Indonesia is one of the region’s best success stories. Despite having faced economic turmoil in the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis under the authoritarian Suharto regime, Indonesia is today one of the fastest growing economies in the world. The main focus of its economy has been the export of goods such as textiles, automobiles, electrical appliances, and oil and gas.
A van arrives at Angkor Wat Temple and deposits its load of foreigners who make their way to the World Heritage Site. Noticeably absent among them is a local guide. The tourists brought their own guide, a handheld device that can speak up to 14 languages.Developed by local company Angkor Audio, the device enables foreign tourists the luxury of wandering the ancient site at their own leisure without being harried and rushed along by local guides.
Hi-tech Singapore is planning to roll out a swarm of drones for tasks that include delivering parcels, inspecting buildings and providing security, but safety and privacy concerns mean the initiative may hit turbulence.Companies have already started testing the devices for commercial use, mainly in an area of over 200 hectares (500 acres) dotted with high-rise buildings and shopping malls, specially designated by the government for the trials.It is part of the affluent city's drive to em
Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) or drones are usually associated with military applications but they also have immense usefulness in agriculture.Drones are used in Japan’s rural heartland to aid the aging farmer populace spray pesticides and fertiliser. The median age of farmers in the rice-planting region of Tome is 67 years.
A recent joint report by Google and Singapore’s Temasek Holdings has revealed that Southeast Asia’s internet economy could be worth more than US$240 billion by 2025 – surpassing previous estimates of US$200 billion. One of the key drivers of this burgeoning internet economy is the e-commerce sector.
Southeast Asia’s internet economy is slated to be worth more than US$240 billion by 2025 according to a joint study by Google and Singapore’s Temasek Holdings covering the six most advanced internet economies in the region – Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam and the Philippines. Previous projections foresaw a US$200 billion internet economy for the region by 2025.
As ASEAN moves into the future, the regional bloc is faced with two trends – digitalisation and urbanisation. While urbanisation can be seen as a positive thing, there are also possible spill over effects if not mitigated properly.
It’s a familiar arrival routine at the airport. Clear customs, pick up your luggage, then scour available telco booths for the best available data deals. Upon selecting a suitable data plan, a friendly salesperson will extricate the subscriber identity module (SIM) card from your smartphone and swap in a local one. What if you didn’t need to fiddle and worry about safekeeping your existing SIM?
Over the past two decades, Southeast Asia has shed its image of an agrarian backwater and transformed into a world leader in developing the latest technologies such as blockchain, artificial intelligence (AI), robotics, cloud computing and fintech among others. For example, robotics and advanced manufacturing already have a strong presence in the region with Singapore and Malaysia having established themselves as research and development clusters.
Industry 4.0, also known as the Fourth Industrial Revolution, is not only inevitable but is already upon us. While internet connectivity plays a major role in the realisation of Industry 4.0, there is little reason to doubt the significance of mobile internet connectivity as well.
A man walks gingerly over a small field in rural Cambodia, pushing a lawnmower-like contraption that deploys ground-penetrating radar to unearth clues of mass graves.The pilot project is twinning technology and fieldwork to locate remains of victims of the Khmer Rouge, the ultra-Maoist regime whose quest to build an agrarian utopia from 1975 to 1979 left an estimated two million Cambodians dead.Hacked to death, starved, overworked or ravaged by illness, their bodies were dumped in hastily dug
The Fourth Industrial Revolution or Industry 4.0 has become a commonplace term on the minds of politicians, industry leaders, academics and people alike. It represents a future which holds the promise of accelerated disruption and the birth of new technologies that stands to revolutionise our daily lives.Translating such buzzwords into actionable initiatives that will forever reshape the economy is no simple feat.
