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By Priyankar Bhunia and Nicky Lung
Digital technologies are impacting every aspect
of our lives today. Great optimism regarding potential benefits exists alongside
escalating anxiety over the dark side of technology.
A new book written by experts in Singapore argues
that how we prepare for the future should not be based on a dystopian or
utopian view of technology’s influence on society. It takes a more balanced
view that technology can be helpful or harmful in different contexts.
The book explores four different future
scenarios in the areas of work, education and healthcare. For example, in the
area of work, the vertical axis ranges from rapid to incremental technological
disruption, while the horizontal axis moves from many people struggling to many
people thriving, creating four distinct visions of the future.

In view of these scenarios, the authors try to provide
practical answers to questions like: “How can people thrive as their lives are
disrupted and transformed?” “Will jobs be created or destroyed?” “Will digital
divides narrow or widen in education and healthcare?”
Published by World Scientific, Living
Digital 2040: Future of Work, Education, and Healthcare is
authored by Mr Poon
King Wang (Director, Lee Kuan Yew Centre for Innovative Cities or LKYCIC, SUTD), Dr Hyowon Lee (Assistant Professor,
Information Systems Technology and Design, SUTD), Dr Lim Wee Kiat (Research
Fellow, Asian Business Case Centre, NTU), Dr Mohan Rajesh Elara (Assistant
Professor, Engineering Product Development, SUTD), Dr Youngjin (Marie) Chae (Research
Fellow, LKYCIC), Ms Gayathri Balasubramanian (Research Assistant, LKYCIC), Mr
Aaron Yong Wai Keet (Senior Industrial Designer, LKYCIC), and Mr Raymond Yeong
Wei Wen (Research Officer, LKYCIC).
The multi-disciplinary team has experience and
expertise in design, sociology, human-computer interaction, human-robotics
interaction, analytics, wearables, IT in organisations, fashion design,
industrial design, telecommunications, banking, consumer products, and public
policy.
The team adopted a qualitative approach for the
project, using in-depth interviews, participant observation and group
discussions. During the interviews, the team ensured that while focusing on
specific domains and sub-areas, different domains were connected to each other
at various points.
OpenGov had the
opportunity to speak to Mr Poon (top right), the Principal Investigator for the project and Dr Lim (top left), a Co-Principal
Investigator, about LKYCIC, the origins of the project and the findings of the
study.
LKYCIC was established
in September 2012, as a research
institute in the Singapore University of
Technology and Design (SUTD). Considering that cities are
becoming the dominant player for implementation of solutions and improving
people’s lives, the
Centre seeks to stimulate thinking and research on the critical issues of
cities and urbanisation and explore the integrated use of technology, design
and policy to provide urban solutions.
Like SUTD itself, LKYCIC adopts a multi-disciplinary approach, because the issues in cities are
multi-faceted.
One of the main objectives of the Centre
is the sharing of knowledge and experience. Mr Poon said, “As
the rest of the world is urbanising, we realise that Singapore’s experience is
potentially very useful as a reference, not necessarily a template, for other
cities. Not only should we consolidate what we know and have learnt about
Singapore, we should also be learning from other countries and sharing our
learning with other countries, so that we form a global learning community.”
Idea behind the project
This new book is an outcome of a project under
the Land and Liveability National Innovation Challenge (L2NIC)
funded by the National Research Foundation (NRF) and the Ministry of National
Development. The aim is to study the future of cities in 2040 and its
implications for Singapore.
Under
the L2NIC, there are 7 projects, covering future economy, future diversity,
future urban forms, future transportation, sustainable futures, big data and
living with technology. All these projects are expected
to develop understanding of how trends are evolving and what Singapore should
do to prepare for the future.
But why 2040? Mr Poon explained, “It allows
us to think in a way that is not overly constrained by problems today. It is a
useful intellectual mechanism to transcend some of the constraints that might
otherwise hold back some of our imagination.”
This specific project is on living with
technology. With the idea that technology is a major disruptive force to
society, the researchers examined how technology is evolving and its impact on
how we live. They focused on three critical social institutions: work,
education and healthcare, because these are areas all of us will inevitably experience first-hand at various
points of our lives.
Pace
of disruption
While talking about disruption, Mr Poon
emphasised that disruption does not
hit us overnight and blind side us.
