Our News/Views section features three forms of content and engagement with the global Internet and Society community:
Think is a series featuring insights and provocations from a guest expert
Speakeasy captures freewheeling interviews and conversations in our virtual salon
Field Trips documents observations from our team and wider network, showcasing events they attended in the region
When economic activity gradually resumed in China in mid-February, Chinese residents returned to a “new normal” under a strict surveillance infrastructure. They have their temperatures taken and personal information logged as they enter office buildings, residential communities and large commercial venues. And their freedom of movement depends on an app called Health Code (健康码), which[…]
In 2018 Xiamen and Fuzhou, two cities in Fujian province, a region on the coast in the southeast most famous for its historic trader links and global diaspora population, became one of just a handful of cities in China with their own city-level personal credit scores (个人信用评分). These are algorithmically created scores, using data gathered[…]
It has been almost three months since between 240,000 to a million Hong Kongers marched in protest against an extradition bill many feared would lead to an unacceptable weakening of Hong Kong’s legal independence from Beijing as per the “one country-two systems” principle enshrined in Hong Kong’s Basic Law. While this bill was proclaimed “dead”[…]
Any article talking about China’s journey with Artificial Intelligence (AI) has to begin with the board game Go. More specifically, the face-off between Lee Sedol, winner of 18 world titles and widely considered to be the greatest player of the past decade, and Google’s DeepMind-AI-powered Alpha Go. In a now landmark match, Alpha Go didn’t[…]
Chinese technology companies are now world leaders in areas such as artificial intelligence, e-commerce and fintech. After investing heavily in South East Asia, they are rapidly establishing themselves in India, with venture capital firms following suit. This can have a transformative effect on the Indian technology scenario over time and catalyse an Operating System (OS)[…]
It’s 2017. The world is increasingly looking eastwards for the latest technology and policy developments emerging out of Asia. When it comes to China, news of advances in AI and mobile payment systems battles for attention with thought pieces about social credit rating and circumvention tools. In July, a roadmap for AI development targeted China[…]
Visualise this scenario for a moment. As a music lover, you have access to all the tunes in the world on your devices: no subscription and platform lock-in, no libraries divided across multiple apps, no regional restrictions. All the music you want, and fully interoperable. As a musician, you have the ability to copyright[…]
I attended my first IGF event ever – the Asia Pacific regional IGF (APrIGF) in Bangkok – and here’s what happened… Yes, seriously. I was mobbed by children. A flock of 7-8 wonderful little kids came over to ask if they could do an interview with me. Never have I felt more like a celebrity[…]
I. The Remarkable Story of Everyday O2O Commerce in China Let’s say you were planning to visit China ten years ago. You would have your visa and flights booked, perhaps even a hotel. But the preparations wouldn’t end there. You’d have withdrawn plenty of RMB in cash, which you’d need for just about everything, except[…]
The Taiwanese civic tech community g0v held their ‘g0v hackath22n’ on December 17, a bimonthly event where citizens propose and present projects aimed at promoting civic participation and government transparency. “G0v is a vibrant community where you can actually meet new people and work on projects offline,” g0v co-founder Chia-liang Kao said. Participants’ projects ranged[…]