- The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) said it will award digital full bank licences to the Grab-Singtel consortium and tech giant SEA, in highly anticipated move that aims to liberalise the financial industry.
- 180 million consumers stream eight billion hours of over-the-top (OTT) content per month across Southeast Asia – making OTT one of the fastest growing media channels in the region.
- India is emerging as the preferred mobile manufacturing base, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in his inaugural speech at the Indian Mobile Congress (IMC) 2020.
- The National Policy on Science, Technology and Innovation (DSTIN) 2021-2030 will intensify local technology development and application efforts to transform the country from being technology users to technology developers.
- The National Innovation Agency (NIA) is gearing up for the development of deep-tech startups in regional areas, with the aim to groom 100 startups in this field over three years.
IBM Philippines found that business executives will accelerate the digital transformation of their organizations, which also means that they will engage with their workforce “in new ways.”
Singapore to have 4 digital banks, with Grab-Singtel and Sea getting digital full bank licences
The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) said it will award digital full bank licences to the Grab-Singtel consortium and tech giant Sea, in a first for the city-state and a highly anticipated move that aims to liberalise the financial industry.
Like traditional banks, these players will provide retail customers with services such as opening accounts, deposits as well as issuing debit and credit cards. However, digital banks will not have a physical presence and all banking services will be done online.
A total of 21 firms, including TikTok-parent firm ByteDance, had applied to get a digital license, of which 14 met the eligibility criteria, MAS said. Tech giants see a major opportunity in expanding to financial services as a way to supercharge their revenue in the rapidly growing region. Singapore’s central bank will also grant digital wholesale bank licences to Ant Group as well as a consortium comprising Greenland Financial Holdings, Linklogis Hong Kong and Beijing Co-operative Equity Investment Fund Management.
“We expect them to thrive alongside the incumbent banks and raise the industry’s bar in delivering quality financial services, particularly for currently underserved businesses and individuals,” said MAS MD Ravi Menon in a statement. A handful of countries, including the U.K., India and Hong Kong, have streamlined their regulations in recent years to grant tech companies the ability to operate as digital banks.
MAS added that it will review whether to grant more DWB licences in the future as the licences are being introduced as a pilot. Ant Group, which will be issued a DWB licence, said it is grateful for the opportunity to further contribute to accelerating digital financial innovation and inclusion in Singapore and the region.
57 percent of Southeast Asian viewers are now streaming more OTT video content because of COVID-19
The Trade Desk announced new, first-of-its-kind research in the Southeast Asia market, showing that 180 million consumers stream eight billion hours of over-the-top (OTT) content per month across Southeast Asia – making OTT one of the fastest growing media channels in the region.
OTT services enable viewers to stream professionally-produced video content over the internet on demand, from any device including smart TVs, personal computers or mobile devices.
The study, which surveyed usage and viewing habits on OTT platforms in Indonesia, Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam, showed that COVID-19 has accelerated OTT adoption. More than half (57 percent) of OTT users say they’re streaming more OTT content during the pandemic. These habits are likely to continue even after COVID-19 with 73 percent planning to maintain or increase OTT consumption after the pandemic ends.
“The pandemic has ushered in an accelerated shift to OTT, and there’s no turning back. This is not surprising, given that many consumers have been spending more time at home, and OTT content is more convenient and more accessible than ever,” said Mitch Waters, SVP of Southeast Asia, Australia, and New Zealand, The Trade Desk.
“Our research shows, however, that this shift is only going in one direction. Advertisers understand this. They want to move their campaigns to reach consumers where they are, and so they can apply data to video campaigns in ways that are simply not possible via traditional channels, such as linear TV.”
As part of this shift, 89 percent of Southeast Asian viewers are willing to embrace ads for free content. Indonesia and Philippines are especially ad tolerant, with the number of viewers willing to watch four or more ads per hour of free content at 38 percent and 42 percent respectively. Advertisers can reach more than 100 million consumers in Southeast Asia on ad-supported platforms. Ad-supported streaming is especially popular in Thailand, where advertisers can reach 7 out of 10 Thai OTT viewers.
At IMC, Mukesh Ambani promises Jio 5G rollout in 2021
India is emerging as the preferred mobile manufacturing base, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in his inaugural speech at the Indian Mobile Congress (IMC) 2020. The Prime Minister also stressed that India, which has the lowest mobile tariff in the world, is also the fastest growing app market. He also reassured that every village will have high-speed fiber optic data connectivity in three years.
Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani was also one of the keynote speakers at IMC and he stressed on the need for a 5G revolution in India, adding that Jio would help pioneer this in the country by the second half of 2021.
“India is today among the best digitally connected nations in the world. In order to maintain this lead, policy steps are needed to accelerate early rollout of 5G, and to make it affordable and available everywhere. I assure you that Jio will pioneer the 5G Revolution in India in the second half of 2021,” Ambani said in his speech.
Jio has been working on 5G for some time now. The nationwide LTE-exclusive network coverage is helping the Mumbai-based telco to switch to the next-generation cellular service in a shorter time when comparing with what’s required for Airtel and Vi (formerly known as Vodafone Idea).
