Melvin Ng, RPh 黄成伟东奕

National University of Singapore (NUS)

Serving as a Global Conference Speaker at FOSSAsia Summit 2026 - Asia's Leading Open-Source Technology Conference 🌎

Hello, melvincwng here again 👋 - talking about my experience as a speaker at the FOSSASIA Summit 2026.

The FOSSASIA Summit, March 2026 took place in Bangkok, Thailand and brought together the global open-source community for several days of talks, workshops, collaboration, and networking sessions around emerging technologies such as Artificial Intelligence, Cloud Computing, Web3, Robotics, and open hardware.

As a Speaker, Founding CTO, and GitHub Developer Advocate, I presented a talk titled:

“Building HealthPredictor.AI – An AI/ML Health Prediction System Developed at NUS Using Open-Source Tools”.

The session shared the journey of building an AI-powered healthcare prediction system using open-source technologies and highlighted how modern developer tools and collaborative workflows accelerate innovation.

This was also an opportunity to represent Singapore and the developer community on a global stage and build connections across the international open-source ecosystem.

Attendance

The summit was very well attended, with an expected audience of around 5,000 participants from more than 50 countries, including developers, startup founders, researchers, enterprise engineers, educators, and students.

Attendees included:

1️⃣ University students and early-career developers

2️⃣ Startup founders and open-source maintainers

3️⃣ Engineers from global tech companies

4️⃣ Researchers and academics in AI and software engineering

The event had a strong international presence, with participants from across Asia, Europe, and the United States. This created a diverse environment where different perspectives on open-source development and emerging technologies could be exchanged.

My session attracted a mix of students, engineers, and founders interested in applied AI systems, particularly those exploring how open-source tools can accelerate real-world product development.

Venue

The event was hosted at True Digital Park West, a large innovation and startup hub in Bangkok.

The venue worked very well for a conference of this scale because:

1️⃣ Multiple parallel tracks allowed for specialized technical sessions

2️⃣ Dedicated networking spaces facilitated community interaction

3️⃣ The startup ecosystem environment encouraged collaboration

Being located within a technology park also helped bring together startups, investors, and developers in a shared ecosystem.

Planning vs Implementation

Overall, the event was well organized and ran close to schedule.

Some observations:

1️⃣ Sessions were structured across multiple tracks, which allowed attendees to explore different domains such as AI, DevOps, Web technologies, and hardware.

2️⃣ Speaker logistics and coordination were handled efficiently by the organizing team.

3️⃣ Hybrid participation allowed both in-person and remote attendees to participate.

During the event, I also participated in informal mentoring and discussions with students and developers interested in:

1️⃣ Open-source development workflows

2️⃣ Using AI tools in software engineering

3️⃣ Startup development and building AI products

These interactions were not part of the formal schedule but became valuable extensions of the session.

Positives

🌏 Global exposure – Engaging with developers and organizations from more than 50 countries

🤝 Strong networking opportunities with engineers, founders, and researchers across Asia and beyond

💡 High interest in applied AI systems, especially practical implementations using open-source tools

🚀 Opportunity to showcase HealthPredictor.AI, highlighting how AI systems can be built using collaborative open-source workflows

🎓 Student engagement – many attendees were curious about open-source pathways and contributing to real-world projects

🧠 Cross-disciplinary discussions on AI, software engineering, and startup innovation

What could be improved?

1️⃣ Some sessions ran simultaneously across tracks, which made it difficult to attend multiple talks of interest.

2️⃣ Due to the scale of the conference, networking time between sessions sometimes felt short.

These are typical trade-offs for large multi-track conferences.

Feedback from Attendees

Feedback was collected through post-session conversations, networking discussions, and social media engagement.

Common themes from attendees included:

1️⃣ Interest in practical AI development workflows using open-source tools

2️⃣ Curiosity about how GitHub Copilot and AI-assisted development can accelerate product development

3️⃣ Questions about how student developers can build and deploy AI systems in real-world applications

Several attendees also expressed interest in:

1️⃣ Contributing to open-source projects

2️⃣ Learning how AI startups transition from prototypes to production systems

About the GitHub Student Developer Pack

During my talk, the GitHub Student Developer Pack was introduced as a key resource for:

1️⃣ Learning modern development workflows and GenAI innovation through GitHub Copilot

2️⃣ Accessing tools for cloud development, collaboration, and deployment

3️⃣ Supporting early-stage projects and experimentation

Students were particularly interested in tools that support:

1️⃣ AI development environments

2️⃣ Cloud hosting for prototypes

3️⃣ Collaborative coding workflows

Many attendees were encouraged to explore the Student Developer Pack to support their own open-source and startup projects.

Social Media Drop

1️⃣ Event Website

2️⃣ Official Social Media

3️⃣ LinkedIn Post 1

4️⃣ LinkedIn Post 2

Photos

Image Location of FOSSAsia Summit 2026 Bangkok

Image FOSSAsia Summit 2026, Bangkok Opening Ceremony

Image Attending the keynote session at FOSSAsia Summit 2026

Image Speaking at FOSSAsia Summit 2026 Bangkok - grateful for the opportunity and invitation by the FOSSAsia team (Hong Phuc Dang & Velia Dang)

Image Advocating for the GitHub Student Developer Pack, and showcasing the benefits of GitHub Copilot to the developers at FOSSAsia Summit 2026

Image Sharing with the open source tech community what HealthPredictor.AI is all about - i.e., we believe in open source sharing of knowledge because we want our work to matter

Image A talk about HealthPredictor.AI - a startup initiative built by NUS postgraduate students to help patients and caregivers manage and predict their risk of getting diabetes, hypertension, and hyperlipidemia.

Image Glad to be able to share our story at HealthPredictor.AI with the international audience at FOSSAsia Summit 2026 Bangkok

Image Giving a talk at FOSSAsia Summit 2026, and explaining how to finetune traditional AI/ML models in the healthcare industry

Image Introducing the HealthPredictor.AI team at FOSSAsia Summit 2026 Bangkok

Image HealthPredictor.AI, awarded a Distinction at NUS, has demonstrated significant educational impact through its presence at five international conferences and tech events, collectively attended by approximately 6,000 participants across three countries.

Image FOSSAsia Summit 2026 Closing Ceremony

Image Exploring nearby temples in Thailand

Summary

Speaking at FOSSASIA Summit 2026 was an incredibly valuable experience.

The summit serves as one of Asia’s most important open-source technology gatherings, bringing together developers, educators, and innovators who are actively shaping the future of open technologies.

For me personally, the event provided an opportunity to:

🗣️ Share the HealthPredictor.AI journey with a global audience

🚀 Represent Singapore and the local developer community

🌈 Build new connections with international researchers, engineers, and startups

🥳 Exchange ideas on how open-source ecosystems can accelerate AI innovation

The conference reaffirmed the importance of open collaboration, knowledge sharing, and community-driven development.

I look forward to bringing the insights, connections, and ideas gained from the summit back to the local community through future talks, mentorship, and open-source initiatives.

Once again, thank you @GitHub and @GitHub Education for the awesome sponsorship for this conference!

Melvin Ng, RPh (GitHub Developer Advocate, Singapore)

@melvincwng’s GitHub Profile

@melvincwng’s LinkedIn Profile