early on, defined as that diversity – of experiences, thinking and many others. While all of that is great, I think a large part of our acknowledgement and recognition early on was also around how do we get our leaders right at the top to be able to not just solve today's problems and focus on profitability, but to look beyond and really think about the investments that we would need to make today for further down the road.
Prudential has been supporting our Future of Work activities for the past three years now. What makes this topic so important to the business?
If you had asked me this question back in 2017, when we first moved our offices in Singapore, I would have said what we now have is the future. Workspaces are absolutely critical in encouraging how people work and interact with each other and, more importantly, ideate and innovate to bring the best of solutions. When most people walk into our office at Marina One, they feel this is not a typical
We also need to have the right leaders who not only have the vision but also the appetite to stay the course, those who demonstrate the right attributes and values to be at the helm of the organisation. These leaders need to also believe that the future of work is a worthy goal for the organisation to aim towards. We have a 90-year legacy in Singapore and over 170 years globally, and work surely just keeps changing and evolving.
And in all of that, how do we capitalise on technology? Not as something disparate and separate, but as an integral part of fulfilling the work and being able to deliver on our ambitions.
Prudential has collaborative work zones on both Level 6 and Level 7 of their Marina One office.
We found ourselves at a crossroads as to who we were as an insurance company and how we interact with our customers. Just because we did something in a certain way yesterday does not mean that it's going to stay the course for the foreseeable future.
I think just from the title you can see it's a little bit of crystal ball gazing, really looking into the future of businesses and what they need in terms of people to be able to deliver on your ambitions, strategy and priorities. We've been supporting this campaign for a while simply because I think it's a very fundamental question that we asked ourselves as we started a journey of defining who we are as an organisation and, more importantly, who we are in the context of our customers, our distributors, etc.
IN FOCUS INTERVIEW WITH THE EDITOR: SHEELA PARAKKAL, CHIEF HUMAN RESOURCES OFFICER, PRUDENTIAL SINGAPORE
There's a fair amount of work that we're doing around what we call the hybrid workplace, and how we enable everything that needs to happen for people to co-exist in harmony, regardless of physical location.
Back in 2018 we commissioned a thought leadership piece around longevity. A large part of that interest stemmed from our belief and purpose in wanting to help people get the most out of life and be a good corporate citizen, enabling Singapore residents to achieve whatever their aspirations are. While we sit together and speak about the future of work and what that looks like, you must invite the employee into the conversation and create a level of awareness on what the future potentiallycouldlooklike.
The company made a public announcement to allow employees to work beyond the retirement age cap. Can you tell us about the reasoning behind this change, how it's benefited employees and what you've seen as the impact so far?
When you are physically connecting with people, the energy that you draw gives you a bit of an adrenaline rush. We've done very well in the virtual world to encourage connectivity among teams with everyone working from home, but we now need to see how we can adapt and have more collaborative spaces versus typical workstations.
With the pandemic, a significant part of our workforce has been operating from home for safety reasons, which has also been very productive for people. We've been asking ourselves what should we do with our existing workspace, and how do we continue to use it as a magnet to get people to come back, when they’re comfortable, to connect and engage with each other.
Prudential's Level 6 Amphitheatre area in the Marina One office is one of many social spaces where colleagues can mingle and interact. This photo was taken pre-COVID.
37 IN FOCUS INTERVIEW WITH THE EDITOR: SHEELA PARAKKAL, CHIEF HUMAN RESOURCES OFFICER, PRUDENTIAL SINGAPORE
There’s also the added dimension of how can we use the workspace to make it something that people want to connect with. Is the workplace of the future post-pandemic really the office or is it a virtual interactive one, which is also going to be part of the future?
insurance company. We took great pleasure in breaking stereotypes then, because it was really not about our people being ‘boxed up’ and doing what they do best from a functional perspective, but really getting them into collaborative workspaces spaces where people interact with each other as human beings. Secondly, leveraging the strengths that each of us bring to the table to get the right solutions for our customers. The best part of the entire workspace is that it treats everyone equally and allows people to make new friends on a regular basis because with the hot-desking concept you don’t have belongings at a fixed desk, you have a cubbyhole. It has actually encouraged a lot of new behaviors from our people, really allowing them to come into work every day with brand new perspectives, because you don't have a whole pile of papers sitting on your table reminding you of yesterday.
There are those who have chosen to retire, but with full knowledge that it's their choice.
the circuit breaker was announced in Singapore, this was not just about making sure that people could work from home, but ensuring that they were enabled to work When your office is your home, we experience challenges in terms of drawing the boundaries from a work/ life balance perspective. Our managers have been very resourceful in terms of how they engage and stay connected with their people. One of the things that really worked through this period was a pilot programme we started for a 4-day work week, starting with my team. As of today, we have close to 10 per cent of our organisation on this experiment. Psychologically when you lower the number of working days it allows people to have a longer period to switch off and restart the next week. While wellbeing was the original thinking, we have also discovered it has increased productivity simply because of how people best use their working hours. We work with a distribution force, which is close to 5,000 people. So there's many nuances to work out because ultimately at the end of the day we want to support wellbeing and yet still want to be customer service centric.
A big part of this entire move will only be possible if
Our average employee age is within their early 30s, but that did not stop us from asking pertinent questions around what we could do to challenge thinking on future work arrangements and constructs. We wanted to break the traditional thinking around “study, work, retire” and that linear way of looking at life. For our employees who are above 62, it’s about having the choice to stay on and work. As long as you want to be an active contributor, there will always be a place for you. Our younger employees also have the chance to work and interact with these mature employees, resulting in diversity in thinking, experiences, and learning opportunities and mentorships. The benefits – the intangibles – are tremendous.
At that stage, the retirement age that we practiced internally was in-line with the Government guidelines of 62, with an option for extension of employment for another five years etc. We have one of the longest life expectancies worldwide, and the research also highlighted that while people were living longer, they were not necessarily living a quality life. There was significant concern among Singapore residents that if they were to live to 84 years, for example, were they going to be physically fit? Would they have friends to hang around with at that stage? And would they have the financial means to live that long?
IN FOCUS INTERVIEW WITH THE EDITOR: SHEELA PARAKKAL, CHIEF HUMAN RESOURCES OFFICER, PRUDENTIAL SINGAPORE
Of course, the pandemic has dramatically pushed forward the flexible working agenda. How has Prudential been supporting employees and have there been any permanent changes that have been made to policies and processes as a result of that?
There are many things that we had started doing ahead of the pandemic, which I would say helped us respond a lot better than we would have been able to otherwise. Working from home is not a new concept for anyone who works in Prudential. Since 2017, a significant part of our focus was not about being present in the office, instead it was about achieving outcomes for yourself and for the organisation. We recognise people have lives outside work, and sometimes they may need to settle things on a personal front before dedicating themselves 100 per cent to Whenwork.
anthere'songoingemphasisongettingemployeesto feel like they are in the driver's seat.
We asked ourselves what we could do as a responsible corporate to help, and it became very apparent to us that many of our senior colleagues who are in their 50s and 60s were wonderful role models with a richness of experience and knowledge. If they were able and willing to continue and performing well, and we could help them to achieve that social and financial security, why not? So that's why we decided that we would remove the retirement age for our employees and the policies were changed. The following year (2019) we also removed the Central Provident Fund (CPF) cap on contributions for our employees above 55 years old - if these mature workers were doing the same jobs as their younger colleagues, they deserve to be similarly recognised for their efforts too.
