Design experience, digital transformation, storytelling, community engagement and passionate people are the highlights framed in the key takeaways at the recent Singapore MICE Forum (SMF) held at Resorts World Sentosa Convention Centre on July 25 and 26.

Themed ‘Wired for the Future’, the SMF2019 showcased compelling insights impacting the business events industry. The event brought together next-generation thinkers and disruptors in MICE and industry verticals to uncover deep insights on building value through design and innovation.

Organised by Singapore Association of Convention and Exhibition Organisers and Suppliers, SACEOS also forged new ground with strategic partnerships that enable a digitally-ready and future-ready MICE industry.

Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) were signed with fellow regional trade associations and global technology companies to propel digital transformation for the sector and explore cross industry development. Following Singapore Tourism Board’s (STB) MoU with Alibaba Group in April to drive visitor arrivals and spending, SACEOS has signed an MoU with Alibaba Cloud (Singapore) Private Limited to explore collaborations on digital innovation for business events in Singapore. As part of the arrangement, SACEOS and Alibaba Cloud will explore joint workshops and seminars where participants can get hands-on exposure to Alibaba Cloud solutions, big data and AI technologies.

As China is a significant visitor-generating market for Singapore, SACEOS will also be working with STB and WeChat, one of the most widely used Chinese social media platform that integrates instant messaging and social payment with over 1 billion monthly active user accounts.

The collaboration aims to increase technology adoption to boost the overall experience for Chinese MICE visitors in Singapore. As part of the efforts to accelerate digital transformation and technology adoption in the MICE sector, SACEOS also signed a MoU with SGTech at SMF2019 to share information, cross-promote, foster collaboration and build a robust business events industry.

Both parties will be working towards helping members improve their adoption of technology and digitally-enabled solutions, as well as facilitating interaction between the members in the two associations.

“We look forward to collaborating with high-impact technology companies to create more business value for both parties, help our relevant businesses in their digital transformation and spearhead greater success for Singapore’s MICE industry. With enterprises existing in various stages of collaboration, competition and transformation, these partnerships will facilitate an effective eco-system for start-ups and SMEs to grow,” said Aloysius Arlando, president of SACEOS.

Beyond digital transformation, SACEOS rallied fellow regional events trade associations to jointly build a stronger business events industry for the region. Together with four other trade associations, SACEOS signed the Asia Community Building Pledge to foster stronger, mutually beneficial cooperation.

The associations include Indonesia Exhibition Companies Association (IECA), Malaysian Association of Convention and Exhibition Organisers and Suppliers (MACEOS), Philippine Association of Convention/Exhibition Organizers and Suppliers Inc. (PACEOS), and Thailand Incentive & Convention Association (TICA)