To factor in the pace of disruption, ‘time’
is included in the conceptual equation presented in the book for the drivers of
change:

Many of today’s technologies that are
deemed disruptive have been around for some time, at least a few years. For
example, artificial intelligence (AI) is in its third or fourth wave. The
building blocks that underpin big data have also been around for a few years.
Dr Lim brought up the example of chatbots.
The Singapore Government is using a number of chatbot applications – the
whole-of-government virtual assistant Jamie
and Joanne
in the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS). But 20 years ago Microsoft
Word already had an animated paper clip Office Assistant performing similar
functions, though its interface was not as user-friendly and its abilities were
a lot cruder.
Cars have followed a similar development
path. Today we are talking about driverless cars. The various devices and
functions in cars are improving gradually, such as the shift from manual gears
to automatic. More and more functions have been computerised.
Dr Lim said, “There are a lot of micro changes
that accumulate, and it comes to a point where we realise it’s a big change.
Likewise, technology is creeping upon us, slowly but surely.”
“To us, the biggest disruption comes from
the inability to track and the inability to tackle – the failure to see what is
coming and even if you see it, the inability to act on it,” said Mr Poon.
Tracking
changes
But often individuals, societies and
governments tend to be aware of the technological change only when it has
reached a certain threshold or tipping point. We asked how the government and
society can have long-term thinking at a stage when changes might not be easily
observable.
New tools are required to track technology
trends and development. Part of the project was to determine and explore what
could serve as practical tracking tools.
For instance, the team found ‘tasks’ to be the
appropriate tracking tool for work. Academic studies from economists recognise
that many of the changes we see in the labour force and markets are related to
how tasks have been configurated by technology, both within the job and
globally, as a result of globalisation.
A report titled
‘Artificial
Intelligence and Life in 2030’ from Stanford University which looked at
what AI can do and its impact on jobs, found that what we have now is narrow
AI, i.e. specialised AI which can only perform certain tasks. So, at least as
of now, AI will take over jobs task by task.
“As such, having
task databases or task-based strateies give us a better level of accuracy on
predicting the general direction of technology development. It gives you
perhaps a couple more years of lead time to think of what to do in preparation for
the future. We think that’s what governments and businesses increasingly have
to do,” said Mr Poon.
The UK and US
are already using or exploring task-based approaches. The book recommends a
task-based analysis of the city’s economy and the creation of an O*NET[1] type database to help
government agencies, companies and citizens master tasks.

Credit: World Scientific
Motivating individuals
But how can individuals be motivated to
prepare themselves for all these changes caused by technology?
Mr Poon said that the same set of tracking
tools can be used to empower individuals. The team is now building a prototype
that can work off a laptop to help individuals plan their future. Being able to
see and plan one’s own future is expected to give them the confidence to make
changes.
The other aspect of this is
socio-psychological studies to help individuals be less fearful about change
and even job loss. The team is running a couple of such studies.
“One of the ideas related to the book is
that while most people focus on job loss as the major social disruption in the
future, there is little call for companies to improve their CSR practices to
focus more on job creation. Our assumption is that if we can take away some of
the fear, people will be more accepting to technology as they see the benefit
of it,” Mr Poon said.
The third approach is to cultivate the
willingness to be resilient in people, from when they are young. This enables
people to see what they can do, accept change, and use technology to their
advantage.
But this raises another question. Those who
are more adaptive to learning new technologies and open to changes, or the
individuals who are labelled digital natives, tend to be the younger
generation. The young tend to be less risk averse. What about the older
generation, especially as Singapore is facing the challenge of an ageing
population?
Dr Lim answered,
“We asked ourselves a similar question, when 2040 comes and we get older, will
we be equally fearful and risk averse as some of today’s elderly? We think
there is a generational and cohort difference. The population profile is
qualitatively different from the population from the past decades. Elderly in
the future will be considered almost digital native. It might take us some
effort to pick up new skills, but the change would not be as abrupt.”
Mr Poon also
noted that sometimes we underestimate what the comparatively older generations
can do. If you look at the augmented reality game, Pokemon Go, no generation
difference is visible in its avid fanbase. Whether it is the Government or a
business, the key question would then be whether they have created enough
motivation for people to change.
Another point is
that technology has to be designed in a way that is easy to use and inclusive.
This involves what our interviewees call universal design[2].
One of the themes of the book is the need
for collective effort from the society to deal with challenges. But for
collective capacity, changes have to be inclusive.