IN FOCUS INTERVIEW WITH THE EDITOR: SHEELA PARAKKAL, CHIEF HUMAN RESOURCES OFFICER, PRUDENTIAL SINGAPORE
Prudential Assurance Company Singapore, an indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of UK-based Prudential plc, is one of Singapore’s leading life insurance companies. We have been serving the financial needs of Singapore for 90 years, delivering a suite of product offerings and professional advisory through our network of more than 5,000 financial consultants and our bank partners. We are one of the market leaders in protection, savings and investment-linked plans, with S$49.3 billion funds under management as at 31 December 2020. In testament to our financial strength, we have an ‘AA-’ financial strength rating from leading credit rating agency Standard & Poor’s. Find out more at www.prudential.com.sg.
ABOUT THE COMPANY
to leverage on these kinds of programmes? A large part of our future of work narrative is around the capabilities that are required for the jobs of the future. In the financial services sector, there's been extensive work to address what some of these roles will look like, but more importantly identifying the capabilities that would be needed which define and guide us when it to five years ahead where possible, to try and challenge yourselves in terms of what's going to change and what capabilities and people you will need. The wonderful part of being in Singapore is that you are going to be spoiled for choice in terms of where to find the appropriate support to build those capabilities. We've seen industry-specific initiatives that are very strongly endorsed and adopted, and generic skills programmes such the right resources to match the needs of their organisation. A big part of this entire move will only be possible if there's an ongoing emphasis on getting employees to feel like they are in the driver's seat. While we sit together and speak about the future of work and what that looks like, you've got to invite the employee into the conversation and create a level of awareness on what the future could potentially look like.
FUTURE OF WORK: TEAM COLLABORATION TOOLS COMPARISON CHART
Team Collaboration Tools Comparison Chart
Contributed by Hitan Mehta & James Price of the Information & Communications Technology Committee
Microsoft Teams vs Zoom vs Webex vs Slack vs pretty much any other app out there. These team collaboration tools have become the hub of where we work in the modern world. But, finding the right team collaboration app (or set of team collaboration apps) is harder than it might first seem. This article was originally published by Mio on medium.com, 4th January 2021; ‘Team Collaboration Tools Comparison Chart (Microsoft Teams vs Zoom vs Google Meet vs Webex & More)'.
Microsoft Teams vs Zoom vs Webex vs Slack vs pretty much any other app out there. Hot topic throughout 2020, Youright?could spend hours reading blog posts weighing up two collaboration apps — only to find you’ve already got one in use or another department has already shortlisted something else. That’s why we have created the team collaboration tools comparison chart. We started with a focus on core chat and messaging features — and soon realized the process is not complete without at least looking at other features like genuine collaboration and video services. David Maldow, Founder of Let’s Do Video also already created the comparison chart for video conferencing services
This team collaboration tools comparison chart is split into sections that Mio customers have identified as the most important when assessing a team collaboration tool: 1. Collaboration 2. Security 3. Chat 4. Notifications 5. Guest access 6. Integrations 7. Interoperability 8. Pricing One major point highlighted in the video is that Skype for Business Online is being retired in July 2021. The on-premises versions will remain in existence for at least a few more years; with Microsoft yet to confirm an endof-life date. Here’s the full chart comparing Microsoft Teams, Skype for Business, Cisco Webex, Slack, Zoom Chat, RingCentral, and Google Chat. Some sections are intended highlevel. For example, security should be assessed on a business-bybusiness basis. Every business will have different security requirements Thisinternally.chart should act as a guide to help you complete various “tick-box” exercises when evaluating team collaboration apps. We hope you find this team collaboration tools comparison chart useful. Feel free to send it to your colleagues and contacts who need to see this. Copying and pasting the image might get a bit fiddly (size-wise) so use this shareable link (Best viewed on a laptop/desktop due to the sheer volume of information included).
41 FUTURE OF WORK: TEAM COLLABORATION TOOLS COMPARISON CHART
FUTURE OF WORK: TEAM COLLABORATION TOOLS COMPARISON CHART
This article was contributed by Hitan Mehta & James Price of BritCham’s Information & Communications Technology Committee.
43 FUTURE OF WORK: TEAM COLLABORATION TOOLS COMPARISON CHART
ABOUT THE COMMITTEE
The ICT committee’s mission is to inspire, educate and engage Chamber members and non-members on the transformative capabilities of Information Technology to their business. The goal of the committee is to add value to the Chamber and its members through activities that demonstrate the value of ICT solutions to their business; educate them on future ICT trends that will impact their business; offer member networking opportunities to better enable business across the region; share knowledge and insights, and attract new members to the Chamber. Visit britcham.org.sg/committees/ict for more information.
By Julia Ng Lee Hoon, Group Director, Enterprise Development Group, Workforce Singapore (WSG)
FUTURE OF WORK: WORKFORCE TRANSFORMATION & TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS
In this article, Workforce Singapore (WSG) shares how they are committed to helping companies in Singapore transform jobs and future-proof their workforce. In Singapore, transformationthe was already well underway but picked up speed during the pandemic.
The Future of Work is now. Across workplaces around the world, people have experienced the epochal changes that COVID-19 unleashed. Singapore was not spared those seismic shocks to its labour market, businesses and social fabric. But crises often bring on a transformative effect as well. Working remotely, using more technology, communicating and collaborating virtually, conducting business online, and learning digitally all became the order of the day. Jobs were lost, found and transformed, sometimes within a very short span of time. While the economic scarring has been significant, the future, as envisaged some decades ago, has arrived earlier than expected as a result of the pandemic and hence why we say, The Future of Work is now and something for which Workforce Singapore (WSG) is committed to helping companies in Singapore transform jobs and future-proof their Inworkforce.Singapore, the transformation was already well underway but picked up speed during the pandemic. Structural shifts were taking place in the world – global growth was subdued; global productivity growth had been sluggish and global value chains had been shifting. Singapore’s national lexicon already featured “Smart Nation”, “SkillsFuture”, “Adapt and Grow” and “advanced manufacturing base for the world” much earlier on – this just moved into pole position when COVID-19 hit. The Committee on the Future Economy (CFE), convened in January 2016, developed strategies for the next decade. Industry Transformation Maps (ITMs) were also started that year. They served as roadmaps for driving change not only within the industry but across companies and in turn impacting the economy. There were multiple converging forces including the increasing adoption of cuttingedge technologies, digitalisation, shifts in demographics, and greater connectivity as well as a broadening of the workforce since alternative work arrangements became possible with a gig Witheconomy.theonset of COVID-19, the Singapore government took decisive action and rolled out an unprecedented slew of Budget assistance within a span of three months, among which were WSG programmes for both individuals and companies. Please programmesinitiatives,in.verywhocareer(PMETs),managers,–provideTheenterprisewww.wsg.gov.sg/SGUnited.html#for-visitformoredetails.immediateneedhasbeentojobsforvariouscategoriesfreshgraduates,professionals,executives,techniciansmatureworkersandmid-workers,aswellasworkerswishtoswitchawayfromthesectortheyhavebeenworkingWSGisattheforefrontoftheseincludingcareerconversionsuchastheProfessional
Developments&TransformationWorkforceTechnological
On the other hand, two mid-career PMETs impacted by business transformation were successfully redeployed within the firm last September. Both staff, who are technology-trained, underwent a six-month PCP offered by Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA) Singapore, and are now proficient in internal risk control to undertake risk advisory projects. For both the
with companies in their journey not only through this pandemic but in preparing the workforce for a future of rapid technological developments and digitalisation. Among the UK companies based in Singapore, Prudential Singapore, one of the city state’s leading life insurance companies, employs around 1,400 people locally and was one of those, among many, who saw benefits in participating in the SGUnited Traineeships and SGUnited MidCareer Pathways programmes, as well as the Professional Conversion Programme (PCP). Prudential recruited over 70 trainees since August 2020. In the words of the Head of Future Ready Workforce at Prudential, Ms Neetha Nair, the traineeship programme is a good way for young graduates and mid-career individuals to gain experience in and knowledge of the insurance industry. It provides, she says, an opportunity to tap an additional talent pool to support the growth of the business. Prudential has also been developing future ready skills for their employees through the PCPs. Ms Nair adds that for Prudential, the Redeployment PCP allows them to potentially reskill their employees into roles in growth areas in technology functions and equip their people with skills in Design Innovation, Data Analytics and Programming. This helps them better meet the evolving needs of their customers and expand their people’s skillsets as they now continue their digitalisation journey.
