SGTech hosts the world’s first global forum on Digital Trust

The premier trade association also launched Singapore’s first Digital Trust Centre of Excellence to forge a path towards making the nation a global leader in Digital Trust

Singapore – 28 October 2022 — SGTech, the premier trade association for the tech industry in Singapore, today hosted the world’s first global forum on Digital Trust at Resorts World Sentosa Convention Centre, Singapore. Entitled ‘SGTech Global Future Series: Digital Trust Forum’, the event brought together global leaders, practitioners, and thinkers to discuss the current landscape, challenges, opportunities, and actionable ideas for Singapore to work towards being a global digital and data node.

The forum featured more than 30 global luminaries and thinkers on Digital Trust, such as Senior Minister of State for Communications and Information Tan Kiat How, Dr Bhaskar Chakravorti (Dean of Global Business at The Fletcher School at Tufts University), Piyush Gupta (Chief Executive Officer, DBS Group), Ajay Bhalla (President, Cyber & Intelligence, Mastercard) and Janet De Silva (President and Chief Executive Officer of the Toronto Region Board of Trade, and Chair of the Digital Working Group, APEC Business Advisory Council), among many more.

SGTech Chair Mr Wong Wai Meng, said: “SGTech believes that Digital Trust will be a game-changer for Singapore to secure its place as a global digital and data node. To fully capitalise on this opportunity will require an acceleration in our capabilities building and skills development that demands the collective will and vision of our government, businesses, and individuals. Our aim is to provide early thinking and chart a game plan for the community to drive, and collectively position Singapore as a Global Digital & Data node built on trust. Thereby securing Singapore’s future in the Digital economy.”

The global forum held today was one of the initiatives driven by SGTech’s Digital Trust Committee. The first was SGTech’s recent launch of its landscape study on Digital Trust, which detailed how Singapore could grow the sector to S$4.8 billion in 2027. Launched on Thursday, 20 October 2022, the white paper revealed eight business areas that will drive the rapid growth of the sector, namely Cybersecurity, Digital Trust Consulting, Digital Identity, Certifications, Governance, Risk and Compliance (GRC) solutions, Cyber Insurance, Distributed Ledgers Technology (DLT) and Privacy Enhancing Technologies (PET). Speakers at today’s Forum shed light on these areas through the 16 unique programme sessions of the event.

Mr Simon Milner, Vice President, Public Policy for APAC of Meta, said: “We’re glad to be a part of the conversation today. The metaverse won’t be built by a single company and that’s why it is important to be involved at an early stage across industry, the public sector, academia and civil society.

Last year we announced the XR Programs and Research Fund and in Singapore, NUS TRAIL is one of the first research institutes to receive this grant to conduct important research on privacy and data use. We will continue to work closely with our partners in building the metaverse collectively and responsibly.”

Global expert and Dean of Global Business at The Fletcher School at Tufts University Dr Bhaskar Chakravorti during his talk, said: “Trust is a lubricant reducing friction when engaging in social interactions. There are many facets to Digital Trust around concerns on fraud, data privacy, authenticity/reliability of information. There is a wider attack surface as digital engagement grows and there will be more windows and doors vulnerable to attack. It will be crucial to create a group of professionals as Digital Trust fiduciaries because digital assets are becoming as important as financial and health assets.”

DBS Group CEO Mr Piyush Gupta, said: “For a society to flourish, corporates and communities must build strong ties based on a foundation of trust. In this regard, Singapore’s ambition to establish itself as a global leader in digital trust is an important and strategic one. On DBS’ part, while the journey of fostering digital trust is an ongoing one, we have made it a key priority, which is why we have focused efforts on ensuring responsible data usage, system resilience and reliability, and invested in a multi-pronged approach to safeguard customers from phishing and fraud. In particular, to give confidence to customers that they can trust us with their data, DBS was the first bank in Singapore to be Data Protection Trustmark certified.”

To support Singapore’s vision as a Global node for Digital Trust, SGTech also launched the regional Digital Trust Centre of Excellence at the global forum today, supported by regional associations the Asia Pacific Business Advisory Council (ABAC) and the Asian-Oceanian Computing Industry Organisation (ASOCIO).

The Digital Trust Centre of Excellence focused on (1) knowledge-building activities such as undertaking education and research activities, including surveys, publications, and reports, among many others and (2) fostering a policy hub through roundtable sessions to stimulate discussions on improving policy landscape, standards, emerging issues, among others.

The Digital Trust Centre of Excellence aims to further Singapore’s position and reputation as a trusted global hub. In the landscape study, the Digital Trust sector offers a whopping global market-segment opportunity of S$385 billion and an expected double growth of S$765 billion over the next five years. Aside from the sizable opportunity, the sector is expected to increase employment in the country by up to 34,000 people by 2027, more than double the current 15,000.

President and Chief Executive Officer of the Toronto Region Board of Trade, and Chair of the Digital Working Group, APEC Business Advisory Council Ms Jan De Silva, said: “The APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC) is proud to be a partner of the Digital Trust Centre of Excellence. COVID accelerated the digitalisation of MSMES, supply chains and healthcare delivery. There is urgency to support this rapid digitalisation with an at-scale digital trust environment providing secure, accountable, and frictionless conditions. Singapore’s Digital Trust Centre of Excellence is an applauded and welcomed resource for ABAC and its Digital Working Group to build our regional knowledge base and our regional readiness.”

Chairman of ASOCIO, Mr David Wong added: “With the global economy becoming increasingly digital, the world has also seen a rapid rise in misinformation, consumer scams, cybersecurity attacks and data breaches. Under such circumstances, Digital Trust has never been more important as the key ingredient to ensure continued cross-border business transactions and sustaining global trade.”

The Digital Trust Forum is a partner event of the Singapore Week of Innovation and Technology (SWITCH), which is organised by Enterprise Singapore, and is made possible with the support of the Asian-Oceanian Computing Industry Organisation (ASOCIO) and the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC).

Further information

● Download the whitepaper here: https://globalfutureseries.com/digitrust/wp/download-white-paper
● To access the full agenda of the event, please click here: https://globalfutureseries.com/digitrust/wp

About SGTech

SGTech, celebrating its 40th anniversary in 2022, is the leading trade association for Singapore's tech industry. Representing over 1,000 member companies ranging from top multinational corporations, large local enterprises, vibrant small and medium-sized enterprises, and innovative start-ups, it is the largest community in Singapore where companies converge to advocate for change and drive what enables tech innovation and accelerates tech adoption to spur greater sustainability in the sector. SGTech's mission is to catalyse a thriving ecosystem that powers Singapore as a global tech powerhouse.

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