The Knowledge to Decide

Spire Research and Consulting sponsored the Global Brand Protection Innovation Programme’s (GBPIP) Intellectual Property Summit Asia 2017 held in Bangkok, Thailand from 14 to 15 December 2017. The Spire team shared our track record in brand protection performance management and consulting with event participants. The GBPIP summit aimed to study the global challenges manufacturers face from counterfeiters and look-alike products, discussing current and emerging best practices used to protect brands from unsafe imitations. Leon Perera, CEO of Spire Research and Consulting and Japnit Singh, Deputy CEO at Spire Research and Consulting attended the event to engage with event participants. They shared Spire’s extensive experience in the brand protection space, which includes counterfeit share measurement, brand protection program ROI measurement and anti-counterfeit consulting. https://www.spireresearch.com/newsroom/events/spire-sponsors-gbpips-intellectual-property-summit-as

Spire Singapore collaborated with the Singapore Children’s Society (SCS) for the seventh consecutive year, in support of AmCham Singapore’s Corporate Community Day (CCD) 2017. This marks a decade of Spire’s continuous participation in the CCD program, which aims to advocate corporate volunteerism. Spire Singapore took beneficiaries of the Singapore Children’s Society to an indoor theme park at KidZania in Sentosa which provided children with the chance to role-play real world jobs and earn play money via activities such as Sticky Candy, MV Filming and Kiss 92 radio station. A short dance performance followed by a ‘Draw my ambition’ exercise gave Spire team members an opportunity to interact with the children via confidence-building activities. Spire is immensely proud to support the noble and vital work of the Singapore Children’s Society, our CCD partner. https://www.spireresearch.com/newsroom/events/spire-joins-amcham-corporate-community-day-for-tenth-consecutive-

Spire Research and Consulting’s Director Yap Far Loon was honored to be appointed as moderator at the 4th South-East Asia Port Expansion Summit 2017 organized by the Noppen Group. The summit was held on 26 October 2017 in Kuala Lumpur. It discussed challenges and opportunities in obtaining sustainable project financing. Yap Far Loon, Business Development Director, Public Sector, Financial Services and ICT for Spire Research and Consulting, moderated the discussion panel on financing for port expansion projects. He focused the discussion on challenges and innovative business models for Public Private Partnerships (PPPs). For successful PPPs, the roles and responsibilities need to be defined clearly to all stakeholders. Local partners should also be given concessionaire flexibility to add intangible business value. Yap also shared his insights on practical business models for PPPs and how exit-based PPP models can dilute private sector investment through the listing of PP

As China aims to shift from quantity to quality economic growth in 2018, it aims to foster high-quality job creation in fields like robotics and artificial intelligence (AI), while forestalling global financial risks. Will 2018 still see China regain its old dominance of global growth? Leon Perera, Chief Executive Officer of Spire Research and Consulting, shared his insights in China Daily – Asia Weekly. The world economy is poised for an upturn. This is not only due to China’s economic success. Perera remarked that the decrease in the headline US corporate tax rate from 35% to 21% – one of the lowest in the developed world; and Japan’s economic reforms under Prime Minister Shinzo Abe are some of the contributing factors to the improved global economic outlook in 2018. Moreover, disruptive technologies such as drones and AI will give rise to employment opportunities globally in new sectors, compensating for eliminated traditional jobs. However, this movement depends on ho

As a new year dawns, Singapore continues to focus on becoming a cashless society. Despite several unsuccessful attempts in the past, many nationwide initiatives are set to launch soon. Will this be the year of change? Japnit Singh, Deputy Chief Executive Officer at Spire Research and Consulting shared his insights, published on Today Online’s news portal. The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) will launch common Quick Response (QR) codes next year. Moreover, the largest payment network in Singapore – Nets – will implement a QR code system in the middle of 2018 across all of its 100,000 acceptance points. However, Japnit opined that security concerns still loom. Previously, lack of interoperability confused consumers, whereas transaction and terminal fees prevented small businesses from offering credit card or Nets payments. This time around, fraudulent QR codes with malicious software to steal data and access customer bank accounts are causing trouble. It remains to

Video games and movies have long been entertaining us with ever-more sophisticated and realistic computer-generated special effects. The latest trend in computer-generated experiences is Augmented Reality (AR), which is pulling graphics out of computer displays and television screens to integrate these into our real-world environment. With projected growth of 95 per cent a year from 2011, to reach revenues of USD5.2 billion in 2017, will AR succeed in blurring the line between the real and virtual user experience? What is AR? Simply put, Augmented Reality enables superimposition of computer generated data onto our direct experience of reality. It aims to enhance the user’s current awareness of reality by supplementing the real world with 3D virtual objects. The term – Augmented Reality – was originally coined in 1990 by former Boeing researcher Tom Caudell. The technology gradually spread to other platforms such as mobile applications in 2008. New AR mapping and social to

India’s e-tailing industry has the potential to grow from USD0.6 billion in 2012 to USD76 billion by 2021 – more than a hundredfold in 10 years. What do firms need to know about e-tailing in India to ride this wave of growth? India’s e-tailing industry India’s e-commerce market is projected to reach USD20 billion by 2015. By 2021, the projected growth would be a hundredfold, from USD0.6 billion in 2012 to USD76 billion. India’s e-tailing sector is booming, dominated by start-ups with backing from venture capital funds and driven by the younger generation. The sector’s growth as well as the rise in number of Internet users in India is attracting established players to enter the e-commerce business. Why is e-commerce booming? India’s e-commerce market is set to reach USD6 billion in 2015 with scope for more growth due to the growing Internet user population and increased usage of mobile phones. Some of the key factors behind this growth include: Rise in Internet user