45 FUTURE OF WORK: WORKFORCE TRANSFORMATION & TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS
Nexia TS is an established mid-tier accounting company who has similarly seen a positive outcome. It is an independent member firm of the Nexia International network in the UK, with a staff strength of 250. To date, they have hired more than ten trainees from the SGUT and SGUP programmes with the new graduates seeking to learn while the experienced ones complement job placement in varied departments ranging from audit, tax compliance to human resource.
Conversion Programmes and the Job Redesign Reskilling/ Redeployment WSGProgrammes.worksclosely
itworkforceSingaporeandWSG,isnolongeraquestionofmerelybouncing‘back’fromapandemicbutmoreaboutbouncing‘forward’intothefuture.
FUTURE OF WORK: WORKFORCE TRANSFORMATION & TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS
Mr Tan added that the pandemic caused many businesses to rethink and transform. While doing that, some jobs were unfortunately impacted. However, with the Redeployment PCP reskilling programme, they were heartened that some of their people could be redeployed into enhanced job roles and continue giving their best to the firm. For both the Singapore workforce and WSG, it is no longer a question of merely bouncing ‘back’ from a pandemic but more about bouncing ‘forward’ into the future. With human capital being the biggest enabler of business success, WSG is about working closely with Singapore’s firms to embark on job redesign and co-creating human capital solutions to support them in their business and workforce transformation journey. That the future of work is here, be it from a job role or skills perspective, and that it is now unfolding before our very eyes is something WSG is acutely aware of. Cliched as it may sound, it is more relevant in the Singapore of today where change is a constant. This future where recovery is certain but also patchy, is one which we march into with resilience and emerge together stronger as a nation from the pandemic.
Reflecting on these developments, Nexia TS Group CEO and Chief Innovation Officer, Mr Henry Tan, says the SGUnited Traineeships and MidCareer Pathways programmes could not have been timelier to help ease the financial strain on businesses caused by COVID-19, while giving the company access to a wider pool of talent with diverse background and specialisation.
ABOUT THE COMPANY Workforce Singapore (WSG) is a statutory board under the Ministry of Manpower (MOM). It oversees the transformation of the local workforce and industry to meet ongoing economic challenges. While its key focus is to help workers meet their career aspirations and secure quality jobs at different stages of life, WSG will also address the needs of business owners and companies by providing support to enable manpower-lean enterprises to remain competitive. Visit www.wsg.gov.sg for more information.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Julia Ng Lee Hoon is the Group Director, Enterprise Development Group of WSG. She leads and drives human capital capability development and workforce transformation, including job redesign and sectoral data insights to support industry transformation, in collaboration with industry partners to prepare our workforce to be ready for the Future of Work. Workforce development and helping companies with human capital solutioning has been a central part of Julia's work for the past decade. This is what defines and drives her forward.
Organisations must adopt a human-centered approach by listening closely, personalising experiences and inspiring purposeful change. 47 FUTURE OF WORK: IGNORING EMPLOYEE EXPERIENCE COULD JEOPARDISE YOUR DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION
Ignoring DigitalJeopardiseExperienceEmployeeCouldYourTransformation
By Samir Bedi, Asean Workforce Advisory Leader, EY
Many business leaders are accelerating their organisation’s digitalisation efforts to evolve their business models for the post-pandemic new normal. With new technologies introduced and implemented, job roles, work processes and ways of working are being Astransformed.thevelocity and extent of these changes intensify, the employees’ experience of these changes could directly impact the speed and success of an organisation’s transformation. Many organisations could face strong employee resistance to digital initiatives when employees have negative experiences with new Intechnologies.asurveyof
FUTURE OF WORK: IGNORING EMPLOYEE EXPERIENCE COULD JEOPARDISE YOUR DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION
What is of greater concern is that HR leaders seemed to be disconnected from the realities of employees’ lived experiences. More HR managers than employees felt positive about their organisation’s technology. Data-driven listening Organisations need to close this perception gap through robust insights on employee sentiments and their behaviours. However, many organisations do not have a method for measuring overall employee experiences, and others are not collecting and analysing that data Listeningeffectively.effectively requires designing consistent programs or mechanisms to collect feedback and gather information – from capturing employee interactions and mapping employee journeys, to engagementprogramsvoice-of-the-employeeintroducingfeedbackandongoingemployeesurveys.Forexample, it is worth questioning if organisations should move from annual engagement surveys to frequent and focused pulse surveys that deliver more in-time, valuable insights. Equally critical is that any listening should extend beyond the individual, to understanding how people in the business influence each other and the informal networks and connections that really drive behaviour. As change,experienceemployeestheyneedtoknowthepurposeforthesechanges,theoutcomestobeachievedandhowtheorganisationwillbetransformed.
900 global HR professionals and 900 full-time employees that was conducted by Forrester Consulting on behalf of SAP SuccessFactors, Qualtrics and the EY organisation in July 2020, nearly half of the employees surveyed said the technology they have been provided with was difficult to use. Over half said it lacked key features and three quarters indicated the applications and data they needed were not always accessible on desktop and mobile.
Personalisation at scale In the past, organisations may have applied a one-size-fits-all solutions such as mass employee activities to drive up employee satisfaction and engagement, but such methods cannot effectively address experiencerelated issues. The organisation has to personalise, segment and tailor its solution to truly address the diverse needs and nuances of its people.
Purposeful change By improving how they listen, organisations can better understand employees’ pain points and begin to address these issues. While this is a good starting point, organisations must go beyond simply meeting employees’ needs. As employees experience change, they need to know the purpose for these changes, the outcomes to be achieved and how the organisation will be transformed.
Transforming the organisation to embrace a personalised and insightsdriven approach in delivering people experiences will require human and technology innovations. This includes implementing new data gathering processes and structures to obtain timely feedback, measure experiences effectively, and to align this understanding with the broader needs of the business. To effectively address experience issues and drive behavioural changes, businesses and HR leaders will need new skills and ways of engaging with the workforce.
The broad impact and scope of work involved to deliver purposeful employee experiences means that organisations must consider this aspect early in their digital transformation strategy. In the pursuit of their digital transformation where there are many competing priorities to address, organizations must not miss a fundamental point — technology is but an enabler and only a human-centred approach that understands, supports and inspires employees to embrace the change experience can truly unlock the power of transformation.
