The focal point of infocomm, media and technology events in Asia is indubitably ConnecTechAsia. But this year, global events have made the organisers change their ideas about the best ways to present the technologies, concepts, and products that have the power to drive digital transformation in the region.

ConnecTechAsia will now be held as a virtual event September 29 to October 1.

Of course, the organisers knew that staging a virtual, online event couldn’t be achieved by simply putting cameras in front of speakers and exhibitors, hoping that the audience of business and technology professionals would watch and listen online. Being a tech event, it comes as no surprise that ConnecTechAsia will be something that has evolved, capable of showing the region and the wider world just what the industry is capable of in 2020.

New format for ConnecTechAsia 2020

Speaking to Ivan Ferrari, the Event Director of ConnecTechAsia, we learned that in many ways, this year’s event would surpass in quality of content even the previous years’ amazing successes.

Ivan told us that the event platform, Intrado, is the best in class. Its capabilities allow a more televisual style of event, which he termed “more of a TV type of delivery, let’s say a CNN type of delivery.” That means shorter content sessions, more panels, denser and more compact showcases & demos, and more collaborative exchanges, rather than a schedule of talks being delivered by series of single speakers.

Ivan Ferrari, Event Director

The nature of a virtual event also offers much more in terms of cross-pollination between the different event strands, which would be a great deal more difficult to achieve were the show to be held physically. He said there would be significant “cross-pollination levels between the exhibition hall, the content hall, and the theaters. Also, we’re going to have a webinar hall, where companies can host their own webinars.”

The 24/7/365 online event: 2020’s ConnecTechAsia

Industries of all descriptions are putting their expos and events online in the current situation, but as you might expect, it’s technology events like ConnecTechAsia that are pushing the boundaries of what makes a truly immersive online event. One key difference is that ConnecTechAsia exhibitors will be showcasing their products & services for the rest of the year after the event, so visitors can visit the online marketplace 24/7 at their convenience for the ensuing months.

The ConnecTechAsia event has always been something of an all-encompassing event, and this year is no exception. Business-ready startups will be featuring at the Elevating Founders Asia “zone”, and TechXLR8 will be running alongside too, itself encompassing the AI Summit and IoT Asia.

Additionally, accelerateHER Asia events will be taking place online 13:00-16:30 each day (Singapore time), helping drive societal change in a sector that’s still over-dominated by men.

More resources for the ConnecTechAsia online event

For business leaders looking for that critical technology to power their business and make a difference between their company and its competition, the quality of the companies and vendors has gone through the roof — strangely, with thanks to the current pandemic. There will be fewer exhibitors, but the roster of those taking part now includes some huge names who were not planning to make the trip to Singapore this year. Similarly, Ivan told us that the speaker list, too, now includes individuals whose packed schedules wouldn’t have afforded them the time to fly in and spend a few days away from their desks. The winners, therefore, will be the virtual attendees, and those companies taking part.

The same resources that were going into the physical, planned version of this year’s event are now being channelled into the virtual version: “The trajectory, the path, the strategy, and what we’re doing, all the resources, we’re putting that towards [this exhibition],” Ferrari said.

New zones and opportunities at Asia’s biggest technology event for 2020

Carolyn Dawson, the Managing Director of Informa Tech, the company behind the event, also noted in an interview with Tech Wire Asia that the areas of growth in technology over the next year or so — health, education, remote working, and supply chain — are all getting significant coverage at ConnecTechAsia this year. In particular, she highlighted food tech and the supply chain as areas “that can be transformed by cutting edge technologies, and with the effects of the pandemic and climate change, [they] could be the next major focal point for tech innovation.”

The strands of ConnecTechAsia this year include CommunicAsia, BroadcastAsia, the newly-formed SatelliteAsia, TechXLR8 Asia, accelerateHER Asia and Elevating Founders. Because the event is online there’s bound to be a great deal of collaboration both in-strand and across the whole event. “We curate the content really carefully, so the collaboration between 5G, AI, and IoT is showcased in a clear and meaningful way,” Carolyn said. She went on, “You would expect us to be showcasing many examples of how the resilience of tech and the power of collaboration has and will continue to have a positive effect on our global community.”

Community, global concerns and global resources were also among the points raised by Lim May-Ann, the Executive Director of the Asia Cloud Computing Association, who told us that the supporting infrastructure to ConnecTechAsia (and much of modern commerce), the cloud, has responded to the pandemic by “ramping up support to ensure that everyone has equitable access to limited resources, such as through adjusting usage and access policies, like how YouTube started enabling standard definition video by default rather than high definition.”

Among all the industries in the world, you would be right in thinking that it’s the technology sector coming up with new ways, and new methods to think about how events like ConnecTechAsia can continue to be a success and evolve too (Ivan pointed out that the online forums and channels will be staying open for months after the event so conversations can continue online). With new ideas, committed attendees, a stellar speakers line-up (keep watching these pages for a run-down of some of the speakers), and a cutting edge platform that carries it all, this year’s event is not one to be missed. You can register your interest in attending, find out more about virtual booths, and push your business ahead with the very best technology the region has to offer.

Organised in partnership with Singapore’s Infocomm Media Development Agency, ConnecTechAsia 2020 looks set to be breaking down barriers to change, and powering digital initiatives & growth right across the region.