Sps leveraged commentary data

As digital adoption continues to accelerate in Indonesia, lenders are finding it challenging to identify the fast tracking of real time and updated data sources of online transactions. The country will witness a notable growth in digital transactions by 33.2 percent year on year to Rp 337 trillion this year from approximately Rp 253 trillion in 2020. Having said this, Indonesia’s lack of reliable data to make credit decisions has caused inefficiencies in the financial ecosystem. This has initiated the need to look into alternative data which will provide a visual direction of the financial credibility of borrowers in the country. It will also give lenders an overview of payment defaults within a controlled risk. Alternative data is proven to complement traditional credit scoring methods which will inevitably lead to the increase of the number of consumers’ creditworthiness in the population. It is common practice for lenders to look into alternative data when a borrower has no ... » Learn More about Alternative data to financially boost Indonesia’s population

SINGAPORE: Mario Draghi, the Prime Minister of Italy, recently blocked the export of 250,000 AstraZeneca vaccine doses from his country to Australia. To many in the international community, this was an act of “vaccine nationalism”. In fact, Mr Draghi’s decision reflected different variants of nationalistic behaviour, spurred on by geopolitical forces and compounded by COVID-19. At the outbreak of the pandemic in early 2020, for example, China, the US, the EU, India and the UK all imposed export restrictions on personal protective equipment (PPE). Shipments of ventilators and antiseptic chemicals were also blocked as national health services competed for scarce supplies. This behaviour contradicted the norms of international commerce, science and social exchange, which, for decades, have benefitted from a highly interconnected and interdependent global system. Worse, vaccine nationalism may be the precursor to “vaccine diplomacy,” a form of realpolitik that compels nations ... » Learn More about Commentary: How COVID-19 vaccines are being weaponised as countries jostle for influence

SINGAPORE: In a special edition of the World Economic Forum annual report released on Dec 16, Singapore was listed as one of the digitally advanced countries well-placed to manage the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic. The country was ranked sixth in the world for information and communications technology adoption and digital skills, and third in digital legal frameworks. This bodes well for Singapore’s progression towards becoming a Smart Nation. The pandemic has sped up efforts in the rollout of digital government services and the implementation of hardware solutions. More recent measures like the Seniors Go Digital and Hawkers Go Digital programmes rolled out in 2020 focus on providing those who need more support with better access to the digital space. READ: Commentary: Forget digital banks – many still prefer the trip to the branch However, becoming a Smart Nation requires going beyond providing hardware access. There are also “software” challenges impeding full ... » Learn More about Commentary: Singapore needs a new Smart Nation vision that doesn’t leave any citizen behind

NEW DELHI: As countries scramble to secure COVID-19 vaccines, ugly expressions like “vaccine race” and “vaccine nationalism” have entered the global lexicon. But, at a time when global cooperation in sharing vaccines is minimal, and the World Health Organization’s (WHO) vaccine-distribution plans are yet to get off the ground, India has taken a different tack, quietly pursuing “vaccine diplomacy.” Its “Vaccine Maitri” (Vaccine Friendship) campaign has shipped hundreds of thousands of Indian-made Covishield vaccines, manufactured under license from Oxford-AstraZeneca, to some 60 countries. READ: Commentary: COVID-19 vaccine deployment may be messy, but will reshape health systems for good India is a global pharmaceutical powerhouse, manufacturing some 20 per cent of all generic medicines and accounting for as much as 62 per cent of global vaccine production, so it was quick off the mark when the pandemic struck. Before COVID-19 vaccines were developed, India supplied some ... » Learn More about Commentary: What’s behind India’s generous vaccine diplomacy?

SINGAPORE: The global energy transition is gaining pace. This transition will open new opportunities in emerging growth industries in Singapore and trigger transformation for many sectors. Value pools will shift, creating economic opportunities for the nation. As an example, the transition from internal combustion engines to electric vehicles (EV) and battery manufacturing is an obvious opportunity. Positive steps can already be seen in Hyundai’s recently announced US$400million investment to build an EV manufacturing facility in Singapore, capable of manufacturing 30,000 electric vehicles a year when completed at the end of 2022. Singapore’s Keppel Corporation, the world’s largest rig-builder, also recently announced that it will be pivoting from its rig business to clean energy. READ: Commentary: Keppel’s exit of rig business may have bigger implications for Singapore's offshore and marine sector CAN OIL AND GAS TRANSFORM? However, the oil and gas industry ... » Learn More about Commentary: Singapore’s oil and gas sector should embrace transition to a green future with confidence

