The Future is Today: Act or Disappear

The closing weeks of H1 2019 see a bumper crop of conferences and events across the region, of which a sample follows. [The post title and image is from Beyond Paradigm.]


Innovest Unbound tix [ June 27 | SG | USD 150 ]

Seamless tix [ June 25-27 | SG | gratis ]
  • Driving Mobile Payments - GoJek
  • What's Next for Digital Banking - HSBC
  • One Platform, One Shop - Volkswagen
  • Payments as a Competitive Advantage - Stripe
  • Retail Space Redefined - CapitaLand

Techsauce tix [ June 19-20 | TH | USD 160 ]
  • The Future of Mobility - Open Motors
  • Enterprise Private Blockchain - R3
  • Alternative Protein & 3D Printed Sushi - FIA
  • TikTok 101: Make Every Second Count - TikTok
  • Can Autonomous Vehicles Handle SEA Roads? - Mobileye

Next Block tix [ June 25-26 | TH | USD 100 ]

Ignite tix [ June 24-25 | PH | USD 100 ]

MyFintechWeek tix [ June 17-19 | MY | USD 90 ]

Beyond Paradigm tix [ July 17-18 | MY | USD 100 ]


Pick of Events (W4-Jun-2019)
Next post will be in 1-2 weeks' time.

General
Link SME BizNet @ MY tix
Link Digital Women @ KL tix
Link Digital Health @ KL tix
Link On Demand Economy @ KL tix
Link Equity Crowdfunding 1 @ KL tix
Link Equity Crowdfunding 2 @ KL
Link US-Asean Smart City @ KL
Link Career LinkedIn Way @ KL
Link MicroBiz Empowerment @ KL
Link Mastercard x Visa @ KL
Link Data Governance @ KL
Link Central Europe @ KL
Link Female Founders @ JB tix
Link Startup Festival @ JB

Arts Food Ecommerce
Link French Silat @ KL
Link New Shorties @ KL
Link Mamakpreneurs @ KL also
Link Food Safety @ KL
Link JD Retail F&B @ KL
Link Ecommerce Conf @ CJ
Link SME Ecommerce @ KL
Link Lesser Brands Ecom @ KL
Link Stripe Tech Founders @ KL

Around The Region
Link Women Changemakers @ HK tix
Link Swiss Innovation @ HK
Link Getty Insights @ HK
Link Green Jobs @ JKT
Link Product Tank @ JKT
Link Lean Enterprises @ JKT
Link Connect Tech Asia @ SG
Link Zero Waste Conference @ SG
Link Shopee Knowledge Graph @ SG
Link Lazada Business Intelligence @ SG
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Street Lambada



Busker Violinist
We're back on street beat with junior busker violinist Karolina Protsenko in two clips: a slower Somewhere Over The Rainbow highlighted by a mesmerized pooch towards the end of the clip, and a faster paced 90s hit Lambada. On a related note, young violinist Grace Clifford will be performing at this weekend's Titan at KLCC.

Backlane Cinema
Backlanes are particularly suited for street cinema being dark (away from street lighting), private (shielded by buildings), access controlled (only ingress end egress) and cosy (alfresco, narrow thoroughfare). There's one happening this Friday (7pm, June 14th) behind RexKL (Chinatown KL). The first edition of the cinema a couple of weeks back was full house, and the present edition is fully booked. Interested parties can perhaps try for standing room, no-show replacement, or they can attend the soft launch of RexKL (next door, same time).

