Singapore Fintech Festival 2025: The FinTech Talent Blueprint: Navigating the New Era of FinTech Workforce Transformation,

Greetings from day two of Singapore Fintech Festival 2025. I have managed to navigate my way to Hall 3 (each is the size of a football field) at the right time (my calendar is on Sydney time). I am here to look at skills gaps, so this session on "FinTech Talent Blueprint: Navigating the New Era of FinTech Workforce Transformation" looks relevant. However, no one on the panel seems to be from training, education or human resources. The panel did not start with comments like "anything you learned in school is out of date ... Cutting edges work only happens in industry"m one comment I did agree with was the value of long internships, although the suggested year seems a bit long to me. 

Another panelist said they were willing to pay for top talent and train them. They also said every manager also has to be hands on with a project. That doesn't make sense to me: do senior people really have to be working at a technical level? At the Australian Defence Force HQ I worked for a senior air force officer. They were still qualified to fly a F-18, but would it make sense to sack them when they coul no longer fly (or now drones are making pilots obsolete). As I tell my students, the languages I trained on went out of use before they were born, but human nature doesn't change that fast, so project management is much the same l. As it happens, another panelist is speaking in the value of soft skills, including empathy. 

Overall, the panel was not very informative. Also, there was no time for questions, which is my favourite bit of any panel. Perhaps there is something good in the mentioned "Singapore FinTech Talent Report 2025".

 

AI Governance for the Global Financial System

Tom Worthington (me) and Jason Grant Allen from SMU
at Insights Forum 2025

Greetings from the Insights Forum roundtable on "AI Governance, stability and competitive dynamics: Aligning priorities for safe and effective AI adoption". I am not exactly sure what the forum is, or who by, But I happened to be in Singapore for another conference, so thought I would come along. Chatham House rules apply, so I can say what is said but not by whom. From some of the preliminary remarks I get the impression previous forums would have focused on blockchain and before that whatever tech was trendy.

The topic seems to be on risks from AI, rather than benefits. Speakers appear to be from international finance and banking. One speaker is expresing concern about the loss of bank to bank relationships in the Pacific. The result is remittances become more expensive and difficult. They suggest regulators can use AI to check compliance of banks quickly. This doesn't sound a compelling case when applied to traditional banks, as there aren't many and they have highly trained staff. However, it could open the market to new entrants. But then AI could be used to generate plausible fake details for scammers. 

Worryingly all the panelists appear to be experienced bankers, with no actual AI experts. I had been mentioned their companies have AI experts, but they haven't been invited to speak. We just hired someone who is a real AI expert. One panelists just said "Not just a talking head like me". They seemed to think this amusing. Would any other forum have someone saying how proud they were not to be competent. 

I asked the panel if the senior leadership teams in financial organisations have AI expertise, or are they all lawyers and accountants. Worryingly the first answer was that they spent several hours a day. That doesn't sound a good way to make decisions at our global institutions. 

One speaker made a useful point that banks face a threat from within where spies use a false identity to get a job in a company to steal information or money. Of course this happened in the past but is easier with remote employees.

This event raises the question as to if universities have looked in a similar way at their use of AI. Rather than just wondering about students cheating, how can AI provide better services to students. As an example, AI could suggest course credit for prospective students, based on past study and work l. This could allow universities to offer to cut a year or more off study time and tens of thousands of dollars. The AI could collate the required information and evidence. This would be a powerful incentive to enrol versus current practice, where the university says "enrol and we will see what we can do .. sorry now you have paid you are getting no credit". This is a personal experience I have had. At CIT I was assigned an expert to help me with ROL (Reconciliation of Prior Learning). I was given 80% of my qualification by RPL. In contrast a university held out the prospect of RPL. Already having two qualifications and a decade of experience (including designing a course for the university) I expected at least 33% credit, but got none.

ps: I bumped into Jason Grant Allen from SMU at the forum. 

