SWITCH gears up for a bigger and better 2017

SINGAPORE, Sept. 5, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --­­­­­­ SWITCH (Singapore Week of Innovation & TeCHnology) is back for the second year with a line-up that promises to be bigger and better than the last. Held over three days from 18 to 20 September at Sands Expo & Convention Centre, SWITCH 2017 will feature eight conferences, over 300 exhibits and seven satellite partner events. The event will also kick off with an opening address by Minister for Finance, Heng Swee Keat, followed by a panel discussion on "Imagining a New World with Technology" featuring Mike Descheneaux, President, Silicon Valley Bank; William Bao Bean, General Partner, SOSV; and Taizo Son, CEO, Mistletoe.  

Highly regarded as one of the leading "plug and play" platforms in Asia, more than 6,000 are expected to attend SWITCH 2017. It sees an increase in both international and local partner events this year, including the very first edition of Campus Party in Singapore, Convergence, Impact Hub Singapore, Ecosystem Day: Nature SciCafe Asia & Singapore QuickFire Challenge, Slingshot@SWITCH, Slush Singapore, SWITCH ON@LaunchPad, TechInnovation, VentureCon (e27) and Women in Tech Conference (Asia). More details on the partner events are in Annex A.

Following the theme "Founding a New World", the platform brings together the best minds to create interactions and exchanges that will shape our way of life. Innovators and influencers around the world are expected to come together at SWITCH to discuss current and future technologies including the reprogramming of bodies with biotech, artificial intelligence's impact on creativity, developments in space technology, autonomous vehicles, clean energy, and robotics.

Key speakers at SWITCH 2017 include:

Steve Leonard, founding CEO of SGInnovate, says: "The inaugural SWITCH event last year brought together a tremendous number of talented people from Singapore and many other countries.  We are building on that momentum.  We will switch up a gear this year by focusing more on how technology can positively impact lives.  We want SWITCH 2017 to help people learn, discuss and understand how technology can play a positive role in building societies and economies."

To highlight Singapore's vibrant entrepreneurial and technology innovation ecosystem, SWITCH will also feature exhibitions, conferences, workshops, and activities revolving around topics such as technology and humanity, open innovation, technology transfer, technopreneurship, venture funding, and diversity in talent.

SWITCH is presented by SGInnovate, and supported by the National Research Foundation Singapore.

Visit switchsg.org for more information on attending or exhibiting at SWITCH 2017.

About SWITCH

SWITCH (Singapore Week of Innovation & TeCHnology) is a leading "plug and play" platform in Asia that showcases the best ideas, technology and innovation from around the world. Through a series of complementing technology and innovation events held between 18 - 20 September 2017, SWITCH brings together the best minds to create exchanges that will shape our world. At SWITCH, interactions are the catalyst for change; at the end of the day, technology does not shape our future – we do. SWITCH brings together partners from around the world in the technology, innovation and enterprise ecosystem, featuring exhibitions, conferences, workshops and activities revolving around topics such as open innovation, technology transfer, tech entrepreneurship, venture funding and talent development. SWITCH is presented by SGInnovate, and supported by the National Research Foundation Singapore. SWITCH Partners include Campus Party, Convergence, Impact Hub Singapore, Nature SciCafé, Singapore Quickfire Challenge, Slingshot@SWITCH, Slush Singapore, SWITCH ON@LaunchPad, TechInnovation, VentureCon (e27) and Women in Tech Conference (Asia). For more information, please visit www.switchsg.org

Press Contacts 

Grace Chiang, SGInnovate
grace@sginnovate.com
Melody Uy, Ogilvy Public Relations
+65 6213 6997, melody.uy@ogilvy.com

Annex A

1.  Convergence

Convergence is a unique blend of conference learning, trade show research and cross-industry networking. It boasts strong B2B and B2C components, attracting an executive audience from Singapore, Australia and across the ASEAN region. This year, the conference will throw the spotlight on the consumer revolution driven by the latest emerging technologies like VR, machine learning, robotics and 3D printing. It will feature top Silicon Valley personalities Robert Scoble and Dr Adrian Kaehler, as well as a host of speakers from companies such as Microsoft, Google, Facebook, SAP, DBS Bank and Scoot Airlines.

