The annual Singapore Week of Innovation and TeCHnology (SWITCH), which has for the last two years been held together with the Singapore Fintech Festival, will change to a new format this year.
Organised by Enterprise Singapore (ESG), SWITCH will expand from a single week-long conference to become a year-long innovation movement.
Participants can expect a wider range of innovation-related activities, with monthly initiatives for businesses, innovators and investors to participate in more deal-making, networking and innovation opportunities around the world.
However, there will still be a week-long flagship SWITCH conference, which together with the Singapore Fintech Festival (SFF), will be held from Nov 8 to 12 this year in a hybrid format.
This key focus for this year’s will focus on sustainability and climate change, on how technology and financial sectors can be enablers and change agents for sustainability.
SWITCH 2021 will also feature a new digital platform that will serve as a single touchpoint for innovation partners to convene and conveniently access the year-long calendar of innovation-related activities.
For a start, there’s the SG Innovation Community Day on Aug 4, followed by monthly conference seminars on areas such as Biotech, Edtech and entrepreneurship, leading up to the annual flagship SWITCH conference.
The main conference, with the theme “Global Gateway to Innovation in Asia”, comprises different tracks, featuring thought leadership sessions, innovation-centric market access sessions, masterclasses for capability development, SLINGSHOT competition, as well as exhibition and industry roundtable sessions.
They include:
SWITCH Beyond: Features sharings by industry leaders from diverse sectors in must-attend innovation and technology sessions.
SWITCH Global: Gathers business and market leaders with presence and networks in over 40 cities for discussions on different market trends and expansion opportunities.
SLINGSHOT: Asia's largest deep tech startup pitching competition that provides startups with an international platform to profile themselves to corporates, industry veterans and investors. This year, more than S$1.1 million worth of prizes are up for grabs.
“Many of the pressing challenges today, such as the global pandemic and climate change, have opened up opportunities for business innovation,” says Edwin Chow, ESG’s assistant CEO (innovation and enterprise).
“As Asia becomes the global centre of technological innovation, we believe Singapore can be the partner of choice for global businesses to access these opportunities in the region. SWITCH 2021 will see new ideas discussed and innovation partnerships formed between corporates, startups and universities in the region,” he adds.
