12 August 2020 (SINGAPORE) – The first virtual edition of EmTech Asia, an event co-organised by MIT Technology Review and Koelnmesse Pte Ltd, was held from 4 to 6 August 2020. A resounding success, the three-day online conference was attended by close to 800 industry professionals representing 24 countries.
EmTech Asia 2020 presented an accelerated schedule to enable participants to experience the entire program curated for the virtual event, which spanned several international time zones.
Forty-five of the world’s most influential leaders and innovators participated in EmTech Asia. They discussed how emerging technologies will influence industries related to artificial intelligence, robotics, sustainability, healthcare, immersive media, and more.
Speakers included representatives from Google, Autodesk Robotics Lab, Tencent Music Entertainment (TME), Microsoft Research, and spokespersons from universities including UNSW, the Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology, and IMRE at A*STAR, among others.
“EmTech Asia brings together technical experts from all over the world and connect them with industry people. I am greatly amazed and inspired by all the breakthrough technology presented,” said Simon Lui, director and expert AI Scientist, QQ Music, Tencent Music Entertainment (TME), who spoke about how AI could be utilised to leverage to handle challenges in the music industry, through the latest Deep Learning and Music Information Retrieval (MIR) techniques.
“In the face of a pandemic, EmTech Asia pivoted effectively to create a wonderfully engaging online experience. The broad range of speakers from across the globe kept the conference exciting, making it a pleasure to stay connected throughout,” said Graham Ruby, principal investigator, Calico, who walked us through a statistical framework that connects mortality statistics with the biology of ageing in his session.
A key session, Emerging Technologies and Innovations in a Time of Crisis,saw presenter Bob Langer, the David H. Koch Institute Professor at MIT and academic cofounder of Moderna, speak about COVID-19 research and how advances in nanotechnology and healthcare can address the current crisis. Another key theme at the conference was artificial intelligence and its impact on ethics, finance, and drug design.
Other key sessions included How Wearable Technology Empowers Cancer Prevention by Steven Tucker, cofounder, Re:Mission Health; and Saving Lives the Microbiome Way by Jeremy Lim, CEO, Asian Microbiome Library. Lim discussed how the microbiome is implicated in numerous diseases and can be used to save lives, thanks to advances in modern genetic sequencing and computing tools.
"Although this is the first-ever virtual EmTech Asia, I felt like I was physically present for all the talks. Excellent job on ensuring that all talks went on smoothly, and that attendees are well engaged in the live chat," said Wong Wei Ru, researcher, the department of electrical engineering at the University of Malaysia.
The virtual edition of EmTech Asia could not have happened without the support of Deep Tech Partner, SGInnovate; Innovation Partners; Hong Kong Baptist University; Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology; and many other sponsors and partners. The organisers express their deep gratitude to all parties involved.
Access to the event platform and live presentations will be available to registered attendees on-demand until June 2021 here: https//emtechasia.delegateconnect.co
Notes to editors:
- Contact Theodore Woon at [email protected] to request interviews with EmTech Asia’s speakers and Innovators Under 35.
- Screenshots of EmTech Asia 2020 can be downloaded via Dropbox here.
- All press materials for EmTech Asia are available in our Press Room.
About EmTech Asia:
EmTech Asia is where technology, business, and culture converge. It is the showcase for emerging technologies with the greatest potential to change our lives and an access point to the most innovative people and companies in the world. Most of all, it is a place of inspiration—an opportunity to glimpse the future and begin to understand the technologies that matter and how they will change the face of business and drive the new global economy. For more information, please visit www.emtechasia.com.
Find us on: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn with the official event hashtag, #EmTechAsia
MEDIA CONTACT
Theodore Woon, Pinpoint PR
M: +65 9155 3507
E: [email protected]
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, MIT Technology Review is a world-renowned, independent media company whose insight, analysis, reviews, interviews, and events explain the newest technologies and their commercial, social, and political impacts. MIT Technology Review’s mission is to make technology a greater force for good by bringing about better-informed, more conscious technology decisions through authoritative, influential, and trustworthy journalism.
We invite our readers to probe deeper, examine data, and get to know experts and their opinions to see, explore, and understand new technologies and their impact. MIT Technology Review’s audience is anyone, anywhere, who believes that technology can solve hard problems, grow prosperity, and expand human possibilities. Accuracy and independence are our highest priorities: our coverage is independent of any influence, including our ownership by MIT. Subscribe. Follow us: Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+.
MEDIA CONTACT
MIT Technology Review Media Relations
[email protected]
About Koelnmesse:
Koelnmesse is one of the world's largest trade fair companies. Its more than 70 trade fairs and exhibitions have the broadest international scope in the industry: 60 percent of the exhibitors and 40 percent of the visitors come from outside Germany. The Koelnmesse events include the leading global trade fairs for 25 sectors, such as imm cologne, Anuga, IDS, INTERMOT, Interzum Cologne, Photokina, Gamescom and the International Hardware Fair Cologne. Koelnmesse is MIT Technology Review’s co-organizer for EmTech Asia and Innovators Under 35 Asia Pacific. For more information, please visit www.koelnmesse.com.sg/.
MEDIA CONTACT
Lena Ng, Koelnmesse
M: +65 9825 8589
E: [email protected]
Asia Research News is proud to have been a supporting partner of EmTech Asia.
