 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Cleverdis Editor in Chief Delivered Keynote at HTNG Asia-Pacific Conference |
|
 © photo: Cleverdis Singapore, 13th-15th July: HTNG's Asia-Pacific Meeting and Conference kicked off at the Singapore's Ritz Carlton Hotel with a keynote presentation by Cleverdis Editor-in-Chief Richard Barnes. This was the second annual conference organised by HTNG in the Asia-Pacific region, and despite difficult economic times in the region, the conference was very well attended, with hoteliers and service providers flocking to the equatorial nation for this exceptional forum. Two days of general conference sessions included topics such as : - "The Age of Choice: the Evolution of our Habitat... and the Role Played by Technology" by Richard Barnes; - "The Technology Behind the City of Dreams" - presented by Roger Seshadri, VP and CIO, Melco Crown Entertainment; - "Case Studies; Why Standards Drive Profits" (featuring a roundtable with Harbans Singh, Managing Director, UBIQ Global Solutions; Patrick Andres, Managing Director, SynXis Asia Pacific; Stephen Burke, VP, Product Development, Knowcross Solutions Pvt. Ltd.; Bryce Hodgson, Global Alliances, Intelligenz; and Brian Manning, Managing Director, CMS Hospitality; - "TV from the Internet: Where will we find the Bandwidth ?" featuring Ted Horner, Managing Director, E Horner & Associates, Pty Ltd; Greg Dawes, Systems Engineer, Zhone Technologies; Tom Duke, CTO iBAHN; Silvio Reale, CEO Asia Pacific, VDA Multimedia; and Jeffrey Soong, CEO BNS Ltd. - "Data Security: a Practical Approach for Hotels", with Emöke Bitter, Director, Data Security, Visa Worldwide; - "Painting the Guest Room Green" was hosted by Fraser Hickox, Managing Director, Hospitality Laboratory Limited and featured Matthew Cobham, Senior Manager, LiDAC ASEAN & AP, Philips Lighting; Mike Gopal, Managing Director, AMX India; Michael Linck, Strategic Relationships ? Hospitality, Lutron Electronics, and Jason Tirado, International Sales Director, Crestron; - "No Rules: The New World of Social Media", with Tony Yeoh, VP Global Technology - Asia Pacific, InterContinental Hotels Group - And "IT Spending in Turbulent Times: The CIO Perspective" - another roundtable, hosted by Terence Ronson, Managing Director, Pertlink Limited, featured Mark Fancourt, VP Information Technology, Pan Pacific Hotels Group; Shane Izaks, General Manager - Information Technology - the Peninsula Group; Nick Price, CIO/CTO Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group and Joseph Wong, Managing Director, IT, Asia-Pacific, Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide. Reports from various HTNG workgroups were presented at the conference, and with a large number of first time participants, the latter also participate in various workgroups. Age of Choice Highlights Thought Leadership The keynote presentation by Richard Barnes echoed and expanded upon interviews and ideas gathered in the latest SMARTreport, where Accor Group's Michel Gicquel and Atome Associates' Natacha Froger explained how they were working on setting a new roadmap for the industry in terms of room design and the use of space. Mr Barnes' keynote address underlined the fact that the hotel, like the home space, is evolving towards a third era: the digital or virtual age, where the distribution of space is changing. It echoed the sentiment that we are indeed in the midst of a profound transformation, and in the hotel sector, those who are able to grasp this will be ahead of the game in coming years. The presentation will be reproduced in the form of a comprehensive report which will be released shortly for HTNG members as well as readers of the Cleverdis Hotel Innovations and Technologies SMARTreport. |
Privacy | Policy Trademarks | Code Credits | Contact Us