Also This Weekend
Link What Investors Want @ KL
Link Erasmus Exchange @ KL info
Link Places Less Explored @ KL
Link Phantom of The Opera @ KL
Link Iliza Shlesinger @ KL vid
Link Artist Meetup @ PG
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Drone Intersection

In the news: Boeing Insitu ScanEagle

Drone Intersection
Armed with a hunting rifle, a human can fend off a tiger or elephant (eg. by firing into the air to scare off the animal). But against a swarm of bees, the rifle would be of little use. In an age of 'Weaponization of Everything' (WoE), drone swarms are an emerging field of interest  [1 2] in an intersection of:
  • Remote sensing - Macro view of the landscape
  • Computer vision - Micro view of objects
  • Artificial intelligence - Semi or full autonomous operation
  • Swarm intelligence - Working on a mission as a swarm
  • Advanced communications - Secure command, image streaming etc
  • IoT - A drone at rest can be a self-installed IoT device
  • Navigation - Maptech, satellites, day-night, all weather, all terrain
  • DroneTech - Flight, chips, motors, batteries, miniaturization etc
Catch up with the latest on drones at MyDroneX June 17th 2019 @ Cyberjaya.


Capital Coworking
True Digital Park, a startup, tech and entrepreneurs campus located at Punnawithi, Bangkok, is hosting a free coworking week from June 10 to 14, 2019 [tix] with the following VCs present on campus:
  • OpenSpace - Early stage tech
  • 500 - Find and empower founders
  • Siri - Property vertical
  • DV - Fintech arm of SCB bank 1
  • Expara - In SEA since 2003
  • PTT - Energy, digital and robotics
  • MonksHill - Entrepreneurs backing entrepreneurs
  • Gobi - Hypothesis-driven investing 2
  • Fuchsia - Venture arm of MTL insurance
  • TrueIncube - Venture arm of True telco 3
  • Amadeus - Travel ecosystem
  • Beacon - Venture arm of Kasikornbank 4
  • Singha - Fast moving consumer goods vid


Pick of Events (W3-Jun-2019) KL=GreaterKL

Tech Week sample
Link MY Tech Week @ KL
Link Global Ecommerce @ KL
Link Taqwa Tech Pitch @ KL tix
Link Asean VC Pitch @ KL
Link Smart City Pitch @ KL
Link Fintech Pitch @ KL
Link Fintech Week @ KL via
Link Fintech Shariah @ KL
Link Fintech Security @ KL
Link Digital Regulation @ KL
Link Asean-CN Synergy @ KL 1 2 3
Link Ecommece Landscape @ KL tix

General
Link UOB Accelerator @ KL
Link WTF Accelerator @ CJ
Link Sustainable Hackathon @ CJ
Link Digital Supply Chain @ KL
Link IoT Co-Creation @ KL
Link AML Regulations @ KL
Link Google Cloud Next @ KL
Link AI vs HR @ KL tix
Link BizStart @ KK tix

Arts Design Architecture
Link Architecture Conf @ KL tix
Link Urban Conservation @ KL
Link Trad Architecture @ KL
Link Sufi Architecture @ KL
Link French Music Day @ KL
Link Zero Waste Fest @ KL
Link Sea Blue Sunday @ KL
Link Travel Blogging @ KL
Link UXUI Strategy @ KL
Link UXUI Mini Summit @ KL tix

Around The Region
Link Blockchain Hackathon @ SG
Link People Culture @ SG tix
Link Story Telling Fest @ SG
Link Crypto vs Fiat @ SG
Link CTO Meetup @ JKT
Link Fintech Hackathon @ HK
Link Ecommerce Growth @ HK
Link Manufacturing Expo @ BKK
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Remittance Rumble

Remittance Rumble
A rough comparison of how much MYR is needed to remit USD 100 from MY to US.

Rate Pay (MYR) Charges (MYR)
Base 416.00 00.00
PayPal 436.30 20.30
CreditCard 428.48 12.48
Bitcoin 428.05 12.05
MoneyMatch 419.77 03.77
InstaRem 419.42 03.42
WesternUnion 418.76 02.76
SunwayMoney 418.11 02.11

Notes
  • The base rate is the rate returned by Google, taken to be the 'pure' exchange rate (as at June 6th 2019).
  • PayPal fees: 4.4% + MYR 2 fixed fee. 1 2
  • Credit card fees: 3% 3
  • Bitcoin fees: mining fee (USD 1.90) + network fee (couldn't estimate this, so set to 0) + 1% processing fee. 4 5
  • The rest are based on online estimators provided by the remittance vendors at their websites.
  • The 'Pay' column shows the MYR amount needed to remit USD 100.
  • The 'Charge' (Pay - BaseRate) column: fees charged by intermediaries.
  • A proper comparison would do actual transfers to determine the real fees (vs claimed), duration and smoothness of transfer, customer service etc.