“Jio Platforms, with its family of over 20 start-up partners, has built world-class capabilities in Artificial Intelligence, Cloud Computing, Big Data, Machine Learning, Internet of Things, Blockchain, etc. We are creating compelling home-grown solutions in Education, Healthcare, Agriculture, Infrastructure, Financial Services and New Commerce. Each of these solutions, once proven in India, will be offered to the rest of the world to address global challenges,” he added.
He also talked about the need for manufacturing digital hardware in the country, adding that one cannot be dependent on large-scale imports. “Many leading Global companies are coming to India to set up manufacturing facilities. India has developed world-class strengths in chip design. I clearly foresee India becoming a major hub for the state-of-the-art semiconductor industry,” he said.
New policy to transform Malaysia from user to developer of technologies
The National Policy on Science, Technology and Innovation (DSTIN) 2021-2030 will intensify local technology development and application efforts to transform the country from being technology users to technology developers.
Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation Khairy Jamaluddin (pictured) said by setting a target of becoming a high-technology country, the efforts would be able to reduce dependence on foreign technology and labour. He said the new policy outlined six cores, along with 20 strategies and 46 initiatives, covering all sectors and living spaces of people from all walks of life.
Khairy said the six cores emphasised responsive STI governance, empowerment of research, development, commercialisation and innovation (R&D&C&I) as well as the use of local technology by the industry, STI talent development, embracing and application of STIE as well as bringing STI to the global stage.
“We are aware that STI-based economic growth efforts require the cooperation of various parties, therefore this policy emphasises strategic collaboration between government, industry, academia and society, particularly in the development of local technologies through R&D&C&I. Khairy said in the efforts to make Malaysia a high-technology country with a GERD (Gross Domestic Expenditure on Research and Development) of 3.5 percent by 2030, 10 STIE leap programmes have been formulated.
Among them are the creation of Technology Commercialisation Accelerator (TCA), Malaysia Science Endowment (MSE), National Technology Innovation Sandbox (NTIS) and the establishment of the National Vaccine Centre, which will drive local technology development and commercialisation of R&D products.
Meanwhile, Khairy said that Malaysia was ranked 33rd out of 131 innovative countries in the 2020 Global Innovation Index (GII), compared to 35th last year. “Among ASEAN countries, Malaysia is in second place behind Singapore, while among upper-middle-income group countries, we are second behind China,” he said.
NIA focuses on regional deep-tech startup plan
The National Innovation Agency (NIA) is gearing up for the development of deep-tech startups in regional areas, with the aim to groom 100 startups in this field over three years.
The “Deep-Tech Regionalisation” programme is meant to propel economic growth and create jobs in the future.
“Deep tech is the next phase of growth for Thailand’s startup ecosystem because it draws support from large corporations and conglomerates in Thailand and entices investment from foreign venture capitalists,” said Pun-arj Chairatana, executive director of the NIA.
The NIA defines deep-tech as including bio-based materials, energy, food, farming, astronomy, medical fields and genomics. Over the past 10 months, deep-tech start-ups have been attractive to venture capital and corporate venture capital (CVC) firms. In Thailand, more than 30 CVC firms have expressed interest in investing in deep tech, he said.
Deep tech creates high-value employment and prepares the workforce for the future. In ASEAN, venture capitalists are interested in investing in Bangkok, Singapore and Jakarta for deep tech and critical digital start-ups. “We aim to have 100 deep-tech startups with intellectual property rights by 2023,” said Mr Pun-arj.
Meanwhile, NIA is also working with True Digital Park to make the Punnawithi area a cyber-tech district, which would serve as a digital hub and a one-stop service for local and overseas start-ups. The area could also support start-ups in using deep tech for value-added services.
True Digital Park was designed by True Group, which aims to make Thailand a global hub for digital innovation. The park offers services to 91 start-ups and 53 firms, which have a total of 4,151 employees from eight countries. Over the next 10 years, True aims to help seven start-ups become unicorns — meaning they are valued at over US$1 billion. These seven start-ups could be worth around THB210 billion in total.
More Filipino execs prioritizing digital transformation – survey
More than half of Filipino executives are prioritizing the digital transformation of their business in the next two years, a study from the IBM Institute for Business Value said.
The institute conducted a global study on coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and the future of business from April to August 2020, which found that digital transformation is about more than just technological competency but also human resources.
“Our research highlights a gaping chasm between what executives think they are offering their employees and how those employees feel: employers significantly overestimate the effectiveness of their support and training efforts,” the report said.
IBM Philippines found that business executives will accelerate the digital transformation of their organizations, which also means that they will engage with their workforce “in new ways.”
Ms. Jiao said 24% of Filipino executives are prioritizing workplace safety and security, from two percent two years ago. In another two years, the firm expects this to increase to 58%. IBM found that 69% of Filipino executives believe they have been helping their employees learn skills needed for new types of work, while 72% believe that they are supporting the physical and emotional health of their workforce.
In terms of revenue, tech-savvy companies have been significantly outperforming peers, IBM Philippines Country Leader for Cloud and Cognitive Solutions Christine Llanto-Ravelo said. “It means that if you are an organization in your industry that has a particular technology adoption on specific technology drivers… you’re most likely outperforming your peers in your industry,” she said, noting that this is particularly significant in the retail and insurance sectors.
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