SINGAPORE, 29 October 2015 – Welcoming thousands of international delegates, Cloud Expo Asia and Data Centre World 2015 kicked off yesterday at Suntec Singapore with an inspiring line-up of top industry speakers and an exhibition hall brimming with innovative solutions and cutting-edge products.
Highlights included a packed-out Opening Plenary from Howie Lau, Singapore Computer Society President and CMO at StarHub, who commented on the tremendous growth seen in the Asian cloud market and its role as a critical business differentiator. He continued to highlight Singapore’s potential to take a leadership position in the future evolution of the technology. Following Lau, Max Peterson II of Amazon Web Services presented a session titled, ‘A World of Possibilities’, detailing the cloud’s value in driving economic growth, inspiring learners and serving the global citizen. Peterson underlined the importance of cloud in triggering new opportunities in modern enterprise and fueling disruptive business capabilities.
The Service Provider & Cloud Ecosystem conference stream, sponsored by AppDirect, also featured an insightful session delivered by A*STAR scientist Yong Liu, which opened the debate around the challenges presented in the Big Data era. Liu suggested machine learning and cloud-based models will encourage enterprises to realise the value of data-driven business operations.
Co-located conference, CloudAsia, co-organised alongside the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA), also welcomed to the stage Khoong Hock Yun, the organisation’s Assistant Chief Executive. Yun discussed the progression of Singapore as a global Smart Nation, and its vision of combining innovation and policy to lead a world standard.
The Smart IoT forum, a new addition to the 2015 programme, was also a success with a full day of popular talks and heated panel discussions. Toa Charm, Managing Partner at Big Data Elite Asia and Chairperson at Hong Kong Computer Society, spoke to an engaged theatre audience, covering the competitive advantages and sustainable growth opportunities offered by big data innovation.
Speaking at the end of Day One of Cloud Expo Asia and Data Centre World 2015, Event Director Andy Kiwanuka was thrilled with the first day feedback from exhibitors and delegates alike. “This has been another incredible start to Cloud Expo Asia and Data Centre World. Every year we see a huge growth with a positive response to the shows across all industry vectors. 2015 has also welcomed the popular addition of the Smart IoT theatre, as well as the Energy Efficiency and DCIM streams which have responded to the evolving landscape of the cloud and data centre ecosystem.”
Phil Nelson, commercial director and co-founder of CloserStill Media, organiser of the world’s leading cloud and data centre events commented: “Next year we have confirmed our move to the Marina Bay Sands as we have outsold space at the Suntec centre. On Day One we have already sold half of next year’s floor space and sponsored event features. The show has attracted a great audience of top IT professionals with real projects and serious buying power.”
Data Centre World visitor Victor Lim, CTO and Owner of Nicam TV shared the enthusiasm: “The event is great and has been extremely fruitful form me, with a wide-range of products and data centre solutions. There is such an energy on the exhibition floor and the information provided is always helpful and informative. I will definitely be attending again next year!”
Andrew Roque, Senior Consultant at PrimeStaff, said: “It’s such a fantastic opportunity to network and meet with relevant contemporaries. I always want to learn more about the cloud industry, as well as security and big data analytics which are hot topics at the moment – and Cloud Expo Asia delivers it all. I would like to congratulate the organisers for such a successful event.”
Exhibitors reported great interest from the delegate audience, generating quality leads. Nick Sim, Data Centre Evangelist at Telin Singapore, and Data Centre World speaker said: “The show is very vibrant and lively. It’s pulled great crowds today and is showcasing lots of exciting innovation. We have been busy all day with meetings and discussions with new contacts. It has been such a success for creating awareness in the region.”
Gold sponsors Telstra were further impressed with their first day at the event: “The show provides an effective platform for branding and awareness. It’s the biggest industry event in Asia, and delivers the right target audience of C-level executives and above. We’ve enjoyed meeting potential clients and the crowds were today were extremely impressive.”
For real-time updates from Cloud Expo Asia 2015 follow @CloudExpoAsia #CEA2015 and for Data Centre World 2015, @dcwasia #DCW2015.