Grapevine
  • Facebook could soft launch its stablecoin at month end. 6 7 8
  • The coin will be backed by a basket of currencies. 9
  • Project staff can opt for their salary to be paid in the stablecoin.
  • The stablecoin to be managed by an independent foundation.
  • Possibility of outsourced operations (co-opt an existing stablecoin?).
  • Bonuses for merchants who accept the stablecoin.
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Flow Architecture


Architecture in the days of yore tended to blend with nature whilst contemporary designs try to defy the environment. An example of the former is a naturally ventilated traditional house and the latter, a tall glass tower in a desert.

Elements incorporated into natural designs include air (breeze, convection), and water (streams, cascades) as seen in the the Falling Water House and the Hakusui Dam (relaxing video above, turn up the volume). More on the Hakusui Dam at the 'Built Environment: An Alternative Guide to Japan' exposition happening at RexKL from 12th of June to 14th July, see 'Japan Design' below for details.

Pick of Events (W2-Jun-2019)

General
Link Creative Economy @ KL
Link Age of Anxiety @ KL
Link Korea Exposition @ KL
Link Cross Border Ecom @ KL tix
Link Go Digital @ KC tix

Arts & Architecture
Link Retro Utopia @ HK
Link Japan Design @ KL tix
Link Mosque Architecture @ KL tix
Link Design Your Life @ KL
Link Tamil Typography @ KL tix
Link Rain Forest Festival @ KL tix
Link Music Poetry OpenMIC @ BKK

Around The Region
Link Open Source Conference @ HK
Link GDPR vs Blockchain @ HK tix
Link Instagram Stories Tips @ HK
Link Circular Hackathon @ HK
Link Smart Hotels @ HK tix
Link Legal Innovation @ HK
Link Sustainable Future @ SG
Link Google Cloud Next @ SG
Link Stripe Modern Payments @ SG
Link HK Startup Ecosystem @ BKK
Link English Competitiveness @ JKT
Link Asean Women Diplomats @ JKT
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Tanah Airku



For this year's Raya ('end of Ramadan'), we have picked two videos that were not produced for Raya but which we think capture two facets of the festive occasion: balik lampung ('returning home') and maaf ('forgiveness').

First up is Tanah Airku ('my homeland') sung by Lea Simanjuntak, arranged and conducted by AddieMS and backed by Twilite (ID). [As this is not a custom Raya production, Lea's dress is more Spring Festival than Raya.]

The second video is Sucikanlah Hati ('light my heart') to the tune of MiraiE and covered by Dalia Farhana (MY). Wishing Muslim readers Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri.
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Fintech & Agtech Startups

Fintech
GFIN is a network of 35 financial regulators formed to foster collaboration in technology and business models. GFIN has created a global sandbox spanning 12 countries and has accepted the following startups into the sandbox:
  • AlphaPoint - Enterprise security token and exchange
  • Atlant - Real estate tokenisation
  • Coinvestion - Fractional property ownership
  • DACX - Digital asset and commodity exchange
  • Tradle - Blockchain-based eKYC
  • Onfido - Outsourced identification verification
  • Ascent - Crunches through regulations to tell you your obligations
  • Starling - Use analytics to monitor employees top image

AgTech
A sample of agtech startups presenting at Future Food Asia happening 3-4 June @ SG:
  • Intello - Grade produce (eg veg) using phone cam & AI
  • Biotelliga - Natural pesticide from fungi
  • RapidAIM - IoT insect trap for pest monitoring
  • LiveCare - IoT monitor that is swallowed by cattle
  • WaveTalk - Quickly test water for microbes using lasers


Pick of Events (W1-Jun-2019)

