Singapore’s week-long FinTech Festival x SWITCH 2020 will hold first-ever 24/5 hybrid event

The 2020 edition of the Singapore FinTech Festival x Singapore Week of Innovation & TeCHnology (SFF x SWITCH) will hold the first-ever week-long, round-the-clock hybrid event consisting of digital and in-person events across the globe from December 7-11, 2020.

Whereas most in-person events this year have either been postponed or have been moved completely online, the Singapore FinTech Festival (SFF) and Singapore Week of Innovation & TeCHnology (SWITCH) events have united to take a different approach that combines both digital and in-person experiences, connecting thousands of stakeholders all over the world under the banner of the SFF x SWITCH 2020 event.

“SFF x SWITCH’s hybrid program breaks down the barriers of geography and time zone with the innovation and startup communities, making this a truly global event for everyone to participate in” — Edwin Chow, Enterprise Singapore

Singapore’s central bank — the Monetary Authority of Singapore, along with the government’s enterprise development agency — Enterprise Singapore, have announced that the 2020 SFF x SWITCH event will feature a hybrid experience knitting together an online city with various physical locations around the world, centered on businesses activities to boost sales cycles, discover partnerships, and generate investments.

“SFF x SWITCH’s hybrid program breaks down the barriers of geography and time zone with the innovation and startup communities, making this a truly global event for everyone to participate in. Innovation will become the key growth driver for many economies amid the challenges brought about by the global pandemic,” said Edwin Chow, Assistant CEO of Innovation & Enterprise at Enterprise Singapore.

“There will be even greater demand for new, novel solutions, and new opportunities that startups can tap on. We believe this event will continue to provide the ideal platform for innovation enablers, enterprises and startups from both Singapore and other countries to forge new global connections and make new deals,” he added.

The theme for this year’s edition will focus on “People and Talent” as the global crisis of 2020 has laid bare the vital role that trailblazing pioneers continue to play in forwarding innovation and resilience in the face of intense adversity.

SFF x SWITCH 2020 will pay tribute to, and honor, those individuals who have demonstrated remarkable resilience in overcoming obstacles to create new opportunities that have significantly advanced our society.

In order to reach more people with greater inclusivity, including a new element this year to engage the African fintech community, the 2020 edition will provide a combined online-offline platform for the global FinTech and deep tech communities to continue to engage and connect in spite of the current challenges with international travel.

This one-of-a-kind hybrid experience will consist of:

• The Online City — which will provide each participating organisation with a digital location where they can share and engage with participants as well as schedule 1-1 meetings. Exhibitors can showcase technologies in key innovation domains such as FinTech; Smart Cities and Urban Solutions; Healthcare and Biomedical Sciences; Trade and Connectivity; as well as Blockchain, Artificial Intelligence and 5G. Participants will have access to networking opportunities throughout the day covering all time zones.
• Curated Physical Events — that are hosted by a network of trusted in-country partners will provide exclusive access to industry leaders and sponsors in selected cities around the world. Participants can look forward to a week filled with engaging activities like startup masterclasses, market access sessions to build deep market knowledge, digital product demos, program launches and more. These will be subjected to the safe management advisory in the various cities.
• Inclusive Global Content Experiences — where participants will get round-the-clock ‘live’ streams of curated sessions featuring leading speakers from around the world and also view sessions taking place in the physical cities. During ‘Golden Hours’ across time zones, participants worldwide will see keynote speakers from different regions coming together to share their perspectives on topics such as financial inclusion, green technologies, and sustainability.

“We believe this event will continue to provide the ideal platform for innovation enablers, enterprises and startups from both Singapore and other countries to forge new global connections and make new deals” — Edwin Chow, Enterprise Singapore

Participants can also look forward to other key events: Asia’s most exciting deep tech startup competition SLINGSHOT 2020; TechInnovation, which brings together international and Singapore technology providers and seekers to explore technology and business collaboration opportunities through open innovation, and the revamped MAS Global FinTech Hackcelerator and MAS FinTech Awards.