June 30, 2022

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How Singapore government’s communication keeps nation moving forward in crisis

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With the first COVID-19 case confirmed in Singapore in January, it would have been reasonable to assume Singapore would fall victim to a large-scale outbreak.

Singapore was the third country to report cases of COVID-19, and by mid-February, had recorded over 80 infections, the highest outside the Chinese mainland.  Singapore case count is at 200.

As it stands today Singapore is very successfully managing and controlling the virus from becoming a large-scale national crisis with many countries across the world looking to Singapore Government as an example of what should be done and what can be done for countries going forward.

The Singaporean approach has been prevention, contact tracing, quarantine and access to information. Just one of the reasons the Government has been commended internationally is because of it’s communication with it’s citizens.

Access to information, transparency and daily communication with citizens has shown great leadership from the Government giving citizens the knowledge and power to continue successfully with daily life in the city-state.

This has worked well on many levels.

Strong, Clear and Concise Direction from Government

Many countries now are facing bigger problems with the Coronavirus outbreak due to citizens not being made fully aware of the Coronavirus situation in their country, not sure what actions they were to take, and government agencies not working together as they should.

All Singapore Government agencies provide advice, support and updates on the Coronavirus regularly and there are various applications online to ensure citizens are supported and informed.

Keeping The Nation Digitally Updated

The Singapore Government and it’s ministries have all pulled together to keep the nation working, through its various digital initiatives throughout this pandemic from the very start.

Singaporeans can subscribe to WhatsApp updates from the Ministry of Health or find up-to-date information on the ministry’s website. These updates summarise the current situation in the country. This dedicated COVID-19 site gives very transparent information on each confirmed case.

The website shares the age, sex and occupation of each person who has tested positive for the virus. It reveals where they travelled recently, and when they sought medical help. It explains when they were hospitalised and when they were discharged.

After the first confirmed case of COVID-19 in Singapore was reported stocks of surgical masks were sold out in a very short space of time throughout retail outlets across Singapore.

The Singapore government announced on 30 January 2020 that it would be giving each household four surgical masks, to be collected from specific distribution centres between 1-9 February 2020.

Government Agency, GovTech quickly worked to help keep citizens informed and updated on the Government’s mask distribution.

The Agency recognised the importance of getting timely and accurate information about the distribution centres to citizens, a team of developers at the Government Technology Agency of Singapore mobilised to develop MaskGoWhere – a website providing information on mask collection points.

The Singapore government also launched a chatbot to aid employers to stay updated on the news following the COVID-19 virus. This online bot provides answers based on the programmed questions on the existing situation. Employers are able to find out more information such as the help that is available for them and how to ensure business continuity in uncertain times.

The website of the Ministry of Communications and Information have launched useful and practical campaigns and posters on ‘When to See a Doctor’, ‘What happens to suspect cases’ and ‘How to practice good personal hygiene’.

The “SG Clean” campaign launched by the government on 16 Feb 2020 outlines what all Singaporeans should do to adopt good personal and environmental hygiene habits. It also calls on organisations to adhere to sanitation and hygiene checklists by authorities.

Singapore’s strategy involves multiple lines of defence

Singapore’s strategy to guard against and slow the spread of COVID-19 has been described as ‘multiple lines of defence’. These measures come into play at various stages, from detecting cases before or during entry to Singapore, containing suspect cases to ensuring everyone is informed, updated and prepared to do what is right in protecting themselves and the country against COVID-19 and to keep the country moving forward.

Human Motion Capture Using Trajectory Data in Singapore

Image credits: nus.edu.sg
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The National University of Singapore’s Associate Professor Gary Tan employs technology to model and forecast human movement and then uses that information to optimise evacuation, reduce accidents, and ease traffic congestion during emergency situations. He is particularly interested in modelling how people would run or flee in such circumstances.

According to Associate Professor Gary, when people are in a panic, they act extremely differently and try to anticipate what would happen when, for example, they must evacuate an MRT station due to a bomb threat or a fire.