General
Link Digital Banking @ KL
Link AI Camera Zoom @ KL
Link Asianrepreneur @ KL
Link AI Hackathon @ KL
Link Pro Design @ KL tix

Around The Region
Link Missing Mapathon @ HK vid
Link Digital Distraction @ HK
Link Posh Millennials @ HK
Link Future of Food @ HK
Link AI in Finance @ HK
Link DLT Compass @ SG
Link Alibaba Cloud @ SG
Link Engine Agnostic @ SG
Link Ecosperity Week @ SG
Link Quantum Economy @ SG
Link The Estonian Model @ SG
Link Wework Women @ JKT tix
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Impossible Fish Ball


Impossible Fish Ball
Want to start your own 'impossible' yummytech? Combine the ingredients shown above, roll them into balls and there you have it. The tofu and potato flour provide bulk and food; gluten, chewiness; seaweed, taste of the sea; and spices, additional flavour.

Impossible Burger
Vege fish balls and equivalent have been around for a long time in the East, long before Impossible Burger. But it is Impossible Burger that came up with a compelling story, food science, manufacturing chops, precision R&D, venture money and savvy marketing that propelled Impossible Burger to mainstream chic:
  • Society moved from horse drawn carriages to motorised vehicles in just a few years. People wanted mobility, not horses per se. Similarly, Impossible Burger is working on nutrition, not meat vs vege per se.
  • Foodtech to get the best of meat and vege and mitigate the worst of both.
  • The meat market is huge, even taking a few percentage points off that market is a biggie.

Impossible Uses Cases
Other use cases for 'impossible fish ball' (or 'impossible burger')
  • Taste It is said that the 'impossible burger' taste better than the real burgers. Similarly, we have tasted (good quality) vege fish balls and they taste better (flavour, bounciness) than real fish balls. Reason: real fish balls are hard to make and not what they used to be, while vege fish balls have had the benefit of improvement with food tech.
  • Diversity It is good to have a diversity of food types. A properly produced vege fish ball would be a step below unprocessed food (straight from the garden or farm) but above processed food (instant ramen ('maggi mee'), hotdogs, chicken nuggets). Or if meat sources are unavailable due to ASF etc.
  • Conservation Fish stocks are in peril due to overfishing, ocean warming etc. If nations around the word managed to cobble together a moratorium on fishing (or if there is a collapse in fish stocks), seafood fans can make do with vege fish balls (or equivalent) while fisheries take a break. (Trawlers can be sent to clean up the oceans while sitting out the moratorium.)
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Street Music

We're going busking today. All the videos were shot with one cam and in one take. Though the audio is a bit rough, we hope the music comes through.

Busker group ETC reprises cantopop favourite Under The Vast Sky @ Chinatown, SG.

Aussie passerby Claudia Migliaccio joins Doo Wop buskers Spank for Stand By Me @ NYC

A Bosnian visitor renders What's Up backed by busker group Sentuhan @ Downtown KL
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Startups @ Computex

Innovex is a startup focused satellite event of Computex. It features 400+ exhibitors in addition to the 1,500+ exhibitors at Computex. Entry to Innovex is open to all [NTD 2000 | USD 63] while Computex [gratis] is open to trade professionals. [Computex: May 28 - June 1, Innovex: May 29 - 31 @ Taipei tix]. Sample:


Forum tix
  • Rising Stars in Innovation - Whoscall
  • Investing in Sports Innovation - Hype
  • Global SportsTech Ecosystem - Velodash
  • How ARM Can Help You Win - ARM
  • Intelligent Manufacturing & Industry 4.1 - NCKU
  • AI for Genomics - NTU-BIME
  • Personalised Genomics - AllBio
  • Artificial Intelligence Trends - Appier
  • International Accelerators - AL PG PC LM

Startups | Exhibitors


Pick of Events (W4-May-2019)

General
Link Starting a Business @ KL
Link Dept of Exports @ KL
Link Coworking Spaces @ KL
Link Flutter Hackathon @ KL 1
Link Biz Expansion @ KL tix
Link Startup Pitch @ JB also
Link Tech Ladies @ PG

