Asia Pacific (APAC) consumers have plenty of reasons to be concerned about data security. A study showed a jaw-dropping 168% increase in cyberattacks in just a year, between May 2020 to May 2021. 

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Its not surprising that APAC is vulnerable to a data breach as its diverse economic and geopolitical landscape means the maturity of cybersecurity measures vary. 

According to a report from Check Point Research, an APAC organization experiences 1,245 weekly attacks with ransomware, Remote Access Trojan (RAT), banking trojans and info stealers. 

It is easy to see why the region is a hotspot for cyberattacks, and its consumers are wary. This is from the lack of government regulation and extended dwell time before the breach is detected, to Advanced Persistent Threats (APTs), with China in the lead for the state-sponsored variety.

For example, between June 2019 and March 2021, Chinese APT NAIKON targeted military organizations in Brunei, Indonesia, Myanmar, Thailand, the Philippines, and Vietnam. In October and November last year, hacking group Desorden claimed to have exfiltrated the Centara Hotels & Resorts in Thailand twice and stole more than 400GB of data from its servers. 

The group said the data contained personal information on millions of customers worldwide who have stayed in over 70 luxury hotels operated by Central Group, which owns Centara, between 2003 and 2021.

Increasing awareness and cautions towards data security

With COVID-19 variants still impacting the world, online reliance continues to be a part of day-to-day activities from work and socializing to shopping and more. The only difference now is that people are more aware and cautious about data security. 

A survey on APAC consumers found that over 50% are uncomfortable with their collected data, with 90% having one or multiple concerns about corporate data practices. Most respondents, 85%, also acted when they disliked the practices – 23% of which chose or switched to an alternative brand with better data practices, and 22% using the brand less or abandoning it altogether. This has relevance in marketing, for instance.

“Consumers are increasingly aware of the importance of privacy and how their personal information gets collected and used for advertising. Privacy of user data is among the top five technology concerns for consumers in India, and in the top three for consumers in Japan,” said Jessica Martin, head of APAC privacy GTM at Google, who offered some strategies for businesses to navigate the changing consumer sentiment. They are:

• Invest in first-party data 
• Adopt automation solutions to do more with less data
• Build a privacy-first ecosystem

Even while knowing consumers’ growing apprehensive with data sharing and privacy, a Forrester report found most APAC marketers are unprepared for a cookieless future.

The basic expectation 

In collaboration with Campaign Asia-Pacific and World Federation Advertisers, the report also revealed that 59% of the marketers only fulfil the minimum requirements to comply with data privacy regulations. Only 18% believe they are mature regarding their privacy oversight and process. 43% are still relying on third-party cookies in their current marketing practices, and the same amount is concerned about going without cookies.

That makes for a worrying outlook for APAC businesses if they are slow to catch up with the current market mood. As such, data security isn’t an afterthought anymore; it is a basic expectation of the Asia Pacific consumers.  

The post Data security is an expectation for APAC consumers appeared first on Tech Wire Asia.

The commitment to transition towards sustainable energy comes afore as the new year opened with Indonesia banning coal exports due to insufficient supply for its power plants. 

On January 1, the country enacted the ban as its coal miners failed to fulfill their Domestic Market Obligation (DMO) to provide state utility Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN) with 25% of their annual production.

The country exports about three times the 130 million tons of coal annually to generate 60% of its 73 GW electric capacity.

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“Why is exporting prohibited for everyone? We can’t help it, and it’s just temporary. If the prohibition is not implemented, over 20 power plants with a combined capacity of 10,850 megawatts will be shut down,” said Ridwan Jamaluddin, director-general of minerals and coal at the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, in a statement.

Indonesia raised its coal output target

Last year, Indonesia raised its coal output target by 14% to 625 million tons to capitalize on high coal prices. Likewise, the coal miners have a preference to sell abroad as the prices hit almost US$170 per ton as of January. 

That’s more than double the US$70 per ton fixed coal price the government placed under the DMO since 2018. At 600-rupiah (US$0.042) per kWh in 2020, coal power is the cheapest option, followed by geothermal at 1,100-rupiah (US$0.077) per kWh and gas at 1,600-rupiah (US$0.11) kWh. 

