“The owners of the platform giants consider themselves the masters of the universe, but in fact they are slaves to preserving their dominant position,” business magnate and philanthropist, George Soros chillingly stated during his World Economic Forum (WEF) speech in Davos this year. Soros was referring to the immense influence that companies like Google and Facebook had amassed – creating a new “monolithic power” in the world today.

Thailand’s start-up growth comes hot on the heels of strong start-up progress in Singapore and Indonesia. For the Thai government, driving Thailand towards digitisation under the Thailand 4.0 initiative is key. Foreign investors too are looking in on the potential in the region.

The Internet of Things (IoT) comprises “a global network of computers, sensors, and actuators connected through Internet protocols,” according to Cuno Pfister, author of ‘Getting Stared with the Internet of Things’.

In 1930, economist John Maynard Keynes wrote in an essay titled “Economic Possibilities For Our Grandchild” that with the technological advancements of the future, people could be working as little as 15 hours a week. Just like the industrial revolution, many thought the introduction of automation in workplaces in the 21st century would revolutionise labour – freeing workers from long hours at the factory and spend more time on leisure activities.

The importance of safe, sanitised water is key to a country’s development. The logic behind this is simple – if a nation tries to deliver better health to its growing population, without regard for its natural resources, it will not only face a struggle to make forward strides; but could even experience a reversal in the progress that has already been made. This is where the relationship between water services and a healthy, sustainable ecosystem comes into play.

The future of Thailand’s industrial sector lies in robotics and automation.According to Varin Rodphotong, from the Centre of Robotics Excellence (CoRE), robots will significantly help improve the competitiveness of domestic industries in Thailand.

The uniqueness of Google’s new cloud machine learning software, Cloud AutoML, is that it is a foundational software for the democratisation of artificial intelligence for worldwide use. With AI being the next frontier of future economic development, it is even more imperative that such expertise becomes accessible to everyone on an equal level.“Currently, only a handful of businesses in the world have access to the talent and budgets needed to fully appreciate the advancements of ML and AI.

With increased digitisation of services these days it was only a matter of time before digital payments caught up. Digital payments are transactions of monetary value conducted via electronic means. These are expected to bring in US$32 billion in revenue to Southeast Asia by 2021, according to Euromonitor. To capitalise on it, Ant Financial’s Alipay and Tencent’s WeChat entered the market with an initial focus on Chinese tourists to the region.

These days, money launderers have one more avenue to channel their proceeds through: cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin. Money launderers use Bitcoin because of the anonymity factor, whereupon users are simply identified by a 30-character alphanumeric code, or address which links them to the transactions they perform. No other identification is required to obtain a Bitcoin address.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) consists of 10 countries and makes up a culturally, politically and economically diverse region, boasting a population of over 632 million people, a growing middle class, and an increasingly educated workforce. Today’s workforce in ASEAN sees both, potential and challenges as the Fourth Industrial Revolution dawns upon the region.