Senators from the United States have sponsored a bill that would fortify national security by preparing the federal government’s defences against data breaches made possible by quantum computing. Federal agencies must actively endeavour to ensure that federal cybersecurity defences are kept up to date as quantum computers, particularly those being developed by adversaries, continue to become more potent and accessible.

The advancement of quantum computers is one of the subsequent technological frontiers, and with this promising technology comes up with new risks. As this technology advances, the national security information of the United States will remain secure, and the federal government must be prepared to address cybersecurity concerns. Senators from both parties have urged their colleagues to support the bill to strengthen cybersecurity defences and protect national security.

Quantum computing, on the other hand, will provide significant advances in computing power while also introducing new cybersecurity challenges. The bill requires the government to inventory its cryptographic systems, determine which are most vulnerable to quantum computing, and upgrade those systems accordingly.

The Quantum Computing Cybersecurity Preparedness Act would do the following:

In the meantime, OpenGov Asia previously reported that determined adversaries are subjecting the industrial control systems that run the crucial energy infrastructure to increasingly serious and sophisticated cyberattacks. To avoid disruptions to the nation’s essential energy services, energy systems must be built to withstand intentional cyber intrusion, exploitation, and misuse.

Cyber-Informed Engineering (CIE) is a new method for integrating cybersecurity into the conception, design, development, and operation of any physical system with digital connectivity, monitoring, or control. It employs architectural decisions and technology controls to reduce or eliminate cyber-enabled attack vectors, or to mitigate the damage of an attack.

Furthermore, following an executive session, the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation announced that it has adopted the Children and Teens’ Online Privacy Protection Act and the Kids Online Safety Act.

The Children and Teens’ Online Privacy Protection Act specifies criteria for the acquisition of minors’ and children’s personal information, including information that must be disclosed to a parent or minor, as well as data subject rights such as rectification, erasure, and access.

Notably, the Children and Teens’ Online Privacy Protection Act restricts the sale of internet-connected gadgets designed for children and adolescents unless specific cybersecurity and data security requirements are met.

Similarly, the Kids Online Safety Act establishes standards for covered platforms concerning their duty of care and the protection of children. Specifically, the Kids Online Safety Act states that a covered platform has a duty to act in the best interest of a minor who uses the platform’s products or services and must prevent other individuals from viewing a minor’s gathered or shared personal data. In addition, the Kids Online Safety Act includes disclosure and transparency obligations.

The government is keen on connecting Indian citizens through digital inclusion and earlier this week, the Union Cabinet approved a project for the saturation of 4G mobile services in 24,680 uncovered villages in remote areas of the country.

The total project cost, US $3.3 billion, includes capex and a five-year opex. The initiative also has a provision to include 20% additional villages on account of rehabilitation, new settlements, or withdrawal of services by existing operators, etc. Additionally, 6,279 villages that only have 2G or 3G connectivity will be upgraded to 4G, according to a government statement.

The project will be executed by government-owned telecommunications service provider BSNL (Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited) using its Atmanirbhar Bharat’s 4G technology stack. It will be funded through the Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF). The statement claimed the project is a significant step towards the government’s goal to provide total mobile connectivity in rural areas. Through it, citizens in far-flung parts of India will have access to a variety of e-governance services, banking services, telemedicine products, and online education platforms. This is expected to increase the rate of digital literacy and generate employment in remote parts of the country.

Broadband, especially mobile broadband, has become an integral part of life. Its adoption was accelerated through the rapid expansion of 4G services across the country since 2015. Currently, 800 million subscribers have broadband access, compared to 100 million subscribers in 2014. Last year, the government approved a project to provide 4G mobile services to 7,287 uncovered villages in 44 districts across five states.

Recently, the Minister of Communications and Electronics and Information Technology, Ashwini Vaishnaw, stated that India’s telecom market has the potential to attract new players now that the government has put in place significant reforms and is auctioning the 5G spectrum. According to Vaishnaw, in India, 5G will start later this year. So far, four rounds of the 5G auction have been completed. It is estimated that the revenue generated is around US$ 18.2 billion. “We have to complete this process by August 14 and 5G service in the country will start by September to October,” he said.

