Science and Technology: The Cornerstone of Singapore’s Green Future

Overview

The Singapore Green Plan 2030 seeks to tackle climate change by ensuring Singapore achieve its long-term net-zero emissions goals so as to strengthen Singapore’s commitments under the UN’s 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda. In order to achieve these goals, promoting innovation under the RIE2025 plan will be vital to ensure developments in science and sustainable technologies, and will be a key enabler in establishing Singapore as a leading hub for sustainability.  
 
Join key players and thought leaders as they discuss the role of research and development in strengthening areas in Singapore such as sustainable packaging, decarbonisation, waste upcycling, water treatment and urban farming.

Date: 2 July 2021, Friday
Time: 4:00pm - 5:00pm (Singapore Time / UTC +8)

Programme:
4:00pm - 4:05pm: Welcome Remarks by SGInnovate
4:05pm - 5:00pm: Panel Discussion and Q&A on Science and Technology: The Cornerstone of Singapore’s Green Future with

• Andre Stolz, CEO, EcoWorth Tech and Managing Director, Budding Innovations
• Esther An, Chief Sustainability Officer, City Developments Limited (CDL)
• Lim Tuang Liang, Chief Science and Technology Officer (CSTO), Ministry of Sustainability and the Environment (MSE), Singapore and Group Chief Technology Officer (CTO), S&T Policy and Planning Office (S&TPPO), Singapore
• Nirupa Chander, Managing Director - Singapore, Hitachi ABB Power Grids 
• Moderator: SzeKi Sim, Executive Director - Community & Brand, SGInnovate

Speakers' Profiles:
Andre Stolz, CEO, EcoWorth Tech and Managing Director, Budding Innovations

An agile Executive and Innovation keader with 20 years of international experience in Venture Building, Strategy and Innovation Leadership, Startups Management, Initiative & Portfolio Management, Engineering, Product Development, Supply Chain and Manufacturing.

A passionate leader and organisation builder who left a corporate career in order to make a bigger impact on the people, society and environment. He believes in continuously growing leadership skills, technical knowledge and strategic thinking while enjoying growing and inspiring those he works with.

Andre is active in nurturing the next level of entrepreneurial leaders through mentoring and coaching.

Esther An, Chief Sustainability Officer, City Developments Limited (CDL)

An active advocate for green building and sustainability for over two decades, Esther has been instrumental in establishing CDL’s leadership in sustainability.  It is ranked top real estate company on the 2021 Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations in the World and is also the only CDP A-List company for both climate strategy and water security in SE Asia and Hong Kong.  Key ESG initiatives she has spearheaded include publishing the first sustainability report in Singapore in 2008; issuing the first green bond by a Singaporean company in 2017 and pioneering an SDG Innovation Loan in Singapore in 2019.  A forerunner in embracing the UN SDGs, Esther was conferred 2018 SDG Pioneer for Green Infrastructure and A Low Carbon Economy by the UN Global Compact, is a signatory for the UNGC Caring for Climate network and is also a corporate member of the UN ESCAP Sustainable Business Network.  She sits on the boards or advisory platforms of several organisations, including the World Green Building Council, Global Reporting Initiative, GRESB Asian Real Estate Benchmark Committee and UNEP FI Real Estate Work Group.  She Chairs the Asia Pacific Real Estate Association’s Sustainability and ESG Committee, Co-Chairs the Urban Land Institute Singapore’s Sustainability Product Council and Vice-Chairs the Singapore Institute of Directors’ ESG Committee.

Lim Tuang Liang, Chief Science and Technology Officer (CSTO), Ministry of Sustainability and the Environment (MSE), Singapore and Group Chief Technology Officer (CTO), S&T Policy and Planning Office (S&TPPO), Singapore

Lim Tuang Liang is currently the CSTO of MSE, where he oversees the planning and coordination of research and technology development across the Ministry to deliver sustainable and cost-effective solutions in water, waste, food and coastal protection. He also supports innovation and enterprise development in these areas, facilitating linkages between research and industry to catalyse the Singapore Green Economy.  

Lim also holds the concurrent appointment as the Group CTO of S&TPPO where he coordinates across the public sector in S&T masterplanning and strengthening organisational capabilities in S&T management.

Lim was previously the ED of the RIE Coordination Office, NRF, where he oversaw the development of strategic technology roadmaps for Singapore, repositioning Singapore industries through technology development to remain competitive in future business environments.

Lim, as board member of the Defence Science Technology Agency (DSTA) and Defence Science Organisation (DSO) from 2017-2018, provided strategic guidance in the development of the defence science capability in Singapore.

As board member of IE Singapore (now renamed as Enterprise Singapore) from 2013-2018, he contributed towards assisting Singapore companies in their internationalisation efforts.

Prior to joining the NRF, Lim was the Chief of Staff – Joint Staff in the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF), where he oversaw the long-term technology development strategy for the SAF. 

Lim holds a Master of Engineering in Electrical and Electronic Engineering, from Imperial College London and a Master of Business Administration from the Sloan Fellows Program, MIT, USA. 

Nirupa Chander, Managing Director - Singapore, Hitachi ABB Power Grids 

Moderator's Profile:
SzeKi Sim, Executive Director - Community & Brand, SGInnovate

A seasoned and passionate marketer, SzeKi joined SGInnovate as part of its pioneer team. She was entrusted with building the Community and Brand team from scratch, to achieve SGInnovate’s mission of enabling ambitious and talented men and women to build, commercialise and scale globally relevant Deep Tech innovations from Singapore. SzeKi also supports these entrepreneurial scientists in crafting, shaping and telling their stories – an important part of their go-to-market journey.

To promote Singapore as a place of thriving innovation steeped in Deep Tech entrepreneurship, SzeKi leads the SGInnovate team in spearheading activities to create a holistic ecosystem, providing a platform where founders, researchers, academics, venture capitalists and corporations come together to share experiences in areas such as Advanced Manufacturing, AgriFoodTech, Artificial Intelligence, Autonomous Vehicles, MedTech and Quantum Computing.

In less than three years, she had led the establishment of SGInnovate to become a leading force in driving Deep Tech innovation and entrepreneurship in Singapore and internationally. Today, SGInnovate has successfully built the largest and fastest growing Deep Tech community in Singapore, comprising over 57,000 people from across the ecosystem.

SzeKi and her team had also launched integrated campaigns which clinched multiple awards including the Best B2B PR Campaign (Silver) at the Marketing PR Awards 2017, the Outstanding B2B Campaign – Singapore (Merit) and Outstanding Overall Corporate Reputation Programme (Merit) at the PRISM Awards 2019, as well as the Best PR Campaign – B2B (Silver) at the Marketing PR Awards 2019. Most recently, SGInnovate emerged as Winners of the Multi-Country category at the SABRE Awards Asia Pacific 2020 and Best in Digital Print/B2B Media at the IN2SABRE Awards Asia Pacific 2020.

Before SGInnovate, SzeKi’s long career in marketing included leading teams with global technology brands such as Hewlett Packard, Motorola and Nokia regionally and globally. Her 15 years at Motorola saw her in various leadership positions including Head of Marketing – Asia Pacific for Motorola Networks, and Head of Marketing – Asia and Middle East for Motorola Solutions. At Nokia Siemens Networks (now Nokia), SzeKi was the Global Head of Customer Marketing for their Global Services business group.