The traffic situation in Southeast Asia, as we all know, is famous for all the wrong reasons. Although some countries have taken steps to minimise congestion such as Vietnam’s ban on motorcycles by 2030, and Singapore’s deployment of road tolls and an expensive certificate of entitlement to reduce the number of car ownerships, the traffic situation in the region could still use some help.

 University of Oxford published a study last year titled “Troops, Trolls and Troublemakers: A Global Inventory of Organised Social Media Manipulation” which highlighted “cyber troops” that governments or political parties would use to manipulate public opinion over social media. One of the countries that was included in the study was the Philippines.

In 2017, the Thai government launched Digital Park Thailand which is set to become a premier destination for digital business leaders, innovators and disruptors. The park is anticipated to serve as an “incubator” for digital businesses in the Southeast Asian region.Digital Park Thailand strategically spans an area of over 113 hectares in the Chonburi province which is also part of Thailand’s Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC).

According to Anthony Couse, Asia Pacific CEO of real estate and investment management firm, Jones Lane LaSalle (JLL), proptech refers to the utilisation of technology to create or renovate services offered in real estate to buy, sell, rent, develop, market, and manage property in a more efficient and effective way.

The potential for the app market is huge in Southeast Asia, where smartphone usage accounts for more than 90% of overall internet use in the region, according to a 2017 joint report produced by Google and Temasek Holdings. Apps are generally divided according to the functions provided, be it for shopping, gaming or business, and the operating system on which they run.

Internet commerce or e-commerce across Southeast Asia last year was worth US$50 billion according to a 2017 Google Temasek report. It is also predicted that Southeast Asia’s internet economy will grow to US$200 billion by 2025 driven mostly by the growth of online travel, e-commerce and online media.

SMEs contribute 50% of ASEAN countries' gross domestic products (GDP) and drive 30% of ASEAN countries' exports, according to a joint 2018 report by the United Overseas Bank (UOB) and Dun & Bradstreet released in February 2018. 1,235 SMEs across Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines, Indonesia and Vietnam were surveyed in a bid to better understand how SMEs in these countries were positioning themselves within an evolving business landscape.

In the not so distant future, cross border transfer of money can be done with a few taps on your smartphone. Cash stored in virtual wallets and accessible via a secure smartphone application would make physical currency obsolete, while paving the way for digital cryptocurrencies. Such advancements fall under the wider web of financial technology or fintech for short.The fintech sector in Southeast Asia is currently facing a boom.

According to the World Bank, the Asian region supports the food demands of 60 percent of the global population by using just 23 percent of the world’s agricultural land. Due to an increasing population and decreasing land mass, the role of technology in agriculture is key. This is where the booming start up scene in Southeast Asia could come in handy for farmers.

Smart cities, while not dominating discussions at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Foreign Ministers' Retreat in Singapore earlier this month, was nevertheless talked about. Singapore, which chairs ASEAN for 2018 under the theme of innovation and resilience has been a strong advocate of a network of ASEAN smart cities to be formed as part of its chairmanship goals.