5G networks will meet the demand for high-definition videos, virtual reality, and augmented reality, allowing users to download movies, videos, and music in seconds. Apart from high speeds, 5G technology has lower latency than 4G and can better support Internet of Things (IoT) and artificial intelligence (AI) applications. Countries around the world are heavily investing in and rolling out the technology. Earlier this week, Singapore became the first country in the world to be fully covered by standalone 5G, as telecommunication group Singtel announced it achieved over 95% 5G nationwide coverage, three years ahead of the regulatory target of end-2025. As OpenGov Asia reported, Singtel’s standalone 5G network covers more than 1,300 outdoor locations and over 400 in-building, as well as underground. Singtel was officially awarded the 3.5GHz and the millimetre wave spectrum as part of the 5G licence issued by the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) in June 2020, and an additional 2.1GHz spectrum last November.

Australia’s national science agency, CSIRO, is boosting Australia’s advanced manufacturing capability by providing free research and development (R&D) support to businesses to help them develop new products or services.

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that are working on new advanced manufacturing solutions can sign up for the free, 10-week online Innovate to Grow program, to support their commercial idea by building their R&D knowledge, with 25 spots available. Upon completion of the program, participants may be able to access facilitation support, through CSIRO, to connect to research expertise nationally, along with dollar-matched R&D funding.

The Director of Manufacturing at CSIRO stated that global supply chain disruptions highlighted the need to build Australia’s advanced manufacturing capability. Advanced manufacturing plays a crucial role across a variety of sectors, with manufacturing contributing about six per cent of Australia’s GDP, from biomedical manufacturing to smart robotics and automation.

Enhancing Australia’s advanced manufacturing capability is a key part of Australia’s recovery from the COVID-19 crisis, and much of this capability will be driven by SMEs, which make up 99.8 per cent of all businesses in Australia, he said.

The Deputy Director of CSIRO’s SME Connect team noted that to help businesses take their products or services to the next level, R&D is essential to better understand what opportunities might be presented to them. While what R&D drives innovation is known, it can be an expensive undertaking for businesses, risky and time-consuming for those without the right guidance and support.

Thus, through this program, participants will be given help to refine a new idea they want to explore and better understand their idea’s business and scientific viability. They will also be exposed to industry knowledge, hear from innovation and industry experts, and work with an R&D mentor.

The program is open to all companies, regardless of sector, who incorporate, or would like to incorporate, advanced manufacturing to improve their existing business operations.

While collaboration is key in driving good R&D outcomes, CIRO’s research from 2021 found that less than 15 per cent of Australian businesses engage universities or research institutions when they are thinking of exploring new innovation opportunities – our goal through this program is to up that percentage.

CSIRO’s Innovate to Grow: Advanced Manufacturing program, commences on 6 September 2022 and is available for up to 25 SMEs. Applications close on 22 August 2022. This program is being delivered in partnership with the CSIRO Lindfield Collaboration Hub and Investment NSW.

In 2021, the global smart manufacturing market size was valued at US$249.56 billion in 2021 and is expected to grow from US$277.81 billion in 2022 to US$658.41 billion in 2029 and it will grow at a CAGR of 13.1% during the 2022-2029 period. 

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has been unprecedented and staggering, with smart manufacturing witnessing a positive impact on demand across all regions amid the pandemic. Based on recent research, the global market exhibited a substantial growth of 10.2% in 2020 compared to the average year-on-year growth during 2018-2020. The rise in CAGR is attributable to this market’s demand and growth, returning to pre-pandemic levels once the pandemic is over.

Emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, cloud, big data, and machine learning are projected to enhance market growth as well as the Internet of Things (IoT), which is closely related to the concepts of Machine-to-Machine (M2M) communications and Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN) on the connectivity side, and Big Data in terms of the content outcomes produced. IoT also comprises the data produced and transmitted between machines (M2M) and between machines and people (M2P). These technologies are expected to uplift the market.

The Privacy Enhancing Technologies (PET) Sandbox has recently been launched by the Personal Data Protection Commission (PDPC) and the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) in order to assist businesses who, seek to pilot PET initiatives that address typical business concerns.

“Privacy Enhancing Technologies, while nascent, occupy a sweet spot by allowing the extraction and sharing of insights while ensuring the security and confidentiality of personal data. These qualities are appealing to data protection regulators. We are keen to support adoption for suitable use cases,” says Yeong Zee Kin, Deputy Commissioner, PDPC.