Mr Poon explained, “Different levels of
skills and abilities have to be accounted for, the design of solutions must
suit all different levels of skills and abilities, solutions and policy must
give a sense of motivation and the understanding that these capabilities do not
stay static.”
An important trend discovered in the study
is that instead of governments and large companies leading innovation,
individuals are now empowered to start something new. In this digital age,
innovation can come from anywhere. The question is how to create an environment
to encourage it to happen.
Next
steps
The team is continuing research and
conducting a survey on how people perceive change in the context of smart
cities and digital economies
The researchers also continue to examine
what the future of work means and understand the psyche of people who are
affected.
On the implementation side, schools have
approached the research team to explore further the ideas in the future of
education. Companies are also interested in the task-based approach. On a wider
scale, the team is building communities, be it communities of interest or of practice,
to further discuss the project.
[1] The O*NET database, containing hundreds of
standardised and occupation-specific descriptors on almost 1,000 occupations
covering the entire U.S. economy. It was developed under the sponsorship
of the U.S. Department of
Labor/Employment and Training Administration through a grant to the
North Carolina Department of Commerce.
[2] Universal Design is the design and
composition of an environment so that it can be accessed, understood and used
to the greatest extent possible by all people regardless of their age, size, ability
or disability.

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The National e-Governance Division (NeGD), under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) recently organised the first batch of a capacity-building programme for cloud computing. The initiative targets government officials from central line ministries, state/union territory departments, mission mode project officers, e-governance project heads, and state e-mission teams.
According to a press release, the two-day programme was held at the Haryana Institute of Public Administration. The initiative was designed to enhance capabilities within the government at the central and state levels by ensuring the availability of adequate knowledge and appropriate competencies and skill sets to optimally utilise the benefits of cloud computing in e-governance practices.
Projects with cloud computing offer integration management with automated problem resolution. The technology manages security end-to-end and helps budget based on actual usage of data. At a national level, cloud architectures enable the government to simultaneously utilise resources optimally and accelerate the delivery of e-services. Project Meghraj, for instance, is a government initiative that fast-tracks the delivery of e-services in the country and optimises the information and communications technology (ICT) spending of the government.
The workshop brought together experts from the industry, academia, and government to discuss key domain issues such as cloud fundamentals, India’s cloud journey, cloud building blocks, the procurement of cloud services, and regulatory and policy framework for cloud. Participants talked about challenges associated with cloud implementation and the future of cloud in digital transformation while using engaging presentations on successful cloud use cases.
Session discussions also featured essential training on various components of cloud computing such as custom bidding for cloud services and the establishment of pay-per-use and billing frequency with cloud service providers. Participants explored negotiation instruments for dynamic services under cloud, best practices in cloud procurement, and computing requirements. They also covered guidelines on cloud computing from the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) and MeitY as well as ITU global standards on cloud computing.
At the event, a NeGD official stated that technology has been leapfrogging over the past two decades, including cloud-based systems, which now drive businesses and touch every aspect of life. Anything that is available via the Internet is being delivered out of a cloud-based application and IT Infrastructure. Within this decade, cloud computing could replace the traditional data centres and emerge as the prominent solution for data analytics and storage, an industry expert noted.
The event was attended by officers from central line ministries and the state governments of Delhi, Punjab, Haryana, Goa, Mizoram, and Uttarakhand. Capacity-building programmes with the theme of cloud computing will move forward with physical programmes, which will be conducted in the east, west, and south zones of India this year, the press release added.
The large-scale adoption of cloud has the potential to contribute US$ 380 billion to the country’s gross domestic product (GDP), creating 14 million direct and indirect jobs by 2026, according to a report by the National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM). It stated that a concerted all-around effort could result in the sustained growth of 25%-30% of cloud spending in the next five years to reach US$ 18.5 billion.
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The government has approved a national programme for smart rural development. The programme will focus on building new, modern rural areas through digital transformation. It is expected to boost the rural economy, improve rural living standards, and bridge the gap in service quality between rural and urban areas.
The initiative will be implemented in all rural areas across Vietnam by the end of 2025, including extremely disadvantaged communes in ethnic minorities and mountainous and coastal regions. By 2025, the government aims to have at least 90% of central, 80% of district-level, and 60% of communal public documents handled online. And at least 97% of communes should meet the new-style rural criteria on information and telecommunications.
