In Hitachi’s latest media collaboration with CNN themed “Future Cities: Singapore’s 50th Anniversary”, an on-ground event was held at the Red Dot Design Museum, Singapore on 24 June 2015 to complement Hitachi’s sponsorship of CNN’s “Future Cities” television series. Many key stakeholders in Singapore from both the private and government sectors were invited to grace this event.

To celebrate Singapore’s 50th national day, CNN International introduced a week of special coverage through the Future Cities segment. The coverage included five short episodes aired over five days across CNN’s TV and digital platforms to highlight some of the upcoming major infrastructure projects for Singapore. The projects were namely: Singapore’s Green Skyscrapers, Singapore’s Oil Industry, Healthcare, and Singapore’s plan for its Award-Winning Airport, as well as the city’s Transportation System. Through the episodes, viewers were able to recognise Singapore’s way of meeting the challenges of rapid urbanisation against a global landscape and examined city planning.

The on-ground event started with an opening address by Mr Ichiro Iino, Chief Executive for Asia Pacific, Hitachi, Ltd. Using his personal experience, Mr Iino brought the audience back to the early sixties where Hitachi first began contributing to the nation in the fundamental infrastructure development by supplying a majority of high functional materials such as cathode ray tubes and in the process, helped transform Singapore to the advanced society it is today.

Following Mr Iino’s speech, the Future Cities segment, including a wrap-up programme was screened. Thereafter, the panel discussion facilitated by Ms Anna Coren, CNN international correspondent, started proper. She successfully engaged the panellists and the discussion touched on the importance of infrastructure, advanced technology, and most importantly, building a better tomorrow. The panellists were: Mr Goh Chee Kiong, Executive Director, Economic Development Board (EDB), Professor Stephen Cairns, Scientific Director for the Future Cities Laboratory, Singapore ETH Centre, and  Dr Tan Geok Leng, Executive Director at the Science and Engineering Research Council, A*STAR.

During the panellist discussion, Mr Goh highlighted Hitachi’s contribution to Singapore, especially in the early days of nation building. Coming from a representative of a government body – EDB, Mr Goh’s acknowledgement of Hitachi’s contribution to Singapore served as a strong affirmation of Hitachi’s capability and advanced technologies which greatly endorsed the credibility and reliability of the Hitachi brand.

Additionally, Hitachi was able to showcase to stakeholders that with a sound infrastructure in place, Singapore’s smart city technology can be further developed by Hitachi’s Social Innovation Business. By focusing on water, energy efficiency, transport, security, and healthcare, Singapore would be able to further improve its urban services and increase its sustainability.