Singapore – “When we think about empowerment through digital tools and platforms, there is no better audience [and] no better place to start from than developers. How do we create platforms that can empower, enable, and inspire developers to chase after their dreams?” Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said in his keynote address at the Microsoft Developer Day event, held in Singapore on 27 May.
As part of his recent tour to Asia, Satya met with promising local students and developers to learn more about how they are leveraging opportunities on Microsoft’s platforms to create innovations that can help build a people-centric Smart Nation. Satya also witnessed the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between Microsoft and the National University of Singapore (NUS), which paves the way for closer cooperation on data science research and talent development, to support Singapore’s Smart Nation vision.
Here is a snapshot of the activities that took place in during his visit to Singapore:
Breakfast with students and developers
In the morning, Satya joined 15 students, developers and startups at breakfast to learn more about their technology innovations, and engaged in casual conversations on how to leverage Microsoft Azure, Universal Windows Platform and other technologies to power new projects.
Team Yuuy, student developers from Nanyang Polytechnic who topped Singapore’s Imagine Cup 2016 World Citizenship competition, showcased Ruth, an interactive social robot to assist the elderly as a personal assistant. Brought to life with the help of Microsoft Project Oxford, Windows 10 Speech Recognition and Synthesis and Microsoft Azure, Ruth not only understands speech and context, but can reciprocate with appropriate verbal answers, respond to emotions and display expression feedback. Ruth may also make use of the Internet of Things (IoT) to monitor the home environment, such as detecting a gas leakage, and can call for help via Microsoft Skype API when the elderly home occupant is in danger.
“Seeing students and entrepreneurs take our platforms and tools, and having those platforms ignite their own dreams and passions, is absolutely fantastic,” Satya said. “We want to be the best company to empower your dreams to change the world, and getting the day started with those kinds of dreams is the best dream come true for me.”
Empowering next-generation innovators to realise Singapore’s Smart Nation vision
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OhVj4tEgO2A
Following the breakfast session, Satya joined in the Microsoft Developer Day event at NUS University Cultural Centre, where he delivered a keynote address on “Empowering Smart Nation Development with Young Innovators” to over 1,700 students and developers.
“As a company that’s been here for 25 years, what matters is the local ingenuity that we’ve been able to foster,” Satya said. “I’m so glad that we are working with the National University of Singapore to create a new curriculum around data science, because proficiency with data is going to be the new currency going forward. Whether you’re talking about AI or machine learning, it has to start with people being able to harness the power of data, and this power can impact many changes in our lives.”
Satya emphasised the role that local developers can play in helping organisations embrace digital transformation, to realise Singapore’s Smart Nation vision by harnessing technology to the fullest, improving the lives of citizens, creating more opportunities, and building stronger communities.
“Applications around IoT, married with intelligence, are going to change the world,” Satya said. “I had the chance to learn about Astoria Solutions, a startup using Azure to bring the next level of safety and productivity to workers in oil and gas through a solution which tracks and automatically ensures that [workers’ whereabouts] are monitored. They have not only built a solution that’s very successful right here in Singapore but, through the help of Microsoft, are taking it to other markets, with customers even in the United States.”
Satya added, “Mixed reality, presence, and having untethered mobility where the analog and digital worlds finally merge are going to have perhaps the most profound impact in our lives, and already I see enthusiasm to build these applications. When you change the way you see the world, you change the world you see – especially in the hands of developers.”
Harnessing the power of data science and analytics
For his final event, Satya presided over the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Microsoft and NUS to collaborate on data science education and research.
With the collaboration framework in place, NUS will be the first university in Asia to adopt Microsoft’s data science curriculum. It will be able to leverage assets to train capabilities in data analytics and data science, developing much-needed talent in these fields and fostering a pool of skilled individuals equipped with a strong understanding of data and analytics, in support of Singapore’s Smart Nation vision.
“Data by itself is not going to do anything. It is humans who actually reason over all of that data and turn that into real impact,” Satya said. “What’s going to define our progress is not the consumption but the creation of digital technology, and that’s really what we want to enable and empower. There is no better place to start than with institutions like NUS, with innovation in the core curriculum of how we teach – new things that are going to really change the world.”