SINGAPORE: There is a tongue-in-cheek joke that the coronavirus did far more for digital transformation than any company’s most well-intentioned Chief Innovation Officer (CIO) or Chief Technology Officer (CTO). Because of COVID-19 we saw mass adoption in telecommuting, increases in on-demand food and services and a spike in virtual platforms like Google’s Hangout and Microsoft’s Teams and while Netflix added 15.8 million subscribers from January to March alone as the pandemic-linked lockdowns forced people to stay at home. Slack added over 9000 new users in the first months of the pandemic and Zoom shares rose 112 per cent. Schools of all levels utilised video-conferencing programmes and e-learning while grandparents jumped onto mobile-based payment platforms like PayNow to minimise physical contact with cash-based payment. The local banking scene also made strides with the awarding of four local digital banking licenses. A consortium of Grab-Singtel was awarded a full ... » Learn More about Commentary: Forget digital banks – many still prefer the trip to the branch

SINGAPORE: In March, ASEAN Economic Ministers discussed the possibility of launching a regional digital vaccine passport, reviving talk of an intra-ASEAN travel bubble. If successfully launched, the passport will help resuscitate the region’s flailing tourism industry that contributes a significant amount to the GDP of each ASEAN member state. This border-opening idea comes with several challenges, particularly data privacy ones, that ASEAN’s institutional structures are not presently well-suited to address. Without institutional changes, this timely proposal likely will become another tombstone in the graveyard of beneficial ideas that could not survive ASEAN’s structures and principles. The vaccine passport system is expected to store large amounts of personal data. If ASEAN is committed to successfully initiating the digital vaccine passport, it cannot ignore the longstanding absence of strong ASEAN agreements that allow for region-wide comprehensive data privacy ... » Learn More about Commentary: A digital vaccine passport could open up Southeast Asia travel bubble but some changes needed first

NEWCASTLE, England: How many emails are in your inbox? If the answer is thousands, or if you often struggle to find a file on your computer among its cluttered hard drive, then you might be classed as a digital hoarder. In the physical world, hoarding disorder has been recognised as a distinct psychiatric condition among people who accumulate excessive amounts of objects to the point that it prevents them living a normal life. Now, research has begun to recognise that hoarding can be a problem in the digital world, too. READ: Commentary: Remote working is a respite from the office, but toxic workplace behaviours persist A case study published in the British Medical Journal in 2015 described a 47-year-old man who, as well as hoarding physical objects, took around 1,000 digital photographs every day. He would then spend many hours editing, categorising and copying the pictures onto various external hard drives. He was autistic, and may have been a collector rather than a ... » Learn More about Commentary: Thousands of emails in your inbox? You may be a digital hoarder

BOSTON, Massachusetts: For decades, global leaders have failed to respond to climate change with appropriate urgency, even though the science has long been clear. Now, the problem has become so acute that it is impossible to ignore, and those in positions of power are under growing pressure to start making up for lost time. For businesses, the pressure is no longer coming only from protesters, but also from shareholders, customers, investors, lenders, employees, policymakers, and every other stakeholder with a true understanding of the climate threat. From supply-chain disruptions to lethal conditions for outdoor workers, the risks to business are multiplying. From now on, CEOs will need to answer four key questions: What will my market look like in a net-zero-emissions world? What is my business model for succeeding in that market? What changes should I make now to prepare for success? What supporting conditions will I need, and how do I go about securing them? ... » Learn More about Commentary: Climate commitments should be easy table stakes for businesses

SINGAPORE: COVID-19 has seen the acceleration of plans to equip all Secondary School students with a laptop or tablet in Singapore. This is encouraging news. With the accelerated launch of the programme to equip all secondary school students in Singapore with personal devices, scaffolds are being introduced to make the digitalised learning environment conducive and edifying for all students. But the recent revelation that these learning devices will be installed with a device management application (DMA) that captures data on students’ online activities including web search history was met with consternation by students, even triggering an online petition. READ: Application installed on students' devices does not track personal information: MOE In response, the Ministry of Education sought to reassure everyone that the DMA does not record personal information such as location or passwords but tracks search history to “restrict access to objectionable material". CONCERNS ... » Learn More about Commentary: Tracking your child’s online activity should not be done covertly