The PET Sandbox, he continued, aims to identify with commercial sector participants the best PET to use case fit and their technological limitations to produce guidelines and best practices that would encourage more adoption.

PETs may be able to extract value from confidential or proprietary data that companies may be reluctant to share. Businesses have requested help in implementing PET solutions in practical applications as PETs develop and are ready for deployment.

To do this, the PET sandbox will offer a secure setting and a testing ground for PET ideas. These initiatives will assist companies in choosing the best PET to meet their data sharing goals and gain a better understanding of technical constraints.

IMDA and PDPC want to compile case studies, identify common software tools that can facilitate the industry’s adoption of PETs, and offer policy guidelines to establish standards and best practices based on the experiences learned from the pilots.

Owners will be expected to submit their use cases that address three common data-sharing goals. This approach can assist potential owners in locating pertinent use cases and allow IMDA and PDPC to concentrate their efforts on creating future technical and policy solutions.

Following the initial industry consultation, the following typical business concerns emerged:

A panel of PET solution providers will be readily available to participants in the PET Sandbox, and a full range of support services, including funding and regulatory guidance, will be available to assist with the piloting of PET use case scenarios.

Meanwhile, data centres (DCs) are significant catalysts for the digital economy. The need for data processing and storage among organisations and consumers has increased significantly as the use of digital apps and services has increased. However, DCs also use a lot of electricity, water, and other resources, which increases our carbon footprint.

Singapore will have to sustainably manage the expansion of its DC capacity to adhere to its climate change obligations. The government started a review and warned the industry that the rise of DCs would temporarily halt in 2019. Since then, to establish the requirements for the installation of new DC capacity, EDB and IMDA have had extensive consultations with the DC industry, their industrial clients, and suppliers of sustainability solutions.

EDB and IMDA will collaborate with the sector to support DCs that: strengthen Singapore’s international connectivity and position as a regional centre; introduce cutting-edge technology and best practises for sustainability, notably in the fields of energy efficiency and decarbonization; and contribute significantly to Singapore’s larger economic goals.

Many DCs are already actively working to become more energy efficient and sustainable. The Pilot Call for Application (CFA) exercise by EDB and IMDA aims to leverage the industry’s expertise and capabilities to further push the technology boundaries in these areas, helping to level the sector’s baseline while providing new capacity for DC growth to support our digital economy.

Researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have developed the first circling spacecraft plasma sensors that were entirely digitally produced. Satellites utilise these plasma sensors, also known as retarding potential analysers (RPAs), to evaluate the atmosphere’s chemical composition and ion energy distribution.

“Additive manufacturing can make a big difference in the future of space hardware. Some people think that when your 3D-print something, you have to concede less performance. But we’ve shown that is not always the case. Sometimes there is nothing to trade-off,” says Luis Fernando Velásquez-García, a principal scientist in MIT’s Microsystems Technology Laboratories (MTL) and senior author of a paper presenting the plasma sensors.

3D-printed and laser-cut hardware outperformed state-of-the-art semiconductor plasma sensors manufactured in a cleanroom, which is costly and takes weeks to complete. 3D-printed sensors, on the other hand, can be produced in a matter of days for tens of dollars.

The sensors are ideal for CubeSats due to their low cost and quick production. These low-cost, low-power satellites are frequently used for communication and environmental monitoring in the Earth’s upper atmosphere.

The researchers created RPAs out of a glass-ceramic material that is more durable than traditional sensor materials like silicon and thin-film coatings. By using glass-ceramic in a fabrication process developed for 3D printing with plastics, they were able to create sensors with complex shapes that can withstand the wide temperature swings that a spacecraft would encounter in lower Earth orbit.

The sensors are made up of a series of electrically charged meshes with tiny holes. Electrons and other particles are stripped away as plasma passes through the holes, leaving only ions. These ions generate an electric current, which the sensor detects and analyses.

The housing structure that aligns the meshes is critical to the success of an RPA. It must be electrically insulating while also being able to withstand sudden, drastic temperature swings. The researchers used Vitrolite, a printable glass-ceramic material with these properties.