Arts
Link Music Buffet @ KL
Link Micro Arts Grant @ KL
Link Poetry Workshop @ KL tix
Link Urban Conservation @ KL
Link Alena Murang @ KL 1 2
Link Girly Book Club @ KL

Around The Region
Link Fintech Iftar @ JKT
Link Analytics Ramadhan @ JKT
Link Influencer Ramadhan @ JKT
Link Driving Innovation @ JKT
Link Women Founders @ JKT
Link Social vs Business @ JKT
Link BlueBird Adventures @ JKT
Link Security Tokens @ HK
Link AI in Finance @ HK
Link IEEE Blockchain @ SG 1
Link Google Cloud Next @ SG
Link Accelerating MedTech @ SG
Link Commercialising MedTech @ SG
Link Fintech CoInnovation @ HCMC tix
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Crypto: Starbucks Microsoft Facebook


Some notes and observations on three brands that were in crypto news recently.



Starbucks Accepts Bitcoin?
  • The title of a recent Forbes article suggests Starbucks has begun accepting bitcoin for payments (and thus Starbucks endorses bitcoin).
  • Reading the article reveals it is Spedn, an ewallet by Flexa, that is said to be under limited testing by Starbucks. (The article later mentions Starbucks denies working with Flexa).
  • It is like if Boost (an ewallet) decides to accept Ethereum. This does not mean 99 Speedmart and KK Supermart (two grocery chains that support Boost) endorse Ethereum. Boost may simply process Ethereum and pay merchants in fiat (MYR etc), the merchants do not see or need to know about Ethereum.
  • Taking this further, this suggests payment processors and intermediaries could be a key to the practical usage of crypto. Payment processors may allow, say, bitcoin (which charges about USD 4 and may take from 10 minutes to hours to confirm a transaction), to be used for quick micro transactions (eg. pay for a cup of milk tea in MY for around USD 0.50) by consolidating transactions and storing details (time stamp, payer, payee, amount, item description etc) off-chain (ie. in a database rather than a blockchain).

Microsoft Picks Bitcoin
  • Wired reports Microsoft has picked the bitcoin blockchain to further its digital identity initiative together with the Decentralized Identity Foundation (DIF, post image) whose members include IBM, Aetna, R3, WeBank and NEC.
  • The purpose of the initiative is provide digital natives with a digital identity which is 'self sovereign', that is not dependent on, say, a Google, Facebook or Twitter account (which could be withdrawn by the principal).
  • How is the bitcoin blockchain used? Here's how it might happen. Essential data eg. name, nationality, identification number (or a hash thereof) will be stored in the bitcoin blockchain to secure it. Larger data eg. photos, will be stored encrypted in the Inter Planetary File System (IPFS). a new decenralized file system that is torrent like.
  • The decentralised nature of the bitcoin blockchain and IPFS makes the identity more secure and harder to take down. Note that the emphasis here is on blockchain not bitcoin. Nevertheless, to commit a transaction, a bitcoin transaction fee needs to be paid, so at first glance, the identity system may not be free (Microsoft says it has yet to figure out the business model and other chains might be supported in the future).

Facebook's Cryptocurrency
  • Facebook's hypothesized cryptocurrency has been given the code name 'Libra' by media because Facebook recently registered a Swiss company named Libra Networks amidst other possible cryptocurrency ramp-up measures.
  • Traditionally, Libra denotes justice, fairness and balance, and the higher aspects of law and order.. This might hint at the crypto ambitions of Facebook. Libra is also phonetically close to the word Liber, as in Liberty.
  • Since Whatsapp is increasingly a medium of P2P and B2C transactional communications ('deliver an impossible burger to me at my office for lunch'), it is natural for Facebook to want to add a payment option for the convenience of users.
  • To ponder: Will it be crypto or fiat? If crypto, will it be a stable coin or a free floating coin? Will it be an alternative to PayPal, the current de facto global consumer payment platform? Will long-time, active Facebook members get an air-drop (free coins on launch)?
  • Facebook is already very powerful and encompassing. Going into payments could potentially lead to corporate power overreach, more data mining, and increased regulatory scrutiny and oversight. Or perhaps Facebook will do something out-of-the-box and carve out payments into an independent entity to be governed by an august board of directors and/or advisers, as what a Libra-ian approach might suggest.
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Que Será Será

