ABYA LEAPS DEMO DAY 2022
ABYA LEAPS DEMO DAY 2022

After 4 intense months of teamwork and planning, ABYA LEAPS 2022 successfully concluded with ABYA LEAPS Demo Day 2022, which took place on Saturday, 29 October. Held at DBS Asia X, the event was opened by President of ABYA Veronica Low and Key Judge Mr Tan Shuo Yan. All top 7 teams pitched their solutions to top-tier industry leaders, on the theme of “Digitalisation: Widening Your Horizons in the ASEAN Region”. Thank you to Key Sponsor Deloitte, Venue Sponsor DBS Bank, Programme Sponsor National Youth Council and Video Sponsor Youth Southeast Asia Leaders Initiatives (YSEALI), for their support in making this event a success.

Writer: Pauline Ruth
Editor: Tracy Chong and Edric

Introduction

Supported by Young NTUC and the National Youth Council, ABYA LEAPS (Leadership, Exploration and Progression) is an ASEAN-focused industry immersion programme, which aims to provide a platform for ASEAN youths to deepen their interest in the ASEAN market and sharpen their technical & soft skills that would be relevant in ASEAN. It is designed to equip and groom students to become industry-relevant future ASEAN-savvy talents.

ABYA LEAPS 2022 welcomed tertiary students from all ASEAN countries, regardless of their course of study. Grouped together in teams, the youths were tasked to present an action plan for digitising a particular company. 

 

In the lead-up to Demo Day, 6 teams were shortlisted, and mentored by industry experts of their fields. This allowed the teams to receive personalised consultations on the best approaches for their business in order to develop the most effective strategies to achieve their goals. They also attended workshops to learn how to develop their solutions which could suit the needs of businesses in ASEAN markets. Through various networking sessions, youths were able to hone skills, and build lasting networks with people from different backgrounds.

Demo Day

At Demo Day, the top 7 teams for ABYA LEAPS 2022 were invited to pitch their solutions, followed by the Panel Discussion. The 7 teams were:

 

  1. Team NIDS (New Innovation Digital Ideas), on deploying automated machines to boost productivity in Cambodia’s apparel industry. 

 

  1. Team Presto, on ways to maximise Laos’ economic growth through the use of technology in the agriculture sector.

 

  1. Team Rising Phoenix, on the use of Internet of Things to address food insecurity in Malaysia.

 

  1. Team Murch, on innovative ways to fundraise through merchandising that benefits suppliers and their customers.

 

  1. Team Eager Beaver, on the digitalisation of rice production in Vietnam in order to make it more sustainable.

 

  1. Team HVKKK, on the digitalisation of Vietnamese ports using the Transportation Management System (TMS) that could boost efficiency, and optimise the logistical process.

 

  1. Team Exotic, on human resources management and health care procedure in Vietnam (withdrew)

Team Rising Phoenix emerged as the winner of ABYA LEAPS 2022. Almeera Amsana, the representative from Team Rising Phoenix, encouraged the youths of ASEAN to join ABYA LEAPS 2023. “They think it can be difficult to join LEAPS because we have different languages, and also different accents that makes it difficult for them to interact with other teammates but don’t worry, you can ask your teammate to speak slowly or anything. We can also use our technology to interact easily, ” she added.

Following the pitches came the Panel Discussion, which consisted of the following distinguished guests: 

 

  1. Guest-of-Honour and Panelist, Mr Alvin Tan (Singapore Minister of State for Culture, Community, and Youth & Trade and Industry)

 

  1. Panelist, Ms Seah Gek Choo (Deloitte Southeast Asia Talent Leader)


3. Moderator, Mr Malminderjit Singh (Hume Brophy Senior Account Director and Regional Content Lead)

Mr Alvin Tan shared about the vibrancy of the ASEAN region, stating that there are many untapped opportunities for digitalisation here. He gave the example of an Indonesian batik enterprise which scaled up their business significantly using various social media platforms to sell their products, thus pointing to the greater effectiveness and ease of moving one’s business online. Ms Seah also mentioned that rural areas will greatly benefit from access to digital technologies, empowering people there to learn and improve their lives. 

 

Acknowledging the gap in access to technology in different parts of the ASEAN region, Ms Seah opined with a human resource viewpoint, that the outreach of digitalisation could reach out a lot more people than that of conventional methods. Hence, digitalisation, due to its greater reach, can improve talent scouting efforts to find the best fit for the client’s needs. Mr Alvin Tan added that businesses like Gojek or Grab use technologies to address and tailor their business model to the clients needs. 

 

The panel discussion concluded with both panellists emphasising the importance of equipping youth with soft skills such as communication and teamwork which are required in the workforce, given how important they are in building one’s career and reputation.

Closure

ABYA would like to congratulate all teams that participated in this incredible event. The level of disruptive and ground-breaking projects that were pitched were all outstanding! 

 

ABYA would also like to thank the distinguished judges:

  1. Key Judge, Mr Tan Shuo Yan (Senior Manager of Deloitte SEA Innovation)
  2. Judge, Ms Priscilla Ng (Global Account Manager at Deloitte)
  3. Judge, Mr Akash Mohan (Head of Platform Partnership for the Institutional Banking Group at DBS)
  4. Judge, Mr Ian Yip (Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiatives (YSEALI) and Alumni Coordinator at the U.S. Embassy). 

 

Special appreciation is also extended to:

Our Guest-of-Honour, Mr Alvin Tan, our distinguished guest, Ms Seah Gek Choo and moderator, Mr Malminderjit Singh.


Lastly, ABYA would like to take this opportunity to express its deepest gratitude towards our Key Sponsor Deloitte, our Venue Sponsor DBS Bank, our Programme Sponsor National Youth Council and our Video Sponsor Youth Southeast Asia Leaders Initiatives (YSEALI), for their immense support in the successful delivery of ABYA LEAPS 2022.

For more updates on future ABYA events, please join our community via the link here: https://www.aseanbusinessya.com/member-details/ or sign up to be a part of our executives here: https://www.aseanbusinessya.com/joinus/become-an-abya-executive/ !