Singapore Fintech Festival returns in December with round-the-clock virtual and physical events

THE annual Singapore Fintech Festival and Singapore Week of Innovation and Technology take place this December in a hybrid online-offline platform, with round-the-clock events.

Running from Dec 7 to 11, the event will feature exhibitors in areas like fintech, urban solutions, health and biomedical sciences, trade and connectivity, blockchain, artificial intelligence and 5G, said the organisers, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and Enterprise Singapore, in a statement on Monday.

Participants will have access to networking opportunities throughout the day covering all time zones, and organisers will also allow participating organisations to schedule one-on-one virtual meetings.

During "golden hour" time zones - referring to the periods where business hours overlap across different time zones - participants will hear keynote speakers from different regions coming together to share their perspectives on hot-button issues like financial inclusion, green technologies and sustainability. 

Certain cities will also host physical events to showcase their country's key government initiatives, homegrown start-ups and closed-door roundtables. 

The Covid-19 pandemic has triggered a paradigm shift for the annual event, dubbed SFF x SWITCH, but it has also given organisers an opportunity to explore new ways of presenting it, said MAS' chief fintech officer Sopnendu Mohanty in the statement. 

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"We are exploring a creative way to integrate global centres through an immersive digital engagement experience. We are confident that this approach will be able to bring together the global innovation community in spite of the current constraints in travel and meetings," he said.

Taking on the theme "People and Talent", the event will honour individuals who have shown resilience amid challenges and created new opportunities to advance society. 

There will also be a new element featuring digital events to engage the African fintech community.

The 2019 edition of the event attracted more than 60,000 participants from almost 140 countries.