My Heart Will Go On [The Music of James Horner, 25 May 2019 @ KLCC tix]

Viva La Vida [Strings Go Pop! 31 May 2019 @ KLPAC tix]

Doris Day's Que Sera Sera [cover by Sophia Ng]
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Startup Roll

In a blink we are almost at the end of May and the end of Spring in the Northern Hemisphere. Symbolically, Spring is the season of startups, thus there is just a week or two left to launch. A sample of local startups:
  • MyBioMass - Nanocellulose: Plastic from Plants
  • Octo - CIMB's Neobank (VN and PH only)
  • EzCab - Ride Hailing: accepts major ewallets
  • Frenzt - Ride Hailing: can select M, F or Previous Driver
  • CapitalBay - Supply Chain Finance
  • GoLog - On-Demand Delivery
  • BizzApp - Ecommerce Wholesaler App
  • DriveMark - Safe Driver Ranking
  • AinMedicare - Halal Pharma
  • CMC - Mobility Projects
  • iFix - Repair App
  • MindAppz - Tuition App
  • Rtist - Hire Creative Talents
  • Sling - Tinder for Job Seekers
  • OurTalent -  'Rogue Rapper' Namewee's Startup


Pick of Events (W3-May-2019)

General
Link Saving Oceans @ KL 1 2
Link AI for Startups @ KL
Link AI for Business @ PG
Link IoT Challenge @ MY

Arts
Link Google Iftar @ KL
Link TnG Ramadan @ KL 1 2
Link Tea Appreciation @ KL
Link Coffee Appreciation @ KL

Around The Region
Link Greater Bay Forum @ HK
Link Smart Mobility @ HK
Link MicroServices @ JKT
Link ID Creatives @ BKK
Link SpaceTech @ SG tix
Link Explainable AI @ SG
Link Digital Marketing @ SG
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Ewallet vs NeoBank vs DigitalBank

BigBay Goes NeoBank
In the best tradition of growth hacking, AirAsia's BigPay is going neobank not by licensing but by practice [by our estimation]. In a video, Group CEO Tony Fernandes mentions as soon as BigPay receives approval from regulator BNM to increase the maximum ewallet deposit to MYR 50K [USD 12K], AirAsia will pay staff salaries into BigPay. This will be a major boost for BigPay and the ewallet ecosystem. Imagine other ewallets that have a substantial local parent following suit:
  • Boost - Axiata & Digi payrolls go into Boost. [Vcash folds into Boost?]
  • TnG - CIMB & TnG payrolls go into TnG [CIMB unlikely due to firewall]
  • MAE - Maybank payroll goes into MAE [maybe start with IT staff]

Long Term Stock Exchange
The SEC has just approved (Friday, 10 May 2019) a new stock exchange: the Long Term Stock Exchange (LTSE). LTSE differs from standard stock exchanges in the following:
  • Long term investors get more voting rights than short term ones
  • CEO salary must not be linked to stock prices
  • Longer reporting cycles (eg. half yearly vs quarterly)
Next in the pipeline awaiting SEC approval is MEMX, a new stock exchange that is led by brokerages and banks in a promise to simplify listings and reduce costs.

Comparison of Banking Types
How to distinguish neobanks, digital banks, virtual banks and traditional banks? Virtual banks are another name for digital banks. Neobanks are more nimble and easier to start than digital banks because neobanks do not require a banking license, they leverage on the backend and license of an existing bank. Digital banks differ from traditional banks by having no branches. The table below provides a fuller comparison.

