SBF organised 16 BCM outreach events this year, with plans to launch the National BCM website and online toolkit
SBF received a total of 178 BCM enquiries from companies since the launch of the National BCM programme in December 2008
Singapore, Tuesday, 4 August 2009 - The Singapore Business Federation (SBF), supported by the National Security Coordination Secretariat (NSCS) and the Singapore Police Force (SPF), today organised the 2009 National Security Dialogue to engage the business community to build a more resilient corporate culture amid challenging trends presented by transnational terrorism.
At least 650 business representatives engaged in a dialogue with Senior Minister and Coordinating Minister for National Security (SM/CMNS), Prof. S. Jayakumar, and other panelists including Senior Minister of State for Law and Home Affairs, Associate Prof. Ho Peng Kee; and Minister of State for Trade and Industry, and Manpower Mr. Lee Yi Shyan. The session was moderated by Mr. Tony Chew, Chairman of the Singapore Business Federation. Issues concerning national security and the role of businesses in countering terrorism were exchanged between the panelists and business community.
Business leaders' preparedness for unexpected events that can disrupt business operations was one of the key issues highlighted by Senior Minister Jayakumar during his opening remarks.
"As business leaders, you would also appreciate that emergency response plans must be sustained over the long-term. But, individual businesses need not shoulder this responsibility alone. They can share the burden with the respective SSWGs (Safety and Security Watch Group). The SSWG exhibition held concurrently with this event would provide you with the opportunity to pick up lessons and tips on the cluster approach in emergency response taken by SSWGs. Other initiatives exist should businesses need further support from the government. One example is Business Continuity Management (BCM). As I had announced in November last year, in encouraging businesses to adopt BCM, the government would provide financial incentives to defray the cost of BCM implementation. I encourage companies, who have not already done so, to take advantage of the assistance provided and strive to achieve adoption of BCM. I would also urge you to evaluate your suppliers' readiness for contingencies. Through this way, we will be able to reinforce our resilience," Senior Minister Jayakumar added.
In his address, Mr. Tony Chew called on the business community to view efforts in building corporate resilience as an investment. "Enhancing corporate resilience will pay immediate dividends in terms of robust operations. In the longer term, companies will also benefit from branding themselves as resilient and reliable" he said. "A BCM-ready private sector will help enhance Singapore's reputation as a trusted hub for reliable and quality service", he added.
Other presenters at the National Security Dialogue included representatives from Singapore Police Force (SPF) and Shenton Way SSWG, who shared their experience in exercises that aim to prepare companies for various crisis situations. SPF's Superintendent Sherrin Chua, Assistant Director, Community Involvement Division, Operations Department, briefed participants on Exercise Northstar VII - Role of Community and Key Lessons., while Mr. Goh Teck Soon, Chairman, Organising Committee Exercise Heartbeat, Shenton Way SSWG, presented the Exercise Heartbeat - The Shenton Way Experience Heartbeat.
Giving real life experience with crisis management were speakers from Mumbai - Mr Karambir Singh Kang, Vice President, Mumbai Hotels and General Manager of the Taj Mahal Palace & Tower; and Mr Sunil Kudiyadi, Security Manager, The Taj Mahal Palace & Tower. Both informed participants on the security measures in force before and after the Mumbai terrorist attacks in 2008 and lessons learnt from the attacks. The Mumbai guest speakers' key message to those present was that people's vigilance and observation of suspicious activities taking place is a crucial factor in preventing crisis from happening.
SBF AS FOCAL POINT OF NATIONAL BUSINESS CONTINUITY MANAGEMENT (BCM) PROGRAMME
The National BCM Programme was launched on 1 December 2008, with SBF as the focal point to cascade the initiative to businesses.
To better reach out to businesses, SBF, in collaboration with SPRING Singapore, is jointly driving this national initiative to encourage early adoption of BCM by companies.
