The Ministry of Information and Communication (MIC) has adjusted a 2022 plan regarding farming households on e-commerce platforms and the agricultural and rural digital economy. It aims to have ten million active accounts on the state-owned e-commerce sites Postmart and Vo So. According to a report, the government considers an account as active if it conducts one of the following activities: displays products, looks for products, exchanges information or carries out transactions.
The plan also aims to put all 3-star one-commune-one-product (OCOP) items online. Launched in 2018, the OCOP initiative seeks to boost the economic contribution of the agricultural sector by supporting products and service-based products in each locality to create a value chain of private and public players. All products are ranked on a 5-star evaluation system and are graded out of one hundred points in terms of product development, marketing and product quality, and the ability to expand to other markets, among other categories. 3-star products score between 50-69 points and are provincial-level products.
Furthermore, the plan strives to digitally train and upskill all farming households as well as increase the number and value of transactions on Postmart and Vo So. It will help farming households promote, advertise, and introduce new products, and expand to domestic and international markets. Through the online market sites, farming households can access information about farm produce markets, predictions about demand, production capacity, and weather forecasts, and reports about varieties and fertilisers.
The report informed that under the plan, MIC will create six groups to:
Specific goals have been set for each group in charge of the above tasks. For example, when digitising data about agricultural production households on e-commerce, the government will collect information and generate a list of agricultural production households in centrally-run cities. It will also digitise data about farming households to serve transactions and business on the e-commerce platforms. Additionally, the government’s media campaigns are expected to encourage more farming households to enter digital spaces. The tasks will be assessed based on two major and two subordinate criteria. The major two include the volume of information collected and digitised on e-commerce platforms by farming households and the proportion of farming households that switched to suppliers or buyers on e-commerce platforms. The minor two include the number of agricultural production households trained in sales skills and the amount of farm produce advertised and sold via e-commerce.
As reported by OpenGov Asia last month, the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development aims for Vietnam’s agriculture sector to grow by 2.5-3% annually until 2030, with agricultural productivity at 5.5%. Measures have been taken to explore potential markets for Vietnamese products, which could increase in value at 5-6% a year. The objective is to transform Vietnam’s rural areas into modern, developed agricultural production centres that employ advanced and environmental-friendly technology by 2050. The ministry’s top priority is the adoption of green technologies with a focus on preserving and protecting natural resources.
The Minister of Road Transport and Highways, Nitin Gadkari, recently announced that he plans to put artificial intelligence (AI)-based technology in the government system to improve mobility. He identified several priority areas for AI applications, including forensic post-crash investigations, the pattern of accidents due to black spots, fatigue indicators, sleep detectors, and advanced vehicle collision avoidance systems. AI reduces the need for human interference in road safety systems, making them more efficient and effective.
In a recent statement, the Minister said that AI integration in road safety is the “need of the hour” for the country. Road safety is a major challenge for India, roads fall witness to several road rule violations and negligence, that can cause minor and major accidents. A strong surveillance policy is significant in maintaining road safety. India records about 500,000 road accidents every year, with over 150,000 deaths. These statistics are one of the highest across the world. According to government data, 35% of all road accidents and 84% of total road accidents occur to citizens between the ages of 18 to 60.
Gadkari asked Indian entrepreneurs to develop indigenous AI-based solutions for the monitoring and enforcement of motor vehicle legislation. The highway monitoring system currently uses imported hardware and software. Gadkari stated that the Ministry has commenced an initial project with AI-based technology in Nagpur. The technology in Nagpur will be used to identify black spots on roads, and the project will integrate machine learning and AI in national highway safety systems. Authorities also plan to use digital construction, which enables machines to translate design drawings on the field using sensors.
The government has also initiated a system for Advanced Traffic Monitoring (ATMS) in the Delhi Meerut Eastern Peripheral expressway and plans to apply the technology in all national highways. The system can be used to capture number plates, identify discrepancies in vehicle documentation, and monitor traffic rule violations.
The country’s top research institutes have been developing and deploying tech-based solutions to reduce road accidents. Early last year, the Indian Institute of Technology, Ropar (IIT-Ropar) developed an algorithm for driver drowsiness detection using machine learning and computer vision. The research team said they used computer vision algorithms to extract facial features such as eye closure and yawning as well as machine learning techniques to effectively detect driver’s alertness.