Clean coal energy is unmet even with a pledge to phase out coal power plans at COP26 

Indonesia unveiled its greenest Electricity Business Plan (RUPTL) to date for the 2021 to 2030 period and signed a pledge to phase out its coal power plants at the COP26 climate conference last year.

However, critics found its commitment to sustainable energy underwhelming. Its continuous investment in coal, albeit leaning towards clean coal energy, dampened its goal of a 23% increased use of renewable energy in its energy mix by 2025. 

Moreover, while Indonesia said it will stop building new coal power plants after 2023, it will allow the construction of 117 new plants, which started in 2015, to be completed as planned by 2023. 

Clean coal technology to propel economic growth

In November 2020, the ASEAN Centre for Energy (AEC) and the World Coal Association (WCA) signed a three-year memorandum of understanding (MoU) to strengthen joint commitments to clean coal technology to propel economic growth.

“During the 37th ASEAN Ministers on Energy Meeting (AMEM) [in 2019], the ministers acknowledged the outlook of rising power generation from coal in the region and highlighted the efforts of ASEAN in promoting clean coal technologies (CCT).

“Ministers were also encouraged to further accelerate the deployment of CCT in the ASEAN region,” said Dr. Nuki Agya Utama, executive director of ACE, in a statement announcing the MoU signing.

ASEAN Plan of Action for Energy Cooperation 

“Under the ASEAN Plan of Action for Energy Cooperation (APAEC), coal and clean coal technology is one of the program areas, which aims to address the growing energy demand and promote environmental sustainability. ASEAN is currently developing APAEC 2016-2025 Phase II:2021-2025, where CCT is expected to play a significant role to advance the region’s energy transition, resiliency, and sustainability,” Dr. Nuki added. 

“It is critical that the global community is educated by leading organizations such as ACE, who are in the regions which are impacted the most by the lack of access to energy and the advantages that affordable, abundant, and reliable energy delivers,” said Michelle Manook, chief executive of WCA in the announcement.

“Coal is a critical enabler in emerging economies for economic growth, particularly those across the ASEAN region, and many in our global community do not seek to understand this.”

Indonesia is one of the world’s biggest coal exporters and counts China, India, Japan, and South Korea as its biggest customers.

The question now is, will organizations and countries start moving away from coal energy? At the end of the day, if the demand for coal energy stops, the supply can too.

Emerging technologies in the energy field are enabling businesses to make the switch from coal and focus on greener energy. Only time will tell if coal-dependent organizations are really serious about sustainability and reducing their carbon emissions.

The post Indonesia’s coal export drama raises questions appeared first on Tech Wire Asia.

The realization of Taiwan’s 5+2 innovative industries plan will soon materialize as the Cyber Security and Smart Technology Research and Development Building in Shalun, Tainan.

Under the island’s Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST), the building is poised to be the hub for startups and high-tech companies and the south Taiwan headquarters for Taiwan Tech Arena (TTA), a deep tech startup ecosystem building program.

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The 5+2 innovative industries plan was initiated in July 2016 with seven areas of focus: intelligent machinery, green energy, biomedicine, new agriculture, circular economy, national defense, and aerospace, and transforming Taiwan into Asia’s Silicon Valley. 

With cybersecurity designated as part of the island’s national defense, an action plan was unveiled in 2018, including building a cybersecurity education and training system guided by industry needs. 

Increasing the number of people working in the cybersecurity field to 10,000 and providing assistance and support for establishing 40 cybersecurity startups are a couple of the action plan’s objectives for 2025.

A leading center for smart technology and green living

Tainan is set to be the leading center for smart green city living, with its Shalun area being developed as green energy technology and innovation ecosystem.

The new Cyber Security and Smart Technology R&D building is part of Shalun Smart Green Energy Science City, an industrial park in Gueiren District, Tainan. 

“Few people wanted to move for work to Gueiren five years ago, but the hub in the district is expected to become the cradle of Asia’s most advanced cybersecurity technology, featuring innovative startups,” quipped Minister of Science and Technology Wu Tsung-tsong during the new building’s opening ceremony.

Taiwan mapped out its National Science and Technology Development Plan 2021-2024 to strengthen balanced regional development by spreading characteristic industry clusters throughout its northern, central, and southern regions. 

