November 2024 proved to be a momentous month for NUS Information Technology (NUS IT), as the department earned five prestigious awards in recognition of its leadership, innovation, and commitment to service excellence.
At the 2024 IDC Future Enterprise Awards, NUS IT received outstanding accolades, including recognition for NUS Chief Information Technology Officer Ms Tan Shui-Min, who was named one of the top 100 technology leaders in the ASEAN region. Receiving a 2024 CIO100 Award celebrates her visionary leadership and dedication to advancing NUS' digital transformation. Under Ms Tan’s guidance, NUS has embraced AI-driven initiatives such as AI-Know, a centralised platform offering a suite of tools—including NUSChat and AI-Guide—to empower staff and improve productivity. In under a year, nearly 1,000 staff and 120 NUS units have adopted the platform, showcasing its broad impact across the university.
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Members of NUS IT’s Network Team accepted the award on stage for Best in Future of Connectedness for their NUS Wi-Fi On the Move initiative.
NUS IT also garnered two Best in Future of Connectedness awards at the same event—one for Singapore and another for the Asia-Pacific region. These awards recognised NUS IT’s Wi-Fi on the Move initiative, which extends high-speed, secure Wi-Fi access to users beyond campus boundaries using 5G technology. This solution enables remote learners, staff, and researchers to access NUS resources seamlessly without the need for traditional VPN setups. Launched in August 2023, the project has led to significant operational efficiencies, including an 80% cost reduction for remote setups and a 95% improvement in setup turnaround times. This initiative aligns with NUS’s goal of becoming a “Borderless University” and supports the university’s sustainability efforts, achieving a 92% power savings per hour as compared to a traditional solution.
Mr Teo Kim Guan, Architect (IT Service Desk) at NUS IT (right) receiving the award on behalf of the NUS IT Service Desk team.
The NUS IT Service Desk, the primary touchpoint for IT-related assistance for NUS staff and students, was also recognised with bronze awards for its AI-driven service transformation at the CX Asia Excellence Awards 2024 and International Customer Experience Awards (iCXA24), which took place on 20 and 21 November respectively. The team was celebrated for its Best Use of Intelligent Chatbots through the implementation of Artificial Intelligence Chat Assistant (ALCA), an AI-powered virtual assistant. ALCA, which was launched in 2018, has processed over 16,000 transactions, saving $201,000 in ticket costs and increasing IT staff productivity by 11%.
The award at iCXA24 also recognised the broader integration of AI technologies, including AI-powered responses for common inquiries on the IT Care hotline and the use of a smart learning platform to train service desk agents. These advancements have led to improved service efficiency and significant cost savings, underscoring NUS IT’s commitment to enhancing customer service through innovative and solidifying their role as a leader in AI-powered IT support.
Commenting on NUS IT recent recognitions, Ms Tan said, “We are constantly prompting ourselves to be agile, innovative, and to push boundaries. These awards are a testament to our team’s commitment to achieve a new digital frontier for education, research, and administration by providing reliable, high-performance and secure IT infrastructure, effective IT governance, and services for the university. I’m proud of the team for how much we have achieved together, to set new benchmarks in the digital transformation of higher education.”