“In a crisis, each second is crucial. Effective evacuation and rescue plans are essential because delays might result in more fatalities,” says Associate Professor Gary.

Associate Professor Gary together and his students PhD candidates Wang Chengxin and Muhammad Shalihin bin Othman have created this special framework. It uses deep learning methods to track the real-life movement of pedestrians through video feeds. This behaviour is then converted into information that a virtual simulator can use to recreate situations and occurrences that would be too expensive or risky to actually recreate.

The project’s main goal was to create a disaster simulation. This data-driven approach makes it easier to build crowd management tactics that are more effective and delivers a more accurate prediction of human reactions in a crisis.

The framework interprets the movement patterns of pedestrians in real-world video feeds and converts them into data that can be used in a virtual simulator. The technology uses deep learning techniques to identify objects in specific video frames and accurately track them across the video feed.

They recreate settings and imitate actions that would be too expensive or risky to be carried out in real life. This enables the researchers to simulate various evacuation and rescue plans to determine the best course of action to take in an emergency.

The methodology is distinctive because, in contrast to earlier pedestrian simulation methods, it takes a data-driven approach and aims to investigate human behaviour directly from real-life footage. Since they are adapted from real video, this raises the level of realism.

The tracking algorithm that analyses how people move in the films underwent considerable improvement by the researchers. To extract realistic trajectories from real-world recordings, a good tracking algorithm is necessary. They can simulate realistic human movements using highly accurate trajectory data, which enables them to make more accurate predictions.

Following testing, it was discovered that “greater than expected” numbers of trajectories were successfully imported into the simulator from the movies.

Since releasing their research, the team has focused on developing further pedestrian monitoring systems. One, known as the Graph-based Temporal Convolutional Network (GraphTCN), uses artificial intelligence to track pedestrians’ temporal and geographical interactions with one another. The outcome is a behavioural model that can more faithfully simulate human movement.

The researchers are currently developing a new model that thinks more deeply. The Conscious Movement Model, or CMM, analyses CCTV footage and other real-world recordings to identify human behavioural patterns. These patterns are used to build a deep learning model that would subsequently affect the motions of a pedestrian in the simulation.

Researchers can increase the precision of prediction simulations by including genuine pedestrian movements. This will enable them to automatically run optimization algorithms and suggest the optimal course of action in various what-if scenarios. The research can be used to model the movement of both humans and autos in simulations of traffic congestion and accidents in addition to disaster situations.

HKUMed Research Team Develops Novel Gene Editing Variants

Image Credits: HKU, Press Release
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A research team from the LKS Faculty of Medicine at The University of Hong Kong (HKUMed) has developed more efficient CRISPR-Cas9 variants that could be useful for gene therapy applications. By establishing a new pipeline methodology that implements machine learning on high-throughput screening to accurately predict the activity of protein variants, the team has expanded the capacity to analyse up to 20 times more variants at once without needing to acquire additional experimental data, which vastly accelerates the speed in protein engineering.

The pipeline has been successfully applied in several Cas9 optimisations and engineered new Staphylococcus aureus Cas9 (SaCas9) variants with enhanced gene editing efficiency. The findings are now published in Nature Communications and a patent application has been filed based on this work.

Staphylococcus aureus Cas9 (SaCas9) is an ideal candidate for in vivo gene therapy owing to its small size that allows packaging into adeno-associated viral vectors to be delivered into human cells for therapeutic applications. However, its gene-editing activity could be insufficient for some specific disease loci.

Before it can be used as a reliable tool for the treatment of human diseases, further optimisations of SaCas9 are vital within precision medicine. These optimisations must comprise the boosting of its efficiency and precision by altering the Cas9 protein.

The standard protocol for modifying the protein involves saturation mutagenesis, where the number of possible modifications that could be introduced to the protein far exceeds the experimental screening capacity of even the state-of-art high-throughput platforms by order of magnitude.

In their work, the team explored whether combining machine learning with structure-guided mutagenesis library screening could enable the virtual screening of many more modifications to accurately identify the rare and better-performing variants for further in-depth validations.