Time to reform assessment for authenticity

Greetings from EduTech Asia in Singapore where a panel is discussing "Panel: Is it time for reform? The bid for authenticity in assessments". With Edwin Lim, Hwa Chong Institution, Yian Hoon Lim, Seng Kang Secondary School, Barbara Tajti, Saint John Mary International School and Kerry Moore, Stonyhurst International School Penang. There are many teachers from international schools in the audience. You may wonder why as a university lecturer I am at a school session. But there is a lot in common between international schools and universities. They have international students and have to cope with international needs. 

The topic of reflection just came up. This is something I teach, mentor and assess students on. I have spent many years being trained on how to do it, but I am still not sure I understand what it is. One thing I would like to explore is how to automate asking the student about the work they submitted: "Here you wrote ... why?".

Problem based learning and design thinking also came up. 

Instapod for Education

 The excitement of EduTech Asia was getting a little overwhelming so I retreated to one of the six Instapods installed on the conference floor.  These each accommodate four people at a small meeting table. Not completely soundproof, they appear only single glazed, but workable. There are smaller and larger pods available.

edX for Credentialing

Greetings from EduTech Asia in Singapore, where Christyl Potgieter, Director, Enterprise Partner Marketing at edX and Dr Paulina Pannen, Senior Expert, Indonesia Cyber Education Institute, Universitas Terbuka are talking on AI, skills and learning. edX has been around for some time, delivering puerly online courses, which were marketed as "MOOCs" Massive Open Online Courses. These did not catch on at traditional universities, but as is being discussed could still find a role to provide shorter qualifications (marketed as "microcredentials") for those who are unable to attend a traditional university program. 

Nanyang Polytechnic’s competency-based learning approach

Greetings from EduTech Asia in Singapore, where Sophia Wei and Tay Mia Eng, are speaking on Nanyang Polytechnic’s competency-based learning approach. This is very relevant as I was asked yesterday if I could create videos on professional skills, such as how to run a meeting, for professionals. While I have been trained in making training videos, the difficulty is how to position this for advanced technical students. Recently I had students comment to me that they used complex terms in their writing as they thought they needed to be "academic". Similarly, academics dismiss professional skills teaching as not academic. However these are areas which employers value and graduate suffer from a lack of. Tay Mia Eng gave the example of writing a resume, a task their paid with learning to use AI, to make it technical and relevant for STEM students.  

EduTech Asia in Singapore Expo and Silent Disco Conference

Greetings from EduTech Asia in Singapore. The trade show is about the same size as last year. I was surprised there was not more mention of AI on vendors stands, although there is in the title of conference talks. The conference venus takes some getting used to for those familiar with academic events. Rather than have to go upstairs to the conference rooms above the exhibition floor, some of the floor has been curtained off around the periphery. 

There are stages for the speakers and rows of seats for delegates, but the area I am in has 1,000 seats and three stages. The roar from the exhibition floor comes through the curtains. To overcome the noise the audience wear headphones, which are tuned to one of the three presentations taking place. The sound is excellent with the headphones, but the panel member farthest from the chair is having to wear headphone as well to hear. Also the room is very dark and so the large projection screens look uncomfortably bright. 

EcoTrain Microforest for Sustainable Education

In Singapore for Edutech Asia, I was taking in the sights and came across the EcoTrain Educational Centre. This is a carriage from Singapore's metro, set up as an environmental display for children. Outside I bumped into Associate Professor Adrian Loo, Deputy Director of the NUS Centre for Nature-based Climate Solutions, who explained the Microforest, being established next to the center. What makes this remarkable is it is a very narrow former garden, between a metro station, a busy road and a major shopping center, and yet you find lush growth and wildlife. There are lessons here not only for the children the center is aimed at but for us all. 

EDUtech Asia and Singapore FinTech Festival in November

Happy to meet up with people around EDUtech Asia and Singapore FinTech Festival, over the next two weeks. On this visit to Singapore I have no presentations planned, but have volunteered to fill in, if needed chairing or speaking at the events. Also happy to speak elsewhere if there is interest. 

