Reframe, renew and reimagine with 2020’s featured innovations at TECHFEST2020 LIVE

• Among many highlights of festival is 2020’s Featured Innovations session
• Bring together ecosystem of technologies, consumers, decision makers and innovators

WITH over 200 on-demand sessions from at least 120 global experts featuring insights from industry leaders, new innovative business models and inspiring success stories of tech use from across the world, TECHFEST2020 LIVE is definitely one of the things you need make time for this year.

The three-day digital festival – both virtual and through specially curated exclusive events, as well as live broadcasted conversations – will take place proudly from the centre of George Town, Penang – a UNESCO World Heritage site, from Nov 18-20, 2020.

Despite the uncertainties posed by Covid-19, the Penang state government has decided to move forward with a special edition of the World Congress On Information Technology, with ROAD-TO-WCIT Malaysia and Penang TECHFEST2020 LIVE as the umbrella digital festival, by innovating its style of presentation.

Penang Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow says: “In fact, this pandemic accelerated the digital transformation planned by the state government.”

While curated and exclusive physical events will take place at the Setia Spice Convention and Exhibition Centre, Bayan Baru, there will be a live telecast via ASTRO which comes with 77% penetration rate in homes throughout Malaysia and online streaming to a global audience of 83 countries with virtual exhibitions, AI-powered B2B matching and networking as well as workshops and masterclasses.

“We should invest wisely and effectively in the new digital world that is upon us. All our experts agree that proper management of the digital revolution is key to future progress,” notes Chow.

In line with Penang2030’s vision for greater participation from all its stakeholders to propel Penang into being a smart state, TECHFEST2020 LIVE’s mission is to reframe technology and better our lives, and to hold innovation accountable for societal good. TECHFEST2020 Live is jointly organised by the National Tech Association of Malaysia, PIKOM and enabled by the Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC).

TECHFEST’s  logo is a simple symbol made by the hands to signify the act of reframing the need for technology to better humanity; as the promise of the digital age. Every innovation needs to be held accountable for societal good.

TECHFEST2020 LIVE will bring together an ecosystem of technologies, solutions, consumers, key decision makers who influence policies in city planning, mobility and innovators as well as leading industry players responsible in bringing about advancement and growth.  Indeed, there is much to look forward to.

One of the highlights of the festival is 2020’s Featured Innovations session during which innovative products, services and startups will be invited to showcase and build market traction through a home-shopping-talk-show format, the TECH MARKETPLACE. This program aims to list 300 new and emerging tech and put the spotlight on at least 40.

Watch, order, eat

Join in the conversations of how technology is revolutionizing our way of life, more than ever in this time of the coronavirus. Take for example, Dabao, an organic and sustainable Offline-To-Online business plan for F&B ventures. Dabao not only offers ordering tech, a payment gateway and delivery service, it also goes the extra mile by producing customized content and audiences.

It promises a live show to showcase your F&B Business via FB and Instagram, to increase audience engagement, and allow potential customers to watch and then order food, join food discussions and engage in online activity. This platform also allows businesses to share behind-the-scene stories and pictures, combining entertainment, F&B, marketing and social media all in one.

Future’s so bright

You will also come across organisations such as SOLS Energy – a licensed renewable energy specialist operating in Malaysia, which designs, distributes, installs and maintains solar energy systems for residential, commercial and industrial properties.

A few decades ago, households may have had a valid excuse to say no to solar power as it was too expensive. Today, however, solar power produces cheaper electricity than almost all of its alternatives! It is also cleaner, more accessible and more efficient than ever before. What’s more is that Malaysia is the third largest producer of solar cells in the world, next to China and Taiwan.

So why cling to a 150-year old outdated technology? Check out SOLS Energy at TECHFEST and it will show you why it’s time for an upgrade.

Listen up!

From experiential tech and digital lifestyles to ethical tech and urban innovation, the long line of speakers will certainly give you much food for thought. Included in the lineup are Katrina Rausa Chan from the Philippines and David N. Barnes from the United States

Chan is Executive Director of QBO, a public-private initiative geared to support and accelerate the growth of the Filipino tech startup ecosystem. She advises startups and leads overall program activities collaborating closely with ecosystem partners. The Filipina millennial advocates for spurring innovation and technopreneurship as an engine for driving economic growth and global competitiveness in emerging economies.

Barnes, meanwhile, is the Vice President, Global Workforce Policy, at the IBM Corporation. He leads IBM’s global agenda in workforce public policy and is based in Washington DC, and oversees IBM’s advocacy on a range of issues including the future of work, labour and employment rules, skills, diversity, global workforce deployment, and corporate responsibility. He engages on the future of work with government leaders and in multilateral forums such as the G7, the EU, and at the OECD where he is Vice Chair of the Business@OECD Employment, Labour and Social Affairs Committee. David speaks at a range of venues such as the G7, OECD, APEC and EU Presidency, and organizations such as Chatham House, the Brookings Institute, and the World Bank.

Meanwhile, the ASOCIO Smart City Summit 2020 and the international network of Smart Cities Council will be launching its exclusive and advanced ASEAN version of their Future Cities Academy with its Smart Cities Practitioner Certificate, allowing policy makers and practitioners to be recognised for their knowledge and effort in advancing the role that technology and data can play in generating economic, social and environmental value for our communities.

Drum roll please!

The 2020 WITSA Global ICT Excellence Awards Is back and this time the awards will  be presented, live, to the world’s winners whose use and applications of Information & Communications Technology (ICT) exhibit exceptional achievement within nine categories. These are excellent examples of ICT deployment which have made a difference for the community of interest whether it is to provide public services, boosting profits or advancing connectivity.

WITSA or The World Information Technology and Services Alliance is a consortium of over 80 information and communications technology (ICT) industry associations from economies around the world. WITSA members represent over 90 percent of the world ICT market. As the global voice of the ICT industry, WITSA is dedicated to advocating policies that advance the industry’s growth and development; facilitating international trade and investment in IT products and services; strengthening WITSA’s national industry associations through the sharing of knowledge, experience, and critical information; providing members with a vast network of contacts in nearly every geographic region of the world.

To date, the WITSA Global ICT Excellence Award winners have positioned themselves as leaders and top innovators by fully realizing the potential of ICT to grow the bottom line as well as to provide better service to citizens, improve health care, and provide trust and transparency in government. The Awards are remarkable for its large number of highly qualified nominees, selected from among the entire 90-country WITSA global network.

The 9 categories for this year’s awards are:

1. COVID-19 Tech Solutions for Cities & Localities

2. COVID-19 Tech Solutions for Countries or Regions

3. COVID-19 Best Industry Solutions

4. Public/Private Partnership Award

5. Digital Opportunity/Inclusion Award

6. Sustainable Growth Award

7. Innovative eHealth Solutions Award

8. Digital Innovation Award

9. E-Education & Learning Award

Malaysia is well-represented in her submission across all the categories but do we have the outstanding winner? There’s really a lot to look forward to. So, keep your eyes glued to http://techfest.my and www.wcit2020.org.

Media contact for Penang TECHFEST2020 LIVE: Nurul Nasir, General Manager +60122352312