This is where the approach “listening-aligning-designing”of is iterative and made more complex when it has to be applied to thousands of Inemployees.otherwords, organisations will need to pace themselves. Moving the employee experience needle in segments of the workforce can happen fast but delivering better business outcomes and cultural transformation will take longer.
Experience-centered transformation
ABOUT THE COMPANY EY exists to build a better working world, helping create long-term value for clients, people and society and build trust in the capital markets. Enabled by data and technology, diverse EY teams in over 150 countries provide trust through assurance and help clients grow, transform and operate. Working across assurance, consulting, law, strategy, tax and transactions, EY teams ask better questions to find new answers for the complex issues facing our world today. Visit www.ey.com/sg/en/home for more information.
Business leaders play a key role in inspiring and galvanising their organisation behind these changes, but they first need to ask themselves fundamental questions about their organisation’s purpose, strategic direction and market aspirations. Only with greater clarity of purpose, can they effectively communicate and be a role model for the required behaviours to deliver on cultural change.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Samir is EY Asean Workforce Advisory Leader, with extensive consulting experience in helping organizations to develop business strategies linked to people-organization dynamics across Southeast Asia. He has worked on numerous competency, performance and rewards design and implementation projects for public-, private- and third-sector clients. His experience covers all aspects of human resources consulting, ranging from organization structuring and manpower planning to job redesign and the future of work.
The views in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the global EY organisation or its member firms.
49 FUTURE OF WORK: IGNORING EMPLOYEE EXPERIENCE COULD JEOPARDISE YOUR DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION
Real-time consignment tracking in shipping is an ideal business requirement to illustrate this issue.
Modern businesses require extensive analysis of customer preferences and workflows to ensure differentiated offerings, an area where the Internet of Things (IoT) offers significant benefits. Yet, Chris' experience is that connectivity often constrains businesses from realising IoT's full potential.
In
IoT and 5G Set to IndustriesTransform
Subscription-based services like StarHub’s 5G IoT Platform deliver smart building maintenance strategies that leads to cost optimisation and revenues. Building owners can provide differentiation in services, decrease overheads and boost operational efficiency with IoT. For example, IoT as a Service consolidates management data from the facility’s distributed IoT systems over the network (5G) to be monitored using a single dashboard. These include parameters like electricity consumption, HVAC, trash bin usage, washroom cleanliness, footfalls and more.
Contextual information helps facility managers perform root cause analysis, fix issues and conduct preventive maintenance that ensure ideal service delivery. More importantly, IoT strengthens capabilities such as social distancing and contact tracing in the new normal.
context,modern-dayourutilisingthepowerofIoTandthenextgenerationof5Gtechnologyiskeyforbusinessesthatstrivetoreachcustomerseverywhere,everytime.
5G’s ever-present connectivity to drive higher levels of corporate efficiency, innovation and revenue creation. Its capability to support up to a million devices per square kilometre elevates Internet’s ‘interconnected’ nature to that of a 'massively connected' phase.
Connectivity everywhere era
FUTURE OF WORK: IOT AND 5G SET TO TRANSFORM INDUSTRIES
Delivery Lead, StarHub Ltd
IoT can streamline sourcing, legal compliance requirements, and route planning across the entire supply chain in such scenarios. In the real world, such deployments face network blackspots in warehouses and transit routes. 5G technology offers a way out in such environments with its promise of ultra-low latency, and ever-present IoTcoverage.leverages
By Chris Chan, 5G Solutions
We are in the midst of an IoT-driven transformation backed by Artificial Intelligence (AI), 5G connectivity and Big Data. Industry researcher IDC’s estimates indicate that 55.7 Billion IoT devices will be in use worldwide by The2025.‘Future of Work’ centres around intelligence driven by IoT devices, data, analytics and low latency connectivity. For example, businesses leverage options like StarHub’s IoT as a service for faster rollouts. Managed services reduce IoT ecosystem complexity for our customers, as it enables seamless implementation and management.
51 FUTURE OF WORK: IOT AND 5G SET TO TRANSFORM INDUSTRIES
From store to table
According to Gartner, IoT, AI and Augmented Reality (AR) will accelerate the optimal mix of online and instore experiences in retail. Ultra-low latency 5G links will power the realtime processing of such high-volume customer data traffic in retail. One-to-one conversations driven by customer data and real-time analytics are transforming retail revenue streams. For instance, AR-driven shopping experiences driven by live customer preference updates are in wide adoption across retail outlets. Such IoT implementations leverage app overlays on the store’s map to guide customers. With 5G as the enabler in the near future, these will be able to feature richer and even more interactive content. Highly personalised offers on the fly translate to an increase in instant purchase decisions, better in-store customer guidance and friction-free checkouts. Today we have retail IoT applications like IoT-enabled shelves and warehouse management. These facilitates timely stock clearance and automatic replenishment to reduce wastage.
Grocery store robots in use by retail players like Woolworths (Australia), Giant and Stop&Shop clearly indicate IoT’s behind the scenes entry. These connected robots can leverage 5G networks to handle tasks ranging right from aisle cleaning to customer Manyguidance.ofour F&B businesses can leverage IoT and 5G across the entire value chain. For instance, customer interactions can be optimally monetised using IoT-driven ordering and tracking capabilities. Or food safety policy can be adhered to via constant monitoring of key factors like temperature and humidity. Streamline Supply Chains Smart warehouses are in vogue among logistics players. A case in point is DHL’s Singapore facility, which utilises IoT sensor data to remotely track and manage shipments during transit. At the warehouse level, DHL also uses live IoT data like building occupancy, weather forecasts and activity levels to manage HVAC settings that deliver up to 40% energy savings. According to Gartner, IoT, AI and RealityAugmented(AR)willacceleratetheoptimalmixofonlineandin-storeexperiencesinretail.Ultra-lowlatency5Glinkswillpowerthereal-timeprocessingofsuchhigh-volumecustomerdatatrafficinretail.
When we compare 5G with other wireless technologies, the technology’s unparalleled device density support makes it ideal for SKU and logistics workflow management in smart warehouses. One such example is the demand-based optimisation of forklift routes and inventory management using IoT, 5G and Machine Learning Last(ML).mile shipment delivery will also see revolution in the form of unmanned drones and autonomous vehicles. This is where the use of public and private 5G networks provide ubiquitous, ultralow latency connectivity. Facilitate Manufacturing Next Smart Factories are the latest wave of manufacturing transformation. Mercedes-Benz's “Factory 56” in Germany is a great case study on this Mercedes-Benz'sfront. highly automated factory utilises IoT and 5G connectivity to create driverless transport lines that offer highly flexible vehicle assembly options that cater to demand variations. Intelligent component picking systems that use IoT and computer vision is a salient feature of next-gen shopfloors like Factory 56. Live digital tracking data of each vehicle on the assembly line is provided to personnel for completely paperless operations. Ever ready care Healthcare is a significant beneficiary of IoT, with applications ranging right from patient care to hospital management and health insurance. A case in point features hospital management using integrated command centres and IoT distributed Hospitalsdevices. rely on a large number of IoT devices spread across the facility to streamline inpatient management. These IoT use cases leverage 5G’s ubiquitous connectivity to streamline processes like patient wait times, bed assignments, inventory management and overall hygiene levels. Facial recognition and body temperature screening using IoT devices can be used for automated access control or contact tracing.
flyoffersHighlypersonalisedonthetranslatetoanincreaseininstantpurchasedecisions,betterin-storecustomerguidanceandfriction-freecheckouts.