Taiwan’s 2030 vision 

The plan listed four goals towards realizing the country’s 2030 vision for innovation, inclusion, and sustainability:

1. Refine the talent cultivation environment and create competitive advantages for talent recruitment 
2. Improve the research and development ecosystem and allocate resources for the development of pioneering technology
3. Co-create economic momentum and build a solid ground for innovation
4. Enhance smart living capacity and realize a secure society

The most recent development initiatives expand on the 5+2 industrial innovation plan by focusing on six core strategic industries: digital and information industry, national defense and strategic industry, cybersecurity industry, green and renewable energy industry, medical technology, and precision health industry, and strategic stockpile industry.

A few days after the building’s opening, where President Tsai Ing-wen reiterated Taiwan’s commitment to fostering technological advancement with a humanistic approach, MOST announced that it would be transformed into a new science and technology council as early as March 2022. 

The new council will oversee the country’s overall technology development, which includes helping the cabinet and other government agencies to strengthen their technology development and decision-making in their operations and policies, as tech has become an index of its national competitiveness.  

The post Taiwan ramps up smart technology initiatives appeared first on Tech Wire Asia.

SK Nexilis, as part of SK Group’s Electric Vehicle (EV) value chain, has announced a proposed investment of RM2.3 billion to set up its first overseas production base in Malaysia in January 2021.

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SK Nexilis is building a copper foil manufacturing facility base located at Kota Kinabalu Industrial Park (KKIP) in Sabah.

The commercial operations will kickstart by 2023, and the new facility will increase SK Nexilis’ copper foil production capacity by three times its current global capacity to about 100,000 tonnes.

SK Group subsidiary SoCar to set up an EV platform in Malaysia

This comes in line with the recent announcement that its Malaysian subsidiary SOCAR Malaysia Sdn Bhd (SOCAR) has closed a $55 million Series A round of investment. EastBridge Partners led the deal, a leading private equity firm focused on Asia and the Pacific region investments, joined by strategic investor Sime Darby Berhad.

The company is planning to set up an EV platform in the country to deploy hundreds of EVs in the next five years.

Socar and Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB) have also recently signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to leverage shared demand data on EV usage in Malaysia as part of efforts to speed up the adoption of EVs.

The MoU outlines TNB’s plans to leverage Socar’s data on travel behavior and vehicle usage to identify locations along key travel routes to install charging infrastructure.

“TNB is set to take a leading role in driving EV adoption in Malaysia, especially among fleet management operators, and one of the key steps to achieving this is by establishing more EV charging zones that would be utilized optimally based on known travel routes,” said TNB chief retail officer Datuk Megat Jalaluddin Megat Hassan.

“This recent collaboration with Socar is more extensive, compared to our initial partnership back in December 2019 when TNB became the enabler for SoCar’s first two EV zones in Cyberjaya with the introduction of the first-ever EVs in their fleet”, he added.

Strategic investment into BigPay

In addition, the company made a strategic investment of up to $100m into BigPay, a leading regional fintech company based in Malaysia. The August 2021 investment into BigPay is SK Group’s first step in entering the fast-growing fintech sector outside Korea.

In a statement, SK Group said that the investment into BigPay was a testament to the ability of Malaysian fintech companies to grow not just domestically but also regionally and become a significant player in Southeast Asia. 

SK Group said it was also joining the AirAsia Group Bhd’s e-wallet unit BigPay to apply for Malaysia’s upcoming digital banking license.

“The company intends to expand its product sets and grow the model to new markets with the funds”, said BigPay co-founder and chief executive officer Salim Dhanani. 

Chief Representative of SK Malaysia, Jung Kyu Kim said, “We are confident that SK’s experience in financial tech services will contribute to successful digital bank ecosystem in Malaysia and further growth into the ASEAN region.” 

The post SK Group to invest US$700m in EVs, environment in Malaysia appeared first on Tech Wire Asia.

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South Korean-based manufacturer of the printed circuit board and packaging substrate for semiconductors Simmtech is on track to complete its RM508 million plant in Penang, Malaysia through its subsidiary Sustio Sdn Bhd.