Further, to boost the rural economy, the plan will promote the digital economy. Accordingly, at least 70% of communes will have cooperatives and 70% of districts will have agricultural business models, which will connect the production and distribution of key farming products using digital technology.
Additionally, at least 40% of communes and districts should be able to provide at least one essential public service in healthcare, education, community surveillance, security, environment, and culture. They must collect feedback on people’s satisfaction regarding rural development on a virtual platform. All centrally-run cities and provinces should have at least one trial smart rural commune model in the field, which holds advantages of, for example, economy, rural tourism, environment, and culture. The models will serve as a reference for the development of a new set of criteria for new-style rural building plans for the 2026-2030 period.
The government is also pushing for the digital transformation of urban parts of the country under its smart city initiatives. The overall goal is to accelerate digitisation in urban governance by building an electronic government including features such as digitised transport, energy, and society.
In January, Politburo issued a resolution on the planning, management, and sustainable development of Vietnam’s urban areas by 2030 with a vision until 2045. It is well established that smart cities can be effectively and successfully developed when digital transformation is comprehensively deployed across all areas of a city. Sustainable cities are built on a foundation of robust urban management that employs a host of digital and tech solutions. Simultaneously, both government employees and citizens need to be upskilled and trained.
As OpenGov Asia reported, Vietnam’s digital transformation is based on three pillars: digital governance, digital economy, and digital society, with an average point of 0.3 on a 1.0 grading scale. From a focus perspective, digital government is ranked higher point than both the digital economy and digital society primarily because of the e-government development process. As of June, a total of 59 out of the 63 localities in the country launched programmes on digital transformation, which will be rolled out over the next five years.
Vietnam is in the early stages of applying smart city services. There is still much more to be added in terms of smart urban planning and smart urban construction management. Smart city projects must have a comprehensive approach with the goal of not only solving urgent problems of cities but also striving for long-term socio-economic development.
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The distribution of FM radio channels in the border regions of eastern Sumatra, the Malacca Peninsula, and the northern portion of Kalimantan, which shares a border with Sabah, Sarawak, was considered by Indonesia and Malaysia.
“These are the two main agendas in the Indonesia-Malaysia bilateral meeting. With this coordination, state administrations can maintain each other’s radio stations and the use of frequencies will continue to run without any interference,” explains Yudhistira Prayoga, Deputy Head of the Public Service and Spectrum Outlook (PSSO) Team.
The two nations agreed to pursue frequency standardisation. In addition, two more agendas were reviewed bilaterally such as channel updates, digital TV implementation, and Analogue Switch Off (ASO) issues, as well as other concerns.
Deputy Head Prayoga acknowledged that the issue that frequently emerges in frequency coordination is the disparity between the frequency channels agreed upon with Malaysia and the actual field conditions. Information on frequency use and interference in the field must involve the other sectors and certain agendas may not be completed for the moment due to the requirement for more time for analysis and review.
A prior meeting between the two neighbouring nations in February 2022 resulted in an agreement on fixed channels moving forward that would simplify long-term planning, radio station licencing, and registration in the two nations.
The Joint Committee on Communication (JCC) is holding this special meeting to talk about radio and mobile services in the Malaysian-Indonesian border region.
In 2022, Indonesia and Malaysia both intend to host an offline JCC meeting. Both decided to get a JCC delegation ready and invite a few connected operators. The two countries are hopeful that several issues and agreements relating to their respective radio frequency spectrum will be resolved.
Meanwhile, the organisation recognised the outstanding greenfield finance and financial deals in the Asia Pacific and gave the Indonesia Raya Satellite (SATRIA-1) the title of Telecoms Deal of The Year.
SATRIA-1 is known as Project Space Dream and is a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) between the government and business entities. The first multipurpose satellite’s goal is to connect more than 149,000 public service locations across the archipelago, which is the primary motivating factor.
To significantly improve the social and economic conditions in isolated areas of Indonesia, the initiative makes use of satellite-based communication. The only practical access solution for Indonesia to reach these remote areas affordably is a satellite-based connection.
With a throughput capability of 150 billion bits per second (Gbps), SATRIA has three times the throughput of Indonesia’s nine telecom satellites. The phrase “Project Space Dream” refers to a singular transaction that demonstrates Indonesia’s robust investment climate.
The largest satellite supply contract ever signed and the most significant and strategic investment in the history of the country was used to build the SATRIA PPP, the first multi-function satellite in Indonesia.