For more information, visit https://convergence.events/

2. Ecosystem Day: Nature SciCafe Asia 2017 & Singapore QuickFire Challenge - Metabolic Disease Innovation

Nature SciCafe Asia 2017 partners up with the Singapore QuickFire Challenge managed by Johnson & Johnson Innovation, JLABS, ETPL and SMART to present Ecosystem Day, touching on the theme of 'Creation of Ecosystems in Biosciences'. Join us as we explore facets of the ecosystem – hearing views from a local, regional, and global perspective, and on how to build bridges across and within it. The conference is supported and organised by specialists in the fields of Bioscience, Research and Academic: ETPL, SMART, Johnson & Johnson Innovation, SingHealth, Duke-NUS Medical School, Eureka Institute and Nature Biotechnology.

For more information, visit http://eurekainstitute.org/nature-scicafe-asia/nature-scicafe-asia-2017

3. Meta Conversations: Tech and Humanity

Meta Conversations: Tech and Humanity takes the lead in inaugurating reflective and thought-provoking conversations around technology and humanity, sparking off dialogue in the landscape of transformative deep-tech, innovation, and human responsibility. It is part of a series of thought-provoking conferences by Impact Hub Singapore. Featuring an exciting lineup with speakers and panelists from regional thought-leaders to successful startup founders and representatives from venture funds, this year's conference will bring together ideas that generate interesting discussions to advance humanity. Some themes that will be explored – 'Does Technology Enrich or Challenge Us?', 'Transformative Deep Tech, Human Tech and Its Impact on Us' and 'The Responsibility of Money and Venture Capital'. Be part of the conversation.

For more information, visit http://singapore.impacthub.net/metaconversations-home

4. Slush Singapore

Though it's known as the little red dot, Singapore is the exact opposite of little. It has quickly become Asia's hit-list destination for tech-heads. This year, Slush Singapore returns bigger, better and bolder – for its second edition!Some 3,000 attendees, 200 investors, 300 startups and 100 members of the media will take the city by storm to hear about the most ground-breaking ideas and mega trends in tech – sustainability, ethics, impact investing, corporate innovation, future technologies and entrepreneurial stories. Are you ready for the heatwave?

For more information, visit http://singapore.slush.org/

5. TechInnovation

TechInnovation is a premier industry-technology matching event that brings together international technology providers and enterprises to explore technology commercialisation and initiate business collaboration through open innovation. Organised by IPI Singapore, it is a leading conference and exhibition in Singapore that focuses on the matching of industry's needs to enabling technologies in info-communications & electronics, manufacturing, materials & chemicals, health & personal care, medtech, energy and environment from global sources.

For more information, visit www.techinnovation.com.sg .

6. VentureCon

VentureCon, organised by e27, is Asia's premier conference & networking platform for investors & key stakeholders in the region's tech startup funding ecosystem to exchange insights, foster connections, facilitate deal flow and pursue fundraising opportunities. VentureCon @ SWITCH 2017 is an invite-only one day conference that aims to give investors from across Asia Pacific the opportunity to connect and also serve as an engaging platform to spark conversations about the ecosystem's current challenges and future of deals and co-investment.

For more information, email contact@e27.co

7. Women in Tech Conference (Asia)

Born from a ground up and volunteer movement inside South-East Asia's tech scene, Women in Tech Conference has evolved into a positive and energised annual gathering of founders, managers, tech and science practitioners, senior leadership and the inclusivity and diversity movement in Asia's tech industry. Join the brightest minds and top tech leaders as we showcase the contributions and celebrate women making exceptional, world-changing accomplishments in tech. Event offers professional development, mentorship and networking activities - including workshops in hottest technologies. Join us now! 

Get inspired… by top visionary leaders from MNCs, startups and policy makers.

Learn… and engage in deep conversations & hands-on workshops.
Build… tools and get tangible, actionable learnings to steer to achieve your professional goals.

For more information, visit http://womenintech.sg/

8. Campus Party

Learn, Innovate and Play with Campus Party at CP Day; the inaugural lead up series to the main festival.

Complete your SWITCH experience with a taste of Campus Party, the largest global technology festival that brings together diverse groups to learn, play and create together. Meet and mingle with fellow tech enthusiasts and innovators at this first lead up event. Dive into innovative session formats and interactive presentations that will inspire you to create. Join the global movement now and get ready to shape a bolder, brighter future!

For more information, visit http://singapore.campus-party.org/

Annex B

http://switchsg.org/#our-partners  

Logo - https://photos.prnasia.com/prnh/20170904/1933255-1LOGO