This year’s official programme (Cybersecurity Industry Call for Innovation 2019) and launch event was held for the second time at Singapore International Cyber Week (SICW 2019), the event was held 2 months after the Cybersecurity Innovation Day 2019 and in conjunction with SICW 2019 to attract interest from cybersecurity companies all over Singapore and internationally from both events.

The launch event was graced by Senior Minister of State for Communications and Information and SMS-in-Charge of Cybersecurity, Dr Janil Puthucheary who gave the welcome address. SMS Dr Janil highlighted various initiatives and activities by Cyber Security Agency of Singapore (CSA), amongst them:

• The review of 2018’s Call for Innovation
• Training programmes by TechSkills Accelerator (TeSA) programme, The Critical Information Technology Resource Programme Plus (CITREP+), “Cyber Security Associates and Technologist Programme” (CSAT) and Singapore Cyber Youth Programme
• Increase in advanced pre-approved cybersecurity solutions, with up to 70% support by the Productivity Solutions Grant (PSG) curated by Infocomm and Media Development Authority (IMDA) and CSA
• Be Safe Online business portal for SMEs

Proceeding SMS Dr Janil’s speech, the 2019 users were introduced, followed by an on stage group photo.

The 2019 users were represented by:

• IHIS,
• JTC,
• Keppel Data Centre,
• Ministry of Defence,
• Ministry of Health,
• PacificLight Power,
• PSA,
• Senoko Energy, and
• YTL PowerSeraya.

They were joined by Mr Teo Chin Hock, Deputy Chief Executive of Cyber Security Agency of Singapore, Mr Selwyn Sean Scharnhorst, Director, Ecosystem Development Division of Cyber Security Agency of Singapore and Mr Michael Yap representing TNB Ventures.

An enhanced funding scheme, building upon 2018’s Co-Innovation and Development Proof of Concept (POC) Funding Scheme, was announced at the event. Mr Michael Yap introduce the programme and other following details:

• Key objectives, broad overview of the Challenge statements, funding scheme of up to $1 million per project, Eligibility and Evaluation criteria for CSA’s Co-Innovation & Development POC Funding Scheme, Investment and other support from Programme Partners, Overall Timeline, Application Process and finally, a call to action to encourage all interested solution providers to visit the Programme website to apply.

Users whom are the challenge statements owner went on stage and briefly shared the possible scope and requirements. This year’s challenge statements can be categorised into four focus areas: Cyber Readiness, Secure Access, Industrial Protection and Smart Detection.

The Event ended with a panel sharing by three awardees from last year’s call. The objective was to give this year’s potential applicants an idea of how to apply and what they should prepare when attempting to submit a proposal. The panellist consist of Mr David Ong from Attila Cybertech, Ms Camellia Chan from Flexxon, Mr Phuong Nguyen from Skillspar, and Mr Emil Tan, Co-founder of Division Zero who was the moderator for the session.

The event was well-attended with approximately 220 attendees. Attendees consist of both local and overseas solution providers, ranging from start-ups to larger companies.

Other potential users, IHLs, corporate and government agencies in attendance were from Citibank, Great Eastern Life, Heliconia Capital, ST Engineering, AiSP, NUS, Singapore Polytechnic, NTUitive, iTrust SUTD, A*STAR and NTU. There were also international delegates from The Royal Danish Embassy and Cyber NYC present.