The machine learning framework was tested on several previously published mutagenesis screens on Cas9 variants and the team was able to show that machine learning could robustly identify the best performing variants by using merely 5-20% of the experimentally determined data.

The Cas9 protein contains several parts, including protospacer adjacent motif (PAM)-interacting (PI) and Wedge (WED) domains to facilitate its interaction with the target DNA duplex. The research team married the machine learning and high-throughput screening platforms to design activity-enhanced SaCas9 protein by combining mutations in its PI and WED domains surrounding the DNA duplex bearing a (PAM). PAM is crucial for Cas9 to edit the target DNA and the aim was to reduce the PAM constraint for wider genome targeting whilst securing the protein structure by reinforcing the interaction with the PAM-containing DNA duplex via the WED domain.

In the screen and subsequent validations, the researchers identified new variants, including one named KKH-SaCas9-plus, with enhanced activity by up to 33% at specific genomic loci. The subsequent protein modelling analysis revealed the new interactions created between the WED and PI domains at multiple locations within the PAM-containing DNA duplex, attributing to KKH-SaCas9-plus’s enhanced efficiency.

Until recently, structure-guided design has dominated the field of Cas9 engineering. However, it only explores a small number of sites, amino-acid residues, and combinations. In this study, the research team was able to illustrate that screening with a larger scale and less experimental efforts, time and cost can be conducted using the machine learning-coupled multi-domain combinatorial mutagenesis screening approach, which led them to identify a new high-efficiency variant KKH-SaCas9-plus.

The Assistant Professor of the School of Biomedical Sciences, HKUMed stated that this approach will greatly accelerate the optimisation of Cas9 proteins, which could allow genome editing to be applied in treating genetic diseases more efficiently.

Bamboo DNA Barcoding Begins in the Philippines

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To preserve and propagate the species in the typhoon-affected Cagayan Valley and to investigate bamboo’s potential for use in the pharmaceutical and industrial industries, phytochemical screening and DNA barcoding of economically significant bamboos will be conducted in the Philippines.

There are several benefits of using bamboo in the food, medicinal, phytochemical, medical, and industrial sectors, according to Alvin Jose L. Reyes and Eddie B. Abugan Jr from the Project Management Division (PMD) of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR)-Foreign Assisted and Special Projects.

They explained that seeds or living cells containing genetic resources beneficial for plant conservation and breeding are called germplasms. The DENR-PMD staff clarified that the classification of bamboo germplasm is an essential correlation between the preservation of diversity and utilisation of germplasm.

A study dubbed the Bamboo Characterisation Project of the Cagayan State University (CSU)-Gonzaga was recently presented to the DENR Protected Area Management Board (PAMB) in the province of Sta. Ana, Cagayan through its project leader Jeff M. Opeña. It has to do with its request for a free permit to carry out the bamboo characterisation and sample collecting tasks on the protected landscape and seascape of Palaui Island.

The CSU-Gonzaga research lab will also be renovated as part of the project. In the province of Cagayan, it will collect and classify various species in various environments. Furthermore, a contemporary and inventive method of classifying bamboo species will be DNA barcoding. It will speed up the process of experts identifying the species they want to utilise based on characteristics like quick reproduction or medicinal properties.

Bamboo has traditionally been classified according to how frequently or abundantly it flowers -annually, sporadically, or regularly, and gregariously. However, the demand for a long period of time, which might occur over years or even decades, made floral morphology description a limitation and a challenge.

On the other hand, professionals in pharmaceuticals and medicine can find plant secondary metabolites in bamboo that have application potential in the business through biochemical characterisation by phytochemical (plant chemistry) screening.

While secondary plant metabolites such as anthocyanins, alkaloids, flavonoids, saponins, phenols, steroids, tannins, and terpenoids are explored for medical plant herbal reasons, among other prospective commercial uses, primary metabolites comprise tiny molecules like amino acids and carbohydrates.

Additionally, Executive Order 879 required that 25% of the Department of Education’s annual supply of school desks be constructed of bamboo. Philippine Bamboo Industry Development Council (PBIDC) is created by Executive Order 879.

