108 | theceomagazine.comE&E’s IT and software division is bolstered
by partnerships with major software providers
such as China’s Nova-Star, which installed its
first-generation Synchronous Control System
on Morgan Plaza’s 3,400-square-metre screen
for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.
Ronald is willing to learn from companies
like Nova-Star to help with his company’s
success. “Nova-Star has the backing of nine
university PhD professors, plus 500 students
who have been doing R&D in this technology
for the past seven or eight years, working on this
operating software and technology. This is why
they are so good, and they know they are so far
ahead of anybody else in the world,” Ronald
says. “They will probably have the monopoly
of the market for the next decade.”
Looking ahead, Ronald emphasises the
importance of keeping abreast of the latest
IT and software, as well as best practices.
“This industry is getting to be more and
more interesting. The cinema industry has
moved from a simple, single-speaker system
in the 60s to Dolby Atmos multichannel
surround sound systems today,” he says.
“We completed the largest Dolby Atmos
cinema sound system installation at GV Max
Dolby Atmos Cinema at VivoCity Shopping
Centre, which has 64 channel/speakers and two
subwoofers, one in the front and the other at the
back. The Dolby Atmos sound system is what
creates a 3D aural experience. If, in a movie,
a shot is fired into the middle of the hall, the
explosion will originate from the middle of
the hall. This is all about digital steering with
64 individual channel/speakers; we can steer the
sound to where it originated.
“This is the IT software that we need to
keep ourselves abreast of constantly to be the
pioneer at the forefront of the industry.”“ That is the challenge now.
You have to know the problem
before it even happens.”
the company was given six months to run
and test the wall before it went live.
“If a system breaks down at Changi Airport,
it has to be working again within the hour, and
preferably within 15 minutes,” Ronald says.
“During the testing period, we applied whatever
we thought could go wrong to the wall. We
pulled out cables, switched off the power
supplies, et cetera, to see what the recovery time
was to put the wall back in operation. We went
through all kinds of tests so that in the future,
when such things happen, we will know exactly
what to do. That is the challenge today. You have
to know how to solve the problem before it
even happens.”
Working in the electronics industry means
having to adapt rapidly to changing technology
and consumer needs; therefore, the next phase
for E&E is strengthening its IT and software
capabilities. “Today’s challenges are not so much
in hardware,” Ronald explains. “The challenges
are in IT and software. Hardware is pretty much
predictable. It gets improvements, and we have
to be ready for these improvements. It is the IT
and software that takes you by leaps and bounds.
IT and software are much more powerful tools
to work with. One can do more things in the
quickest time possible with a variety of
configurations at your fingertips.”INNOVATE | Interview