In December 2024, I had the privilege of representing Nanyang Technological University (NTU), alongside Zhao Peilin, a Ph.D. candidate in Transportation Engineering, and Ou Jiajun, a research assistant at NTU’s School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, to participate in the annual Asia Pacific Information and Communication Technology Awards 2024 (APICTA 2024) held in Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei.

APICTA 2024 is a prestigious international ICT competition celebrating the Asia-Pacific region's innovation, creativity, and information and communication technology excellence. The event brought together talented teams and industry experts, offering participants a platform to showcase their innovative solutions and gain insights into emerging technology trends. Although we didn't secure a podium finish, the experience provided us with valuable insights into innovation, entrepreneurship, and international competition..

APICTA Opening Ceremony: A Grand Start

The APICTA competition commenced with an opening ceremony officiated by His Royal Highness, Crown Prince Haji Al-Muhtadee Billah. The event atmosphere was grand and lively, and we felt the high standards and rigour of this international competition, which served as a powerful motivator for us to put forth our best for the competition.

Pitching WiFish WiFi: Lessons in the Hot Seat

Our Team’s project, WiFish WiFi, is a platform designed to revolutionise large-scale intelligent hardware resource sharing among users. It aims to provide efficient, low-cost, distributed services such as storage, edge computing, and content distribution. The solution was conceptualised based on a clear market and technological opportunity where, currently, the broadband ecosystem suffers from poor product stickiness, under-utilised hardware resources, and limited user incentives. WiFish WiFi addresses these problems by creating strong economic incentives for users to share idle resources.

The project also allowed me to apply the knowledge of innovation management, marketing strategy, design thinking, and other methodologies I acquired through  Master of Science in Technopreneurship and Innovation (MSc TIP).

Although our team's project was carefully designed, we encountered several technical issues due to insufficient equipment debugging during the closed-door roadshow. This made it challenging to demonstrate product functionality smoothly. Additionally, we were unprepared for the judges’ questions regarding the market size in Singapore, a gap that reflected the need for deeper research and readiness.

While these setbacks were disappointing, they served as valuable learning moments, affirming the importance of comprehensive preparation, not only in the areas of creativity and technology but also in practicality and a deep understanding of the market, key elements of entrepreneurship, as emphasised in MSc TIP.