According to a direction sent to the DENR’s Forest Management Bureau, Laguna Lake Development Authority, and Mines and Geosciences Bureau, bamboo should be planted in the agency’s own reforestation zones.

In addition to reducing typhoon flooding, DENR wants to employ bamboo as a strategy for reducing climate change. Per hectare of a plantation, bamboo is known to absorb five metric tonnes of carbon dioxide. Bamboo is being planted in the Bicol and Marikina rivers, which are typically inundated during typhoons. Using engineered bamboo, DENR is also advocating its usage as a lumber replacement.

The first bamboo species studies to consider the various habitats where bamboo grows in the province of Cagayan are the phytochemical and morphological studies of bamboo species. The Smith Volcano, also known as Mount Babuyan, which is politically located in Calayan Island, and Mount Cagua in Gonzaga are the two volcanoes that the study of bamboo species growth will focus on.

Coastal locations, residential areas, grasslands, agroecosystems, next to water bodies, caverns, close the volcano, rainforests, islands, protected regions, and other habitats will be researched for the bamboo species using DNA barcoding.

Western Australia to Establish Creative Technology Innovation Hub

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The State Government is putting forward AU$ 1.2 million over four years to establish the State’s first Creative Technology Innovation Hub in Bunbury. This is aimed at boosting the regional creative enterprises of Western Australia.

The WA Creative Technology Innovation Hub (WACTIH) was announced by the region’s Innovation and ICT Minister in Bunbury and will operate in collaboration with the State Government, Edith Cowan University, the City of Bunbury and industry to stimulate and grow Western Australia’s emerging creative and immersive technology industry. The WACTIH aims to aid businesses and creative enterprises grow by linking research, entrepreneurship and education in the use of digital and immersive technologies.

As the South-West is home to over 320 creative and digital businesses, the WACTIH will help support hundreds more businesses across the State with specialised advice and services. The hub is being established to aid the growth of a future-ready workforce, entrepreneurs, start-ups and innovators in WA and its regions. The focus of the hub will be on creative digital industries including gaming, experiential and immersive technology, software development, product design, advertising, film and media.

Funded through the McGowan Government’s AU$ 16.7 million New Industries Fund, the WACTIH will become part of the State’s established innovation hubs in life sciences, data science and cyber security to build capability and capacity to diversify the economy, leverage new commercial opportunities and create jobs.

The Innovation and ICT Minister of WA stated the Creative Technology Innovation Hub establishment announcement will not only boost creative tech enterprises across the State but is a vote of confidence in regional innovators. The hub is expected to push economic value in the regions through business and skills transformation for increased, long-term advantage.

The Government of Western Australia’s New Industries Fund supports and accelerates WA’s innovative start-ups, emerging businesses and small and medium enterprises to diversify local and regional economies and create jobs and industries. Through the new hub, the McGowan Government aims to expand the State’s presence in the global digital supply chain of services, content and code.

The Bunbury MLA stated that Bunbury is the gateway to the State’s pristine South-West region and is now proudly home to hundreds of digital and creative businesses and innovators. The MLA added that he looks forward to the establishment of the WA Creative Technology Innovation Hub and the significant opportunities and benefits it will offer to the Bunbury community.

About the New Industries Fund

The New Industries Fund is a AU$ 16.7 million initiative to support and accelerate new and emerging businesses to create local jobs over 4 years. The Fund is a key component of the Western Australian Government’s Plan for Jobs and its approach to diversifying the economy as well as creating jobs. The WA innovation hubs bring a critical mass of people together, with access to expertise and facilities, making better use of talent and technology, and creating local jobs.

While innovation takes place across Western Australia, a designated hub provides focus and acts as a beacon to attract start-ups and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). They also foster community pride by helping to promote academic excellence and industry strength.

