Cloud Expo Asia marks record-breaking sixth edition with thousands of international visionaries, thought leaders and technology professionals
The annual free-to-attend event saw a world-class line-up of over 350 international solution providers, as well as an impressive line-up of over 500 influential industry experts speaking on the very latest trends and challenges in the evolving technology landscape.
Day One opened with opening remarks by Mr. Soon Tein Lim, Chairman, Cloud & Data Chapter of SG Tech, followed by an address from guest of honour, Mr. Philip Heah, Assistant Chief Executive, Technology and Infrastructure Group of Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA), Singapore.
Mr. Heah spoke of the importance of moving towards further utilising cloud, especially as Singapore has such a high level of cloud readiness, making cloud adoption easier for businesses. He also shared with the audience, in the packed Techerati Keynote Theatre, the various IMDA initiatives for cloud as part of its Tech Roadmap.
“Cloud services are set to play a bigger role in Singapore’s digital transformation. We have in place cloud infrastructure that is ready for businesses to leverage. The government will work together with the industry and end users to make this process of moving to cloud adoption easy and hassle free.”
Delegates also heard from Bernie Trudel, Immediate Past Chairman of the Asia Cloud Computing Association (ACCA) on how 5G, Internet of Things, blockchain, x-reality and artificial intelligence are exponentially converging on a disruptive world for industries.
More conference highlights from the opening day included an insightful presentation from Ericson Chan, CEO of PingAn Technology on the massive transformations brought about by artificial intelligence, blockchain and cloud technology.
The business technology event stack featuring Cloud Expo Asia, Cloud and Cyber Security Expo, Big Data World, Smart IoT Singapore, Data Centre World and eCommerce Expo Asia, drew in thousands of international and regional visitors on the first day alone, from key sectors such as finance, manufacturing, telecommunications, construction and engineering.
With the addition of new launch event eCommerce Expo Asia to the award-winning co-located shows, professionals from the online retail sector met with dedicated ecommerce-focused practical content and solution providers.
Visitors were presented with hundreds of sessions across 19 conference theatres covering the entire technology ecosystem, ranging from the edge computing to hyperscale data centres, blockchain to machine learning, future banking to blockchain security. With such comprehensive and wide-ranging topics, record numbers of senior decision makers from organisations such as J.P. Morgan, Visa, Procter & Gamble, Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, PSA Corporation were in attendance at the Marina Bay Sands Expo and Convention Centre.
Alexia Germain, Senior Logistics Manager, Esprit enthused: “We came here specifically for eCommerce Expo Asia. The content in the ‘Logistics & Delivery Theatre’ and ‘Cross Border & Customer Experience Theatre’ are highly relevant to us so we look forward to coming back for more.”
Recognising the importance of cross-industry collaboration and discussion, the show has prioritised a number of key streams. These include a focus on real-world applications of rapidly emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, big data, blockchain and DevOps.
With huge media buzz and industry interest in these developments, the speakers and panels had the opportunity to discuss how these innovations are being put into practice in real-life situations, with use cases and testimony from the people on the frontline.
The world’s leading cloud service providers, including Microsoft Singapore, Alibaba Cloud and IBM gathered at the Techerati Keynote to share the latest regulatory issues and development of disruptive technologies and their impacts on business.
The exhibition floor also welcomed great interest and commercial activity, with a selection of some of the world's leading technology companies, including Huawei, Adobe, Anixter, Carbon Black, Caterpillar, Citrix, Datto, Delta, Extreme, IBM, Kohler, Magento, Microsoft, NEC, Senetas and TIBCO Software.
Adrian Seto, Technical Account Manager at Qualys spoke of a successful participation at Cloud and Cyber Security, alongside its co-located shows: "There’s no other show like Cloud Expo Asia and Cloud & Cyber Security Expo that reaches out to a vast group of audience from both cloud and cyber security in the same venue which is exactly who our service offerings are for!”
Andy Kiwanuka, Managing Director – Asia Pacific, at CloserStill Media, the organiser behind the event, said: "Today has demonstrated the dedication that our international audience has for technology and driving their business growth in our now hyperconnected world. We are pleased to be once again hosting CloudAsia, powered by SGTech, and launching eCommerce Expo Asia attesting to our goal of gathering an even wider network of industry professionals at one location over two power-packed days.