Further, the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) said it would implement AI-based technologies to limit road accidents and improve passenger safety in buses last June. The corporation floated a tender for the implementation of an AI-powered Collision Warning System (CWS) and Driver Drowsiness System (DDS) for 1,044 buses. CWS will provide features like forward-looking collision warnings (FLCW), lane departure warnings (LDW), and virtual bumper. It will also generate real-time alerts. This is probably for the first time in the country a state-run bus corporation is using technology on a large scale to reduce accidents. Other state-run bus corporations are also waiting to adopt this system.
In August last year, the Indian Institute of Technology in Mandi (IIT-Mandi) developed a smart road monitoring system to prevent accidents caused by sharp or blind turns. The system works through sensors that detect the speed, direction, gradient of the slope, and type of vehicle and signals the driver about the oncoming turn, as reported by OpenGov Asia.
A team of Chinese scientists claimed to have built an industrial robot that can read co-workers’ minds with 96% accuracy. If successful, this would be a massive leap in robotics. The researchers from Three Gorges University’s Intelligent Manufacturing Technology Center for Innovation in China have built an industrial robot that can read human intention. It does this by monitoring brain waves and muscle activity. The university-based developers tested the robot at an assembly factory but have not indicated if the intelligent mechanical device is ready for commercial use.
Published in the Chinese Journal of Mechanical Engineering and review, the study indicated that the smart machine was able to “recognise human intent” of co-workers with 96% accuracy, as per the developers. To get to read human intention, the industrial robot monitored the worker’s brain waves and collected electric signals from muscles. With this, the robot worked seamlessly together with human workers to assemble a complex product and, without a doubt, the results are nothing revolutionary.
In the journal, the Lead Robot Researcher of the project, Dong Yuanfa pointed out how much a collaborative robot or cobot can enhance the productivity of an assembly line or a factory, “In modern industrial manufacturing, assembly work accounts for 45% of the total workload, and 20%-30% of the total production cost.”
While promising, there are issues to be smoothed out. Although cobots could accelerate the pace of an assembly line, their application remained limited because “their ability to recognise human intention is often inaccurate and unstable”, the paper explained. As a workaround to this, the team of researchers implanted a non-invasive brain wave detector into the robot. Additionally, they had a series of sensors placed on the robot’s arms. To enhance it further, they had eight factory workers subject the robot to “hundreds of hours of training“.
The “hundreds of hours of training” included carefully putting together a product with co-workers – and this is where it got interesting. The workers do not need to issue verbal commands or make gestures when they needed a tool or material. The robot reacts “almost instantaneously”, picking up the needed item and delivering it.
Of course, the robot’s performance was far from being perfect. First and foremost, there’s the issue of signal intensity. Although the brainwave detector understood the volunteers’ intentions with up to 70% accuracy, the signal was relatively weak and the workers had to “focus hard” for the robot to receive a clear message. In short, it was a very intense and exhausting process.
On the other hand, the electrical signals from the muscles collected by the sensors in the arm were more stable. The problem is they also lost their power. Worse, as the workers became tired, muscle readings become less reliable. According to the scientists, the combination of brain and muscle signals helped the robot to predict a person’s intentions with great accuracy.
Still, as the robot is untested in real-world settings outside the controlled space of an experiment, fielding them in an industrial plant may not be viable at this point in time.
China has continually been pushing the envelope when it comes to technology. Its digital economy is one proof of that. There may not be a place on the planet where QR codes are the biggest means of buying goods than in China. Additionally, the nation is developing a digital yuan that can be universally accepted all throughout the country in the near future, as reported on OpenGov Asia.
Agencies at every level of government have worked to bring their services and benefits and procedures in line with modern digital systems as citizens and employees alike expect automated and convenient processes like those available at online businesses. To help the government seamlessly provide the services people need and keep workers productive, IT professionals must envision and implement the right technology.
Over the last two years, agencies have learned which services can be moved online and which processes must still be done in person. A growing list of government services can be handled via the internet, including paying fines, getting permits or applying for a marriage, birth or death certificate. However, agencies like the motor vehicles department require in-person experience for some transactions. Additionally, there will be a percentage of the population will need to access services in-person due to things like a lack of internet access or personal preference.
Agencies must embrace innovative and secure ways to conduct in-person processes with minimal risk of disease transmission. Advanced scheduling software is the key. When leveraged appropriately, it requires fewer staff members in the office at any one time and enables crowd control measures like social distancing. Organisations that deploy these types of applications can also streamline and modernise their processes.
Scheduling software can change the entire model for agencies that depend on face-to-face assistance, like the post office, DMV or traffic court. IT departments can set up systems that allow citizens to pre-book appointments instead of just showing up and waiting in line. Walk-ins can still be accommodated by utilising kiosks that collect a person’s basic information (reason for visit, phone number) and place them in a virtual queue. The system can give the user an estimated wait time, allowing them to grab a coffee or do some shopping, eliminating the physical line and minimising crowding in enclosed spaces.
