The Internet in Asia

Singapore's Inteligent Nation 2015 plan

Intelligent Nation 2015 is the Singapore government's 10 year infocomm development master plan aimed at transforming Singapore into a totally wireless, intelligent, economically enriching and competitive nation for Singaporeans from all walks of life. Broadband penetration is expected to increase to 90 % by then to help meet these objectives.  It also aims to  create 80,000 new jobs and double the infocomm industry's contribution to Gross Domestic Product to $26 billion, tripling the country's export  revenue to SGD 60 billion.

Also part of the transformation will be building the Next Generation National Infocomm Infrastructure for a high-speed wired network of up to 1 Gigabit per second islandwide.
33 local and international companies have indicated their interest in the contract to be awarded next year and which will be rolled out by 2012.

Asian countries slip in e-readiness rankings

According to the Economist Intelligence Unit's  annual e-readiness survey recently released,  most Asia Pacific countries have gone down in their e-readiness rankings. This year, only Hong Kong remains in the top 10.

For example, Singapore has   slipped from 7th to 13th place. According to Mr Denis McCauley, the director of global technology research at the Economist Intelligence Unit,  "The key areas in this category separating Singapore from the leaders are level of innovation, in terms of patents registered per capita, and educational level, in terms of mean years of schooling."

An IDA spokesman commented on this, stating that Singapore is taking steps to remain competitive, starting with the launch of Singapore's new 10-year Infocomm masterplan -- the Intelligent Nation 2015  that will be launched next month.

The slip in standing mirrors the overall slide of the Asia Pacific region (     with the exception of Korea and Japan ) and is said to be attributed to comparatively higher rates of growth in other regions, rather than a lack of progress in Asia itself.

Malaysia launches Islamic wireless service

DiGi Telecommunications  has launched an Islamic wireless service , WAP Taqwa targeted at Malaysian Muslims that make up close to 70% of the population. The service will be available to those who  subscribe to GPRS or EDGE.

TH Technologies Sdn Bhd, a subsidiary of Lembaga Tabung Haji (the institution in charge of organizing pilgrimages to Mecca in Malaysia), is providing the mobile content for WAP Taqwa based on the book on Haj and Umrah guidelines issued by Tabung Haji's Guidance Division.
It will provide guidance, inspiration and information to perform the Haj and Umrah as well as to undertake other religious obligations to subscribers. WAP Taqwa will also offer SMS services targeted specifically at men, women and teenagers available through a monthly subscription.

Digital divide narrowing

The digital divide has narrowed as more people from developing countries are going on-line with more widely available computers and mobile phones according to the results of an annual study published by U.S. computer company International Business Machines Corp. and the intelligence unit of British magazine The Economist. The survey looked beyond basic connections and also studied how the Internet is being used to improve productivity and reduce costs, including on-line access to public services.

Mobile phones in the Philippines

Filipinos see the mobile phone as a cheap and convenient way to stay in touch with each other. It is currently estimated that at least 200 million text messages are sent a day in the Philippines. In fact, texting is so prevalent that even the central bank governor and other senior officials answer media inquiries by tapping out a reply on their mobiles.

As there is currently no system to track pre-paid card users, it makes it easy for individuals to send malicious and hoax messages via SMS.  Analysts say text message rumors proliferate because some people wish to portray themselves as being in the know about matters of national security.  Others pass them on to warn family and friends.

Some of the stranger text messages include a message stating the Filipino President Gloria Arroyo has died of a  strange disease and that the head of the armed forces had resigned. Some of these messages picked up so much momentum that government officials have had to go on record to deny them!

E-bullying on the rise

The results of a  four year longitudinal survey in the UK , looking at different forms of e-bullying,  by researchers at  York St John's University College, part of the research team presenting the findings to the British Psychological Society meeting, said: "It is a form of indirect bullying like gossip, that spreads quickly outside of the playground. of over 11,000 children show that 15% of children have received  nasty or aggressive messages.  Their study also suggests that girls were more likely to have been bullied than boys by email or SMS. 

Citizen journalism and technology

According to Ronald  Meinardus of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation, the term 'media' itself is being redefined today. As a result, he expects blogs and podcasts will become part of mainstream journalism in the next five years as he predicts that traditional media giants will start to adopt the ways of new media more and more. This does not mean however that all of the successes of citizen journalists so far should be attributed to technology alone, as its impact and use obviously go beyond that. Read the whole story here.

Singapore considers one year of free wireless broadband

The Singapore Infocomm Development Authority (IDA) invited service providers to submit proposals for providing wireless broadband to the island nation. The operating model specified by IDA requires operators to offer a basic service with access speeds of at least 512K bps (bits per second). The operators will be required to offer this basic service for "the lowest possible cost," which may include one year of free access. Service providers can also offer premium services that users will have to pay more for. What these services entailed was not stated.

Singapore firm charged for using illegal software

A Singapore based web design firm PDM International is the first company to be  charged for using illegal software : Microsoft, Adobe and Autodesk software valued at SGD 50,000 under stricter enforcement of copyright laws in the island nation. Acting on a tip from Business Software Alliance (BSA), police raided the premises of the company. Trial is currently underway, and the company is appealing for reduction in the charges filed against the company.

The BSA offers rewards of up to SGD 20,000 for tips, and receives up to 40 tips a month from the public.

India's latest and largest e-government program launched

India's latest e-government initiative, MCA-21  is also its largest, and is aimed at making e-filing easier with a comprehensive on-line portal. This project is jointly executed by the Indian Ministry of CompanyAffairs and TCS.  TCS will be responsible for designing and implementing the project and will then own, operate and maintain the system for a period of six years after successful roll-out at all sites.  In the event of a man-made or natural disaster, the system is designed to switch over to the disaster recovery system within 12 hours.