Jointly released with the Personal Data Protection Commission

Singapore, 8 March 2018 – The Singapore Academy of Law (SAL) and the Personal Data Protection Commission (PDPC) have announced that applications are now open for Singapore’s largest legal tech hackathon - TechLaw.Fest Hackathon.

The hackathon will be an intense, fast-paced 48-hour challenge on 4 – 6 April 2018 at Suntec Convention Centre. It is open to students and professionals – ranging from legal professionals, software developers and designers -- and will be held in conjunction with regional law tech forum TechLaw.Fest 2018.

This competition challenges participants to come up with out-of-the-box solutions to everyday problems faced by lawyers, in-house counsels, users of legal services and data protection officers (DPOs) in Singapore. To emphasise the importance of personal data protection, teams will be expected to incorporate Data Protection by Design[1] in their solutions.

These challenge areas are drawn from 100 legal industry problem statements collated by SAL’s Future Law Innovation Programme (FLIP) – a strategic initiative to prepare the legal industry for technological disruption – as well as four data protection problem statements.

The top three winning teams will receive prize vouchers of up to $6,000 and the opportunity to develop their solutions further under SAL’s FLIP Accelerator Programme.

“Technologies like blockchain, artificial intelligence and smart contracts will impact the business models of legal services.” said Mr Paul Neo, SAL’s Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer. “FLIP aims to prepare our legal community to become future-ready by helping law firms and legal professionals understand, develop and integrate relevant technology solutions to help in the future practice of law. Collaboration to cross-pollinate ideas between the tech and legal sectors is key to achieve this, and this hackathon is an excellent opportunity for the legal and tech sectors to co-create new services and operating models for the delivery of legal services in the future economy.”

“Digital disruption and transformation is inevitable for every sector, and thus it is critical that new and innovative ideas be presented to help drive the sector along,” said Mr Yeong Zee Kin, IMDA's Assistant Chief Executive (PDPC). “The PDPC believes competitions such as TechLaw.Fest’s hackathon help sectors work through their challenges and discover new solutions and technologies to keep them globally competitive.”

Participants can register for free at bit.ly/techlawfesthackathon2018. Registration is open until the event day and walk-ins will be allowed (subject to space availability).

[1]Data Protection by Design is an approach where organisations consider the protection of personal data from the earliest possible design stage, and throughout the operational lifecycle, of the new system, process, product or services. This way, the appropriate safeguards to protect personal data would have been embedded within.

About the Singapore Academy of Law

The Singapore Academy of Law (SAL) is a promotion and development agency for Singapore’s legal industry. Our vision is to make Singapore the legal hub of Asia.

SAL works with our stakeholders to set new precedents of excellence in Singapore law through developing thought leadership, world class infrastructure and legal solutions. Our mandates are to build up the intellectual capital of the legal profession by enhancing legal knowledge, raise the international profile of Singapore law, promote Singapore as a centre for dispute resolution, and improve the standards and efficiency of legal practice through continuing professional development and the use of technology.

As a body established by statute, SAL also undertakes statutory functions such as stakeholding services and appointment of Senior Counsel, Commissioners for Oaths and Notaries Public.

SAL is led by a Senate headed by Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon, and comprising the Attorney-General, the Supreme Court Bench and key leaders of the various branches of the legal profession. It has more than 12,000 members, including the Bench, all persons who are called as advocates and solicitors of the Supreme Court (i.e. the Bar) or appointed as Legal Service Officers, corporate counsel, faculty members of the three local law schools (i.e. National University of Singapore, Singapore Management University and Singapore University of Social Sciences) and foreign lawyers in Singapore.

More information can be found at www.sal.org.sg.

About the Personal Data Protection Commission

The PDPC administers the Personal Data Protection Act 2012 (PDPA) in Singapore, which aims to safeguard individuals’ personal data against misuse and promote proper management of personal data in organisations. The PDPA enhances Singapore’s competitiveness and strengthens our position as a trusted business hub, putting Singapore on par with the growing list of countries with data protection laws. For more information, please visit www.pdpc.gov.sg.