Another benefit of these systems is that the data collected by the scheduling software (both online and from kiosks) can be used to “right-size” the number of employees needed in the office, allowing the rest to work remotely. The footprint of government offices could also shrink dramatically to account for the controlled rate at which customers will arrive, allowing for the repurposing of much of this space.
Digitising the face of service delivery requires a greater emphasis on cybersecurity, and companies that provide digital queuing software must include top-of-the-line security features. Secure, cloud-based software solutions can help agencies manage the deluge of personal data they collect as more aspects of citizens’ lives go online.
Whether people continue to physically visit government offices or conduct their business online, agency IT teams will still be monitoring efficiency and security. The most successful teams will be those willing to embrace the newest innovations, such as machine learning, virtual queuing and ever-improving connectivity.
As reported by OpenGov Asia, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), in partnership with the Departments of Veterans Affairs and Defence, launched two new resources to support our nation’s noncitizen service members, veterans, and their families. Through its Immigrant Military Members and Veterans Initiative (IMMVI), DHS will host a one-stop online centre to consolidate relevant federal resources. As part of the resource centre, DHS has also created a portal for veterans who need assistance in applying to return to the United States or accessing VA benefits to which they may be entitled.
These new resources are just the first step to help support noncitizen service members and their families who have made tremendous sacrifices for the U.S. The government is committed to identifying previously removed veterans to ensure they can obtain VA benefits, access COVID-19 vaccines, and return to the United States as appropriate.
Raising hopes for Taiwan’s home-grown satellite development programme, Taiwan’s first locally made Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver for satellite missions has functioned normally and passed key environmental tests during nearly two months in space. Certainly, this can be a big first step for the country’s drive to expand its technological capabilities in light of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (Industry 4.0).
The developer of the GPS receiver is Taiwan’s space agency, the National Space Organisation (NSPO). In a recent statement, NSPO revealed that the device was launched into space on a Taiwan-developed IRIS-A CubeSat early this year in January. Most importantly, the agency declared that said GPS device has since orbited 500 kilometres above the Earth’s surface with no major issues.
That means that since being launched, the receiver has operated normally and passed rigorous environmental tests. As a result, it has gained “flight heritage,” a term used to describe the situation when technology becomes viable for commercial use.
Indeed, flight heritage is essential for any space-based product. The greater flight heritage a space device accumulates, the greater credibility and trust it builds and consequently, the more commercially viable it becomes. While flight heritage is vital, the problem is it can be hard for space product developers to get their products into orbit.
But the NPSO was able to hurdle that. It did so by hitching a ride on a CubeSat – a miniature satellite used primarily for space research. Specifically, it teamed up with National Cheng Kung University, a leading Taiwanese university in Taiwan that is known worldwide for pushing the envelope in engineering research. The university developed the IRIS-A CubeSat to get the GPS device into space.
Already, industry experts consider the success of the space-bound GPS receiver as a big leap for Taiwan. This is echoed by NSPO Director Wu Jong-shinn who concluded that the milestone is a key step in the agency’s drive to develop and produce satellites with 70 per cent of their components made in Taiwan.
In addition, Wu revealed that the country has relied mostly upon foreign GPS receivers before. But that is about to change.
Already, a whole range of practical applications awaits the NPSO space-borne GPS receiver. As per the plan, the device shall be used in the following satellites in the near future:
Satellites in space greatly enhance the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) capabilities of a nation. Communications satellites are used for television, telephone, radio, internet, and military applications.
Deploying GPS receivers on satellites constitutes huge savings for the country’s satellite industry. The GPS receiver it developed will improve satellites’ ability to navigate and reduce the cost of satellite missions.GPS was developed by the U.S. Department of Defense and launched in 1973 using 24 satellites. Initially, it was used for military purposes but was allowed for civilian use in the 1980s.
Taiwan is gearing up for greater things ahead. To date, the island nation is considered the “chip capital” of the world. And as reported on OpenGov Asia, its semiconductor industry is bound to even get stronger with the advent of electric cars and smart driver assistance programs.
Its rapid transition as a digital economy should help the country’s overall economy move forward. Its digital transformation is anything but subtle. Just recently, Taiwan has established an AI HUB making it a top contender as the Artificial Intelligence capital of the region — if not the world.
