The Asia Pacific is the most dynamic digital landscape in the world, home to the fastest adopters of new technologies, the largest concentration of social media and mobile users, and some of the world's most innovative tech companies. The rise of mobile messenger apps, use of big data and online activism are shaping the region's engagement with the world.
- China's cyber watchdog has revealed one billion posts were deleted in 2014 as part of an 'Internet cleanup operation.' In addition, 20 million online forums, blogs and social media accounts and over 2000 websites were closed. Was yours one of them? Check here.
- Indonesia's young and tech-savvy population is attracting new investment. Before you invest here are ten things you need to know, from the difficulties for foreign companies to the importance of social media (15% of the world's tweets come from Indonesia).
- Why 2015 will be the year of India's next technology revolution. Mobile health applications, electronic commerce and app-based automation of public services are pinpointed by the Washington Post as areas to watch.
- Internet-based civil society groups are mentioned in this Devpolicy blog post as one of the few areas of hope for Solomon Islands politics. The author is likely referring to Forum Solomon Islands International, which has grown from a Facebook discussion group to a registered NGO that uses ICT tools to crowd-source policy ideas from its members to influence political outcomes.
- Chinese consumer electronics company Xiaomi is shaking up the consumer electronics and smartphone market with plans to expand to Southeast Asia, Russia and Brazil. Founder Lei Jun, Forbes Asia's Businessperson of the Year in 2014, recently said: 'I've said on many different occasions that if I had been called the "Steve Jobs of China" as a 20- year-old, I would have been very honoured...As a 40-year-old, however, I don't want to be considered second to anyone.'
- China is considering a range of measures to rein in poorly behaved Chinese travelers, including sending text messages to tourists as they arrive at their destination reminding them to observe good manners. The move comes shortly after CCTV pulled its Be a Good Panda, be a Good Tourist ad filmed in Sydney after a backlash on Chinese social media.