SINGAPORE, Nov. 18, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — The Singapore Management University (SMU) hosted the third RI-SING University Network (RUN) meeting on 12-13 November 2024, bringing together top educational leaders from Singapore and Indonesia to strengthen partnerships in education, research, and human capital development.

RUN, comprising all six autonomous universities in Singapore and five leading public universities in Indonesia, serves as a pivotal platform for advancing educational exchanges and collaborative research initiatives aligned with both nations’ growth and innovation goals. This year’s meeting highlighted SMU’s commitment to fostering impactful partnerships that address complex regional challenges and prepare the next generation of skilled professionals.

“Indonesia, with its dynamic and rapidly expanding economy, offers tremendous potential for academic and research collaboration. By partnering closely with Indonesian universities and our fellow Autonomous Universities in Singapore, we aim to deepen knowledge exchange that benefits both countries,” said Professor Lily Kong, President of SMU, in her opening remarks.

Key Highlights at RUN: 

Human Capital Development Through Bilateral Cooperation

SMU’s ongoing collaboration with Indonesian universities focuses on human capital development through cross-border learning initiatives such as the Youth Mobility Programme (YMP) and the Human Capital Partnership Arrangement. These initiatives facilitate student internships and offer invaluable learning experiences, equipping students with the workforce skills needed for an increasingly globalised world.

Strengthened Partnerships with Leading Indonesian Universities

The RUN network continues to strengthen SMU’s partnerships with top Indonesian universities, such as Universitas Indonesia (UI), Institut Teknologi Bandung (ITB), and Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM), Sepuluh Nopember Institute of Technology and Institut Pertanian Bogor. These partnerships foster collaborative research, joint academic programmes, and student exchanges, providing opportunities to address shared regional priorities in fields like innovation, sustainability, and human capital development.

A Vision for Postgraduate and Professional Education

Looking ahead, SMU envisions expanding its collaborative efforts under the framework of the Human Capital Partnership Arrangement and the RUN network. The university aims to further develop postgraduate programmes, joint research initiatives, and professional continuing education that address regional needs and contribute to ASEAN’s growth.

A Commitment to Regional Development

The RUN meeting serves as a pivotal milestone in strengthening Singapore–Indonesia academic partnerships. The discussions aimed to deepen existing collaborations by exploring new areas aligned with strategic priorities, expanding opportunities for students and faculty to participate in impactful exchanges and joint research, and fostering a resilient academic network to address regional and global challenges.

“This was a great platform for collaboration between the Singapore universities and their Indonesia counterparts.  We should consider expanding the Indonesian university network to include universities based outside of Java Island,” said Professor Faiz Syuaid, Director for Research, Technology and Community Service of the Ministry of Higher Education, Science and technology Indonesia.

About Singapore Management University

Established in 2000, Singapore Management University (SMU) is recognised for its disciplinary and multi-disciplinary research that addresses issues of global relevance, impacting business, government, and society. Its distinctive education, incorporating innovative experiential learning, aims to nurture global citizens, entrepreneurs and change agents. With more than 13,000 students, SMU offers a wide range of bachelors, masters and PhD degree programmes in the disciplinary areas associated with six of its eight schools – Accountancy, Business, Computing, Economics, Law and Social Sciences. Its seventh school, the SMU College of Integrative Studies, offers degree programmes in deep, integrative interdisciplinary education. The College of Graduate Research Studies, SMU’s eighth school, enhances integration and interdisciplinarity across the various SMU postgraduate research programmes that will enable students to gain a holistic learning experience and well-grounded approach to their research. SMU also offers a growing number of executive development and continuing education programmes. Through its city campus, SMU focuses on making meaningful impact on Singapore and beyond through its partnerships with industry, policy makers and academic institutions. https://www.smu.edu.sg/

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SOURCE Singapore Management University (SMU)

New BCG Survey of 770 CEOs, CFOs, and COOs from Europe, the Middle East, and South Africa Highlights Need for More Companies to Adopt a Strategic Approach to Cost Optimization

BOSTON, Nov. 18, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Inflation, increased barriers to trade, and relatively low global growth are among the factors currently placing tremendous pressure on business leaders and forcing firms to review and re-evaluate their costs to stay competitive and innovate. Despite these high stakes, only 48% of companies on average achieve their cost savings targets. Further, only 35% of executives report that their organizations’ approach to cost is strategic and planned, while the remaining 65% admit that their most recent cost-optimization program was an ad-hoc response to changing market conditions.

