Guest of Honour:
YAB Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri (Dr) Abang Haji Abdul Rahman Zohari bin Tun Datuk Abang Haji Openg – Premier of Sarawak
D1TF01
Keynote Speaker:
Dr. Soichi Noguchi, Ph.D. – Astronaut and Two-Time Guinness World Record Holder, Miraispace Co. Ltd.
Synopsis:
Dr. Soichi Noguchi’s career traces the very arc this keynote is named for. The only person to have flown Space Shuttle, Soyuz, and SpaceX Crew Dragon, he has moved through three distinct eras of space access, government-run, international partnership, and commercial enterprise and now sits on the advisory board of Voyager Space while leading his own venture, Mirai Space. In this opening keynote, Dr. Noguchi journeys from Earth to orbit and beyond: how the International Space Station’s decades-long partnership modelled trust and collaboration across borders; how the shift from state-led to commercial space is opening genuine investment and business opportunity in Earth observation, connectivity, disaster response, and resource management; and what it takes in talent, institutions, and ambition for a new entrant, whether a company or an economy, to build a real stake in the space business. For a state building its own space agency and satellite programme, it’s a rare, insider view of how these ecosystems are actually built.
D1TF03
Speakers:
How Lih Ren – Chief Business Officer, U Mobile Sdn. Bhd.
Synopsis:
The intelligent economy will be shaped not by any single technology, but by how effectively connectivity, AI and ecosystems work together. This keynote explores how intelligent networks can help Sarawak scale innovation across communities, industries and cities, creating new possibilities from Earth to Orbit and beyond.
D1TF04
Speakers:
Dr. Robert Bedington – Co-founder & CTO, SpeQtral (Singapore)
Synopsis:
As classical encryption protocols face an impending threat from quantum computing, the race to secure critical communications has shifted to orbit. Framing space-based Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) as the essential defense against “harvest now, decrypt later” strategies, this keynote outlines the transition of quantum technology from laboratory research to commercial orbital deployment.
SpeQtral CTO Dr. Robert Bedington examines how miniaturized quantum payloads on nanosatellites overcome the physical distance constraints of terrestrial fiber networks. The session highlights how commercial satellite networks like SpeQtral-1 deliver unhackable encryption keys globally, providing state economies, financial institutions, and national security agencies with the sovereign infrastructure required to protect critical data grids in the post-quantum era.
D1TF05
Moderator:
Zakaria Bin Polit – Vice President, Cloud and Digital Services, Sarawak Digital Economy Corporation (SDEC)
Panellist:
Dr. Robert Bedington – Co-founder & CTO, SpeQtral (Singapore)
Prof. Dr. Patrick Then – Chief Executive Officer, Sarawak Artificial Intelligence Centre
Busiai Bin Seman – Chief Executive Officer, Sarawak Information Systems
Synopsis: Following Dr. Bedington’s keynote on space-based quantum security, this panel grounds the macro technology into state-level execution. Bringing together orbital quantum technology, sovereign AI governance, and digital government security, panellists detail how satellite-enabled Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) integrates directly into ground networks to protect Sarawak’s critical infrastructure. The session explores actionable roadmaps for securing sovereign AI models, implementing zero-trust architectures, and safeguarding public-sector data systems against post-quantum cyber threats.
D1TF06
Speakers:
YB Datuk Dr. Hazland Abang Hipni – Deputy Minister for Energy and Environmental Sustainability
Synopsis:
This keynote is where it turns to the resource underwriting all of it. Sarawak’s renewable energy surplus has already been established as the state’s core advantage; this talk moves the story into its next phase, from “we have energy to spare” to what that surplus is actually for, powering the chips, data centres and digital economy investment the rest of the conference argues Sarawak is built to attract. It’s the pivot from proof to activation, and it sets up the more complicated conversation that follows: once the surplus becomes a resource everyone wants a piece of, staying ahead of that demand becomes the real work.
D1TF07
Speakers:
Anselm Chang – Principal Energy Strategist, AGL (Australia)
Synopsis:
The previous keynote made the case that Sarawak has energy to spare. This one asks who gets to spend it. Data centres are now the single biggest new source of demand hitting power grids wherever they land, drawing hard and constant, going head-to-head with the households and businesses already on that grid, and Anselm has spent the past decade inside Australia’s renewable energy shift watching exactly this play out, the last year specifically embedded in its data centre surge with a seat in the real strategy conversations, not just the modelling.
Synopsis:
According to the urbanist Jane Jacobs, leafing through a thick, classified directory (like the ‘yellow pages’) was concrete proof of a thriving, complex ecosystem of people and their businesses, located in different parts of a city. Whilst the physical ‘yellow pages’ is becoming redundant in the transition from analogue to digital systems, the term ‘smart’ has become an increasingly-used addition to ‘city’, and seeks to reflect the role Information Communication Technology plays in offering social and economic benefits to cities and their citizens.
Moderator:
Muhammad Fa’izzul Bin Zaidi – General Manager, SDEC KARUNA JV Sdn. Bhd.
Panellist:
Professor Jason Pomeroy – Founding Principal, Pomeroy Studio; Fellow, University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership.
Peter Anderson – Former Head of New City Bradfield and Aerotropolis, Sydney
TPr. Ts. Md. Farabi Yussoff Bin Md. Yussoff – Head of Smart Infrastructure, Gamuda Technologies
Farhan Bin Fozian – Director of Land Management, Business Development and ESG, Sarawak Metro Sdn. Bhd.
Synopsis:
Balancing hardware, software and heartware is one thing in a single showcase district or pilot precinct. Scaling that balance across an entire city, let alone an industrial corridor or regional growth zone, is another challenge entirely. Smart city concepts across the region frequently launch as successful localized wins: a digital command centre here, a smart transit hub there. The harder task is replicating, integrating and expanding those wins city-wide, without losing the human-centred design that made them work in the first place.
D1FC03
Moderator:
Dan Fadalini Sukia – Chief Information Security Officer, SAINS Sdn. Bhd.
Panellist:
Bensen Koh Ming Sheng – Policy Director, APAC, GSMA
Dr. Simon Coghlan – University of Melbourne
Dr. Rex Hou – Public Sector Solution Director, Huawei International
Jonathan Ng – Chief Cybersecurity Strategist, SMA
Panellist:
Speakers:
Muhammad Hafez Bin Mohd Azhar – Head Group Legal & Governance, Cradle Fund Sdn. Bhd.
Moderator:
Shenny Tang Mee Hong – Head of Growth, Innov8 Labs Sdn Bhd
Panellist:
Chin Kah Yi – Chief Executive Officer, Sabah Net Sdn. Bhd
Pengiran Sarimah Pg Hj Abd Latiff – Chairwoman, InfoCom Federation Brunei
Vicente Nakpil-Roxas – The Lab, Philippines
Rosiana Halim – Partner, UPartners Venture Studio
Synopsis:
As Southeast Asia’s digital economy rapidly evolves beyond tier-one capital cities, sub-regional trade corridors are emerging as critical engines for cross-border innovation. The Brunei-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines East ASEAN Growth Area (BIMP-EAGA) offers a uniquely interconnected sandbox, combining shared cultural affinities, contiguous supply chains, and aligned economic priorities, making it an ideal testing ground for early and growth-stage ventures.
Scaling Innovation Ecosystems for a Borderless Economy. Earth Orbit and Beyond
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