TheEDGE Singapore ~ Apr 08 2002

Of MICE and smart cards

i-Works Solutions taps exhibitions market

STORIES BY DARYL LOO

i-Works' company mission reads: "Exploring innovative ideas and state-of-the-art technolngy, we aim to provide multiple application solutions and quality premium service.

Vague? Yes. i-Works director Leonard Tan readily admits that the mission statement actually tells you nothing about the company. But Tan himself is very clear and focused when it comes to i-Works' business and its strengths. "We produce smart cards and smart card applications for the exhibitions industry," says Tan. "I always remind my partners and employees that our core business is exhibibtions. Everything else can grow from it."

i-Works Solutions, incorporated on Jan 22, was spun off from IT and networking products provider Infoworks. Tan was in charge of the department dealing with smart cards there. He later left with the entire department to found i-Works, which currently designs software and hardware for exhibitors to retrieve data stored in contact-less smart cards using either PDA (personal digital assistant) card readers or desktop card readers.

Most exhibitors today use cards with barcodes as a means of registering and tracking the movement of their visitors. However, information that can be contained on barcodes is severely limited -- usually just an identification number, name and title. i-Works seized upon the opportunity, leveraging its expertise in smart card technolagy into the MICE (meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions) industry.

"There's already a saturated market for applying smart cards to access control (for example, providing secure access to offices), especially since there are so many established players in the market," says Tan. "But we saw an opportunity in a whole other market segment, namely exhibitions."

Upon registering at an exhibition, visitors are given smart cards that contain all their particulars, including names, addresses, companies, phone numbers and e-mail addresses. Beyond that, smart cards can also store questionnaires that visitors can respond to at their leisure by scanning the card with a reader-enabled PDA or computer. In addition, smart cards can also facilitate data mining. Visitor movements within an exhibition are also easily tracked simply by having their cards scanned and details downloaded by each booth that they stop by. The i-Works system eill be seen at a number of exhibitions this year, foremost of which is this month's Food and Hotel Asia 2002.

Tan tells The Edge Singapore that his company has signed a two-year contract with Singapore Exhibition Services, one of the biggest local exhibitions organiser, to use its smart card system. It is also in negotiations with Reed Exhibitions, another major player in the MICE industry.

i-Works recently received some funding from the Economic Development Board (EDB)'s Start-up Enterprise Development Scheme, also known as SEEDS, but the company was already in the black when that happened, something unusual for start-ups. "EDB basically told us, 'You guys don't need a business plan, you're making money already!'" Tan recalls with delight.

Plans are currently in place ior i-Works to go regional. With the ability to store data in Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Thai and various other regional languages, i-Works' smart card technology could easily be adopted for exhibitions in a number of other countries. Beyond that, Tan is even thinking of going global. His ambition: "The Cebit Fair held in Germany -- the Mecca of all exhibitions -- imagine if it adopted i-Works technology!"

The passionate businessman

Photo : DARYL LOO / THE EDGE SINGAPORE Tan sees smart card applications being used for almost everything in the future

This 35-year-old entrepreneur truly loves his work. You can see it from the way his eyes light up when talking about his company From the way he talks, something as unexciting as smart card applications for exhibitions sounds almost like Man's first trip to the moon.

Like many entrepreneurs, Tan started ivorking immediately after his "A" Level examinations, joining computer equipment distributor GES Singapore as a sales executive. He loved talking to people about his products, so the salesman life seemed suited to him. The only problem was getting customers to buy from him. "I'm very shy about asking for money," he says. Fortunately for Tan, over the years, he's met the mentors who have been able to guide him along in the world of business. "I have been blessed with meeting the right people," he says.

Although the company is currently totally focused on providing smart cards for exhibitions, that doesn't stop Tan from dreaming. He sees smart card applications being used for almost everything in the future. For example, on golf courses (he's an avid golfer), he foresees smart cards replacing the traditional score cards. He can see a day when smart cards are carried by all the cleaning ladies at Changi Airport, and by security guards in various buildings around the island. He even envisions smart cards carried by every single tourist who steps into Singapore.

Tan doesn't think his dream is at all far-fetched. "There's already a call for collaboration by the Singapore Tourism Board to provide tourists with a totally wireless experience," he says.

"If all the restaurants, retailers, entertainment outlets and theme parks in Singapore can work together on this, tourists in the future will need only one smart card for everything." Tan's passion for smart cards was what convinced him to spin off i-Works from his former employer. According to souices familiar with the situation, Infoworks was on a cost-cutting exercise last year and the smart card department was likely to he axed. With Infoworks' blessing, Tan left with six other colleagues and started i-Works. "Some of us from Infoworks were not so sure about striking out on our own but Leonard's passion convinced us to give it a try," says Jaime Choo, Tan's former colleague at Infoworks who is i-Works' marketing manager.

Not long afterwards, i-Works managed to receive funding from two private investors as well as from the Economic Development Board (EDB). "I went to our investors and the EDB with the same thing I had in starting up this company," says Tan. "Passion."