The 18-acre plant in Southeast Asia is located at Batu Kawan Industrial Park and is anticipated to create more than 1,000 high-skilled jobs in engineering, manufacturing, and quality management by the first half of 2022. Despite the challenges due to the onset of Covid-19, the company said that the facility’s construction is right on track and scheduled for completion in the first quarter of 2022.

The factory will be manufacturing the region’s first packaging substrates for dynamic random-access memory (DRAM) / NAND memory chips and High-Density Interconnect (HDI) PCB for memory module / Solid State Drive (SSD) devices and operations expected to commence in the second quarter next year.

Simmtech is leading the technology evolution as a core supplier for package substrate to Tier-1 semiconductor customers. Notably, the company’s memory module PCB, BOC boards for DRAM package and Embedded Trace Substrate were awarded “World Class Products” by the Korean Government with the largest market share in the world.

Simmtech Southeast Asia managing director Jeffery Chun said the Penang project must go full swing to manage the supply chain, given the global semiconductor supply constraint.

“With synergistic support from federal government agencies, especially the Malaysian Investment Development Authority (MIDA) and state government agencies, our greenfield project is chartering in lightning speed to ramp up capacity to our major customers in this region,” he said.

MIDA chief executive officer Datuk Arham Abdul Rahman said that MIDA targeted more front-end and back-end semiconductor players and their supply chains to consider Malaysia as an alternative site for their production.

Merging Penang into the global semiconductor supply chain

The Penang state government has always set its sights on attracting more investors in the E&E sector, particularly start-ups and small-medium enterprises.

Chun said in a recent statement that Penang has a very well-established electronics industry ecosystem.

“We can access the resources and local businesses here. The state is full of great talents, and it has a solid customer base. Penang also has a dynamic and growing semiconductor industry. That was why we chose to invest in Penang,” he said.

He added that there are more demands for computer chips and mobile chips, which is an excellent period for the semiconductor industry.

Penang Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow has recently said the investment would bring Penang’s industry to greater heights and further merge the state into the global semiconductor supply chain.

Penang has also witnessed several global heavyweights announcing new investments and expansions of existing facilities in the state over the past two years.

In addition, Penang’s E&E exports were valued at RM231 billion in 2020, which formed more than half of the country’s total.

Earlier in December, Intel Corporation also announced the development of a new chip factory in Penang while Bosch also announced plans to expand its semiconductor operations on the island.

The global semiconductor crisis started in early 2020 and has been a disruptive force in the industry ever since. By the third quarter of 2021, smartphone OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) and component suppliers only received 70% of key components. The chip shortage affected Samsung and Apple – the two largest smartphone manufacturers.

Semiconductors also occupy an ever-increasing space in the automotive industry, consuming about 10% of the market. This can be attributed to several factors, including autonomous driving and driver assistance systems such as power management, safety features, sensing, displays, and vehicle control.

According to reports, the worldwide semiconductor shortage will persist through 2021 and is expected to recover to normal levels by the second quarter of 2022.

The post Simmtech’s semiconductor factory to open in Penang appeared first on Tech Wire Asia.

Singapore’s war for talent remains fierce despite a more upbeat outlook on the economy, with employers struggling to find suitable candidates to fill positions. 

Employers in Singapore are forced to rethink their recruitment practices as job vacancies are at a three-year high. 

According to Jobstreet’s 2021 Job Report, the Computer / IT industry has seen the hiring appetite return to pre-pandemic levels despite a 20.3% dip in 2020 — with this number expected to continue growing. 

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Singapore’s war for talent shows more roles require specific specialist expertise

Employers look for fresh talent to fill their open positions as the economy improves. This is to keep up with the rapid changes in technology and the fast-evolving workplace. However, they face two big problems: The job market is flooded with CVs, and most potential candidates do not have the experience or skills required. 

Highly skilled IT professionals are sought-after across all industries with the imminent growth of the information technology industry and rapid adoption of digitalization. 

This highlights the importance of promoting reskilling and upskilling among Singapore’s workforce to meet changing job landscape needs and as more roles require specific specialist expertise.

Tech Talent Expectations

The 2021 Tech Talent Expectation Survey, commissioned by Randstad Singapore and independently conducted by YouGov, showed that only 48% of ICT respondents receive job interview requests at least once a month despite the high demand for tech talent in Singapore.

