Think Big Leadership Business Series 2017: Outlook 2018

As the curtains draw on 2017, businesses need to begin planning ahead for the upcoming year. With constant changes in geopolitical landscape, technological breakthroughs and stakeholder expectations, businesses cannot afford to rest on their laurels with stagnant business models.

Planning ahead may be a daunting task, but Canon’s Think Big Leadership Business Series aims to provide clarity for over 700 attending business leaders, through a whole host of respected leaders in both commerce and academia sharing their perspectives on 2018’s projections. Aptly themed Outlook 2018, this convention took place at the Grand Ballroom of the Grand Copthorne Waterfront Hotel, on the 21^st and 22^nd of November 2017.

Even before the official programme, the upbeat mood was palpable with participants exchanging pleasantries and mingling at the breakfast reception. Promptly at 9am, Director & General Manager of Canon Singapore’s Business Imaging Solutions, Mr. Vincent Low, delivered his opening address and kickstarted the event.

Day One: In his opening address, Mr. Vincent Low, our Director and General Manager of Business Imaging Solutions, highlights Canon’s role as a tech leader in embracing business digitisation.

The first day’s proceedings did not disappoint, with thought-provoking sharings by NTU’s Dr. Joseph Liow, UOB’s Mr. Jimmy Koh & OCBC Bank’s Mr. Vasu Menon. A panel discussion dissecting the ideal business model for 2018 followed, with Mr. Vikram Khanna from The Business Times entering the fray as moderator, & the Future Economy Council’s Dr. Kuo-Yi Lim engaging in discussion with the earlier three speakers. The dialogue piqued the interests of many in attendance, with discourse continuing late into the subsequent lunch reception.

Day One: Dr. Kuo-Yi Lim (second from right), Member of the Future Economy Council and Managing Partner at Monk’s Hill Ventures, underlines the considerations on keeping up with the times in a dialogue moderated by The Business Times’ Associate Editor, Mr. Vikram Khanna, and joined by fellow panellists Dr. Joseph Liow, Mr. Jimmy Koh and Mr. Vasu Menon.

To cover more ground, Day 2’s programme was focused on the angle of Digital Transformation, a key theme to embrace in the forthcoming business year. As their companies have done, speakers invited for today shared their takes on embracing digitisation – Dentsu Aegis Network’s Mr. Adam Good, Canon Mailcom Malaysia Sdn Bhd’s Mr. Chris Martin, Océ Technologies B.V. Netherlands’ Mr. Joost van Rooij, Zalora Group’s Mr. Parker Gundersen & LinkedIn’s Mr. Stewart Lee.

As much as technology took centrestage for the day’s proceedings, the following panel discussion introduced a breath of fresh air to the insights shared, as panellists reiterated the importance of keeping the human touch alive in an automated world. Moderated by NTU’s Mr. Victor Tay, the aforementioned five speakers were joined by Huber’s Pte Ltd’s Mr. Ryan Huber and Instantly.sg’s Mr. Ewan Sou.

Day Two: Mr. Ewan Sou, Mr. Ryan Huber, Mr. Stewart Lee, Mr. Adam Good and Mr. Chris Martin form the panel discussing relationship-building and digitisation, in a dialogue moderated by NTU’s Chief Development Officer, Mr. Victor Tay.

The event came to a fitting close, with Canon proudly showcasing our state-of-the-art Canon Business Solutions in the exhibition area just outside the Grand Ballroom. The openness for businesses to embrace digitisation should be accompanied by applicable user-friendly technologies, as Canon staff readily demonstrated the capabilities of our business solutions to our guests.