Next Year, Singapore takes on Chairmanship of the Association of South-east Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the 2 key opportunities for the region that will be of prime focus are building Smart cities and SME digitization. More on that from Dr. Vivian Balakrishnan here:

https://www.todayonline.com/singapore/spore-help-asean-ride-digitalisation-wave-balakrishnan

In our first post, we started exploring topics of SME digitization. From our study with the SMEs in this region, these 2 topics of smart cities and SME digitization are highly correlated. Better financial solutions, smart infrastructure (security, connectivity and amenities), simpler digital solutions (to generate leads and engage customers) are all trending developments (with Fin-tech, IoT, AI etc.) that can help businesses operate more efficiently and grow. However, the solution and deployment lacks robust design thinking approach – particularly in the context of solutioning to the SME sector.

Our study will look at 4 themes:

1. The needs of an SME and a better SME-in-a-box architecture
2. Human centric design and ways to bring design thinking approach to SME segment (not the case usually)
3. The role of Government & linked agencies and the approaches to foster SME digitization and growth of innovative service providers
4. Efficient channels to deliver these solutions to majority of SMEs

Are these your topics of interest or expertise?

Join us on the roundtable discussions to dive deeper on “SMartEconomy50 – Designing ASEAN Smart Cities and SME transformation in the next 50 years, and the role of Singapore in it.”