In addition, OpenGov Asia previously announced that three Indonesian satellites would be sent into orbit by a US aerospace company’s Falcon-6 rocket before the end of the following year. Johnny G. Plate, Minister of Communications and Informatics, stated that the Falcon-6 rocket would be used to launch the three Indonesian satellites before the end of the next year.
He also stated that the Falcon-6 rocket has already launched a satellite using it. Instead, the High Throughput Satellite (HTS) is launched into orbit and returned to Earth using a Falcon-6 rocket. The minister wishes for a smooth launch procedure and for the satellite to be placed in its orbit at the appointed time.
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Singapore is well-known for incorporating science and technology into its economic and social fabric. The nation is typically glad to accept the technological revolution that they are now synonymous with, from planned self-driving buses to Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS).
However, the country must cope with the issue of an ageing population, a cohort that may not be as digitally savvy as its younger counterparts. With this, the Smart Nation initiatives in Singapore include those that have used technology to address healthcare concerns.
As part of their Year 3-course work, a group of students tagged as SITizens from the SIT-University of Glasgow Nursing programme recently collaborated on an applied research project to discover how older Singaporeans are coping with the digital urge.
The group conducted a study to identify the factors that promote and inhibit older individuals’ digital health literacy. According to them, there is an urgent need to equip senior citizens with greater cyber capabilities.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, internet communication was crucial for disseminating updates on the fast-evolving situation, thus, it was time to take a fresh look at how to engage elderly Singaporeans in the digital sphere.
As part of the team’s three-year initiative, students participated in an initial study over the course of three months in the first half of 2022. Two groups of six students each designed and implemented a digital health education programme for seniors at local Senior Activity Centres (SACs).
By interacting with SAC clients who serve the elderly in the locations where they are located, students had the chance to gain a greater understanding of the requirements of this demographic. In addition, it provided a unique opportunity to participate in real-world applied research, as it is an integral element of the nursing curriculum.
Elders welcomed the student, but not the health apps they introduced. It turned out to be difficult to encourage the elderly to be enthusiastic about using the HealthHub app because the older generation believed they had no demand for creative approaches because they were nearing the end of their lives.
Others couldn’t utilise the programme because they couldn’t speak English well enough. The elders are taught how to use the HealthHub app to schedule, change, and cancel appointments by the researchers-students.
Certainly, a Health Promotion Board leaflet was utilised to explain each step at the elders’ pace since the example film was too quick for them, yet, some elderlies were unable to log in during the hands-on attempt because they could not recall their Singpass accounts.
Likewise, the language barrier was an additional obstacle. The materials were also in Chinese, and most of them spoke Mandarin. But the total experience ended up being enjoyable and meaningful due to gestures and kind interactions.
On the other hand, the teaching package will be fully developed through an iterative approach that incorporates the nurses’ experiences. Students benefited from first-hand exposure to the actual process of data collection, which is challenging to simulate in a classroom setting.
Furthermore, health literacy is the motivation and ability to seek and utilise health information. It empowers a person to make choices that will improve their quality of life; and expanded to encompass media and computer abilities.
Across the globe, including Singapore, the elder population has a low propensity for digital health literacy. With this, students from various universities set out to develop instructional materials that would encourage senior citizens to access health information via mobile phones and the internet -initiatives supported by the government.
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The Asia Pacific University of Technology & Innovation (APU) recently launched a ground-breaking Bachelor of Science (Honours) in Psychology that incorporates technology modules with psychology, in an emerging field known as cyberpsychology.
According to the Programme Leader, “Cyberpsychology is the study of human behaviour and mental processes in the context of human-technology interaction. The focus of this module is on the psychology of online behaviour, to uncover how the internet and digital technologies affect attitudes, emotions, and the societal impacts of living in a digital age, such as the exploration of the motives and psychological makeup that contribute to Cybercrime, she said.
While psychology professionals work in human domains, students in this field must now develop a strong grasp of technological aspects, especially when the line between cyberspace and the real world is becoming increasingly blurred.
Globally, the adoption rate of emerging technologies – including cloud computing, connected devices, mobile, robotics and blockchain, have grown at an exponential rate over the past 10 years. As of April 2022, there were five billion internet users worldwide, which is 63% of the global population. Of this total, 4.65 billion were social media users.
Further, the arrival of the Metaverse will even reinforce the blurring of the lines between the physical world and the virtual one, the physical world will eventually merge with the digital – in fully immersive virtual reality.