Ewallet NeoBank DigitalBank StandardBank
Onboarding Instant eKYC eKYC Counter
Deposit Yes Yes Yes Yes
Withdrawals No Yes Yes Yes
Transfers Yes Yes Yes Yes
ATM No Yes Yes Yes
Lending No Yes Yes Yes
DebitCard Maybe Yes Yes Yes
CreditCard No Maybe Yes Yes
MaxDeposit Small Medium Large VeryLarge
BankingLicense No No Yes Yes
DepositInsured No Maybe Yes Yes
Branches No No No Yes
Humans F2F No No Maybe Yes
OnlinePortal No Maybe Yes Yes
AppBased Yes Yes Yes Optional
EasilyBanned Yes Yes Maybe No
DataSlurping Yes Yes Yes No
InterestBearing No Low Higher Low
Characteristic Speed Agility Reach Stability
TargetMarket Unbanked, Youngsters, Digerati Underbanked, SME/SMB, Young AdultsMedium Sized Businesses, Niche Markets Institutions, Large Businesses, General Public
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Moment in Time


Have you heard the phrase 'live in the present' and wondered what that means? We don't have an answer though we have heard it may mean not being distracted by the past or the future. We like Belgian singer Dana Winner's take, One Moment in Time. [Good speakers or headphones recommended.]
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DLT: The Next Wave

DLT projects are not only technically challenging (uniqueness, maths, economics, distributed architecture, security, speed), its adoption and usage are dependent on consortium or community building. Given this, here are some DLT projects which have been in the news recently for gaining traction with established organisations:


Pick of Events (W2-May-2019)

General
Link Measurability @ KL
Link Digital F&B @ KL tix
Link Embracing IoT @ KL tix
Link 2F Authentication @ KL
Link Ecomm Update @ KL also
Link Reducing Regulations @ KL
Link Multitasking Woman @ JB

Arts
Link Triple Orchestra @ KL vid
Link Senandung Express @ KL

Around The Region
Link Street Venture Capital @ SG
Link MIT AI and ML @ SG tix
Link Quantum Economy @ SG
Link Job Seeker Data @ SG
Link Energy Startups @ SG
Link Going Digital @ SG
Link Token Economy @ HK
Link WeChat Conference @ HK
Link Sustainable Startups @ HK tix
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Industrial Revolution

What is Industrial Revolution 4.0? The top two results from Google point to articles from Forbes and Wikipedia. If you find these heavy reading, here's a lightweight guide.

Rev Period Driver Products
0 1700s Humans Agriculture, Philosophy, Arts, Crafts
1 1800s Engines Locomotives, Ships, Bridges, Roads, Buildings
2 1900s Electricity Houses, Cars, Consumer Products, Mass Entertainment
3 2000s Computers Internet, Social Media, Gadgets, Global Supply Chain
3.5 2010s Connectivity Sharing Economy, Commoditization, Distributed Systems
4 2020s Robots Unknown (perhaps agile products from agile production)
5 2030s? Nature? Clean Air & Water, Greenomics, Sustainability?

Notes
  • IR0 This was 1700s and before (earlier: Iron Age, Bronze Age, Stone Age)
  • IR3 The advent of computers saw the addition of robotics to the factory floor and increasingly powerful design, simulation and control software.
  • IR3.5 (our take) Industrial production took a big conceptual leap from factory floor to gadgets via software and apps. For example, a car can potentially be transformed from a personal product into a shared commodity.
  • IR4 We lump Cloud, Big Data, IoT etc (the often mentioned components of IR4) into Robots. Just imagine a powerful robot which can sense via IoT, use the cloud, learn and does stuff. What stuff? We don't know, maybe like this.
  • IR5 Just exploring some possibilities looking ahead. A product example could be Beyond Meat, whose share price rose 163% upon its IPO on Thursday (2nd May 2019), the best performing stock debut since 2008.
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Food Delivery


Labour Day
In a previous post, we showcased Westlife's signature tune My Love. The music video opened with a scene of the group missing a flight and forced to walk (presumably to find another means to get home). This was probably working class cred from Westlife. Those, now or at some point in their life, who do not have their own ride, who missed the last bus, train, or were ever stranded in a place with no clear means of getting home will identify with the opening scene.