ASTRI launches IPs and Service Offerings for Tech Start-ups and SMEs

Image Credits: ASTRI, Press Release
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With the rapid advancement of global technology development, the Hong Kong Applied Science and Technology Research Institute (ASTRI) is engaging more enterprises in the cooperation and common development of “industry, academia and research”, ASTRI has, thus, launched the “IPs and Service Offerings for Technology Start-ups and SMEs”, selected 20 innovative technological companies from varying categories of entry services, including 8 hardware, 6 software and 6 consulting service companies, with the entry price of HK$50,000 to HK$150,000.

ASTRI focuses on transferring technology to the industry, transforming it into commodities, developing high-quality and affordable patents, information and communication technologies, and creating important and far-reaching influence. In cooperation with research institutions, enterprises and academia, ASTRI researches important technologies that the industry pays attention to, and assists enterprises to enhance their competitiveness.

The relevant scientific research projects selected have a wide range of content, mainly to solve company evaluation, technology and network security issues, writing, electronic technology and electricity issues and more. Private institutions in Hong Kong can contact relevant professionals and engineers at ASTRI for assistance and enquiries.

Hong Kong’s scientific research has undergone many years of development. However, many start-ups, and even small and medium-sized enterprises that have been rooted in Hong Kong for many years striving to improve the field of technology, have been paying high fees for the solutions to technical problems.

Until now, no platform provided cost-effective solutions for them, and their business needs were not understood. Thus, the support provided via the “IPs and Service Offerings for Technology Start-ups and SMEs” caters to the needs of enterprises and is expected to help the industry to solve their difficulties.

Since its establishment 22 years ago, ASTRI has provided different innovative technology software, hardware or technical support to various government departments, public organizations and many private enterprises in Hong Kong, contributing to the smooth enhancement or assistance in their development processes. With the industrialisation of technology and the intellectualization of industries, a new era of competition in Hong Kong will emerge.

Examples of selection options:

Cybersecurity awareness and benchmarking assessment

General cybersecurity awareness training for users of any skill level including general IT users and technical employees to management-level IT professionals aimed at reducing cyber risk at the human level. The training also includes general cybersecurity assessment and brief benchmarking covering web applications, mobile applications, networks, security architecture, cloud infrastructure to ensure SMEs have a comprehensive understanding of their cyber defence maturity.

ESG compliance analytics

Industry-specific (e.g., financial, energy) ESG benchmarking report that will list the average or distribution of listed companies in different ESG metrics as well as the top performers in each metric or category. It will be based on the SME’s ESG metrics; performance or status in the industry compared to peer companies will also be reported, along with improvement suggestions. Analytics will help SMEs generate reports automatically by filling in the minimum required information.

Mixed language speech recognition and audio indexing

Based on client-supplied audio records as training data, help train a preliminary mixed language model supporting Cantonese, English and Mandarin for applications in specific industry domains such as insurance, media, telecom, banking and/or KOL.

Other items include:

  • Speech recognition & audio indexing
  • Financial document analysis
  • Smart OCR & document processing
  • Behaviour and emotion analysis for driving safety
  • Smart indoor and outdoor Geographic Information System
  • IoT technologies and device communications
  • Retired battery screening solutions
  • Eco-friendly power system
  • Safe energy storage solutions
  • Analog IC design for medical devices
  • 3D Integration power electronics modules
  • ASTRI AR Glass
  • Wearable technologies
  • Gantry Free Electronic Road Pricing
  • ESD protection design consultancy
  • Digital document processing
  • DC solutions for energy saving and protection

Indian Researchers 3D Print N95 Mask with Nanoparticle Coating

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Researchers have developed a reusable, recyclable, washable, odourless, non-allergic, and anti-microbial N95 mask by using 3D printing technology. The multi-layer mask has a shelf life of more than 5 years, depending upon the use. The outer layer is made up of silicon.

Apart from its well-known uses to prevent infections like COVID-19, the mask can also be used in industries where workers are exposed to high volumes of dust like cement or cotton factories, brick kilns, and paint industries. It can be modified according to the requirement by changing the filter configuration. As per a government press release, the mask can help prevent severe lung diseases such as silicosis. A trademark and a patent have also been filed for the mask called Nano Breath.

