After nine months of online-only events, the Singapore Fintech Festival is raising the bar with 40 global satellite events taking place across the world as part of the Singapore Fintech Festival (SFF) x Singapore Week of Innovation and Technology (SWITCH) 2020. Events will take place through the 7 to 11 December.
This unique hybrid format will combine a 24-hour online event platform with global satellite events around the world, but there’s no need to stay up around the clock, events will be held according to the local timezone. This new hybrid model is expected to provide participants with greater access to the global Fintech and deep tech communities who are looking to discover partnerships, draw investments, and boost sales cycles.
Physical events include Shift Money, based in Zagreb, Croatia and World Fintech Festival, which has live events from Cambodia to Dubai.
In terms of the online schedule, there will be five main summits with events each day covering topics such as economy, infrastructure, impact, investing, and talent. Expect panel discussions plus fireside chats with speakers such as Zoom founder Eric Yuan, incoming Citigroup CEO Jane Fraser plus Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin and rapper Akon.
Other well-known participants include:
- 1 Nobel Laureate
- 20 Technology Leaders
- 20 Eminent Academicians
- 50 Global Influencers
- 50+ Policy Makers
- 60 Financial Industry Leaders
- 60 Global Investors
- 100+ Founders
- 110+ FinTech Influencers
And according to the organisers, ten of the top sessions will be broadcast for free on platforms such as Facebook Live and Youtube, these include interviews with Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, Google CEO Sundar Pichai, and 2019 Nobel Prize winner for Economics, Abhijit Banerjee.
For those attending, whether in person or online, a digital map will show all of the SFF x SWITCH activities across Singapore, with dedicated zones for various activities, including an international zone, early-stage and growth-stage Fintech zones, talent zone, technology showcase zones, and a networking zone. Participants will be able to visit locations on the map via a searchable and interactive directory of organisations and activities, tailored to their interests and profiles.
For those interested in networking, participants can meet and network with attendees on the event platform and schedule 1-on-1 meetings, by leveraging on the platform’s business matching functionality.
Sopnendu Mohanty, Chief Fintech Officer, MAS, said, “The global pandemic has led to a reimagination of how we can deliver SFF x SWITCH as a global platform. To recreate the connectivity, collaboration and networking that have become the hallmarks of SFF x SWITCH, this year’s unique hybrid format will break new ground to create a truly global and inclusive event for the Fintech community. We are delighted to work with key global partners to deliver over 40 global satellite events for attendees across the globe, and Microsoft and Accenture to design this first-of-its-kind global platform for the Fintech community to innovate and forge new connections, anchored on the delivery of a powerful, new digital experience at scale.”
Edwin Chow, Assistant Chief Executive Officer (Innovation & Enterprise), Enterprise Singapore, said, “While SFF x SWITCH is being run in a new, unprecedented way, our aim to enable networking and collaboration has not changed. In fact, we are very pleased to see that SWITCH has attracted even more global innovation partners this time, with established names such as 500 Startups, Sunway Group and VinaCapital joining us at various thematic panel discussions. This digital format not only enables the deep tech and innovation community to access deep market knowledge; it allows us to connect across geographies and time zones at a much faster pace, making this event a truly global one.”
In 2019, SFF and the Singapore Week of Innovation and Technology (SWITCH) saw more than 60,000 participants from almost 140 countries and featured highlights such as the Fintech Conference, the Fintech Awards, Global FinTech Hackcelerator, Innovation Lab Crawl and Industry Networking and Workshops. The SFF is organised by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) in partnership with The Association of Banks in Singapore and in collaboration with SingEx Holdings.
