SBR International Business Awards 2021 Names EPAM a Winner for Business Travel Technology

Winning web and mobile application, Connect@Changi, reopens Singapore's borders.

SBR International Business Awards 2021, an initiative to honor foreign companies in Singapore, today announced EPAM Systems, Inc., a leading global provider of digital platform engineering and development services, as a winner in the Business Travel Technology category for their Connect@Changi digital solution—helping Singapore to reopen their borders and remain competitive after the pandemic unexpectedly brought about many changes to international travel.

EPAM Singapore and partner, Temasek Holdings, teamed up to create the world's first business travel exchange facility, called Connect@Changi, for Singapore and international travelers to conduct business meetings and engagements — offering an integrated 'test-stay-work-meet' experience for short stay accommodation. The digital solution allowed Singapore’s Government to revive the nation as a regional business hub that supports and enables the world to interact in Singapore again—from larger regional corporate meetings, MICE events and the upcoming World Economic Forum.

In just four months, EPAM launched an innovative web and mobile application to provide business travelers from all over the world a seamless process to plan, stay and conduct meetings and conventions in Singapore without the need to quarantine upon arrival. With a user-friendly and elegant interface, the Connect@Changi website includes a booking and reservation system (both web or mobile) for meetings and accommodations, lab test scheduling and reminder systems for travelers to fulfil the required swab tests.

During the innovation and discovery phase, the research team incorporated the use of Lego blocks to visualize spaces and the multi-step journey that travellers would have to endure in the 'new normal'. They also immersed themselves as guests in a one-night stay at the Connect@Changi facility to role-play the different end-user personas and scenarios to better understand and empathize with prospective business travelers, resulting in even more ideas to further enhance the current service and app features.

“We are pleased to win the SBR International Business Award 2021 in the Business Travel Technology category. This wouldn’t have been possible if not for the solid teamwork within our EPAM teams across the APAC region as well as our strong partnerships that led to such a successful outcome,” said Seet Teck Kiang, Head of Business (Singapore) at EPAM Systems.

“The fact that we were able to launch the digital solution for Connect@Changi within just four months and provide a unique web and mobile application, that is both user friendly yet elegant, shows the engineering capabilities of EPAM and our dedication to make future-ready products that benefit people.”

The success of Connect@Changi can be attributed to EPAM’s agile software practices, effective engagement and communication across multiple stakeholder groups and innovative discovery and problem-solving techniques that allowed them to accurately capture challenging requirements that were constantly changing due to public health policies. Moving ahead, the EPAM team continues to iterate and enhance the platform to support the growing business needs while adapting to changing regulatory requirements and meeting the stringent standards and policies of the Singapore Tourism Board and Ministry of Health.

To learn more about Connect@Changi, visit https://connectatchangi.sg/

Watch the interview below to know more about their winning project: