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Mr Tan Kin Lian, formerly from NTUC Income
Tan Kin Lian started his involvement in information technology almost 40 years ago. He worked as a computer programmer and wrote accounting, inventory and other programs for a large trading house for 3 years. He learned how to use the programming language effectively to make the best use of the limited memory of 32,000 bytes and a disk capacity of 4 megabytes.
As the Chief Executive of NTUC Income, Mr Tan was responsible for the strategic decision, taken in 1980, to invest in an online computer system and to build up a team of in-house programmers to develop the computer system. He played the informal role of chief software architect and provided the leadership on the use of information technology to support the business operations. He pioneered the concept of proto-typing to develop applications quickly, effectively and at low cost.
The strategic use of information technology gives a competitive advantage to NTUC Income for 20 years. Mr Tan developed a dedicated team of professionals who maintained and enhanced the system, which helped the company to efficiently administer over 3 million insurance contracts and service 1.8 million customers.
When the Internet became popular in the developed countries, Mr Tan approved a plan by his head of information technology to build the first insurance website in Singapore in 1995. The website now attracts 12 million hits a month.
In 2005 NTUC Income introduced a totally paperless with 45 million pages of documents converted into electronic originals under the Evidence Act. In 2006, its contact centre won the prestigious World's Best Technology & Innovation Award.
Mr Tan maintained a continuing interest in the development of the technology and provided insights into how it can be used to support the business efficiently.
In 2002, NTUC Income launched the community portal called Big Trumpet. This portal is active in serving the needs of Singaporeans in providing a wide variety of services. The portal now has over 300,000 members, attracting 4 million hits a month.
Over the past decades, Mr Tan’s key contribution is on how to make effective use of information technology. He strongly believed that, with a proper approach and project management, it is possible to develop computer applications at a much lower cost and a shorter timeframe. This will improve the productivity of software developers and make life more meaningful and enjoyable for them.
For the next phase of his career after NTUC Income, Mr Tan will continue to be actively involved in information technology. He believed that information technology can be put to better use in many areas of business and social life and to improve the quality of life for many people.
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