Ceramic powder is typically hit with a laser to fuse it into shapes in 3D printing, but this process often leaves the material coarse and creates weak points due to the high heat from the lasers. Rather, the MIT researchers used vat polymerisation, a decades-old process for additive manufacturing with polymers or resins. A 3D structure is built one layer at a time using vat polymerisation by repeatedly submerging it in a vat of liquid material, in this case, Vitrolite.

After each layer is added, ultraviolet light is used to cure the material, and the platform is submerged in the vat once more. Because each layer is only 100 microns thick (roughly the diameter of a human hair), smooth, pore-free, complex ceramic shapes can be created.

Objects described in a design file can be very intricate in digital manufacturing. The researchers were able to create laser-cut meshes with unique shapes, allowing the holes to line up perfectly when they were set inside the RPA housing. More ions can pass through, resulting in higher-resolution measurements.

Because the sensors were inexpensive to produce and could be manufactured quickly, the team prototyped four distinct designs. While one design was particularly effective at capturing and measuring a wide range of plasmas, such as those encountered by a satellite in orbit, another was well-suited for sensing extremely dense and cold plasmas, which are normally only measurable using ultraprecise semiconductor devices.

This level of precision may enable 3D-printed sensors to be used in fusion energy research or supersonic flight. Rapid prototyping may even encourage more innovation in satellite and spacecraft design.

The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) recently announced that it plans to set up the world’s first physical-digital twin campuses in the metaverse, as the University aims to enter the next digital era to enhance teaching and learning experiences for its two campuses in Hong Kong and Guangzhou.

To embrace the rapid evolution of Web 3.0, HKUST is building MetaHKUST – an extended reality (XR) campus for both HKUST and its Guangzhou counterpart set to be open in September. The platform will not just provide an immersive study experience but will serve as a holistic platform for all students, faculty and alumni to create, innovate and connect across campuses.

MetaHKUST is a long-term development plan. The initial stage will consist of the physical infrastructure including XR classrooms, sensors, cameras and visualization tools being installed; members of the University will be invited to take part in a crowdsourced scanning of the physical campuses to help provide the necessary images for building the campuses’ virtual twins.

Once an ecosystem is established, members of the two universities will be able to generate content such as their own avatars, NFTs, tokens or virtual artworks for the virtual world – some of which may also be viewed or used in the physical campuses with augmented reality (AR) technology.

The exchange of information and administrative procedures are also expected to become more convenient, such that blockchain-secured diplomas or transcripts may be awarded in the forms of NFTs, while events like open day or graduation can be staged parallel to or in isolation from their physical ones.

HKUST has always been a pioneer in innovative education – it is among the first to realize interdisciplinary teaching, and e-learning, among novel pedagogy and programs. MetaHKUST is another major initiative of HKUST aimed at facilitating immersive learning and connecting students and research activities across different geographical locations.

The University will define the governance of the physical-digital world, setting standards and regulations for digital assets and unblocking technological bottlenecks to accelerate the development. The University will also select and fund proposals from HKUST members that could best make use of the MetaHKUST platform, and actively search for collaboration opportunities on metaverse with other institutions.

HKUST’s Vice-President for Institutional Advancement, the lead on the MetaHKUST project, said that HKUST is ready to take the lead to create a sustainable XR ecosystem to better supplement research and learning. The online-offline interaction both facilitates a genuine integration of the two campuses under the framework of ‘Unified HKUST, Complimentary Campuses’ and helps realise the potential of a metaverse in education.

The Chair Professor of Computational Media and Arts at HKUST (Guangzhou), and Director of the Center for Metaverse and Computational Creativity (MC2) at HKUST that while AR, as part of XR, is a primary technology that blends digital content with physical environments, most AR applications are currently single-user and present significant constraints in terms of time and location.

What HKUST aims to achieve with this project is the scaling up of technology to handle large-sized environments and massive multi-user experiences, which not only represents a primary challenge of the physical-digital vision but also a key factor that differentiates MetaHKUST from other campuses’ metaverse initiatives, he said.

The MC2 team is now working on the construction of the first mixed reality classroom on the HKUST(GZ) campus. The approximately 2,400 square feet state-of-the-art classroom – set to be completed by September 2022, will complement a similar classroom that will soon be constructed on the Clear Water Bay campus.

The facilities will allow faculty and students of the two campuses to attend the same lecture at the same time in two paralleled physical spaces. Meanwhile, the team will also continue to enhance the virtual world’s display details to offer the best metaverse experience for the HKUST community.

