• Resets strategy to drive digital services, government and telco business, and go regional
• Powers people-led transformation with plans to hire up to 2,000 tech talent
• Rebrands company with fresh brand identity and campaign

Singapore, 07 July 2021 – NCS today announced a major business and people transformation to reposition the company for growth in the 5G era. The strategic reset focuses on growing digital services, scaling its government and telco business segments and capturing new growth opportunities in the enterprise sector, across the key regional markets of Singapore, Australia and Greater China. The move comes as digital economies experience a global growth spurt, accelerated in part by COVID-19, creating an unprecedented surge in demand for digital and technology services.

Ng Kuo Pin, CEO of NCS said, “There isn’t a more opportune time for us to make the pivot from a traditional ICT service provider to a digital and technology services firm in Asia Pacific. COVID-19 and the mass migration online have put digital transformation on everyone’s agenda, and we intend to leverage our strengths in the public and telco sectors to capitalise on this opportunity to redefine and grow our company. We will be ramping up our offering of digital services as we reposition ourselves to capture new business from the enterprise sector and expand into the high-growth markets of Australia and Greater China where we have presence and synergies.”

Earlier in May, NCS was cited as a new growth engine for the Singtel Group and has started operating as an autonomous unit within the Group since beginning of the year to realise its new remit and ambition.

Accelerating digital with NCS NEXT  

At the heart of this transformation is NCS NEXT, a separate service organisation created to drive the company’s new focus on digital, cloud and platform services. NEXT will complement NCS’ other core service offerings in applications, infrastructure, engineering and cyber security, and provide a differentiated and comprehensive suite of end-to-end technology services. NCS intends to hire up to 2,000 tech talent over the next two years.

The past year has seen NEXT achieve key milestones, such as the launch of NEXT Shenzhen Innovation Centre; acquisition of 2359 Media, a Singapore-based mobile app digital consultancy; and the integration of DataSpark, Singtel’s analytics unit which offers unique big data and mobility intelligence services in Singapore and Australia. NCS also recently partnered C3 AI, a leader in enterprise artificial intelligence (AI) from the US, to take enterprise AI solutions to Asia Pacific.

Scaling government and telco business segments

Given its proven strengths and track record of success in servicing the Singapore public sector, NCS will double down and scale this business segment with the creation of Gov+. This strategic business group will focus on building NCS’ digital government portfolio and strengthen its position as the leading digital catalyst for governments and smart cities across the Asia Pacific.

A second strategic business group, Telco+, is a joint initiative between Singtel and NCS to help telecom companies transform digitally. The goal is to help telcos improve operational efficiencies and leverage data driven insights to deliver enhanced customer experiences. With the combined 5G capabilities of the Singtel Group and NCS’ expertise in digital and technology services, Telco+ will also develop a full stack of 5G-enabled solutions to help enterprises capitalise on the applications of 5G.

Kuo Pin says, “The ‘plus’ in Gov+ and Telco+ signifies our intent to double down on the government and telco sectors, leveraging our expertise in servicing the public sector and the right to play in the Telco sector as part of the Singtel Group. We are committed to work even more closely with government agencies and will invest in building deep digital government capabilities to support their digital and innovation needs. Similarly, working off synergies with the Singtel Group, we stand ready to help telcos digitalise their operations so that they can go to market competitively and innovatively.”

Expediting growth in the Enterprise sector and key Asian markets

As part of its plans to expedite expansion into the enterprise sector, NCS has identified industries to focus on: Healthcare, Transportation, Financial Services, Industrial, Commercial, Communications, Media and Technology.

Its expansion into Asia Pacific will be targeted, focusing on the high-growth markets of Singapore, Australia and Greater China. In December 2020, NCS launched NEXT in Australia in partnership with Optus Enterprise to deliver end-to-end ICT and digital services to the Australian enterprise market. Australia, which is Asia Pacific’s third-largest IT services market, provides access to a diversity of talent and technology. NCS aims to expand its presence in Australia through a combination of organic and inorganic means, building up digital capabilities in cloud and AI.

In Greater China, which comprises both the mainland China and Hong Kong markets, NCS will concentrate on growing the enterprise business in the Healthcare, Transportation, Financial Services, Communications, Media, Technology and Manufacturing industries; while building digital capabilities in 5G, digital twin and blockchain.

Growing our people for the digital age

Kuo Pin shares, “For NCS to play well in the bigger league of technology services firms in Asia Pacific, we must be committed to grow our people, our diversity of talent, and offer them exciting and rewarding careers and opportunities. We have launched a people transformation programme surrounding culture, skill specialisation and becoming a learning organisation. This is a top priority for us.”

Based on individual preference, performance and aptitude, tech professionals in NCS will have opportunities to move across specialisations, working in different regions and industries, and with different clients and partners to gain a wide range of experiences. NCS also plans to launch an immersive learning academy and platform - NCS Dojo - within the year, a place where the 10,000-strong NCS team can come together to share knowledge from real world projects through an apprentice-style practice-based approach.

A renewed purpose and brand

NCS’ transformation plan was unveiled today alongside a new brand identity and campaign, capturing its new purpose - to advance communities by partnering with governments and enterprises to harness technology and bringing people together to make the extraordinary happen.

The symbol of two forward slashes in the new logo, which NCS labels as the ‘N power’ mark, represents NCS as a technology services firm and the double forward slashes used in internet URLs and in-line comments in computer programming, signify how deeply anchored NCS is in technology and its intention to leverage technology to champion transformation for governments and enterprises.

Media Contacts

NCS

Adeline Sim

adeline.sim@ncs.com.sg