68% of the Leaders in Singapore expect a strong growth for the ICT industry in 2019

Additionally, fostering innovation and agility came as the top two attributes of a digital leader.

Singapore, Oct 10, 2018 – Organised by S P Jain School of Global Management (S P Jain) the annual IT Management Conclave 2018 was held at the S P Jain Singapore campus last Friday where its annual Industry Survey findings were released.

With a theme on ‘Leadership and Governance in the Digital Age: Building Successful Digital Enterprises’ this year, the IT Management Conclave 2018 is a unique platform for businessmen, leaders, Information and Communications Technology (ICT) professionals and academia to understand the key ICT trends and its impact on the industry sectors, enterprises and workforce.

Attended by over 100 senior leaders and industry players, the event kick started with a welcome address by Dr John Fong, CEO and Head of Campus (Singapore). In his speech, he said: “Understanding that digital transformation is at the core of how businesses work, we pride on cultivating the agility and capability to foster innovation in our students. Through our programs at S P Jain School of Global Management, we hope to craft such global leaders that are ready to ride above this digital wave.”

The event was also graced by Guest of Honour Mr Cherian Varghese, Regional Managing Director and Vice President, ASEAN and SAGE Cluster at Oracle.

IT Management Conclave Industry Survey 2018

The IT Management Conclave Industry Survey 2018 was led by Dr. Karippur Nanda Kumar, Associate Professor and Area Head of IT of S P Jain School of Global Management, Singapore.

With over 100 respondents, Dr. Kumar presented some of the key takeaways from the survey, which included:

68% of respondents from Singapore agree that ICT industry’s general business outlook for 2019 indicates a strong growth.

53% of the respondents from Singapore expect an increase in ICT employees in their organisation in 2019 compared to 2018.

83% of respondents from Singapore indicate that Digital Transformation is the top priority for IT spending for 2019.

91% of respondents from Singapore indicate fostering innovation and agility as the top two attributes of a Digital Leader. Other important attributes include digital visionary and building digital talent.

Respondents from Singapore indicate that leaders in their organisation are least effective in providing a clear digital vision and facilitating aggressive investment in agile and disruptive technologies.

87% of respondents from Singapore have indicated that Cyber Security is the most important driver for digital governance. Other drivers include increased emphasis on collaboration between different departments and across geographical boundaries & Regulatory requirements.

Singapore is in a better shape of digital governance as compared to the region. However, over one-third of the survey participants feel more could be done for effective governance.

According to Dr. Kumar: “Lack of digital vision and innovative thinking throughout the business are found to be key organisational barriers for digital transformation. Transforming legacy systems and adopting new platforms are key challenges in building a digital enterprise in Singapore. Business and IT Leaders from Singapore need to provide a clear digital vision and facilitate more aggressive investment in agile and disruptive technologies so as to build successful digital enterprises.”

Following the survey release, attendees were engaged in presentations by Keynote Speakers Mr Newson Ng, Area Solution Architect (Asia Pacific) from Microsoft Singapore; and Mr Rohit Gandhi, Managing Director – Application Services, Products – APAC, Middle East & Africa from Accenture.

The conversations continued with a panel discussion on ‘Building Successful Digital Enterprises’, covering areas such as diversifying the business model through creative partnerships, strategic collaborations and disruptive innovations; and more.