COVID-19 has caused significant disruptions in the domestic economy, as community restrictions have limited people’s movement and business operations. The silver lining in the global catastrophe is that the pandemic drastically accelerated digital transformation across sectors. Digital technology has become critical for nations around the world in dealing with the crisis, moving toward economic recovery, and resuming long-term goals.

The application of digital technology to economic activities resulted in the emergence of the “digital economy,” which is defined as an economic system that achieves rapid optimisation of resource allocation and high-quality economic development by identifying, selecting, screening, storing and utilising large amounts of data.

As a result of the pandemic, many new digital businesses were established, and others abandoned traditional approaches in favour of tech-enabled strategies. Digitalisation provides a competitive edge for a country when used in conjunction with complementary policies and initiatives. The value of digitalisation is best harnessed when complementary technologies, resources, and capabilities are properly utilised along with appropriate legislative frameworks.

Malaysia, too, has had a forceful and robust response to the pandemic. Proactive and calibrated policies are assisting in the protection of vulnerable people and the revitalisation of the Malaysian economy. This country unveiled the MyDIGITAL strategy, which is a combination of re-evaluated efforts and new initiatives designed to develop Malaysia’s Digital Economy.

Discussing the latest research and case studies on the current use and possibilities for cloud computing was the focus of the OpenGovLive! Virtual Breakfast Insight on 27 July 2022 for senior digital executives of the Malaysian public sector.

Cloud Computing: An Enabler for Digital Government

Kicking off the session, Mohit Sagar, CEO & Editor-in-Chief, acknowledged that the COVID-19 crisis forced nations to move quickly to provide unprecedented emergency assistance to keep citizens safe, households and businesses afloat, protect jobs and incomes and keep the economy from collapsing.

Due to the unprecedented restrictive movement measures, people almost completely shifted to remote functioning – whether for work, education, entertainment, banking or commerce. This caused a massive uptick in the number of transactions online.

Businesses and agencies using cloud-based technologies were able to continue their operations without interruption. Others who were unprepared quickly realised the need for the deployment of digital solutions and platforms, infrastructure, data storage and processing capacities to adapt to the new normal.

What was formerly seen as either non-essential or difficult is now the preferred method of functioning for many.  People have tasted, appreciated and gotten used to the ease and effectiveness of utilising information and communications technologies. While many people have had to return to conventional offices there is a continued preference for a hybrid model.

The entire shift demonstrated how critical it is to have stronger platforms for both the public and private sectors. Digitalisation has proven to be too effective to pass up given the promise of higher and safer living standards and greater social inclusion irrespective of the environment.

One of the primary enablers of this move to digital is cloud computing technology. It has enabled the delivery of government services in a more agile, fast and cost-effective manner than with traditional information technology infrastructure. Public service can be future-proofed by migrating government systems to the cloud and incorporating its full capabilities into new digital solutions.

Be that as it may, many governments still struggle effectively use cutting-edge technology to deliver better services to citizens.

Some more technologically advanced nations have demonstrated how the cloud strategy made it possible for ever-innovative ways to improve the delivery of public services. Yet, the deployment of cloud computing in many other nations’ public sectors still faces obstacles. This requires revisions or creations of government-wide policy enabling regulatory conditions more suitable for a robust cloud strategy.

To make Malaysia a nation that is growing sustainably with fair economic distribution as well as equitable and inclusive growth, the digital economy was selected as a key economic growth area (KEGA) in realising WKB 2030.

In Malaysia, MyDIGITAL was set up as a national initiative to show how the government wants to transform the country into a digitally driven, high-income country in the digital age. It is intended to support national development initiatives including the Wawasan Kemakmuran Bersama 2030 (WKB 2030) and the Twelfth Malaysia Plan (RMKe-12).

With the help of MyDIGITAL, Malaysia will be able to successfully convert into a highly prosperous, digitally driven country that leads the region in the digital economy.

Responding to Urgent Necessity with Innovation​

Seng Heng Chuah, Malaysia Country Manager, Public Sector, Amazon Web Services emphasised that while COVID-19 has disrupted traditional teaching methods, it has also prompted a rethinking of how education can be delivered.