The mask consists of a 4-layer filtration mechanism wherein the outer and first layer of the filter is coated with nanoparticles. The second layer is a high-efficiency particulate absorbing (HEPA) filter, the third layer is a 100 µm filter, and the fourth layer is a moisture absorbent filter.

A Zetasizer Nano ZS, a facility supported by the government’s Fund for Improvement of Science & Technology Infrastructure (FIST) project, was used to carry out the work. It enables high-temperature thermal analysis for ceramic materials and catalysis applications.  It is a high-performance, versatile system for measuring particle size, zeta potential, molecular weight, particle mobility, and micro-rheology.

Image credits: Press Information Bureau

Technology has played a significant role in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic over the past two years. Indian institutes have invested resources in developing tech-enabled solutions for the new normal. Earlier this year, researchers from the Indian Institute of Technology in Jodhpur (IIT-Jodhpur) created an artificial intelligence (AI) model that can detect COVID-19 by examining the chest X-ray of patients. The team proposed a deep learning-based algorithm called COMiT-Net, which learns the abnormalities present in the chest X-ray images to differentiate between an affected lung and a non-affected lung. It can also identify infected regions of the lungs.

In March, Bengaluru-based scientists from the Centre for Nano and Soft Matter Sciences (CeNS) and the Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced and Scientific Research (JNCASR) developed an affordable solution to develop low-cost touch-cum-proximity sensors, popularly called touchless touch sensors, through a printing technique. The scientists set up a semi-automated production plant to produce printing-aided patterned transparent electrodes (a resolution of around 300 micrometres). It has the potential to be utilised in advanced touchless screen technologies. It could be used for self-service kiosks, ATMs, and vending machines.

As OpenGov Asia reported, the team fabricated a touch sensor that can sense a proximal or hover touch even from a distance of 9 centimetres from the device. The team also announced they would make several more prototypes using their patterned electrodes to prove their feasibility for other smart electronic applications. Industry players and research institutions and labs can access the technology on a request basis and through collaborative projects. The patterned transparent electrodes could be used in advanced smart electronic devices like touchless screens and sensors.

 

Exclusive! Cloud Technology’s Vital Role in the Evolving Pedagogy of the Philippines’s Education

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Students used to go to the library and open large books to find the information they needed but the education system has changed since the emergence of e-learning. Even before the pandemic, Instruction was increasingly conducted remotely and on digital platforms and has had a profound effect on education.

This shift was further accelerated when the pandemic hit, with all sectors and citizens realising the need to have the option to learn online. Many local governments gave students mobile devices, teachers were trained to maximise digital learning and used radio and TV lectures to bridge the divide created by the prolonged lockdowns.

Computers, laptops, smartphones and tablets are just a few examples of devices that have become indispensable in the new normal. These are no longer just for entertainment and are now widely used in the educational sector.

The power and significance of technology in education are more apparent than ever, as Filipino students require access to education even in times of crisis. The OpenGovLive! Virtual Breakfast Insight focused on the Philippines’ educational system, a vital component of a country’s cultural, social, and economic growth and development.

The Era of Digitalisation in Academe

Mohit Sagar: Technologies to cope with new demands
Mohit Sagar: Technological advancements can make learning enjoyable, engaging and interactive

Kicking off the session, Mohit Sagar, CEO & Editor-in-Chief, emphasised that this is the era of technology and digitalisation, and data is the backbone of infrastructure.

“With the rapid growth of the e-learning industry, the education sector is evolving. Teaching and learning methodologies have evolved. Students are savvy and the teachers need to be equally savvy,” Mohit stresses.

The pandemic had a significant impact on the educational sector in the Philippines, which had one of the world’s longest lockdowns. An estimated 28 million students stayed at home hoping to continue learning remotely but many were hampered by slow internet connections. Having a working device for use during classes was also a challenge for the less fortunate.

The prolonged closure prompted UNICEF to declare that there was learning loss, mental distress and an increased risk of dropping out. Fortunately, the use of cloud technology in education solves many problems and expands opportunities for both students and educational institutions.

