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Closing Remarks by ISCA Vice President Ms Yvonne Chan at the Accounting Innovation Challenge 2019 at the Ngee Ann Kongsi Auditorium, National Gallery Singapore on 8 November 2019, 4.55pm

Ladies and Gentlemen,

A very good evening to all. We have reached the end of the Accounting Innovation Challenge 2019, or AIC 2019 in short. I would like to express my sincere appreciation to everyone who took part in AIC and I hope you found the experience meaningful and exciting.

 As the national accountancy body, ISCA is pleased to have co-organised AIC 2019, the only accounting hackathon in Singapore.  I would like to thank our co-organiser, Singapore Accountancy Commission, our strategic partner the Singapore Institute of Technology, as well as our supporting partners, sponsors, and all participants for making AIC 2019 a success.

 The creative solutions showcased this afternoon is testament to the hard work and talent of our participants, who also displayed great teamwork in putting together a plan in such a short amount of time.   Let us offer another round of applause to today’s winners and finalists, who impressed us with their game-changing ideas and well-crafted solutions. 

I hope that participating in today’s challenge has enabled you to learn from one another and sparked your interest in start-up entrepreneurship. Even if you do not launch or join a start-up, the skills of creative problem-solving and critical thinking that you picked up in the process of the hackathon are invaluable and will be useful wherever you go. This is especially so in the age of Industry 4.0, where rote learning is no longer applicable.

 I would like to conclude with a quote from one of the greatest creative minds of all time, Albert Einstein. He said: “If you always do what you always did, you will always get what you always got.” To solve the problems faced by the accountancy profession today, we must think differently, and act differently.

 I thank the teams today for daring to think out of the box and showing us the many possibilities available when we dare to imagine and create something new. And I look forward to seeing your ideas come to fruition as a product or service in the market one day.

 Thank you, and I wish everyone a pleasant evening ahead.