As forward-thinking educational institutions reimagine their delivery models, they are paving the way for new ways to equip students with the skills necessary to succeed in the digital economy. ​

With this, the AWS Educate Programme provides resources for students and educators to build cloud skills. It is used in Malaysian educational institutions such as the Asia Pacific University of Technology and Innovation (APU).

At APU, they used serverless tools like AWS Lambda to run a secure multi-platform mobile application to improve the user experience for both their staff and students.​

“This not only helped the university to reduce user complaints by 65%, but it also empowered the university to achieve 116 times faster delivery of educational resources,” says Chuah.

He is excited to note that the most advanced cloud customers in Malaysia come from the Education sector. They don’t just use the cloud for R&D but also for day-to-day operations. They get students to develop solutions on the cloud because that’s the future of IT – it’s all about software and services.​

More public sector agencies are utilising the cloud, and this development is widespread across all nations. Therefore, citizens demand more intelligent applications in addition to e-government portals. They want to communicate with the government more effectively, perhaps through chatbots and other such platforms.

The cloud is a vital facilitator of the digital economy, which is seen as a growth driver by many nations, whereas high-performance computing (HPC) is used most efficiently in the science and research sectors. Similarly, the government can also use the cloud to implement solutions for the Internet of Things (IoT), Blockchain (BC) and Artificial Intelligence (AI), which would be expensive and time-consuming to implement on-prem.

“At the end of the day, it’s about creating a better environment for everyone to thrive. And that includes carving out a space for local innovation – something we’re passionate about,” Chuah firmly believes.

Many government organisations use the cloud to enhance the delivery of their services. For instance, the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM) moved to the AWS Cloud and made its census data accessible to 9 million consumers.

When DOSM switched from maintaining expensive on-site infrastructure to using resources from the cloud, the government could save 25%–50% on resource expenses. This improvement enabled DOSM to manage all traffic on the census portal, even at its high of 200,000 users.

AWS and the government are working together to set up a hybrid cloud data centre using AWS Outposts. They anticipated that the hybrid cloud data centre, which is only intended for use by the federal government, would be available by the end of the year.

Also, while most apps may be easily moved to the cloud, others must first be re-architected or “modernised,” and some must stay on-premises for the foreseeable future due to low latency and local data processing requirements, or data residency. These programmes must be installed in on-site datacentres, branch offices, manufacturing facilities, dining establishments, edge nodes in major metro areas, 5G networks, and other distant places.

Chuah shared three trends that underpin the need to support applications that may need to reside outside of traditional cloud regions and availability zones, in addition to existing legacy on-premises and edge workloads.

The first trend is the emergence of a new class of ultra-low latency applications, such as real-time gaming, video streaming, AR/VR, autonomous vehicles, content creation, engineering simulations and ML inference at the edge. These applications are used in on-premises datacentres, branch offices, hospitals, factory floors, retail locations, on the outskirts of cell tower sites and near groups of artists, scientists and engineers. End users frequently access these ultra-low latency applications via mobile devices, so they must be deployed at the 5G network edge to benefit from 5G’s speed and bandwidth benefits.

The processing of local data is a second trend. Customers’ digital transformation initiatives and increased use of IoT devices are producing massive amounts of data. Due to cost, size, bandwidth or scheduling limitations, some of these data sets must be processed locally because they can’t be transferred to the cloud.

Data residency is the third trend. Due to security and tax laws, data sovereignty and shifting geopolitical factors, customers may be required to keep their data in a certain nation, state, or municipality. When a customer’s data residency requirements cannot be met by a cloud region, they must maintain and/or install additional IT infrastructure to support those workloads.

Sustainability, according to Chuah, is still AWS’ top focus; but as they step up their fight against COVID-19, they haven’t forgotten about another pressing global issue: climate change. “We are dedicated to developing a sustainable business for both our clients and the environment.”

This commitment to sustainability is seen in AWS’s co-founding of The Climate Pledge in 2019. Its goal is to have all its operations powered by renewable energy by 2025 and to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2040.

As a significant technology firm, AWS is aware of its environmental impact and the efforts it might take to lessen it. Organisations can save their energy use by up to 76 per cent by migrating to the cloud. “Ensuring we have the right components to thrive in this digital economy is necessary by building a plan, assessing the readiness for the cloud, and migrating and modernising the workloads.”

