TAY KOK-CHIN

KC is generally acknowledged as a global thought leader for Smart Cities. He is a member of the Advisory Board for ESI ThoughtLab, a think-tank based in Philadelphia, US. He is also the ASEAN Director of Smart Cities Council, the largest ecosystem of stakeholders in the world with over 600 cities in their network.

KC project managed the IBM Smarter Cities Challenge in 2012 with consulting and research experts from IBM and interviewed over 20 government agencies and stakeholders to provide the IBM Recommendation Report in Dec 2012. It was instrumental as a catalyst in getting the Singapore government to launch Smart Nation in 2014.

He is Founding Chairman of Smart Cities Network (SCN), a not-for-profit organization incorporated in 2018 with a membership of professionals who are either consultants or solution providers. Led its strategic partnerships with governments and industry bodies across ASEAN countries.

In June 2022, SCN signed a 3-Yyear MOU with UN Habitat to identify and scope “bankable projects” for the Cities Investment Facility.

Currently, at the government level, KC is the Smart City Advisor and Capacity Builder for the Philippines Department of Science and Technology (DOST) and Consulting Expert for the Phnom Penh City Government (Cambodia).

Professionally, KC is the Smart City Advisor for several companies – developers in Vietnam and Bangladesh, and start-ups based in Singapore and the UK. He is the Head of Strategy for Tridentity, a Web 3.0 Company focused on NFT, Block Chain and Metaverse App.

He has been a keynote speaker for numerous Smart City events across ASEAN – for the cities as well as at ASEAN level, e.g. “Cities of the Future” by UK-based Unbound.

Passionate about the development of future leaders for the region, he is an Adjunct Lecturer for the Singapore Building and Construction Authority (BCA) Academy, Singapore Institute of Technology (SIT) and National University of Singapore.

Since March 2022, Adjunct Professor for Smart City System and Management for the National University of Management, Phnom Penh.