In full disclosure this is a rather unashamed plug for our Smart Operations event in Singapore on November 29th. It’s a free event, but I wanted to explain why we chose Singapore.
I first went to Singapore in May 1986 as a fresh 19-year old second-trip deck cadet with Shell. Naturally it was to Bukom Island (Shell’s refinery) and I joined a single-hulled tanker, Erodona, one of Shell’s workhorse Canada-built e-class vessels. It became home for five months but so did Singapore, where we returned every week or two. Over the years I have returned many times (on flights and by sea).
The Singapore I saw then is a far cry from the one I see today. It is now so much more than a trading post between east and west. it is now the destination. The money the government has invested into the various maritime sectors has raised the Merlion’s head well above a benchmark waterline and made this nation state standout from the crowd as a maritime cluster and a technology and investment hub.
Put those two factors together and you get a sovereign definition of smart operations. Singapore represents the best in smart development and growth, in taking the opportunity to change and transform to create better opportunities. One only has to look at the companies that are seeking tie ups with Singapore to see how infectious a positive government position can be.
So this is why we are in Singapore at the end of the month with the next of our successful free Smart Operations events. It’s a highly interactive, fast paced day with four (or maybe five) debates, each kicked off by a focused short presentation. I will chair the event in the manner that I like to chair, from the front and as if it is a key industry talk show. Which it is, only where our audience get to join in. Did I mention it is for free?
Click on the logo below to understand more about the themes under discussion, and the show’s participants.