All innovations and initiatives shared by Chuah demonstrate not only the revolutionary power of digitisation and modernisation, but also the resilience of the human spirit in the face of hardship.

The Cloud Imperative – A Leadership Question​

Andre Mendes, Chief Information Officer of the US Department of Commerce, shared some examples of his experiences over the last decade where cloud hosting became a de facto standard.

In 2009, the Special Olympics became almost 100% Cloud-based globally​ and they had a testing ground for many vendors with a minimal budget. This resulted in the Special Olympics experiencing no disruption and increased its athlete base from 1.4 million to 4.5 million over the next ten years.

“This is a sample of massive progress despite resistance,” says Andre. “Even though many donations came in from large IT players and lower-risk non-profits, there were sceptics and risk avoiders.”

As an example, the US Department of Commerce’s International Trade Administration (ITA), which is already 100% cloud-based in 2018. ITA had a minimal budget, but they could maintain a fully integrated environment with IT, communications and telephony.

From the start of the pandemic, ITA maintained seamless operations and led the way with ZTA and Borderless Networks as they reinvested in custom Agency software functionality.

“Leadership must be adaptable as the environment evolves,” Andre reiterates. “Leaders identify a fundamental shift in the competitive environment and act to mitigate a potential disruption or, better yet, gain an advantage by seizing new opportunities before competitors do. For most businesses, digital transformation begins from the outside in.”

Even the most forward-thinking transformation strategies are doomed to fail if they do not place equal emphasis on the inside and outside of the organisation.

According to Andre, an organisation needs to support the shift and the new working methods that come with it; therefore, leaders must spearhead the transformation. Any digital transformation programme, including cloud migration, is more likely to be successful when the leadership is on board.

As more businesses migrate to the cloud, a growing number of internal cloud migrations happen as businesses switch between multiple cloud providers. It’s crucial to evaluate the organisation’s requirements and identify the variables that will control the transfer, including historical data, critical application data and application interoperability.

Next, it is necessary to classify data to identify which needs migrating, and what needs scrubbing. Determining these requirements will help the organisations create a sound plan for the tools they’ll need during migration.  They’ll also be able to choose the right destination volumes and decide whether the data needs to be encrypted at rest and in transit.

“Always look for innovation; the biggest risk is not moving forward,” Andre is convinced. “Innovation represents the enhancement of something that has already been, and the most innovative people will eventually experience long-term entrepreneurial success. Consumers and peers recognise businesses as true innovators and leaders when they take the biggest risks, close the widest gaps, and seize the newest chances.”

Following the informative talks, the delegates took part in discussions encouraged by polling questions. The goal of OpenGovLive! Virtual Breakfast Insight is to provide live audience engagement, inspire participation, and allow people to learn from and grow professionally from real-life experiences.

On being asked what the delegates’ cloud strategy was, most responded with a hybrid cloud. Delegates said that they could use cloud services where they are most effective while keeping certain operations on-premises or within a private cloud. This allows for greater flexibility.

On how organisations evaluate the success of their cloud adoption, the majority opted for high availability/downtime management, while others were resource productivity, efficiency, and cost saving.

Most organisations lack a system for evaluating the success of cloud adoption. Furthermore, there isn’t much information available on assessing the success of cloud adoption within an enterprise.

Delegates said that the number one criterion for choosing a cloud service provider is still price. This is followed by security, and by performance.

A delegate felt that before a business can effectively choose a good provider, it needs to know what its business needs are. When organisations know precisely what they need in terms of technical, service, security, data governance, and service management, they can ask their small group of potential providers better questions.

On being asked what they thought were barriers to going digital and using the cloud, management support and budget were seen as the greatest ones.

With speed and agility being a clear advantage of cloud adoption, the cost quickly becomes a barrier to success. Adopting the cloud makes deploying more environments and leveraging more resources easier and quicker, but it also comes with higher prices and significant security issues for careless teams.

In the last poll, the delegates were asked how they planned to update their legacy and application systems. The majority answered application assessment to move to the cloud, while others worked with a cloud service provider and outsourced to a system integrator.

For many organisations, legacy systems are seen as stifling business initiatives and processes; however, they have begun to recognise the importance of modernisation to help their business grow.