FUTURE OF WORK: IOT AND 5G SET TO TRANSFORM INDUSTRIES
Another interesting deployment is the increase in remote patient monitoring via wearable devices. Such options benefit patients and physicians alike in these pandemic times. We can soon expect smart implants that leverage sensor data and 5G connectivity to enable speedy diagnosis.
Computing is the Edge Right from the initial days of human history, businesses that optimally surf the technology adoption curve have forged ahead. In our modern-day context, utilising the power of IoT and the next generation of 5G technology is key for businesses that strive to reach customers everywhere, every time.
Visit starhub.com/5g-iot for more information.
Optimal IoT-driven business strategy and personalised service delivery will help organisations to remain competitive and relevant to evolving customer needs. This is where 5G connectivity complements IoT deployments to realise strategy that sustains and improves profitability for your business.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Chris leads the Enterprise Business Group’s (EBG) 5G Solutions Delivery team, where he manages the 5G IoT team to implement sensor data into StarHub’s 5G IoT Platform across various verticals from Building Management, Fleet Monitoring to Warehouse and Logistics Management. As a proven project leader, he also oversees all planning and strategic data management to identify insights from huge data volume across multiple systems. Chris’ expertise in managing finances to maximise revenues and ability to establish excellent team dynamics saw a successful launch of the StarHub 5G IoT Platform. He also led an analytics project where he monitored the occupancy, financial arrears and performed geospatial analytics to optimise overall performance.
53 FUTURE OF WORK: IOT AND 5G SET TO TRANSFORM INDUSTRIES
ABOUT THE COMPANY StarHub is the choice info-communications service provider for the government and businesses in Singapore. With our extensive fibre and wireless infrastructure and global partnerships, we provide businesses quality mobile and fixed services, and a diverse range of communication and collaboration solutions. We help drive digital transformation in corporate and government clients through 5G solutions, Hybrid Cloud services, Internet of Things, Security, Data Analytics.
At this significant juncture of change, sustainability should be the core of our recovery plans to change the way forward. While planning is underway, companies must first identify any critical processes or resources in its business risks assessment to examine the level of threats and vulnerabilities that may impact the push towards a digitalised world.
Rethink Sustainability
When circuit breaker was implemented during the pandemic, the need to work remotely was a wake-up call to many organisations which rushed to invest in technological tools to tide through the crisis. A well laid-out business continuity plan emphasises the need to invest in IT infrastructure instead of relying solely on human capital hence the pre-requisite to a successful business transformation. The consolation is that some jobs of tomorrow may not be apparent now but will evolve as work and buying habits change over time.
Diversification of Workforce and Talent Shift Moving in tandem with digital transformation and a growing population, a shift in the demographic profiling of our workforce towards greater diversity is likely to be seen. More homemakers, students or retirees could join the workforce on interim basis especially in some industries that have difficulties in securing adequate manpower to perform tasks. This is a good phenomenon as a wider distribution of workload amongst the working population can be shared and hopefully, a better work-life balance for Theall.consolation is that some jobs of tomorrow may not be apparent now but will evolve as work and buying habits change over time. This also creates career opportunities for those who are adaptable and willing to learn new skill sets as more job-sharing opportunities will be available.
Digitalisation of Work Now, work can be carried out anywhere 24/7 with the adoption of technological tools such as Microsoft Teams, Zoom, Optical Character Reader, Data Analytics software and more. The use of these tools significantly improves the quality of work performed. For instance, allowing convenient access to data that was once inaccessible that hindered the accountant/auditor from providing insights on risk areas.
Towards Sustainablea Future
By Lee Tze Shiong, Director, Assurance and Transformation & Quality, Nexia TS With an increasing demand for a green economy and the acceleration in technology adoption, there has never been a more pressing need for businesses and individuals to reposition and reskill in order to adapt to the transforming corporate world.
FUTURE OF WORK: TOWARDS A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE
The pandemic has presented unprecedented challenges forcing many businesses to rethink and transform current operations as we adjust in this new normal. From remote working, digitising work processes to investing in IT infrastructure –reshaping a future new world of work.
A continuitybusinesslaid-outwellplanemphasisestheneedtoinvestinITinfrastructureinsteadofrelyingsolelyonhumancapitalhencethepre-requisitetoasuccessfulbusinesstransformation.
FUTURE OF WORK: TOWARDS A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE
The Power of Alliances
Although the pandemic has caused major disruptions on a global scale, it has also created giant ripples which pushed us harder and further in our path towards a digitalised world.
While an increasing demand for larger residential space and downsizing of office space has been observed over the past year, a physical office is proven nonetheless essential to facilitate meaningful “pantry” discussions, promote community camaraderie thus provide an inspiring environment for creative thinking and inculcate innovative mindset. Therefore, it is not about changing of space but changing the mind of the people on why social interaction helps in achieving work objectives.
Change Management
The shift in the mode of working and changing needs of various stakeholders becomes crucial to having a properly managed change management strategy. When business is interrupted, we also need to take into consideration the human roadmap and cater to the need of the employees in overcoming the fear to re-skill and provide the necessary infrastructure to help them thrive and succeed in their Beingcareer.open to collaboration with parties internally or out of the organisation and tapping on the expertise and strengths of each other to identify new market and service offerings are new ways to business survival. It is only when we have a culture of an innovative and collaborative mindset that we can stay competitive and for our organisation to thrive.
Business transformation requires digitisation of work processes and an eco-system to support digitalisation. In most organisations, the most challenging task is to get the buy-in of key stakeholders and engagement of the staff in supporting the transformation roadmap. Otherwise, this is the key ingredient to a successful transformation journey coupled with a culture of innovation and collaboration.
One way of doing this, and to keep up with the big players in the market, smaller entities may consider collaborating with educational institutions, associations or fintech start-ups to experiment and explore alternatives to automate.
The lack of appropriate resources and adequate technical expertise, an increasing trend of partnership and collaboration is observed amongst the Small and Medium-Sized Entities (SMEs), which resort to relying on each other’s strengths for the exchange of ideas and sharing of pain-points.
ABOUT THE COMPANY
Visit www.nexiats.com.sg for more information.
SMEs, regardless of their size and business nature, need to hop onto the technological bandwagon and leverage on the collaboration platform to share their problem statements and seek solutions, tapping on the available grants to go digital and source for partners to grow globally.
Nexia TS Public Accounting Corporation was founded in 1993 by two experienced certified public accountants – Henry Tan and Sitoh Yih Pin. With its personalised approach and quality hallmark, the firm is dedicated to support aspiring businesses in their growth towards success. Besides audit and assurance, Nexia TS offers a full suite of professional services ranging from capital market services, tax structuring advisory, corporate governance, internal audit, M&A advisory to corporate recovery and forensic technology consulting.
FUTURE OF WORK: TOWARDS A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Tze Shiong has a total of more than 30 years of audit experience most of which were with large international audit firms in Singapore and overseas. Prior to joining Nexia TS, he was a Divisional Director of ACRA and a Director in one of the Big 4 accounting firm respectively. He was involved in the audit of listed and multi-national groups, initial public offerings, small and medium entities and other audit advisory engagements.