Technological advancements have enabled educators to make learning enjoyable, engaging and interactive. Traditional methods of education are being quickly replaced by approaches developed from technology that are more participatory. In this situation, teachers can’t avoid adopting tech-savvy practices.

“Whatever organisation or industry uses cloud technology, it is always a game-changer. It is a solution to many existing problems in the educational sector, as well as an opportunity to explore various modern methods of learning,” Mohit says emphatically.

With all these changes, the academe is now also focusing more than ever on cyber security because of the surge in cyber-attacks, data breaches, and the release of sensitive information.

Security is of utmost importance for many enterprises and organisations, including learning. They are worried about the integrity of their information systems in addition to working to safeguard their system and employees from various risks and criminal threats. The concerns are serious and merit serious proactive action considering the spate of ransomware attacks on educational institutions in the U.S. – which may also happen in the Philippines.

Therefore, businesses, educational institutions, and governmental organisations greatly need cyber-security experts. The benefits of engaging computer security experts are numerous and obvious, especially if the institution manages sensitive data or has a large staff.

“Let’s make the most of all technological advancement, support one another, and keep looking for answers to the problems the education sector is currently facing,” Mohit exhorts delegates.

AWS for Education​: Accelerating the Digital Transformation of Education

Julian Lau: Hybrid learning is a new educational model; digital educational systems are here to stay

Julian Lau, Head of ASEAN Emerging Markets, Worldwide Public Sector, Amazon Web Services (AWS) acknowledges that the outbreak has caused a swift and widespread disruption that has forced instructors to alter their approach and ensure that all students continue to learn. Many campuses have closed and online techniques have replaced onsite instruction and evaluation.

Though it seems the tail-end of the pandemic, digital educational systems are here to stay even when onsite classes resume this school year.

“People skillset is not all about students and teachers, but it should refer to all departments to support the new normal. The education system has new learning tools to provide better education to the students,” says Julian.

He emphasises that hybrid learning is a new educational model in which some students attend class in person. In contrast, others join virtually from other locations, such as home, a dormitory, or coffee shops with internet access.

While blended and e-learning have been around for a while, hybrid learning is the next step. Blended learning provides digital, interactive and engaged teaching in the classroom and ensures that students attending remotely have the same learning experience. Hybrid learning, on the other hand, empowers students and gives them the choice of whether to learn in person or participate online.

Julian highlights the importance of collaboration with the entire education community, which could result in the accelerated digital transformation of the academic system.

He believes that the transformation journey in academe should begin with four basic principles: Modernising and securing the academy; turning data into wisdom; enriching the student experience, and empowering researchers and accelerating research.

Furthermore, Julian feels that a successful transformation journey needs collaboration and when looking for a partner he advises that people look for one who has the following capabilities to help the institution with its digital transformation:

  • Global Infrastructure​
  • Security​
  • Breadth of Services
  • Vibrant Community​
  • Customer-Focused Culture​
  • Low Cost​

TESDA Online Programme: Philippines’ First Technical Online Course

Redilyn Agub: Delivering technical-vocational education and training at the learner’s convenience

Redilyn Agub, Chief TESD Specialist (e-TESDA), TESDA shared that as more courses become available on the platform, the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority’s online platform, eTESDA, keeps growing its online training programme.

A web-based platform – TESDA Online Program (TOP) – provides free Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) for the technical training and skill advancement of the Filipino workforce. With its 100+ courses, TOP provides a practical and efficient way to deliver technical-vocational education and training at the learner’s convenience utilising information and communication technology.

Students may learn through web scripts, instructional videos, visual materials, online quizzes, interactive learning materials and practice activities.

“Our email server had issues, but we were able to resolve them with the help of the other local government organisations and AWS. This is where the motivation for cloud migration begins,” Redilyn recalls.

She adds that some benefits of clouds for their agency include ease of migration, stable and scalable system, availability of services, technical support, cost efficiency, security, and ease of monitoring.

One benefit of enrolling in these online courses from TESDA is the ability to “learn at your own speed.” The students can continue working at their regular jobs or attending classes while also taking these courses whenever they have free time, so they do not need to miss out on these activities.

