Spire Deputy CEO, Japnit Singh, and Head of Operations, Ingrid Rix, participated at the recent GATES Virtual Channel Summit, held on 17 & 18 June. The theme of this year’s event was “Rebuild your business – Reboot. Realign. Recover.”

In his keynote address, Japnit noted that the telecommunications and technology sector is expected to witness a surge in the adoption of digital services and products, as work has moved online and companies need to invest in enterprise infrastructure to work efficiently. He added that world governments have recognized the technology sector’s importance, with Singapore allocating more than USD300 million (SGD500 million) to support local businesses in their digital transformation efforts. And Malaysia allocating USD4 billion (RM 20 billion) for financial stimulus packages as an investment into ICT initiatives. Japnit concluded his address with an observation that technology used to be considered a productivity tool before the pandemic, but now it is vital to business survival.

In the Focus Group Panel Discussion that Ingrid moderated, the discussion focused on the infrastructural changes in the workforce – how working remotely might become a new normal. The panelists felt that while the younger employees adapt to remote working easily, the mature employees have some reservations as they prefer face-to-face interactions.