SCMP appoints Malcolm Ong as new head of product

South China Morning Post Publishers Limited announced the appointment of Malcolm Ong to the new position of head of product.Reporting to CEO Gary Liu, Ong will helm SCMP's product and engineering teams to drive the development of new consumer experiences and the innovation of SCMP's editorial products. Ong has relocated from San Francisco to Hong Kong, SCMP's global headquarters.Ong joins SCMP from US online ride-sharing platform Lyft. He was instrumental in spearheading an array of product initiatives from new channel development to partnerships with Fortune 500 corporations. Under Ong's stewardship, Lyft launched its first progressive web app, Amazon Fire app and Windows 10 app.Prior to Lyft, Ong was an entrepreneur-in-residence at 500 Startups, a global venture capital fund with over US$350 million in committed capital, where he advised a class of 30+ startups through the fund's accelerator program. Before 500 Startups, Ong co-founded Skillshare, a New York-based education start-up, and led the product team at OMGPOP, a New York-based gaming studio. He has also held senior technology positions at Razorfish and IBM. Malcolm holds a BSc degree in Computer Science with a double major in Business Administration from Carnegie Mellon University."As SCMP moves full speed ahead in our transformation, a technology roadmap with a global perspective is essential to elevating our product experience for users around the world," said Gary Liu, CEO of South China Morning Post."Malcolm will lead SCMP's efforts to develop new products and platforms that demonstrate our commitment to editorial and digital excellence. I believe Malcolm's expertise, innovative vision and entrepreneurial spirit will be crucial to SCMP's mission to lead the global conversation about China."Ong said that the news industry is at an inflection point, and the company must pivot and adapt to changing reader behavior, distribution channels and revenue models."We are in a challenging yet exhilarating position to define the future paradigm of news. I'm excited to join Gary and the rest of the SCMP team on this mission," he said.