EduTech Asia 5 to 6 November in Singapore

Here are my preliminary selections of sessions at EduTech Asia 5 to 6 November in Singapore:

Wednesday, 5 November 12:05 PM

Fireside chat: Harnessing the power of Generative AI for higher education

How AWS is advancing Generative AI in Higher Education across the Asia-Pacific region How AI can be leveraged responsibly to enhance teaching, learning and administration across university, college and polytechnic campuses Hear real-world success stories from global and local institutions leveraging this transformative technology  

Manoj Lohatepanont, Chulalongkorn University
Hannah Gapes, AMAZON WEB SERVICES, INC.

Lunch break and exhibition visit

Fireside chat: Flexible learning pathways – incorporating vocational training to boost skills

Enhancing students' technical skills while providing a strong academic foundation Developing stackable credentials, allowing learners to accumulate skills over time Assessing learning through competency-based assessments and industry-recognised certifications

Ann Lautrette, Taipei European School
Chetna Sabharwal, Association of Indian Principals (AIP)

Case study presentation: Enhancing teaching experiences through Nanyang Polytechnic’s competency-based learning approach

Integrating industry-relevant competencies to ensure that students are aligned with workforce demands Building knowledge, skills and attitudes through practical work tasks Showcasing results from the Diploma in AI & Data Engineering

Sophia Wei, Nanyang Polytechnic
Tay Mia Eng, Nanyang Polytechnic

Case study presentation: Building a seamless & borderless university with 5G networks at NUS

Transforming National University of Singapore’s (NUS) campus connectivity through ultra-fast reliable internet access Driving innovation and elevating the teaching and learning experience Fostering a mobile and adaptive learning environment

Nelson Wong, National University of Singapore

Panel: Building bridges – enriching learning experiences through cross-border collaborations

How cross-border collaborations can enhance curriculum development Exploring how such partnerships can enable institutions to share best practices and foster innovation Broadening students' horizons and exposing them to global opportunities 

Nicholas Paul Belcher, The International School @ ParkCity
Jake Pratley, GLOBIS Asia Campus
Aye Chan Oo, Scholatic International School Myanmar
Michael Galligan, Cognita Asia

Panel: Into the unknown – preparing learners for jobs that don’t exist yet

Equipping learners with foundational skills that will prepare them for roles in an unpredictable job market Breaking away from siloed content and embracing cross-disciplinary learning Nurturing lifelong learners who embrace change and remain curious throughout life  

Michael Yap, Coventry University
Angela Siew Hoong Lee, Sunway University
Roel Rodrigo, Malayan Colleges Laguna
Neelesh Bhatia, National University Singapore
Choon Hou Sim, Republic Polytechnic5:10 PM

Panel: Developing critical thinking and problem-solving skills through student-centred learning

How inquiry-based learning methods encourage students to explore questions and engage in critical analysis Integrating reflective practices into the learning process Assessing and evaluating students' critical thinking and problem-solving abilities

Jayson Bergania, University of Makati
Keith Sharp, American University of Phnom Penh
Mike Choong, Taylor's University
Noorzareith Sofeia Noordin, Sunway University

Thursday 6 November

Panel: Is it time for reform? The bid for authenticity in assessments

Designing authentic assessments that allow learners to demonstrate skills Improving existing models of summative assessment Tapping into AI to develop fairer, more accurate assessments

Edwin Lim, Hwa Chong Institution
Yian Hoon Lim, Seng Kang Secondary School
Barbara Tajti, Saint John Mary International School
Kerry Moore, Stonyhurst International School Penang

Case study presentation: Revolutionising learning with competency-based design thinking

Differentiating between competencies and abilities to sharpen learning outcomes Building and applying design competency maps using AI-powered tools Creating effective assessment rubrics for hands-on classroom activities and projects

Panel: Smarter marketing, recruitment & retention strategies with AI and automation

Increase conversion rates and reduce administrative load Using data to identify and attract students while improving targeting and segmentation in marketing campaigns Deploying AI-powered systems to nurture prospective students throughout recruitment processes  

Alan Go, Hanbridge Institute
Zulkarnan Abdul, Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS

HE RT 08: ⁠How can higher education prepare students for a global workforce shaped by AI and digital transformation?

This session is ideal for attendees from Higher Education education institutions. Participate in engaging discussions with your peers from around Asia!