It also showed that IT candidates are incredibly selective about the types of companies and jobs that they want to work in, especially if they have in-demand skills and plenty of options to choose from. 

Decisive motivating factors for active job seekers include working for tech companies at the forefront of innovation and abundant opportunities for innovative trial technologies. Young tech workers are the most likely to accept job interviews, with 29% of them accepting interview requests 75% to 99% of the time.

Singapore’s technology sector is bracing itself for an exodus of talents as young professionals turn down job offers despite attractive compensation packages and benefits.

One of the reasons for these rejected offers is that the interviewer did not understand the job scope or role they were hiring for. Meanwhile, an overwhelming 96% want to switch their specialisation if given a choice. 

Singapore tech skills gap

In the coming years, tech firms will require a range of skills to promote Singapore and build innovative technology platforms. They will need talent who have experience with emerging technologies like artificial intelligence, machine learning and professionals with skills in data science and cybersecurity. 

According to a new report commissioned by Amazon Web Services (AWS), Singapore will need 1.2 million additional digital workers by 2025 to remain competitive. 

However, Singapore’s skills in the ICT sector are lacking in “cybersecurity” as the top specialisation followed by “artificial technology, automation and robotics” and “data science/analytics”.

While technology experts, business leaders and policymakers have identified cloud architecture design, cybersecurity, software operations support, web/software/game development, and large-scale data modelling as among Singapore’s top five in-demand skills by 2025.

The post Singapore’s war for talent remains fierce appeared first on Tech Wire Asia.

Hong Kong plays an essential role in linking China to the world. In 2020 alone, Hong Kong handled about 10.1% of mainland China’s exports and 14.3% of its imports, valued at US$263 million and US$295 billion, respectively, according to the Hong Kong Trade Development Council Research. 

It also stated that 53% of Hong Kong’s re-exports came from the mainland. The island is also part of the Greater Bay Area, a megalopolis that includes nine Southern China and Macau cities. It is home to around 71.2 million people or 5% of China’s total population.

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As e-commerce and digital banking become the norm, exciting fintech solutions are also rising from the island. Wallyt, a leading digital payment solution provider, recently revealed its partnership with All Link Pay, a cross-border payments platform founded this year and backed by a leading MSO (money service operator) group in Hong Kong. 

Wallyt helped launch the first cross-border payment wallet with the Bank of China (Hong Kong) in 2018 and a cross-border e-commerce payment collection and disbursement solution for banks and financial institutions in 2020. 

The one-stop mobile payment service provider now serves more than 150 banks and financial institutions in over 60 countries and areas, with clients including Uniqlo, Rolex, Lego, Prada, Disney, CIMB Niaga, Bank Muamalat, Marks & Spencer, and more. 

Meanwhile, All Link Pay (ALP) is part of the group with 20 years of foreign exchange service experience in Hong Kong with a large cluster of cooperation networks around the world and tens of thousands of clients in import and export. 

It established All Link Pay to broaden its range of cross-border payment collect and disburse services to serve better its existing clients moving online and attract the increasing numbers of new cross-border merchants. It supports popular platforms such as Amazon, eBay, Wish and more. 

Wallyt and All Link Pay collaboration will allow cross-border e-commerce merchants 

The Wallyt and All Link Pay collaboration will allow cross-border e-commerce merchants in Hong Kong and Mainland China to open one or multiple local currency accounts. 

The collaboration will allow the collection of international payments from online marketplaces, make foreign exchange transactions, withdraw money, and payout funds to suppliers, sellers, and any service providers worldwide. 

“Beside the cross-border payment, All Link Pay and Wallyt also established a deeper collaboration in risk management and financial inclusion. Based on the group’s comprehensive financial service capabilities, All Link Pay will further provide cross-border merchants with extensive overseas channel resources and a diverse set of financing options to grow their business,” Wallyt said in a statement announcing their alliance.

Teaming up with All Link Pay is part of the many partnerships that Wallyt has formed. This year also saw the Hong Kong-based fintech company working with Findora, Nepal’s NIC ASIA Bank, and Indonesia’s Arash Digital and Bank Neo Commerce. It is also listed in IDC China FinTech 50, based on financial industry research on technology, innovation, and financial services trends in China.

