Senior Round Table Discussion: Can Skills be Scaled?

Richard Koh

Chief Technology Officer
Microsoft

Kotaro Tamura

Adjunct Professor
NUS Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy

Ex Parliamentary Secretary to PM Abe

Tan Ching Ching

Director, The Sandbox (Innovation & Entrepreneurship Office)
Ngee Ann Polytechnic

Moderator

Synopsis

Job disruptions, skill shortages and mismatches led by technological advancements has been an on-going workplace trend. Skills that employers value are changing due to the change in the nature of work. In Singapore, there is a presence of a supply-demand mismatch in certain industries such as the FinTech industry results in them hiring many foreigners as our local technology talent pool lacks the combination of skills and simply isn’t large enough. Many recognised the need to address this widening skills gap and local talent shortage, realising that one’s career path will no longer be “vertical” as one has to pick up different skills and disciplines by moving around various functions.
Join us on 11 Nov to find out how to close the skill gap faced in the workforce, what are the new, relevant skills that employers are looking out for, and the impact businesses face due to the skills gap.

About the Speaker(s)

Richard Koh

Richard Koh is the chief technology officer of Microsoft Singapore. In this role, he is responsible for engaging with key executive leaders across government, industry and academia; bringing in the macro technology landscape; and helping customers leverage technology innovations for their digital transformation. His focus areas include guiding technology policies, standards, legal and regulatory matters, as well as security, privacy and compliance decisions.

Always passionate about the promises that the Internet and cloud computing can bring, and with a keen eye on business strategies, product development and marketing, Richard’s professional experience spans the Asia and North America regions, as well as multiple functional areas including research & development, IT, product management, marketing, business development and sales operations.

Graduated from the National University of Singapore with a Bachelor’s of Science in Computer Science & Information Systems, Richard is a proud father of two rambunctious boys. He loves to work with passionate people who wants to change the world for the better and enjoys running, skiing, reading, action sci-fi movies and tinkering with tech gadgets

Kotaro Tamura

Kotaro Tamura is an adjunct professor at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at National University of Singapore and also is a fellow at the Milken Institute. He is a former senator and parliamentary secretary for economic and fiscal policy in Japan who played a key role in elaborating Abenomics during Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s first administration. Tamura was an investment banker and CEO of the Osaka Daily News. A best-selling author, he writes about globalization and Japanese fiscal policy and business practices. He is the very first politician in Japan to become a leading character of Harvard Business School case.
He published more than 10 books since 2012 and sold more than 1,000,000 copies. His latest book has been made into a TV drama in Japan.
He is active in investing in tech start-ups which, he believes in, will build better future for mankind. He is early investor in such companies as Coinbase, Palantir, Kraken, Uphold, Simulate, Dapper Labs, Sesto Robotics, Pirate.com, Ockypocky, Plentina and others
Tamura has been a senior fellow at Yale University and Rand Corp. and a research associate at Harvard University. He holds a bachelor’s degree from Waseda University, an M.B.A. from Keio University, a master of laws degree from Duke University and a master’s degree in economics from Yale. He also completed advanced management studies at the University of Oxford.