CulturetheBalancingLearning
As we look back on the impact the pandemic has had on accelerating the transformation agenda, more significantly, HR leaders must now look forward and immediately ensure they have leadership buy in to address capability gaps. We review how to address this need, and why a learning culture must be adopted to measure the success of closing skills gaps and keeping a competitive advantage.
57 FUTURE OF WORK: BALANCING THE LEARNING CULTURE
By Vicky BusinessBPPInternationalAssociateKnight,DeanofProgrammes,UniversitySchoolof
Digital transformation is profoundly changing the nature of work and forward- thinking leaders recognise we are living amid ‘The Great Acceleration’. Whilst HR leaders have been planning for the future of work for some time, the COVID-19 pandemic has greatly accelerated these trends. Developments that seemed far-off have suddenly arrived as leaders scramble to formulate new business models and approaches. Vicky Knight, Associate-Dean of International Programmes at BPP Education Group, in her recent presentation at The Digital Leadership ‘Asian Futures’ Series, noted that the impact of the pandemic has delivered 10 years’ worth of anticipated change, in less 10 Economic Forum’s 2020 Future of Jobs Survey has estimated that by 2025, 85 million jobs will be displaced by shifting the division of labor between humans, machines and algorithms. But the news is not all bad; their research also identified a potential 97 million new roles that will emerge as a result of deepening technological integration. These new roles are creating a growing demand for new skills and capabilities across the workforce, with technological adoption driving the need for technical skills to harness the opportunities of digital transformation, but at the same time, people skills are an increasingly important part of the 2025 skills
The results found that as technical integration deepens, the need for technical skills increases, and so to does the need for skills that can’t be replicated by machines or algorithms.”
digital leaders are accelerating their capability analysis, scoping their capability priorities and creating cultures of ongoing learning. As digital leaders build the organisation of the future, they must work to instil an end-to-end cultural focus on learning, from the top of the organisation to its bottom. To create
The World Economic Forum recognise that skills gaps will remain the most significant challenge in delivering successful digital transformation, identifying that 50% of employees globally will require re-skilling by 2025; and for those employees who stay in their current role, 40% of the core skills needed will shift. McKinsey also recently reported that although 78% of leaders recognise that capability building is very or extremely important, only 16% have begun to build priority Forward-thinkingcapabilities.
Themonths.World
Vicky comments, “We recently surveyed 1,500 professionals and asked them to identify the skills they think people in their profession need to develop now and over the next 5 years.
FUTURE OF WORK: BALANCING THE LEARNING CULTURE
Toagenda.unlock the benefits of transformation and thrive in an era of disruption, workforces must adopt new skills and capabilities. BPP’s own research supports these findings.
In-demand technical skills include digital fluency, big data and analytics, AI and automation, and people skills include active learning, leadership and social influence, creativity, ideation and originality. The global pandemic is also driving a new skills agenda, with a focus on resilience, optimism and Forwell-being.manyorganisations, skills gaps are hampering transformation and leading to a loss of competitive advantage.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Vicky is Associate Dean of International Programmes at BPP University School of Business and is based in Singapore. She has been an influential figure at BPP University for more than seven years, while teaching leadership and management to students from across the world. She has over 20 years of international management experience and her expertise in leadership, management and organisational change spans four continents. Her current focus is the creation of learning programmes in executive education and designing impactful work-based learning in the area of future capabilities and digital disruption.
a true learning organisation not only requires a shift in thinking to ensure that learning is core to both business strategy and organizational culture, it also depends upon developing the key building blocks of learning organisations; a supportive learning environment, concrete learning practices and leadership behavior that reinforces the learning agenda. Traditional approaches to learning are no longer agile or impactful enough to meet the enormous talent challenges ahead. When organisations need new skills, refreshed more often, what becomes important are not just new skills but enduring capabilities and the ability to learn, apply and adapt them. To be fit for the future, learning must be personalised, relevant, convenient and social, and learners need support to apply their new capabilities in the ‘flow of work’. More than ever, L&D professionals recognise that mindset and behaviour changes need a different approach; a longer and deeper engagement than traditional one-off training can deliver.
COVID-19 has revealed resilience and adaptability of the workforce, but the challenge now is to sustain the momentum gained and discover new ways to thrive in the long term. Leaders must seize the opportunity of the crisis response to design the future of work by employing the lessons, practices and goodwill they have engendered. The pace and scale of organisational development must simultaneously keep up with radical change, business as usual and preparations for the Morefuture.than ever, leaders must create new opportunities to ensure staff can deliver to new business strategies, develop a flexible, agile, digitally enabled workforce and encourage cultures of learning to futureproof their people and their organisations. As Vicky concluded “now is not the time to pull back on workforce development efforts, but to double down on the commitment from business leaders to invest in building agile and resilient organisations fit for the future”. … the impact of anticipatedyears’pandemicthehasdelivered10worthofchange,inless10months.-VickyKnight,Associate-DeanofInternationalProgrammes,BPPEducationGroup
59 FUTURE OF WORK: BALANCING THE LEARNING CULTURE
ABOUT THE COMPANY BPP is a global education provider delivering a full-range of qualifications for professionals at every stage of their career. This includes professional qualifications, university degrees, apprenticeships, work-based learning, and accredited short courses. Established for over 40 years, we deliver courses in law, accountancy, technology, management, nursing and more. Our education is delivered to be as real-world, relevant and innovative as possible. For more information on how BPP can help you identify skills gaps and develop your people, bpp.com/asia-pacificvisitformore information.
The workplace conversation is a little like the tailored suit conversation – can you buy things off the rack? Yes. Will they fit as well as a bespoke one? Perhaps not.
3. Culture and Camaraderie Workplaces do foster culture, create an environment of productivity and form relationships that are harder to develop & maintain remotely. Most of the workforce has been conditioned on relationships, engagement, and appreciation pre-2020. Some have spent most of their careers using the personal touch to sell, manage, and grow. There is value in the personal when it comes to retaining talent, creating, and managing relationships and teams. While remote working can increase self-reported productivity levels, it can also lead to people feeling disengaged with the rest of their team and the company, as we've seen from work with our own clients. What does this mean for the office?
Returning to the tailored suit analogy – tailored suits have a higher ability to adapt to your changing shape – they are easier to alter. Off-the-rack ones
Shaping the Hybrid Work Future
This is hard to achieve in spaces not designed to be settings of work –especially in markets where residential area per capita is low, like Hong Kong and Malaysia. However, for those with more conducive work environments at home, productivity for individual work can increase. In a survey by EngageRocket collecting responses from Singapore workers in June last year, 64% of respondents reported being as or more productive working from home than in the office.
1. Collective Creativity Whether you are based at home or have been slowly returning to the office, the level of collaboration and ideaexchange has been different, and in most cases, not as smooth as we are used to. There is a component of lag to be accounted for. Understanding this is a new medium to swing towards, there is definitely demand from employees to rethink how they can safely and productively collaborate in the future –in person.
2. Focus Focus is harder to achieve (or what the productivity pundits refer to as 'flow') if there are constant distractions at home. Mentally, one would find it hard to switch to being 'at work', and the mental 'flip switch' that comes with the sanctity of the personal space to the workspace would not be achieved.
