I have been in the communications industry for more than 40 years. I studied design at the Southampton Institute UK from 1971-75 and was a Director of the Penta Communications Group for 6 years before joining DIA in London in 1983 as studio head. Before establishing DIA Singapore in October 1995, my role was Director of Corporate Branding in London. Following a management buy out I am now a major shareholder and CEO of DIA, an independent branding group based in Singapore, with offices in Malaysia and Australia.I am a Fellow of the Singapore Design Business Chamber, formerly Designers Association Singapore (DAS) and served as President of the Association from 1999 to 2003, during which time we led many initiatives to help develop the Singapore design and communications industry. I was a member of the IDF conference committee (International Design Forum) from 1996 to 2004 and also a founding member of the Marketing Council of Asia (MCA). I believe that branding and design thinking are both processes that are fundamental to the future success of today's businesses, as well as any organisation or entity that interacts with people. This spans countries, cities, governments, environments, corporates, products, services and more. They can enhance the effectiveness of every aspect of an organisation, what it does and it's interaction with its customers and community.