- According to the Accenture Technology Vision 2021, technology was a lifeline during the global pandemic – enabling new ways of working and doing business, creating new interactions and experiences, and improving health and safety.
- The US leads in almost all AI parameters than most countries, including India. To get a perspective compared to the US’s benchmarks, we analyse where India stands in terms of the policy recommendations made in the NSCAI report.
- Aiming to attract international talents whose expertise can play an important role in driving digital and tech startups and all other targeted industries towards using modern smart technologies.
- Singapore is developing an initiative to help organisations establish best practices to better manage cybersecurity risks across the supply chain, including vendors that support their operations.
- Analysts and media reports project that 2021 will be an energetic year for Southeast Asia’s tech ecosystem as the region’s biggest companies eye initial public offerings (IPO).
- Malaysia’s leap into the digital economy is timely as it has helped to mitigate the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, with businesses embarking on digital transformation to ensure they stay afloat amidst the movement restrictions and border closures.
What Policies Should India Emulate From The US’s AI Playbook?
The National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence (NSCAI) recently published the Final Report for 2021 outlining an integrated national strategy to empower the US in the era of AI-accelerated competition and conflict. The US leads in almost all AI parameters than most countries, including India. To get a perspective compared to the US’s benchmarks, we analyse where India stands in terms of the policy recommendations made in the NSCAI report.
India’s ranking in digital competitiveness fell to the 48th position in 2020, where the US was ranked in the top 2. India also witnessed a rising number of cyber-attacks in the last few years, with 1.45 million cybersecurity incidents recorded by CERT-In from 2015 to 2020. To add to that, India’s cybersecurity policy, last drafted in 2013, has several weaknesses in its legal framework.
Apart from developing a good defensive strategy, the report recommends the US to establish an ecosystem for adopting AI across their military missions by building common digital infrastructures and developing a digitally-literate workforce. To incorporate AI and develop Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems (LAWS), India formulated a 17-member task force under the Ministry of Defence in 2018 that identified use cases like unmanned tanks and underwater vessels for LAWS development in India.
Along with the LAWS, the NSCAI report highlights the significance of AI in intelligence gathering and scaling up the talent in public institutions to effectively use intelligent technologies. India’s domestic capability in intelligence technologies is currently ‘sorely missing’, and the country is almost exclusively dependent on imports. However, India has the AI talent to change this. Hence, experts recommend an interactive AI framework to facilitate communication between the AI industry and the military.
The report states that an organised, resourced, and determined effort is needed for countries to stay ahead of the technology competition. To make a concerted effort towards this, many countries, including India, have national AI strategies. While India does not have a separate National Defence Education Policy, it has the third-highest AI talents globally. At the same time, India is not very good at retaining or attracting talent. India’s retention score for the past five years averaged at -0.14 as opposed to the US’s 8.5.
Relevant trends as businesses turn to technology during this pandemic
According to the Accenture Technology Vision 2021, technology was a lifeline during the global pandemic – enabling new ways of working and doing business, creating new interactions and experiences, and improving health and safety. As companies shift from reacting to the crisis, to reinventing what comes next, the boldest, most visionary leaders – those who use technology to master change – will define the future, says the 21st annual report from Accenture (NYSE: ACN) predicting the key technology trends that will shape businesses and industries over the next three years.
The report, “Leaders Wanted: Masters of Change at a Moment of Truth,” outlines how leading enterprises are compressing a decade of digital transformation into one or two years. The result is a wave of companies racing to reinvent themselves and use technology innovations to shape the new realities they face.
Accenture surveyed more than 6,200 business and technology leaders for the Technology Vision report, and 92% report that their organization is innovating with an urgency and call to action this year. And 91% of executives agree capturing tomorrow’s market will require their organization to define it.
Shaping the future will require companies to become masters of change by adhering to three key imperatives:
- First, leadership demands technology leadership. The era of the fast follower is over—perpetual change is permanent. Tomorrow’s leaders will be those that put technology at the forefront of their business strategy.
- Second, leaders won’t wait for a new normal, they’ll reinvent, building new realities using radically different mindsets and models.
- Finally, leaders will embrace a broader responsibility as global citizens, deliberately designing and applying technology to create positive impacts far beyond the enterprise to create a more sustainable and inclusive world.
The Technology Vision identifies five key trends that companies will need to address over the next three years to accelerate and master change in all parts of their business.
Smart visa attracts international talents
Aiming to attract international talents whose expertise can play an important role in driving digital and tech startups and all other targeted industries towards using modern smart technologies, the Thailand Board of Investment is granting its “Smart Visa” to qualified professionals.
Professionals working in the following thirteen industries are eligible for the Smart Visa program:
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Professionals in these industries can apply for any of the five categories of the Smart Visa program: T for Talents, I for Investors, E for Executives, S for
Startups, and O for spouses and children of smart visa holders.
Individuals applying under the Smart “Investors” category must invest at least 20 million baht either in an industry using technology as the foundation for manufacturing or the provision of services, or in a venture capital company accredited by Thai government agencies. Those investing a minimum 5 million baht in startups or incubations are also eligible for the visa.