The Government of the Republic of Indonesia is building cooperation in the digital sector to support the acceleration of national digital transformation. The Minister of Communication and Informatics, Johnny G. Plate, is looking to create opportunities to develop partnerships to implement the latest technologies across the nation.
Minister Johnny G. Plate discussed “Strategies for Energising the Data Economy” and spoke about increasing the volume of global data, the urgency of the Green Data Center and the importance of Cross Border Data Flow and Data Free-Flow With Trust – all of which are priority issues of the Digital Economy Working Group (DEWG) under the leadership of the Ministry of Communication and Informatics in the G20 Indonesia Presidency.
Furthermore, the Minister held a bilateral meeting with representatives of the Minister for Information and Communication Technology, Korea. The ministers discussed cooperation in the ICT sector with the South Korean Minister of Science and ICT. The two countries discussed the deployment of a 5G network, internet access on the MRT/Subway, the candidacy of representatives of each country on the ITU management line, as well as discussing priority issues for the DEWG G20 Indonesia.
Minister Johnny has spoken about the development of Open Radio Access Network (OpenRAN) technology in Indonesia with the United States Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Delegation. In line with this, the Minister signed an agreement for technology cooperation for the development of OpenRAN in Indonesia between an Indonesian University and an academy.
The Minister also attended a meeting with CEOs of global technology companies to discuss the development of 5G technology which has begun to be implemented in Indonesia. Representing the Minister of Communication and Information at a press conference, Spokesperson for the Ministry of Communications and Informatics, Dedy Permadi, stated that Indonesia is currently developing the adoption of the most efficient, effective and suitable applied technology for Indonesia.
One such platform is OpenRAN technology as a network architecture that adopts the open interface concept and separates hardware and software components to realise an open and efficient cellular technology both in terms of investment (CAPEX) and operations (OPEX). In a series of working visits at the Mobile World Congress, Barcelona, Spain, Minister Johnny also witnessed the signing of collaboration for research and testing of OpenRAN technology in Indonesia. The signing is expected to increase efficiency and also vendor participation to increase the Domestic Component Level (TKDN) for 4G and 5G devices,
Currently, the Ministry of Communications and Informatics is implementing the adoption of a neutral technology policy in the development of the national telecommunications ecosystem. Welcoming the development of more efficient technology, the Ministry adopted a neutral technology policy to free cellular operators in the utilisation of network connectivity to develop an ecosystem of technology and excellent communication services in Indonesia.
As reported by OpenGov Asia, Indonesia has one of the world’s highest percentages of internet users. Nonetheless, when compared to other Asian countries, it has a low internet penetration rate. In 2021, mobile internet penetration in Indonesia is expected to be 68%. Its reach is expected to increase to 79% by 2025. The penetration rate is the proportion of the total population that has internet access via a mobile broadband connection.
With increasing mobile internet penetration in the country, there has been an increase in demand for lower data prices, greater coverage, and better service quality. As a key strategy to attract more customers, Indonesian internet providers have proposed attractive data pricing plans as well as optimised data-oriented mobile services. Moreover, on the popularity of mobile internet, fixed broadband subscriptions in Indonesia have been increasing in recent years. As a result, broadband penetration rates among households in the country have increased.
Recently, the University of Auckland and German space experts are partnering for research into making the most of carbon fibre for spacecraft and laser light technology in the transmission of data to Earth. The projects are part of a joint research programme between the New Zealand Space Agency (NZSA)and the German Aerospace Center, known as the Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt (DLR).
Since 2017, the NZSA and the DLR have been cooperating intensively in space research. This time around, eight joint research projects in the fields of Earth observation, propulsion and radar have now been launched in a recent virtual meeting. Said launch was attended by Andrew Johnson (Space Policy & Regulatory Systems) from the NZSA and Anke Pagels-Kerp (Divisional Board Member for Space) and Susann Groß (Head of Space Research and Technology Programme) from DLR.
The use of carbon fibre for spacecraft and laser light technology are two of eight projects awarded a share of $8 million from the Ministry of Business and Innovation’s Catalyst Fund. Said funding is meant specifically to support international science and innovation that benefits New Zealand.
The university-based projects are led by Associate Professor John Cater, from the Department of Engineering Science in the Faculty of Engineering, and Dr Nick Rattenbury, from the Department of Physics in the Faculty of Science. Both researchers have been working with the DLR since 2017.
Carbon fibre composites offer many advantages over the metals traditionally used in space. They are lightweight and offer tremendous flexibility on how they can be used for complex parts that have different mechanical requirements. Our research will be about how these materials survive and perform in space-like conditions and what happens to them on re-entry into the Earth’s atmosphere.