Keynote Panel: The road to 2030 – what will learning look like in the next 5 years?

Yuhyun Park, DQ Institute
Graham Brown-Martin, Learning Without Frontiers
Kristie Chen, Bold Academy Pte. Ltd.
Pasi Sahlberg, University of Melbourne
Pak Tee Ng, National Institute of Education (NIE), Singapore

Best of EduTech Asia 2025

EduTech Asia 2025 is in Singapore 4 TO 6 November. The preliminary agenda is now out. Here are my selections from the Higher Education stream:

Pre-Conference Workshops: 4 November 2025

10:00 Revolutionise learning with competency-based design thinking

14:00 Blended learning 2.0! Designing a community of inquiry to enhance student learning

Conference Day 1: 5 November 2025

11:00 Panel: Can AI and data create a more personalised learning approach?

11:45 Fireside chat: The rise of the AI tutoring technology

14:10 Case study presentation: Enhancing teaching experiences through Nanyang Polytechnic’s competency-based learning approach

Singapore Fintech Festival 2025

At Singapore FinTech Festival 2022

The Singapore Fintech Festival is now accepting free registrations from academics. This is a very big event filling much of the Singapore Expo center. In 2022 I never actually got to any of the presentations and just wandered around talking to be on standards (including mayy Australians) and at the drinks in the evening. To help get me to the  I have volunteered to fill in if the scheduled chair doesn't turn up for a session.

What is on in Singapore 4 to 7 November?

I just booked for EduTech Asia 2025 in Singapore 5 to 6 November. Last year at the event Professor Angela Lee from Sunway University Malaysia, and I talked about AI and education in a "silent disco" fireside chat. Usually I give some talks and attend some extra conferences. Any suggestions? Anyone like a a presentation on something?

Temasek Polytechnic Singapore

Greetings from Temasek Polytechnic in Singapore. The closest equivalent in Australia would be a large TAFE, such as Canberra Institute of Technology. This is part of the EduTech Asia 2024 conference. We are in the T P Interactive Digital Experiments with AI Studio (IDEAS). This has a false floor, similar to a computer room, allowing easy recalling. There is a theatre style framework to attach screens, lights, & sensors. Students projects using augmented reality are on display.

For engineering students, TP has an advanced manufacturing lab. As well as computer controlled machines, there is a stimulated control centre, with workstations and a wall display. These have been cleverly located in the foyer of the engineering building, rather than hidden away.

Silent Disco at EduTech Asia

Greetings from stage 2 at EduTech Asia where I am about to have a fireside chat with Professor Angela Lee from Sunway University Malaysia. 

A "fireside chat" format was used, with the speakers in comfortable chairs in a row, each with a microphone. As there was only to of us, we took turns to ask each other prepared questions (although we soon went off script). This made for a comfortable, informal atmosphere. 

As for content, Professor Lee talked about using AI for analysis of the data generated from the student's study, to check how they are doing, offer helpful advice and improve the course. I talked about how I helped teach students to use AI in their assignments.

This is on the expo floor with the roar of delegates, so everyone wears headphones. These are the type used for a Silent Disco. This works well and might be useful for some educational environments.

ps: One question from the floor was on generative AI institutional policy. I was surprised by this as I assumed that by now every educational institution would have a policy and guidelines for staff and students, but apparently not. So I suggested looking at those from the Australian National University:

1. Guide for students: best practice when using Generative AI, ANU 2024
3. Artificial Intelligence including generative AI, ANU Library Guide, 2024
5. Generative AI and data governance, ANU guide for staff
7. ChatGPT and other forms of generative AI, statement from Professor Maryanne Dever, Pro Vice-Chancellor (Education and Digital), 2 May 2023
9. AI in Academia: Where does ANU stand with ChatGPT?, Woroni (ANU Student Newspaper), 15.6.2024 
10. AI for learning and assessment, powerpoint presentation for students, 2024

City of the Future in Singapore is Singapore

Liam Young 

On a brief stopover in Singapore, I happened across "City Utopia" at the Semi Permanent Festival of Creativity & Design. This was sponsored by Audi, and the venue was the lotus shaped ArtScience Museum. There were electric cars displayed as art, and in between a podium and seats for the talk. The talk turned out to be a performance, with Liam Young narrating a video about a planet wide single city of the future. The concept was that humanity could live in one interconnected metropolis, with the rest of the planet returned to wilderness. 

