Singapore Computer Society(SCS), the nation’s largest body for infocomm professionals, has announced the winners of the 20th annual IT Leader Awards at the organisation’s Gala Dinner held at the Shangri-La hotel. The IT Leader Awards 2016 celebrate the significant achievements and contributions of seven outstanding individuals in Singapore’s infocomm and digital media industries.
This year’s event was graced by Dr Yaacob Ibrahim, Minister for Communications and Information, and attended by more than 1,000 infocomm professionals and representatives from across government and private sectors.
The IT Leader Awards were established in 1997 and are recognised as a key platform to acknowledge strong contributions to the local infocomm landscape. This year’s awards recognise the following IT luminaries who serve as inspirations and role models for Singapore’s younger generation of IT professionals.
Several globally-reputed multinational companies were among the winners, along with some of those more locally known and rising to prominence in recent years:
- IT Leader of the Year
Jessica Tan, Managing Director of Microsoft Singapore - Hall of Fame
Robert Chew, Angel investor and Managing Partner at Stream Global and iGlobe Partners - Professional of the Year
Foong Sew Bun, IBM Distinguished Engineer, Lead Cloud Advisor (ASEAN, Korea, Japan) at IBM Cloud - Entrepreneur of the Year
Chong Chee Wah, Founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of TreeBox Solutions - Entrepreneur of the Year
Royston Tay, Vice President, General Manager of Messaging at Zendesk - IT Youth
Girish Kumar, developer of ‘RevUP’, a technology that automatically generates quiz questions for students and teachers by leveraging on cutting edge AI algorithms - IT Youth
Raniel Lee, who launched Jobook Singapore (www.jobook.sg), the country’s most efficient job matching site
Commenting on the event and its prize-winners, Howie Lau, President, Singapore Computer Society said: “The continued healthy development of Singapore’s IT and infocomm industries is crucial as we continue to be recognised as a vibrant hub of innovation in tech. Singapore Computer Society’s IT Leader Awards celebrate the Singapore talent that has shaped these important industries for the country, and acknowledge the new generation of Singapore’s IT leaders who will shape the direction of Singapore’s tech innovation and smart nation future.
“With these awards, we are recognising our industry VIPs as well as our exciting young talent. As the baton of IT and infocomm innovation is passed onto our new generations, it is vital that we acknowledge our achievements in these industries, and continue to build support and excitement for IT in Singapore.”