FUTURE OF WORK: SHAPING THE HYBRID WORK FUTURE
By Samarth Kasturia, Director, Workplace & Strategic Consultancy, Knight Frank Asia-Pacific
The onset of the pandemic left businesses with little choice but to implement mass work-from-home arrangements that were the exception rather than the rule. And so, many of us had to create quick fixes (dining tables becoming workstations, sometimes beds serving the same purpose). While this arrangement may have served us for a while, remote working does take its toll on our ability to collaborate as the unplanned, organic interactions are Whilemissing.theheight of the pandemic has passed for most markets, it looks like 2021 isn't going to be a sudden 'reversion to normal' or a definitive entry into the 'new normal'. Even as offices reopen, COVID-19 has changed the way businesses begin to plan for new working models for the postpandemic years ahead. One of the most common emergent models of work has been the notion of hybrid working: a combination of in-office and remote working in varying proportions as a means for employees and employers to capture the benefits of both. However, this approach requires careful consideration in how we plan our work and place in the future; multiple variables need to be calibrated in the equation. Here are some things to think about when deciding whether to go 'hybrid' or not – or even 'how hybrid':
The office –much like a tailored suit— can evolve to suit the changing models of work.
As hybrid working arrangements grow in popularity, we expect to see a change in the form and function of the office. According to our global survey, (Y)OUR SPACE, which aggregates the views of 400 global companies, fifty-five per cent believe that there will be an increase in the proportion of collaborative space in their offices. Thus, while the home may be the setting of choice for focused and individual work, the office will support a more dynamic work environment that brings people together to interact, collaborate, create, and sustain corporate culture.
FUTURE OF WORK: SHAPING THE HYBRID WORK FUTURE61
lose structure when altered too much.
This is a far cry from the 'death of the office' narrative sensationalised in the press over the past year. Our survey finds that just over a third of respondents (35%) expect to see a reduction in the size of their global portfolios over the next three years – the very same proportion that expects to see their portfolio size remain stable. In contrast, some 30% actually expect to increase their global quantum of space on the back of business Undoubtedly,growth.COVID-19 is forcing business transformation, but the right fit for a hybrid work future will look different for each company. This transformation is not without challenge, not least because of the fragile operating environment and cost-consciousness apparent as we emerge from the pandemic. However, it also presents business leaders an opportunity to build an even better model of work for the future.
ABOUT THE COMPANY Knight Frank LLP is the leading independent global property consultancy, serving as our clients' partners in property for 125 years. Headquartered in London, Knight Frank has more than 20,000 people operating from 488 offices across 57 territories. The Group advises clients ranging from individual owners and buyers to major developers, investors and corporate tenants. For further information about the Company, please visit knightfrank.com.
Join us on 24th May for a webinar discussion on 'Shaping the Hybrid Work Future' organised by the British Chamber of Commerce's Built Environment Committee.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Samarth Kasturia is the Director for Workplace & Strategic Consultancy at Knight Frank Asia Pacific, supporting corporate occupiers to optimise and transform their workplaces and portfolios. Samarth is passionate about transformation, culture, and helping shape the positive role our workplaces and organisational policies can play in them. He is a trained architect with a Master's Degree in Finance and Investment, specialising in workplace and real estate strategy development.
The concept of ‘digital transformation’ is largely thought to be shrouded in mystery, where the privilege of knowing and understanding is reserved for the industry giants who shape the future. However, digital transformation is an influential factor in Smart City and other developments and is therefore essential to understand for any city looking to evolve to the next level of living. Digital transformation is simply put, the process whereby businesses or cities embrace digital platforms and practices. The digital transformation process is often adopted and implemented by companies looking to leverage the power of information and communication technologies (ICT) throughout every level of their businesses. Embracing digital transformation is a key to success in the modern landscape of business practices as it allows for business fluidity and adaptability in preparation for future obstacles. By utilising the power of these technology platforms and digital practices, companies give themselves the tools needed for success in the modern age. Digital transformation therefore allows businesses to prevent a stagnation in their digital approach and adopt dynamic and innovative solutions.
The word innovation is frequently thrown about when describing “this or that product”, to the point where its true meaning has become clouded and confused. True innovation means finding intelligent and dynamic solutions to complicated problems, in many cases problems that many were unaware existed. Innovation can change the world and often has; it is a key element in successful digital transformation. To us, its meaning is clear and a mantra to our business practices. Creating something new, something that is impactful. Applying powerful data solutions in conjunction with digital transformation allows for the seamless integration of technology platforms and digital practices into a development and often will determine its Howsuccess.doesdigital transformation make an ordinary city, smart? Across the globe, smart cities have been growing in number and popularity becoming the ideal place for people to live and work. Despite their increasing number, there is no standard set of rules or guidelines that form a concise definition of what a smart city requires, but there is a common thread. Every smart city has achieved its status by introducing ICT to enhance the quality and performance of urban services to achieve a higher quality lifestyle for Theresidents.range of technologies that could potentially be used to achieve this goal are countless, but if the technology used meets the demands of citizens, encouraging community involvement and integration with their city digital transformation can be considered success. Factors that might be addressed in the digital transformation of a city may include a human-centric approach, driving intuitive processes and machine learning, a move from CapEX to OpEx, solutions to increase citizen engagement, decentralizing control, increasing government transparency, increasing public safety, improving the availability of transportation and sanitation services and finally focusing on generating revenue.
Contributed by Stuart Pearce of the Information & Communications Technology Committee
Digital transformation is an influential factor in Smart City and other developments and is therefore essential to understand for any city looking to evolve to the next level of living. This article continues the ongoing series of informative pieces provided by the ICT Committee.
EXPERT OPINION FROM OUR COMMITTEES
Let's Discuss... How will Digital Transformation Shape the Cities of the Future?
• Focus on quality of life by executing practices that meet the lifestyle demands of the citizens living in the city.
• Focus on growth, both physical and economic, to allows for the city to a growth in revenue, quality of life, resident engagement and city growth. The benefits of this progression are not just improved technology systems or a rise in revenue, but most importantly improving the lifestyle and success for citizens, retail outlets and service providers. Every city has the potential to evolve through digital transformation into a smart city with the right technological integrations. This article was contributed by Stuart Pearce of BritCham’s Information & Communications Technology Committee.
The ICT committee’s mission is to inspire, educate and engage Chamber members and non-members on the transformative capabilities of Information Technology to their business. The goal of the committee is to add value to the Chamber and its members through activities that demonstrate the value of ICT solutions to their business; educate them on future ICT trends that will impact their business; offer member networking opportunities to better enable business across the region; share knowledge and insights, and attract new members to the Chamber. Visit britcham.org.sg/committees/ict for more information.
• Focus on the Internet of Things (IoT) which allows for streamlined data collection and analysis for efficient delivery in solutions and smart city development projects.
Think Digital’s approach to smart city creation through digital transformation focuses on the importance of mixeduse developments. We believe that this innovative solution allows for the outcome to thrive in a digitally integrated ecosystem. Our bottom-up approach to smart city development is a systemic solution, focusing not only on the individual innovations that will digitally transform the city but also considering the city as a whole system. This approach provides insight into the how each part of the city will be affected and interact with the others, providing insight into the most effective means of technology implementation and integration. By driving focus on understanding what makes a smart city successful, we have identified the five essential pillars to smart city development which include:
63
ABOUT THE COMMITTEE
• Focus on the environment by adopting building practices and procedures that will have the lowest impact on the natural environment and efficiently manage energy and water use.
