Sep 55 min read

IBEW & Bex Asia 2024

IBEW 2024

The International Built Environment Week (IBEW) was opened today by Mr. Desmond Lee, Minister for National Development, and the Minister-in-Charge of Social Services Integration. The event highlights the continued progress of the built environment industry, presenting the latest advancements, technologies, and sustainable practices that are shaping the future of the region’s built environment.

As the industry evolves, IBEW continues to stay ahead of the curve in showcasing its latest trends and advancements, while supporting young talents and fostering a culture of innovation. IBEW 2024 is also aligned with the refreshed Built Environment Industry Transformation Map (ITM) 2025, and features more than 100 speakers addressing topics in sustainability, digitalisation, and innovation, empowering participants to drive transformation and shape the industry’s future today.

Solve Tomorrow's Built Environment Today at IBEW

The 3-day IBEW Conference will bring together a global community of thought leaders and industry pioneers to address the critical challenges and opportunities shaping our built environment. The theme, “Solving for Tomorrow, Today,” emphasises the urgency for the industry to adopt an action-oriented mindset. Through keynote presentations, panel discussions, site tours to exemplary projects, and masterclasses, delegates will explore innovative strategies for a sustainable and resilient future.

Kicking off the conference, Jan-Hendrik Goldbeck, CEO & Managing Director of GOLDBECK GmbH, will deliver the opening keynote address. He will delve into the pressing issues facing our world and illuminate the role of the built environment industry in creating a better tomorrow. Jan-Hendrick is a visionary speaker who painted the challenges and the solutions that the industry can bring towards building a better future.

At the keynote, he stressed on the need to think differently, to tackle challenges and also on the rationale for a product-service ecosystem, where we have the Lifecycle responsibility coming to life, and the need for a Systematic, seamless linking of services for the customer over the entire lifecycle of buildings, an Integrated combination of design and construction with services. It was also essential that we replace fragmented frustration with wholistic customer experience optimisation. To develop Innovative Strength - the key drivers are Innovation, Products and Systems

Other keynote speakers featured at IBEW:

Gonzalo Galindo Gout, Chief Executive Officer, CEMEX Ventures
Ar. Seah Chee Huang, Chief Executive Officer, DP Architects
Ravi Menon, Ambassador for Climate Action & Senior Adviser (National Climate Change Secretariat), Prime Minister’s Office Strategy Group

“IBEW is a catalyst for change in the built environment, where industry leaders converge to share ideas and drive tangible action. By uniting forces and embracing innovation, we’re transforming our cities into vibrant and sustainable hubs. Together, we’re not just discussing the future; we’re building it,” said Amy Marks, Executive Vice President, Global Strategy of Symetri.

ConTech Summit

ConTech Summit takes the spotlight at IBEW 2024, underscoring its immense potential to revolutionise the built environment sector. This exclusive event, focused on startups, has created a dynamic platform for investors, innovators, and industry leaders to connect and explore emerging technologies. By bringing together startups, investors, and established players, the ConTech Summit will accelerate deal flow and provided commercial opportunities for these promising companies.

Attendees will have the opportunity to explore cutting-edge technologies, forge valuable partnerships, and gain insights from regional experts. The summit will feature a startup showcase leading into evening pitches, alongside keynote presentations and a panel discussion on "The Future of ConTech in the Region."

In addition, to the ConTech Summit, ConTech Exchange Pavilion (CTx) at Build Environment Xpo Asia (BEX Asia) will spotlight six other emerging local and overseas Built Environment startups centred around the themes of automation and robotics, site management platform, building inspection, maintenance and facility management, digital asset delivery and management. These startups contribute to the key transformation areas outlined in the Built Industry Transformation Map (BE ITM).

Other IBEW Events

● BEX Asia (4 to 6 September): Offering a comprehensive sourcing platform, Asia’s premier built environment trade exhibition returns this year. Showcasing over 150 brands and attracting more than 7,000 attendees from 52 countries and regions in 2023, this year’s BEX Asia continues to feature market-ready and innovative solutions, including a robotics zone at this year’s trade show. BEX Asia is supported by leading trade associations including Society of Project Managers (SPM), Institute of Engineers Singapore (IES), and Singapore Green Building Council (SGBC).

● BCA Awards (6 September): Awards will be presented to well-deserving recipients to recognise their high standards in pushing industry transformation through digitalisation, productivity, quality, design, and engineering excellence. This year introduces two new awards: Company of the Year and Project of the Year. Ms Indranee Thurai Rajah, Minister, Prime Minister's Office, Second Minister for Finance and Second Minister for National Development will grace the event and present the awards.

● CEOs in Conversation (6 September): Themed "Accelerating Decarbonization by Creating Value," this exclusive session will convene senior leaders from across the built environment sector. Focused on driving sustainable practices, the gathering fosters collaboration and knowledge sharing. Mr. Ravi Menon, Singapore's first Ambassador for Climate Action and Senior Adviser for the National Climate Change Secretariat (NCCS) and former managing director of the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), will deliver opening remarks, setting the stage for a productive dialogue. He will be part of the discussion with other distinguished speakers such as, Tan Swee Yiow, Chairman of Keppel REIT Management Limited, Piyush Gupta, Chief Executive Officer of DBS Group, Natalie Craig, Chief Executive of Cushman & Wakefield, and more.

● Learning Journeys (6 September): Attendees will have the opportunity to tour the sites of exemplary projects in Singapore that put advanced construction, adaptive reuse, robotics and artificial intelligence into practice. Attendees will gain firsthand experiences to understand how innovative solutions work in practical situations.

● Future Talent Programme (4 to 6 September): The Future Talent programme aims to provide young talents with opportunities to enhance their understanding of the built environment, as well as to inspire them to explore careers in the built environment sector. In this year’s International Building Design Competition, students are invited to unleash their creativity in design and engineering as they envision their future built environment. Students can also look forward to a panel discussion session where they can hear from inspiring industry professionals who have each carved out successful careers in the built environment.

BEX Asia 2024

BEX Asia is the leading market intelligence platform for the built environment industry that fosters conversations amongst innovators, solution providers, distributors and sellers with decision makers, buyers and specifiers to generate successful business connections and leads. Buyers and sellers can expect a wide range of activities from exhibitions, technical seminars, business matchmaking and networking, conferences and keynotes all accessible on a user-friendly digital platform.

This year’s show emphasises the industry’s dynamic startup ecosystem, showcasing emerging technologies poised to revolutionise the industry. Attendees can explore the latest advancements in robotics, automation, smart construction solutions, green energy, and predictive analytics from over 40 companies at BEX’s five startup pavilions including:

· IES-Incubator and Accelerator (IES-INCA): A strategic initiative by The Institution of Engineers, Singapore (IES), dedicated to empowering engineers in technopreneurship and innovative technology ventures that are in the scaling phase.

· JTC LaunchPad: A playground for early-stage startups to explore, testbed and collaborate on innovation solutions that has grown to become one of the Asia’s most populous and dynamic entrepreneurial ecosystems.

· Digitalisation & Innovation Pavilion: Featuring startup companies showcasing the industry’s emerging technologies.

· ConTech Exchange Pavilion (CTx): Spotlighting six emerging local and overseas Built Environment startups, CTx contributes to key transformation areas outlined in the Built Environment Industry Transformation Map (BE ITM).

· Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation (HKSTP): 12 pioneering PropTech & ConTech startups specialising in smart building and sustainable solutions, construction robotics take centre stage at the HKSTP Pavilion.