These are among the findings of a new report being published today by Boston Consulting Group (BCG). Titled Leading Edge: How Pioneering Companies Achieve Cost Excellence, it is informed by a survey of 770 CEOs, CFOs, and COOs from 21 countries across Europe, the Middle East, and including South Africa that BCG conducted with FT Longitude. The respondents represent companies from various industries, with annual revenues ranging from $100 million to more than $100 billion.

About 20% of the organizations in the survey are identified as “cost optimization pioneers” that outperform other organizations on operational and cost improvement goals. These are companies that meet most, or all, of their process and productivity improvement targets and at least 60% of their cost savings targets. A critical factor in their success is their early adoption of AI. In this group, 56% already consider AI to be an integral or significant contributor to cost competitiveness in the short term, and 70% of cost leaders say AI will become integral to operational efficiency within five years.

Overall, 93% of the surveyed companies are currently using AI to reach their cost optimization goals—or intend to do so within the next 18 months. In the short term, it is used tactically to create immediate cost savings and productivity improvements. As AI advances, executives expect it to play an even greater role: 50% expect it to become integral to their cost strategy within three to five years, and a further 44% expect the technology to contribute significantly to their achievement of cost goals.

One of the ways that cost optimization pioneers manage the cost optimization process differently from other organizations is by embracing an “always-on” approach that enables them to create an overarching cost-focused company culture. The survey highlights that organizations that treat cost optimization as an ongoing, “always-on” process achieve, on average, 62% of their savings targets, compared with just 43% for companies with time-limited one-off programs. Further, 85% of always-on programs hit most, or all, of their process improvement targets, while for periodic programs it’s only 74%. When it comes to productivity the difference is even more stark: 89% compared with just 69%.

“Our client work suggests that a more holistic approach enables companies to tackle deep-rooted, structural cost factors that can only be solved with long-term commitment,” said Paul Goydan, a managing director and senior partner at BCG, and global lead for the firm’s cost and efficiency offer. “These always-on businesses, which position themselves to optimize cost structures in boom times as well as in times of crisis, also outperform the rest on criteria including investor value, competitive position, and financial risk exposure. Other organizations have a lot to learn from them.”

The report stresses the importance of the roles that effective change management and strong, committed leadership play in determining the success or failure of a company’s cost optimization program. For 62% of the companies surveyed, cost transformation translates into new skills requirements. And increased adoption of AI makes skills shortcomings even more likely: 70% of CEOs, COOs, and CFOs said that automation of processes and workflows has created skills gaps in the workforce.

Among the cost optimization pioneers, 82% said that leadership communicates from the top down—with the CEO taking center stage–in order to embed cost awareness into everyday operations, compared with just 37% of underperforming businesses. The pioneers use executive-led town halls effectively, and they make sure that managers model cost-conscious behavior.

“Don’t underestimate the people aspect of any cost optimization journey. We see leaders naturally facing a lot of resistance because change is hard. To unlock progress, co-create a ‘North Star’ with the leadership team and embed change management from the start,” said Mai-Britt Poulsen, a managing director and senior partner at BCG. “How do you know when a transformation is understood? It’s when the North Star is not just agreed upon in the boardroom, but also lives on the front line—from the shop floor all the way through to customer-facing teams.”

Download the publication here:
https://www.bcg.com/publications/2024/achieving-cost-excellence

Media Contact:
Eric Gregoire
gregoire.eric@bcg.com 

About Boston Consulting Group
Boston Consulting Group partners with leaders in business and society to tackle their most important challenges and capture their greatest opportunities. BCG was the pioneer in business strategy when it was founded in 1963. Today, we work closely with clients to embrace a transformational approach aimed at benefiting all stakeholders—empowering organizations to grow, build sustainable competitive advantage, and drive positive societal impact.