LET'S WILL TRANSFORMATION
• Focus on public transportation that paves the way to economic growth and stability, allowing easier city access for residents and visitors.
DISCUSS: HOW
SHAPE THE CITIES OF THE FUTURE?
DIGITAL
Carbon Capture, Utilisation and Storage (CCUS) is fast becoming an important emissions reduction solution that can be applied across a range of large-scale energy and industrial systems. Now recognised as a prerequisite for decarbonisation and essential to meet net zero targets in the timescales set by host governments, CCUS is a key technology as it will form a vital link to the hydrogen sector, another key decarbonisation vector.
The panel discussed the Technology, Cost and Regulatory framework with a showcase of comparable projects including major integrated project examples from the UK, retro-fit solutions, and an examination of the incentive structures in place in US and Europe. The panel comprised:
• Dr Nick Cooper, Chief Executive Officer at Storegga Geotechnologies
• Jinmiao Xu, Energy Specialist, Energy Sector Group, Sustainable Development and Climate Change Department at Asian Development Bank ... CCUS is movingnowto the front and centre of the minds of the largestworld’senergycompanieswithtaxincentives,grantsandotherformsofincentivemechanismnowemergingtosupportdevelopmentoftheindustry.
Energy & Utilities Business Committee held a panel discussion in March 2021 on the viability of CCUS in the ASEAN region with leading players from the UK and region involved in project development and finance.
EXPERT OPINION FROM OUR COMMITTEES
As CCUS makes its move to the global mainstream, it is likely to become an attractive business opportunity for the finance community and investors as a range of businesses seek to decarbonise, stimulating significant investment in carbon dioxide capture, carbon dioxide usage, gas transportation, and sequestration.
Let's Ben Arnott of the & Utilities Committee
Energy
• Allan Baker, Managing Director, Global Head of Power Advisory and Project Finance at Societe Generale
Supporting these businesses is important in financing the energy BritCham’stransition.
• Alexander Tait, Appraisal EngineerGlobal Concept Development at BP
• Ben Arnott, Managing Director, Energy & Natural Resources, Reserve Based Finance of Societe Generale
Discuss... Carbon andUtilisationCapture,&StorageitsPotentialinAsia Contributed by
A growing momentum for the CCUS industry There is room for optimism on the progress of CCUS as it is now a key part of energy policies in major developed markets, such as EU, UK, Norway, US and China. Recent moves on carbon taxation and/or carbon trading schemes, including most recently a country-wide emissions trading scheme announced in China, are also supportive of the long-term future for CCUS. While there are CCUS projects in operation in various industries, and a number of larger scale projects announced recently are still in design or pilot stage, CCUS is now moving to the front and centre of the minds of the world’s largest energy companies with tax incentives, grants and other forms of incentive mechanism now emerging to support development of the Thereindustry.isapositive momentum within the investment community towards CCUS, for example, a recent investment in Storegga Geotechnologies by Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund, GIC, and Japanese trading house, Mitsui & Co. ThereLtd.is certainly a recognition that there are some aspects of CCUS, principally relating to risk allocation, project economics and fiscal stability, which need to develop before the finance sector is able to commit significant capital, and are obviously quite difficult for equity to take as well. However, if the current trajectory is maintained, then the first commercially financed projects would be seen taking off both in the US and countries bordering the North Sea (UK, Norway etc). Government and policy support is critical The first step for the CCUS industry to move ahead inevitably has to come from the government – not in terms of financing of projects, but rather recognising the need for CCUS, including this in policies and providing the regulatory/incentive mechanism within which to implement projects. A compelling vision and strong regulatory framework are needed to give a clear view of why carbon capture is a necessity and how the industry will develop. This will make it easier for sponsors to develop solutions in complimentary parts of the CCUS value chain. The government has a key role in stimulating the CCUS sector and making it viable as it has the ability to garner public support thanks to the tangible emissions reductions it will deliver. It is importantequally to ensure that carbon taxation does not lead to leakage,carbonwithemittersmovingfromhightolowertaxationjurisdictions.
65 LET'S DISCUSS: CARBON CAPTURE, UTILISATION & STORAGE AND ITS POTENTIAL IN ASIA
perspective, this is a low-probability but high-impact risk and may be a question for the insurance industry to consider. The role of governments in underwriting this risk is also a key discussion point when considering policy frameworks for CCUS. Stimulating the development of CCUS
There is no doubt that a stringent carbon taxation system would drive rapid CCUS development, as it effectively recognises that there is a cost to carbon, thereby supporting the rationale for CCUS. However, it is recognised that there are wider considerations, not least the viability of the underlying businesses that are seeking to reduce or offset their emissions with or without direct access to sequestration projects. The application and extent of carbon taxation is, therefore, critical to ensure taxes are applied universally or across a large part of the economy and focused on industries which are able to respond to the appropriate incentives. It is equally important to ensure that carbon taxation does not lead to carbon leakage, with emitters moving from high to lower taxation jurisdictions. ... if trajectorycurrenttheismaintained,thenthefirstcommerciallyfinancedprojectswouldbeseentakingoffbothintheUSandcountriesborderingtheNorthSea(UK,Norwayetc).
EXPERT OPINION FROM OUR COMMITTEES
Government support for the industry is critical to show confidence in the CCUS sector and facilitate its growth. While it is good to have funds available for research and development, certain developers are already moving beyond that to commercial scale projects. With CCUS projects already in full operation, it could be argued that the technological risks are known and manageable. The challenge now is demonstrating commercial application of CCS for meeting climate goals through decarbonisation. This is where grant funding is proving to be vital, allowing developers to explore partnerships, develop industrial hub concepts and complimentary revenue generating opportunities such as hydrogen production. Potential risks of CCUS One question that is often faced by CCUS promoters is related to potential leakage of sequestered carbon dioxide, however consensus is that this is an extremely remote risk, backed up by decades of experience in oil and gas operations where hydrocarbons trapped for millions of years are recovered from the very same deep reservoirs where carbon dioxide is to be Fromstored.afinancier’s
Asia - the next stop for CCUS financing efforts There is a high-potential market and opportunity for development of CCUS in Asia. While learnings from the business models in US and Europe could be applied to Asia, what can be learned from the energy transition initiatives (e.g. rapid solar and wind power developments) implemented in Asia, is that the region does not need to just replicate what is being done Instead,elsewhere.itis important to be aware of the lessons learned and adapt accordingly in order to progress more quickly. With a new energy and infrastructure system under construction in this region, there is the opportunity for Asia to match or exceed the progress currently being made in CCUS in Europe, in order to create a truly decarbonised economy for the region.
ABOUT THE COMMITTEE BritCham’s Energy & Utilities Business Committee consists of members based in Singapore working across the region and dedicated to building out the region’s infrastructure. Our programme of activity in 2020 has a strong focus on climate change and decarbonisation in the run up to the COP26 conference to be held in the UK, postponed to 2021. The design, operations, and the financial, legal and technical expertise needed for the power, water and waste treatment buildout in the region are the cornerstone of the committee and forms the expertise that we showcase and connect to our members. For more information, please visit britcham.org.sg/committees/energy-and-utilities
67 LET'S DISCUSS: CARBON CAPTURE, UTILISATION & STORAGE AND ITS POTENTIAL IN ASIA
This article was contributed by Ben Arnott of BritCham’s Energy & Utilities Committee.
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