The post Wallyt and All Link Pay partner up for payments appeared first on Tech Wire Asia.

Digital and social media marketing have been significant players in the evolution of e-commerce, especially amongst the Gen Z demographic. 

However, according to a new survey of over 600 Generation Zers, 50% of them abandon their online shopping carts if they forget their passwords. This is compared to 16% of millennial shoppers, and 4% of baby boomers. 

Gen Zers not only possess a collective buying power of over US$150 billion but are also a critical demographic for banks and payment systems. That’s a lot of lost business for online retailers.

Gen Z in APAC wield largest economic power

The survey by Transmit Security suggests the economic power wielded by Gen Z is the fastest-growing, globally.  In fact, Gen Zers in the Asia Pacific accounts for 89% of this group, with Singapore and Indonesia topping the list at 91% and 95%, respectively. Earnings are expected to hit US$33 trillion by 2030, which translates into over 25% of the world’s income. 

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Gen Zers in Asia spend more time on social media than any other age cohort. As such, they are a critical demographic for brands as they have so much purchasing power. However, many businesses that fail to provide seamless user experiences, particularly with sign-up and login, stand to really lose out. 

The survey also found that:

• 85.3% of the Gen Z participants use smartphones to do some or all their online shopping 
• 83.3% use smartphones to log in to their banking accounts and payment systems 
• 37% only use their phones for online banking and payments 
• 58.2% have failed to complete website registrations because due to overly complex processes. 
• Over 50% of Gen Zers have left a website, and 50% have abandoned an online purchase because they forgot their password.

Meanwhile, 80% have also admitted that they have used the “Forgot My Password” option within the last few months, and more than 50% confirm they reuse the same password for different accounts. 

According to McKinsey, Gen Zers in the Asia Pacific like to research before they shop, with many interested in finding deals.

In Australia, 66% of Gen Zers surveyed say they always look for discounts before buying, and in China, the share is 50%; that is 10% more than its millennial peers. South Korean and Japanese Gen Zers are less willing than millennials to provide retailers and service providers personal information, however.

Moving towards passwordless authentication

Traditional passwords will not work with this demographic.

Instead, Gen Zers and businesses alike will benefit from offering a passwordless authentication experience that eliminates the use of passwords in the entire customer journey.

“The Gen Z demographic is not just digitally native, they have grown up with the world in their hands, constantly connected on either a mobile phone or tablet,” said Transmit Security CEO and Co-Founder Mickey Boodaei. 

“Our findings confirm they want it all: fast, easy, and secure online experiences. We also discovered many are reckless with their passwords, so businesses need to protect their accounts for them,” he added.

The study suggests that Gen Z is ready for passwordless authentication methods, especially with biometrics — this will be the norm for Gen Z, with 95% using the technology by 2022.

The report indicates this generation will be a driver of change in the market, moving towards more seamless and frictionless security experiences as they enter the workforce.

The post 2022: Going passwordless to capture Gen Z market appeared first on Tech Wire Asia.

Thailand is leading the region in mobile network technology as it has become the first country to launch ASEAN’s first 5G Smart Hospital. 

The collaboration with Huawei Technologies aims to bring patients a more convenient and efficient experience by introducing 5G, cloud, and artificial intelligence (AI) technologies. This includes promoting Siriraj Hospital to become a model for smart hospitals in Thailand and the world.

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First and largest 5G smart hospital in ASEAN

According to a press statement from Huawei, the 5G smart hospital project is the “first and largest” in Thailand and the Southeast Asian region. The new digital health care facility is located in Bangkok and will showcase various innovative digital applications. 

Both Huawei and the Siriraj Hospital strengthened their partnership around 5G since the pandemic started. A five-year memorandum of understanding of an immediate upgrade of the hospital’s previous infrastructure and the conduct of demonstration exhibitions and events to promote 5G was signed by both parties recently.

The Siriraj World Class 5G Smart Hospital project comprises nine sub-projects comprising smart emergency rooms and emergency medical service, a pathological diagnosis system with 5G and AI, an AI platform for non-communicable diseases, smart inventory management, a permission-based blockchain for personal health records, smart logistics with a 5G self-driving car, multi-access edge computing and a hybrid cloud system.