Mohit agrees that scaling a firm and preserving profitability calls for developing partnerships that simplify digital transformation for customers. “Partnerships are the way forward for companies who want to use the cloud.”

To market, sell, create, integrate, customise, deploy, and support new applications on-premises, in the public cloud, or in hybrid cloud architectures, partnerships can offer the necessary knowledge.

“Public service must be genuinely available for the citizens and Cloud is the future,” says Mohit. “Partnerships enable providers to diversify their offerings by adding things like managed security, IoT solutions, and analytics.”

In the complicated, developing world of cloud computing, IT companies frequently collaborate for financial gain, but they also do so more frequently because customers expect things to function.

Andre was delighted to be invited as a speaker and was encouraged by the fact that many young people, particularly women, are representing the IT arena and that many new skills will be developed.

Chuah said that the pandemic has taught the world that “changing is the only constant”. People can be confident that they can bend, respond and adapt without breaking when life throws them a curveball if digital innovation is at the core of a long-term economic plan.

AWS is steadfast in its stance. They are passionate about driving the public sector’s digital transformation as they are committed to the development of cloud computing services, catalysing the development of sustainable digital government. With the appointment of the Cloud Service Provider (CSP) panel, they will continue to deliver their commitment to continue supporting the Government’s strategic initiative. ​

A cloud migration needs a set of plans and vision as the first step and the “only way to go to the cloud is to try and be confident to use it.”

Chuah spoke about the AWS Migration Acceleration Programme (MAP), a comprehensive and tried-and-true cloud migration programme. Enterprises’ migrations can be complex and time-consuming, but with an outcome-driven methodology, MAP can help them accelerate their cloud migration and modernisation journey.

“We remain focused on supporting Malaysia to lead in today’s digital economy as we leverage our global experiences with more than 7,500 public sector agencies to enable our customers through Cost Savings, Staff productivity, Operational Resilience and Business Agility.​”

A guide on personal data protection considerations for blockchain design has been made available by Singapore’s Personal Data Protection Commission (PDPC). To ensure more responsible management of customers’ personal data, the guide intends to help organisations use blockchain technology by outlining how to adhere to the Personal Data Protection Act 2012 (No. 26 of 2012) when deploying blockchain applications.

Among the issues covered in the guide are blockchain networks and associated roles; data protection risks and considerations; recommendations for permissionless and permissioned networks; and steps to developing a data protection management programme.

Some of the takeaways from the guide are as follows:

The guide explains how to abide by the PDPA when installing blockchain applications that process personal data, with the goal of promoting blockchain adoption. For more responsible administration of clients’ personal data, it offers advice on data protection by design (“DPbD”) aspects.

This manual is intended for organisations that:

The recently published guide discusses the risks and policy issues involved with writing personal data on permission and permissionless blockchains, as well as the pros and downsides of DPbD strategies for storing and transmitting personal data on blockchains.

The guide is not a comprehensive reference or recommends implementations for blockchain applications due to the range of blockchain types and methodologies. Instead, it offers organisations a wide range of guidelines and considerations for creating and setting up PDPA-compliant blockchain applications.

While this guide focuses on blockchain technology, due to its prevalence, some of the principles and recommendations discussed may be broadly applicable to Distributed Ledger Technologies (DLTs) as well, depending on the nature of the DLT implementation.

Meanwhile, the Personal Data Protection Commission of Singapore and the Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data of Hong Kong (PCPD) have renewed their Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to maintain their existing ties, foster closer cooperation, and increase the scope of their collaboration in personal data protection.

The Memorandum of Understanding between the two data protection authorities outlines the scope of their collaboration, which includes, among other things, the coordination and provision of mutual assistance in joint investigations into cross-border personal data incidents, the exchange of information and sharing of best practices involving data protection policies and enforcement actions, and collaboration in education and training.

In May 2019, the two governments signed an agreement to create bilateral platforms to advance personal data protection. The MoU offers a strengthened framework for collaboration and workable cooperation and serves as a solid foundation for the working relationship between the two data protection bodies.

The recently signed agreement demonstrates both governments’ commitment to increasing collaboration and cooperation in the protection of personal data privacy in new and emerging areas such as artificial intelligence and cross-border data flows.

Both countries believe that an effective cooperation mechanism would benefit both authorities on a variety of fronts, including enforcement actions, promotion, and public education.

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