"It has been a fantastic show this year and I look forward to welcoming our visitors, partners and exhibitors, to another successful edition in 2019."
Testimonials
Delegates
Cyber security is the hot topic at the moment. There are many exhibitors here with new products to showcase and conference speakers sharing their expertise. I find it very informative and insightful. My job scope covers a broad spectrum, so having other shows like Big Data and IoT in one room is very convenient. Looking forward to coming back next year too!
Anthony Yeo, Deputy Manager, Land Transport Authority
It is our first time attending Big Data World, Singapore. We attended a few sessions on data analytics and it’s good that we can be inspired by the use cases.
Swee Peng To, Supervisor & Wauren Beh, Analyst, Marina Bay Sands
The speaker line up is good and the topics covered are wide as well. The speakers provide insightful content that are relevant to my job – cloud, cyber security, networks and the co-location of different shows helps to save time too!
Alvin Tjipto, Regional IT Governance Manager, TP ICAP
I’m attending eCommerce Expo Asia because of my recent eCommerce projects.I have just attended a few speaking sessions and they’re interesting– I especially enjoyed the Shopee session. The speaker shared his experience and insights as a use case, which is very inspiring. I even stayed behind and spoke with the speaker after his session.
Kevin Khoo, Manager, Singapore Pools
This event is absolutely amazing so I’ve attended both days! The keynote sessions are very informative which has brought me lots of insights and helped me foresee the future trends. I’m particularly interested in data centre operations. By gathering different technology suppliers at the same place, I can easily compare the products and update my knowledge.
Saminath Gunasekar, Manager, Service Management, Epsilon Telecommunications (SP) Pte Ltd
I’ve never visited an event of such massive scale featuring some of the most amazing brands and speakers here. I learnt a lot from attending the sessions like blockchain, digitisation, logistics and customer experience. I am very impressed with the breadth of the topics covered all under one roof over two days. I’ve also met many new suppliers I never knew before and got to establish contact with them. Coming to this event has given me so much value.
Sanjay Desai, All about Supply Chain
Speakers & Partners
It was great that I was able to share with the audience some of the latest best practices and trends in the cryptospace. Conferences like these at Cloud Expo Asia are always exciting because not only do we have the chance to hear about the latest best practices and developments, but we can also reconnect with peers, clients and partners. I would love to be back at Cloud Expo Asia again!
Henri Arslanian, Director, Fintech & Crypto, PwC Singapore
We really enjoyed the amazing speaker line up and the different conference topics. It is different from the other events we attend as all the content here is brought to the delegates at no cost! We also met a lot of new contacts who we potentially could partner up with.
Claire Li, Programme Manager, ICE71
Exhibitors
We’ve met a good mix of new prospects and existing customers over the two days. There were many relevant questions posed by the delegates, attesting to the immense interest the show has generated for us leading up to the show.
Michelle Lee, Marketing – South East Asia and India, Splunk
We are pleased with the turnout and visitorship. The atmosphere is very exciting as there are a lot of interesting topics and content featured. It’s a good idea to have eCommerce Expo Asia co-locating with the other technology events because there is an audience of various industries with different perspectives generating a lot of synergy. We look forward to participating again next year.
Prashant Dadlani, Chief Executive Officer, Blu
This is my first time at this expo. There’s so much energy here and I’m amazed with the diversity of vendors from data centre, big data, data integrators and cloud solution providers. There’s something here for almost anybody from the technology world. The most valuable takeaway for me is the opportunity to meet with our technology partners, alliance partners as well as our prospect and existing customers.
Aaron Swanson, Head of Cloud Sales, Talend
As a returning exhibitor, I would say the audience we meet at Cloud & Cyber Security Expo are always very good leads. The small opportunities and large-scale projects that have been established here, I predict could be game-changing for our company. I am extremely satisfied with the results!
Oren Maguid, Regional Director, Votiro
About CloserStill Media
CloserStill Media specialises in international professional events chiefly in the technology markets, across five global territories. Its portfolio includes some of the UK’s fastest-growing and award-winning events including Cloud Expo Europe and Data Centre World. Having delivered unparalleled quality and relevant audiences for all its exhibitions, CloserStill has been repeatedly recognised as a leading innovator with its teams and international events winning multiple awards in Europe and Asia including Best Marketing Manager – four times in succession – Best Trade Exhibition, Best Launch Exhibition, and Rising Star – two years in succession – among others.