Additionally, since classes are free, students are not required to pay tuition for their daily activities. The fact that the courses are given on demand also makes it simple for students to go back to their readings whenever they need to brush up on their knowledge.

TESDA’s use of cloud computing enables them to expand its activities internationally even the Overseas Filipino Workers (OFW) can enrol and gain certificates.

No matter how far a college is from where they live, students can select where to attend. Additionally, there is a chance to acquire access to knowledge repositories around the world and contribute to the knowledge bank’s overall accumulation for the benefit of all.

Finally, the best thing about taking a course with eTESDA is that they grant a certificate once students pass an assessment test at a TESDA assessment centre.

Interactive Discussions

After the informative talks, the delegates participated in conversations facilitated by polling questions. OpenGovLive! Virtual Breakfast Insight is intended to give live audience interaction, encourage participation, let people hear about real-life experiences, and help participants learn and grow professionally.

On being asked what their cloud strategy is, an overwhelming majority (73%) answered hybrid cloud while others opted for are all on-premises (15%) or multi-cloud (12%).

Inquiring on how they rate their cloud adoption, about a third (35%) said they based it on customer/citizen satisfaction. Just over a quarter (27%) based it on high availability/downtime management. The remaining delegates use cloud consumption/utilisation (15%) or resource productivity and efficiency (12%) as their metrics.

One delegate felt that everything goes well when they focus on customer satisfaction while another believes it is users’ needs that are important.

Regarding the criterion for selecting cloud providers, well over a third (36%) opted for performance, while others chose security (28%) or innovation (12%).

Asked what they thought was the biggest problem with going digital and moving to the cloud, 36% cited people and skillset while 24% felt executive support/top management strategy to be concerning. The budget was an issue for a fifth (20%) and the remaining delegates (16%) has problems with legacy infrastructure.

Sharing their plans to modernise their application and legacy systems, over half (54%) said they would work with a cloud service provider. The rest were equally split between outsourcing to a system integrator (19%) and application assessment to move to the cloud (19%).

The final question asked the delegates what external assistance they believe is most needed for cloud migration. The majority (32%) voted for technical expertise to execute the cloud migration plan. The rest of the delegates were almost evenly divided over risk assessment and management (28%) and technical expertise to plan and project management (24%).

Conclusion

COVID-19 presents an opportunity to rethink education, which should focus more on what, how, and where students could learn. The possibility of large-scale, long-term changes in academia is dependent on many factors, but a big part is influenced by decision-makers and the public’s appreciation of online learning which was massively used during the pandemic. Through the prolonged lockdowns, parents, educators, students, and the government saw classes can continue and remain effective even when held online.

One of the greatest benefits of cloud technology as a strategy is that it gives students access to education regardless of disruptions outside the home. For a country that experiences more than 20 typhoons annually which disrupt classes, this benefit would have a significant impact on the learner’s progress -with no disruption and fewer reasons to drop out.

A blended learning approach mixes in-person learning sessions with online lessons that the teacher may record or conduct live. With better access to resources, instructional strategies, and support, this model offers instructors a wide range of opportunities for professional growth. As the students gain more liberty to investigate and research diverse topics, the model provides them with an opportunity for deeper comprehension.

Another huge potential provided by cloud computing is to accommodate the various learning preferences and rates of pupils. The kids’ ability to absorb knowledge will be improved.

On the other hand, many enterprises think they can handle everything internally, many firms may be reluctant to collaborate with a partner for cloud migration. However, many companies will inevitably make mistakes that end up costing them much more than the money they anticipated saving by switching to the cloud.

Partners like AWS can help the educational sector create efficiencies and make their strategies more effective by utilising their expertise and experience in cloud technology. Each cloud provider offers distinct advantages for the service they can provide, and users only pay for what they use.

In closing, Julian emphasises that the support of top management is crucial in jumpstarting and maintaining the digital transformation of an organisation.  “Digital transformation is not something that you do yourself. You need to get the support of the top management, and everything will follow.”

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