– Dr John Cater, New Zealand Space Agency
Various studies have revealed that carbon fibre reinforced polymers have a specific strength that is almost 2.6 times greater than the strongest steel (maraging steel) and almost 3.6 times the specific strength of aluminium 7075-T6. That kind of strength should benefit space launch vehicles and deployable structures such as solar panels and antennas that open once a spacecraft reaches its destination.
Dr Rattenbury’s project is about the use of laser light technology, called free-space optical communications to transmit data from spacecraft down to Earth, specifically to a DLR component that will be installed at the University of Canterbury Mount John Observatory at Takapō. He explained that typically getting information from space has involved radio waves. If successful, using laser light means that space explorers can transmit more information more securely. Further, he discloses that as an optical astronomer, collecting information from stars is not new to him. This time his research is about collecting huge amounts of information from fast-moving spacecraft.
The two sets of space researchers should learn a lot from each other. Germany’s space endeavours have been long-established. To date, the DLR, a research-only organisation, has a staff of more than 10,000 and an annual budget reported to be over €3 billion (NZ$5 billion).
But though it is rather young in the industry, New Zealand space exploration has its own advantages. A lot of small companies from Aoteroa, for instance, have been supplying the space industry for years. That can mean that as a small community with a nimble infrastructure, great things can happen quickly. And that, as the country has shown in the past years, can be a good thing in the exploration of space.
It’s not the first time Wellington has shown it’s ready to do what it takes to get ahead in technology. In the era when the Fourth Industrial Revolution (Industry 4.) is happening, New Zealand has indicated to further its Artificial Intelligence under ethical means first and foremost, as reported on OpenGov Asia.
Research has found that 45% of organisations that perform opted for a lift-and-shift migration will overspend by 70% during the first 18 months of their new architecture. Flip that around – almost half of the newly migrated organisations could have spent 30% of what they paid. Not for one year’s budget but ut for one and a half. They were over-provisioned by as much as 55% because they lifted and shifted and because they signed up for a subscription plan.
Migrating to the cloud gives agencies a tremendous opportunity to streamline their architecture, improve efficiency and only pay for what they use. But many miss the opportunity because this approach only works if government IT pros work to avoid common pitfalls – like overspending and over-provisioning – in the process.
To have a successful migration, here are some critical framings to consider:
Gain efficiency while migrating
Buying a system once creates a sunk cost. Inevitably, that makes it easy to think of its day-to-day operation as something already paid for. Some days, solutions handle less work than their able to. Other days, they’re pushed to their limits. Both approaches cost the same thing.
However, when migrating to a cloud system, the same mindset can lead to costly traps. Paying for clouds services allows agencies to save in times of light demand and pay to scale up only as necessary. To do this well, they must improve before they move. Rather than lifting everything and shifting it to the cloud at once, agencies must rearchitect their infrastructure to gain efficiency as they move.
Right-size virtual infrastructure
Much of the advantage of virtual infrastructure comes from its scalability. That means agencies have to scale it for it to work its magic. This requires the judicious application of rightsizing — adding resources where they’re needed and moving them when they’re not fully utilised. An effective virtualisation manager helps agencies pay for the infrastructure they need rather than overpaying for what they don’t.
Understand the baselines of existing on-premises systems
Lastly, agencies need to get an accurate baseline of what their on-premises systems do now and what they’ll be asked to do in a year or two. Perhaps the most telling part of the Gartner study is the 18-month time frame. Learning as you go is expensive. If those organisations had looked at their historical baselines to understand better how to forecast their growth, they might not have been stuck overpaying by 70%.
Avoid common pitfalls
Adopting these practices can help federal IT pros better optimise their applications or systems before a cloud migration and avoid common pitfalls, including overspending and over-provisioning. Most agencies probably don’t need the biggest car all the time, they just need a vehicle that works for their purposes and gets them where they need to be in the most efficient way possible.
As reported by OpenGov Asia, A report titled “Government Cloud Platforms 2021–2022 RadarView” evaluated 15 providers based on product maturity, enterprise adaptability and future readiness. The report identifies four trends that are shaping the market. The first is the increasing compliance needs that are accelerating the shift to the cloud. The cloud helps agencies address sensitive workloads, such as those involving health care data while complying with requirements.
State and local governments are increasingly adopting cloud to lower IT and licensing costs. Cloud can help city councils manage and organise resources and foster communication and collaboration. It can help them securely store, analyse and process sensitive economic data, and they can more easily capture and process data from the internet of things and edge computing.
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