To help companies access essential resources to become BCM ready, SBF will:
launch a National BCM website towards the end of this year comprising self-help assessment tool-kits for companies to benchmark their BCM readiness against the SS540 standard. The government or public agencies can use this tool kit to adjudge tenderers' level of BCM-readiness as part of the procurement process. The website will serve as a one-stop resource for all BCM needs; providing companies access to templates and self help resources to implement internal BCM process.
facilitate awareness and adoption of BCM through ongoing briefings, seminars, workshops, newsletters and media advertorials, as well as rendering assistance to companies to tap into government funding for SS540 certification.
SBF'S BCM OUTREACH EFFORTS IN 2009
At the end of June 2009, SBF received a total of 178 BCM enquiries from companies since the launch of the National BCM programme in December 2008.
To date, 12 companies have applied for BCM certification through SBF.
An SBF poll of its member companies in May this year revealed that 85% of the 328 respondents are aware of Business Continuity Management, while 50 per cent had a Business Continuity Plan (BCP) in place. Of the 50%, one-third was focused on measures to contain flu pandemics.
To date, SBF has organised four major BCM events on top of another 12 small-scale outreach events, reaching out to more than 3,000 participants. Several of these events has been organized with and supported by key associations such as Association of Small and Medium Enterprises (ASME), Singapore Chemical Industry Council (SCIC), Singapore Computer Society (SCS), Singapore Hotel Association (SHA), Singapore Institute of Directors (SID), and Singapore National Employers Federation (SNEF).
SBF's major BCM outreach events include the following:
SBF and SNEF jointly organised a dialogue session with Minister for Health, Mr. Khaw Boon Wan to update 1,300 members of the business community on the H1N1 outbreak on 1 July 2009.
230 participants attended the SBF-ASME BCM Conference on 25 June 2009.
A H1N1 briefing on 11 May 09 attended by close to 1,000 participants with panelists from Ministry of Health, Ministry of Manpower and the Avian & Human Influenza Unit, United Nation (Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs Regional Office for Asia & Pacific).
SBF has also communicated BCM best practices via two e-newsletters in May to more than 15,000 SBF members, launched the inaugural issue of special BCM focus newsletter by EnterpriseOne Business Information Services (EBIS) in June, and provided the Flu Pandemic Business Continuity Guide and H1N1 alerts on our website.
SPRING Singapore and SBF co-sponsored a four-part BCM advertorial that reiterates the importance of having a business continuity plan. The advertorial series ran in the local media in May and June this year.
NATIONAL BCM PROGRAMME FUNDING AND SUPPORT FOR COMPANIES
With the National BCM programme, companies can apply for support through SBF to help defray part of the following cost involved in getting their organization BCM ready through BCM certification, especially the SS540 standard:
a.) Small and medium enterprises (SMEs*) can get up to 50% subsidy (increased to 70% for 2009, thereafter will depend on a case by case basis) to be certified in the Singapore Standard (SS540) in Business Continuity Management.
*( at least 30% shareholding is local, Fixed Assets worth less than 15 millions & staff less than 200 for non manufacturing companies)
b.) Larger businesses forming consortiums with SMEs critical to their businesses can get up to 70% subsidy to be certified.
**(Forming consortium with at least 2 local SME suppliers. For bigger consortium, the general guideline will be to have half the group comprises of SMEs.)
Qualifying Activities
a.) Part of the Salary/Training of staff involved in the BCM project (for the duration of the project)
b.) Support for engagement of a 3rd Party Consulting Service to support the BCM project
c.) Relevant certification cost
d.) IT Hardware/Software needed to support the implementation of the BCM plan
Ideally, the BCM project should lead to the company getting a formal SS 540 certification or its equivalent. For the application SBF will require companies to provide the following:
a.) Company Profile
b.) 3 years' of financial audited accounts
c.) Hardcopy of signed application form
d.) Quotations and proposals of essential equipments and services
e.) A BCM project proposal
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