Siriraj Hospital and Huawei also stated that they established a Joint Innovation Lab to incubate innovative 5G applications. It is expected that 30 5G medical applications will be incubated and promoted nationwide in 2022.

The first step in the utilization of digital technologies

“The Thai government understands the importance of technology, successfully drafting a plan for Digital Thailand. The utilization of digital technologies and 5G in the medical field will help reduce processes for medical personnel, decrease overall risk, and will improve the effectiveness and efficacy of healthcare for patients, Thailand Prime Minister and Minister of Defence General Prayut Chan-o-cha said during his address on the national policy on 5G technology and digital economy.

He added that Siriraj 5G Smart Hospital is a pilot project, which will expand to other hospitals in the future. 

Abel Deng, Chief Executive Officer of Huawei Technologies (Thailand) Co., Ltd., highlighted that this cross-sector collaboration will enhance and upgrade the services of Siriraj Hospital to progress it to become a smart medical centre using digital technologies based on 5G, AI, Big Data infrastructure, and Cloud Edge processing for patient tracking, disease diagnosis by AI on Cloud, data storage and analysis, and allocation of resources.

All of which will help pave the way to fulfil the Faculty of Medicine Siriraj Hospital’s vision to become the “Medical Institute of the Nation, a Creator of Global Citizen Wellbeing”, and a Smart Hospital model for other hospitals in Thailand,” he said.

“This signifies a model for upgrading Thailand’s public health industry in the future and contributes to Siriraj’s transition to becoming a Smart Hospital, in line with Huawei’s mission to Grow in Thailand, Contribute to Thailand,” said Deng.

The post Thailand, Huawei unveil ASEAN’s first 5G “Smart Hospital” appeared first on Tech Wire Asia.

The rise of financial technology (fintech) in the region has led to a talent crunch, with more than two-thirds (67%) of finance professionals in Southeast Asia saying they are experiencing difficulty finding qualified talent. 

Industry insiders warn that Southeast Asia is on the cusp of a ‘talent tech war’ as financial institutions scramble for tech talent in the region. 

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Cusp of a talent tech war

Global fintech investment surged from $87.1 billion in the second half of 2020 to a record $98 billion in the first half of 2021. Meanwhile, the growth in the fintech market is expected to grow gradually and reach a market value of $US324 billion by 2026.

The growth n in demand for tech talent to support the expansion of this sector leads to this talent war in Southeast Asia, with Singapore emerging as one of the biggest winners and other countries not far behind.

Announcements of new startups related to fintech, especially in Southeast Asia, are commonplace at the moment. Companies and organizations compete with other industries such as e-commerce and digital media. The demand for skilled workers who can contribute to their growth has increased along with the boom of this industry.

In 2021, Southeast Asian startups have raised over US$6 billion from venture investors, and the region is now home to 42 unicorns – companies valued at more than US$10 billion. As Southeast Asia’s startup landscape booms and accelerates to new heights, so are salaries for developers who can help build out fast-growing, innovative businesses. 

Startups in Singapore and Malaysia are now experiencing a talent crunch, with the average salary for software engineers in Singapore is S$5307.

According to data from recruitment agency Michael Page, Southeast Asian unicorns and local startups compete for talent; job switchers can command salary increases of 15% to 20% in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

Sought after roles in Singapore and Malaysia

In 2021, the demand for technology candidates will continue at a rapid pace as the Singapore government appears to be a leading global technology hub. The desire to recruit local talent will continue into the coming year, resulting in ample opportunity for Singapore’s best tech talent. In order to fill the skills gap in the market, there is still a strong demand for foreign talent in emerging or niche technologies.

Software developers are highly demanded and are especially notable in banks and insurance companies.

As companies increasingly pursue digital-centric strategies, the risks involved need to be addressed, which is why cybersecurity candidates are critical for businesses.

Once viewed as a niche speciality, fintech is fast becoming a leading model for Malaysian companies, influencing consumer behaviour in many ways. 

Interest in digital banking increased in 2020, with digital payments and loans being adopted by consumers. However, most banks are still in the implementation phase. In 2021, developers will be hired for in-house applications, while legacy systems will be redesigned to provide a more customer-centric experience. 

 User experience and user interface designers with experience in fintech products such as eWallets and KYC will also see above-average increases in salaries.

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