Visualization of city infrastructure
 at Singapore City Gallery

The graphics for the world city were impressive, showing towering buildings, made up of futuristic, and old fashioned elements. But it was a little too dark and Blade Runner for my liking. I much preferred the actual city of the future, all around us: Singapore. Young mentioned Sim City, and this also featured in a multimedia display at the Singapore City Gallery, with their version called "Sing City".

I much preferred Singapore City's take on the future. But Aldi might not be happy with it. At the interactive Sing City display I selected the private car option, and the simulation showed all the green space converted to car parks, and roads clogged with cars. The message was clear: we need to move away from dependence on private cars, even if they are electric. 

Regardless of if we agree with the futures shown by Young or Singapore, such visions are useful in making informed choices.

Liam Young is an architect who doesn't design real buildings. He is not the first I have come across.  In 2001, design students at University of Canberra had my home office as their assignment. I was surprised to find the top design was by someone who did not plan a career doing real buildings, instead they were going to do them for video games. I presented my own vision of the city of Canberra to a Bauhaus class of design students working on a design for Sydney.

Anything Happening in Singapore or India in April?

Singapore Fintech Festival, 2022 

I will be in Singapore April 4 & 26 to 28, Goa 6 to 19, and Bengaluru 21 to 24. Any education or computing events I can help with, while there? Any conferences or events I can attend, or anyone, I should visit? I get a bit bored looking at museums. ;-)

On my visit to Singapore last year I have a talk on work integrated learning at the Singapore Institute of Technology, on Sustainable Computing at EduTech Asia, was on a panel about satellite data security with government officials, and attended the Fintech Festival, plus Predict22's Cyber-security Summit.

I see Microsoft Research is a few hundred meters from where I am staying in Bengaluru. Is that somewhere you can just wander into? I visited Microsoft Research Cambridge, but that was by invitation.

Online Dating for Conference Deligates

Currently I am in Singapore for five conferences. One thing I noticed was that they are using applications like Swapcard, for delegates. This provides the agenda for the event, a QR code to get your badge at the event. But it also provides a way to find people, before, during and after the live event. This aspect is likely to be of great interest to businesses wanting to contact potential clients, as well as academics wanting to meet up.

Using a Job Application as the Capstone Exercise for Work Integrated Learning

On the Yogyakarta Train,
after TALE 2019 

On a visit to Singapore for EduTech Asia 2022, I will stopping off at a university to talk about using a job application as the capstone for work integrated learning. I would be happy to talk at other institutions, while in Singapore, or elsewhere. This is an update to a paper I gave at the 2019 IEEE International Conference on Engineering, Technology and Education (TALE). That was a few months before the COVID-19 pandemic, and I had no idea that my idea of designing a blended learning module which could be quickly converted for full online delivery in an emergency would be needed so soon. I will discuss how it went and what universities should do next post-pandemic.

Original paper:

Worthington, T. (2019, December). Blend and Flip for Teaching Communication Skills to Final Year International Computer Science Students. In 2019 IEEE International Conference on Engineering, Technology and Education (TALE) (pp. 1-5). IEEE. https://doi.org/10.1109/TALE48000.2019.9225921

Back to the Conference Face to Face

I’m planning to attend to EDUtech Asia in Singapore, 8 to 10 November. This will be my first big conference face to face since the pandemic started in early 2022. I will be going early for the Singapore Fintech Festival, 2 to 4 November, and the Predict22 Singapore Summit, 1 to 2 November.  I have decided to not to volunteer to present on the large stages at conferences, but happy to speak at a university, or professional meeting (let me know if you would like a talk). So far I have one uni talk booked on work integrated learning, and a small talk on Innovation for sustainabile computing in the EduTech show-and-tell.