Westlife plays the working class theme again in the above cover of Uptown Girl. Despite slightly raunchy visuals, it's a clean, old-fashioned video (made circa 2001) with colourful hues reminiscent of a Norman Rockwell-ish early 60s and modern K-pop. The video is strangely contemporary with depictions of selfies and a mention of "we are slumming in a Facebook blog" which would actually be "we are slumming in a place called Blonde's". Facebook debuted in 2004.

Food Delivery
As the Labour Day holiday fell on Wednesday (right between weekends), and it was a hot day in KL, folks might have stayed home during lunch and tried food delivery. This was an ideal day to run a one-day food delivery promo but most campaigns that we came across ended in April.

But kudos to the food delivery riders who were working on a public holiday. Drivers in KL may have noticed a marked increase in food delivery riders since the beginning of the year with FoodPanda, GrabFood and HonestBee being the most prominent, and the occasional DahMakan riders and more rarely McD, Dominos and PizzaHut. Our (casual) research indicate FoodPanda is tops in KL, with GrabFood making gains and HonestBee soldiering on.

Random Notes
  • Gen-Z may be hanging out more online and less in eateries, and hence food delivery may be the thing for them.
  • [Gen-Z also seems to shun more grimy eateries like mamaks, road side joints and hawker spots but patronise modern cafes and branded venues (eg late night nasi lemak at a back lane in PJ). Thus, ambience and experience may be more important to them than taste (a subjective measure) or price.]
  • If the authorities implement road congestion charging, the food delivery business will gain.
  • Food delivery packaging is un-green (thick cardboard boxes, plastic containers, utensils and bags). It is possible food deliveries are doing all they can, and it is the packaging industry that is presently unable to provide green alternatives. Or it may require minimalist packaging (eg just bags of food) on the understanding the customer will provide the rest of the utensils.
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Semiconductor Conference

SEMICON Southeast Asia 2019 [ May 7-9 @ MITEC, KL | prog | exhibitors | tix ] is an exposition for the electronics industry. SEMICON is an event of SEMI, the global industry association serving the manufacturing supply chains for the microelectronic, display and photovoltaic industries. Exhibitors include TokyoElectron, Elliance, Chroma, MARii, AlliedVision, Atomic, AgrHub and SodaVision. Hardware startups could be eligible for a free kiosk, apply here.

Topics sample
  • Autonomous Mobile Robots - Sesto
  • Industry 4.0 Open Platform - Vitrox
  • Flatveyor and Cableveyor - Tsubakimoto
  • Smartphone of The Future - TechSearch
  • Industrial IoT: Ready for AI - Intel
  • IoT Boon or Bane - PwC
  • AI Wars: Return of Hardware - McKinsey
  • Escaping Pilot Purgatory - McKinsey
  • Virtualizing the Substation - TNB
  • IoT for Water Utiltiies - Maynilad
  • Industrial & Logistics Clusters - UEM
  • Anchor Company Ecosystem (ACE) - EXIM


Pick of Events (W1+May-2019)

General
Link AWS Blockchain @ KL info
Link JP-MY Smart Mfg @ KL
Link AirAsia Vidi @ KL
Link AU-CN Pitch @ KL
Link Youth Conference @ KL tix
Link Scaleup Meetup @ KL
Link eTrade Briefing @ KL

Arts
Link Surely Honey @ KL tix
Link United Humour @ KL tix
Link Piano Romantics @ JB tix

Around The Region
Link Responsible Tech @ BKK
Link Blockchain 3 Under 30 @ BKK
Link Pricing What You Throw @ BKK
Link Lean Beer @ SG
Link AI for IoT Data @ SG
Link China Ecommerce @ SG
Link Digital Supply Chain @ SG
Link Hyperledger Adoption @ SG
Link She Loves Data @ JKT
Link Lessons from SV @ JKT
Link Product-Market Fit @ JKT
Link Japan Data Scientist @ JKT
Link AI Graduation Demo Day @ HK
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