Our diverse, global teams bring deep industry and functional expertise and a range of perspectives that question the status quo and spark change. BCG delivers solutions through leading-edge management consulting, technology and design, and corporate and digital ventures. We work in a uniquely collaborative model across the firm and throughout all levels of the client organization, fueled by the goal of helping our clients thrive and enabling them to make the world a better place.

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SOURCE Boston Consulting Group (BCG)

BENGALURU, India, Nov. 18, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Microland is proud to announce its recognition as a Leader in the 2024 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Managed Network Services (MNS) for the fifth consecutive year. This accomplishment highlights the company’s unwavering dedication to delivering automation-driven, user-focused solutions that ensure secure, seamless, and reliable enterprise networks.

As businesses face increasing network complexities, Microland introduced Network-as-a-Service (NaaS) to facilitate future-ready infrastructure while protecting existing investments. Their vendor-neutral approach offers easy adoption, operational flexibility, and exceptional performance across diverse technologies. Central to this evolution is Microland’s Intelligeni platform, which provides advanced observability, automation, and analytics to enable rapid transformation, proactive monitoring, and automated remediation—helping organizations stay ahead of disruptions.

Through their Intelligent Network Experience Framework, Microland leverages three decades of expertise and cutting-edge technologies like SDN, NFV, SASE, OT Networking, and Private 5G to deliver end-to-end consulting, transformation, and managed services. Their solutions optimize network performance and productivity without sacrificing security.

Robert Wysocki, Senior Vice President, and Global Client Solutions Leader – Networks & Cybersecurity at Microland, stated, “We are honored to be named a Leader in the 2024 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Managed Network Services for the fifth consecutive year. This recognition reflects our continuous innovation and commitment to excellence. As we push the boundaries of AI-enabled automation and unified security models, we thank our customers for inspiring our innovations and driving our success.”

Sam Mathew, President at Microland, added, “This recognition, for the fifth year, is a testament to our dedication to technological innovation. Our investments in automation and adaptive security for SD-WAN and SASE solutions allow us to deliver transformative results for our clients. We extend our heartfelt gratitude to our customers, whose trust drives us to continuously enhance the value we provide.”

To learn more about this recognition, please visit: https://www.microland.com/analyst-insights/gartner-magic-quadrant-for-managed-network-services-fifth-year 

Gartner Disclaimer

Gartner, Magic Quadrant for Managed Network Services Ted Corbett, Nauman Raja, Jon Dressel, Lisa Pierce, Karen Brown, Danellie Young, 14th October 2024.

GARTNER is a registered trademark and service mark of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and internationally, and MAGIC QUADRANT is a registered trademark of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates and are used herein with permission. All rights reserved. Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in its research publications, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings or other designation. Gartner research publications consist of the opinions of Gartner’s research organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.

About Microland

Microland is a pioneering IT Infrastructure services and consulting company headquartered in Bengaluru, India, with a proven track record of delivering tangible business outcomes for 35 years. Today, as enterprises recognize that networks underpin the functionality and efficiency of modern digital systems and support innovation, we provide next-generation technologies such as AI, automated operations, and platform-driven solutions – which drive operational excellence, agility, and productivity for organizations worldwide. Our team of over 4,600 experts delivers services in over 100 countries across Asia, Australia, Europe, the Middle East, and North America, offering cutting-edge solutions in networks, cloud, data centers, cybersecurity, services management, applications, and automation. Recognized by leading industry analysts for our innovative strategies, Microland is committed to strong governance, environmental sustainability, and fostering an inclusive workplace where diverse talent thrives. When businesses work with Microland, they connect with the best talent, technologies, and solutions to create unparalleled value.

For more information, visit www.microland.com          

Media contact: sobia.sahar@microland.com

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