Applicants eligible for the Smart “Startup” Visa must meet one of the three following criteria:
1) has founded a startup in Thailand that adopts technology or innovation, and is endorsed by NIA or Digital Economy Promotion Agency (DEPA) or has participated in startup bootcamps endorsed by the NIA or DEPA, and has held a minimum of 25% of the company’s registered capital or held a position of director in the company;
2) has attended an incubation, accelerator, or similar program endorsed by the NIA, DEPA or related agencies; or
3) has a plan to found a startup in Thailand in one of the targeted industries with the startup endorsed by the NIA or is engaged in activity aimed at promoting startups and is endorsed by the BOI, NIA or related government agencies.
New initiative to help manage cybersecurity risks in Singapore’s critical information infrastructure
Singapore is developing an initiative to help organisations establish best practices to better manage cybersecurity risks across the supply chain, including vendors that support their operations. This relates to Singapore’s Critical Information Infrastructure (CII) – referring to 11 sectors responsible for the delivery of the country’s essential services, including government, energy and healthcare.
The initiative, called the CII Supply Chain Programme, will involve the Cyber Security Agency (CSA), CII owners, as well as their vendors.It will provide recommended processes and sound practices for all stakeholders to manage cybersecurity risks in the supply chain, said Dr Puthucheary.
The Ministry of Communications and Information (MCI) noted that the CII Supply Chain Programme will help infrastructure owners develop guidelines to enable them to better understand and manage their vendors, such as by ranking them according to their cybersecurity posture. The programme will also enable vendors to maintain an adequate level of cybersecurity, it added.
Separately, CSA will support companies in strengthening their cybersecurity with the launch of the SG Cyber Safe Programme, as part of the Safer Cyberspace Masterplan. CSA will also introduce tools for enterprises to self-assess their cybersecurity posture.
“First, we will provide informational resources and educational material for key roles including C-suite executives, cybersecurity teams and frontline employees, based on their specific roles and knowledge needs,” said Dr Puthucheary.
Singapore’s success in digitalisation has exposed new vulnerabilities, which will only grow as technologies evolve and become more complex, said Dr Puthucheary.
“Trust in our digital systems is key to the success of our digital economy efforts. Without trust to transact, or to innovate, our best efforts to develop our digital ecosystem and reap the dividends will fall short,” he said.
Southeast Asian tech powerhouses are racing to go public
Analysts and media reports project that 2021 will be an energetic year for Southeast Asia’s tech ecosystem as the region’s biggest companies eye initial public offerings (IPO).
The buzz was whipped up in 2020, when Indonesian e-commerce unicorn Tokopedia was reportedly exploring options for a listing through special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs) in December and appointed Morgan Stanley and Citigroup as its advisors. Soon after, word came that Traveloka, another unicorn based in Indonesia, was considering an IPO via the same route. Gojek is reportedly in advanced talks with Tokopedia for another megamerger before they go public, while Grab may launch its own IPO in the US this year.
The founders of Grab, Gojek, Tokopedia, and Traveloka have all expressed their intention to hit profitability since 2019. Pressure ratcheted up last year because of the pandemic—their backers expect results. Going public gives investors a natural exit; if all goes according to plan, the four tech Southeast Asia tech companies are about to open up channels for cash from the US to flow into the coffers of venture capital circles.
“The public market has reflected a tremendous appetite to invest in the Southeast Asian tech scene, and one need not look further than Sea Group to see the extent of the market’s interest in options to invest into the region’s tech companies,” said Gabriel Li, an associate of Singapore law firm Withers KhattarWong.
Meanwhile, Masana Takahashi, founder of Singapore-based accounting and corporate finance advisory firm Jidobox, believes that investors’ interest in the companies depends on the economic fundamentals of the places where they operate.
“There are two major types of investors—retails and institutional. Retail investors may buy the ‘Indonesian market’ rather than Gojek or Tokopedia,” Takahashi said. “They know Indonesia has a large population and a growing economy, which entice them to buy Indonesian tech stocks. Institutional investors build a portfolio to hedge risk, so they would choose companies that play essential roles in their countries’ economies.”
For now, it is unclear when Grab, Gojek, Tokopedia, and Traveloka will have ticker symbols—or even which will be first. But one certainty is that going public means these firms will face scrutiny from regulators as well as the public, so they must demonstrate their value and sustain viable, profitable businesses. Their IPOs will be a big break for Southeast Asia’s tech scene.
Malaysia’s leap into digital economy timely
Malaysia’s leap into the digital economy is timely as it has helped to mitigate the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, with businesses embarking on digital transformation to ensure they stay afloat amidst the movement restrictions and border closures.
The National Tech Association of Malaysia (Pikom) chief executive officer Ong Kian Yew said that various grants and funds are being used by small businesses for marketing purposes, enabling them to reach a wider audience and leading to higher adoption of the Point of Sale (PoS) system. He added that digital technology has proven to be a boon for sales, as businesses are able to cast a wider net, going beyond their geographical location.
Industries Unite co-founder, Datuk David Gurupatham noted that e-commerce and digitalisation help to make business transactions smoother and more efficient, while simultaneously reducing the cost of financial services. However, he also pointed out the high cost of connectivity and the need to boost connectivity, particularly in rural areas.
“We also need more focus on upskilling those currently in the workforce to meet the needs of the digital economy and we need to begin planning for life under the advent of the Fifth Generation (5G) network, especially innovation in the Internet of Things,” he added.