As technology reshapes the way people live, think, and behave, the transformation of psychology studies has introduced new ways to provide treatment or therapy. This has affected the dissemination of knowledge and how research is conducted.
Within the programme’s modules, students will also be exposed to Psychotechnology, to understand user experience (UX), cognitive workload and use these results to solve practical problems. These updated, relevant modules allow students to develop vital skills and knowledge, enabling them to work in various sectors, such as e-sports, advertising, and more that require further study to determine their psychological impacts.
To create a conducive learning and studying environment mirroring the professional setting that supports both counselling and clinical psychology needs, APU has invested significantly to set up the Centre for Psychology and Well-Being at its campus.
The Head of the School who oversees the setting up of the Centre, explained that as a tech-centric and industry-driven university, APU has blended technology elements into conventional psychology teaching and learning. The University’s Centre for Psychology and Well-Being is an innovative facility that houses advanced equipment embedded with state-of-the-art technology that supports psychology learning and research – which itself has set us apart from our competitors.
The Centre aims to develop a professional-like high-tech centre which attracts students towards experiential learning coupled with a comfortable learning environment.
According to the Programme Leader, by placing psychological tools infused with modern technology to better predict and understand human behaviour such as Electroencephalogram (EEG), Eye Tracker, and Computerised Psychological Assessments, students can learn to make data-driven decisions.
Together with Eye-Tracking Laboratory, the design of the Centre includes Psychobiological Laboratory; Psychoanalysis Therapy Suites for both individual and group therapy; Psychological Testing and Measurement Room; Psychology Group Observation Suite that is complimented with a one-way mirror and AV capture equipment; Activity and Discussion Rooms; and teaching classrooms that are tied to instructional learning and research activities.
Some highlights of the training using the advanced setting and facilities mentioned include:
- The DSI-24 Electroencephalogram (EEG) – a wireless dry electrode EEG headset in the Psychobiological Lab enables students to learn about cognitive processes like attention and memory by placing conductive electrodes on the scalp which measure the small electrical potentials that arise outside of the head due to neuronal action within the brain.
- In the Psychological Testing and Measurement Room, the latest state-of-the-art Tobii Pro Fusion Eye Tracker which focuses on information processing such as scene perception, and visual searching, provides students with a first-hand experience in using the equipment.
- The Psychoanalysis Therapy Suite features the famous Freud psychoanalytic couch. This help students learn role-play skills or to conduct any activity relating to counselling or psychotherapy.
- The Psychology Group Observation Suite is equipped with a one-way mirror (semi-transparent mirror), brightly lit from one side, allowing students to inconspicuously observe people’s behaviour on the other side while maintaining privacy.
- Individual (and Group) Therapy Rooms are designed to provide a quiet, comfortable, energizing, and soothing space ideal for conducting individual or group counselling. Registered counsellors and educators will use the rooms to provide their respective services like consultation, teaching, and intern-related training.
With proficiency in using advanced technology, especially digital assessments, APU’s psychology graduates become tech-savvy and well equipped for the competitive world of the psychology industry.
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The government has issued a national cybersecurity strategy to respond to challenges and crimes in cyberspace. The strategy sets objectives for 2025 as well as has a vision for 2030. Under the strategy, one of the main targets is to maintain or increase Vietnam’s ranking on the global cybersecurity index (GCI).
In a press statement, the Ministry of Information and Communications (MIC) laid out the major tasks and solutions in the strategy, including strengthening the overall management of the State over cybersecurity, completing legal frameworks, and protecting national sovereignty in cyberspace.
The government will also safeguard digital infrastructure, platforms, data, and national cyberinfrastructure. It will protect the information systems of state agencies as well as crucial sectors that need to be prioritised to ensure information security.
Through the strategy, the country will foster digital trust and build an honest, civilized, and healthy network environment. It will prevent and combat law violations in cyberspace and enhance technological mastery and autonomy to actively cope with cyberspace challenges.
The government will train and develop human resources in cybersecurity, raise awareness about cybersecurity skills, and work to secure funding to implement cybersecurity initiatives. The strategy also aims to improve national prestige and foster international integration.
Meanwhile, incident response teams of 11 priority sectors for network information security will be formed. The key areas include transport, energy, natural resources and environment, information, health, finance, banking, defense, security, social order and safety, urban areas, and the government’s direction and administration.
According to a report released by the ITU in June 2021, Vietnam jumped 25 places after two years to rank 25th out of 194 countries and territories worldwide in the GCI in 2020. Vietnam ranked 7th in the Asia-Pacific region and 4th among ASEAN countries in the field.
According to Vietnam Information Security Association (VINSA), there were over 5,400 cyber-attacks on Vietnamese systems in the first five months of this year. Of these, approximately 68% were malicious attacks. However, May showed a decrease in the number of cyber incidents, due to socio-economic stability and the resumption of more economic activities initiated around the Party’s solutions and guidelines, according to the Information Security Department, MIC.
Further, after MIC issued a warning, incidents were down 9.37% in April as compared to March 2022. The government has been proactive in raising vigilance, strengthening cyber information security as well as security and social order. This has made it difficult for bad actors to attack networks, spread infecting malicious code, and run scams to steal and destroy information of users and organisations.
In June, MIC stated that to ensure information security for information systems and Vietnam’s cyberspace, it would continue to strengthen monitoring and proactive scanning; it would evaluate statistics and promote propaganda and issue warning in the mass media so that users know and avoid the risk of cyber-attacks.
MIC also said it would address the situation by strengthening mechanisms for monitoring and proactive scanning, raising public awareness, and providing advance warnings of expected cyberattacks. Simultaneously, the Ministry would continue to urge the review of vulnerabilities and communicate signs of cyberattacks.
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Marsdya TNI Donny Ermawan Taufanto, Secretary-General of the Indonesian Ministry of Defense formally inaugurated the ongoing 2022 Defense Research and Development Week with the theme “Research, Development, and Innovation of Defense Technology in Realising the Independence of Defense Equipment Tools.”
The Secretary-General urged all citizens to love, appreciate, and be proud of the innovations created by the nation’s youth. He cited that the activities have an important role in publication and scientific information to understand and produce the best solutions in the form of constructive and innovative suggestions for R & D development in the defence sector.
The activity was organised by Indonesia’s Ministry of Defense – Research and Development Agency in the form of an exhibition that displays defence equipment resulting from research and development of universities, R & D agencies, and domestic industries.
On the other hand, the Secretary-General acknowledged the exhibits of the innovative defence types of equipment, and his attention was focused on the Moto EV, a two-wheeled vehicle with an electric engine. The Moto EV is perfect for silent operation because the noise level has been minimised.
Also, the activity exhibited innovative creations in the IT sector like the Pasupati, a Pindad Simulation Product of Virtual Reality, which is a technology for digitally simulating shooting activities using weapon products.
Using VR principles, users will be invited to interact with the virtual world environment using the console, as if they were using and shooting with real weapons. With a level of ease that has a sensation like playing video games, Pasupati offers easy and real use of weapons while minimising the level of danger.
The activities of the 2022 Defense R&D Week honour the 27th National Technology Awakening Day, which aims to accommodate brilliant ideas from academics and researchers to contribute to the development of defence technology and attain future defence equipment independence.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in collaboration with the Information and Communication Technology Training and Development Centre Research and Human Resources Development Agency of the Ministry of Communication and Information (Kominfo) held a Regional Workshop On Digital Diplomacy with the theme “The Essence of Information and Communication Technology for Government Leaders.”
The activity is intended for Government Officials for the e-government implementation of countries and territories in the Pacific region such as the Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Kiribati, New Caledonia, Nauru, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, French Polynesia, Republic of the Marshall Islands, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Timor Leste, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu.
Hence, the activity was a follow-up to the International Conference on Digital Diplomacy (ICDD) with the theme “Unmasking Digital Diplomacy in the New Normal” which was held by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 2021.
The ICDD 2021 activity was attended by 20 countries and produced the Bali Message on ICDD which has identified five focus areas, namely:
- Government Policy Framework to Support Digital Diplomacy;
- Crisis Management Through Digital Diplomacy;
- Data Management to Support Digital Diplomacy;
- Innovation to Support SMEs; and
- Capacity Building and Digital Inclusion.
The ICDD follow-up series will continue to be carried out by the nation’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs as the cornerstone of Digital Diplomacy. In the next activity, the Ministry will hold a Regional Government social media (GSMS) Conference, a scientific discussion forum on the use of digital media among governments to share new perspectives and experiences, which provide solutions to challenges in digital diplomacy through government social media.