Published daily by the Lowy Institute

Digital Asia links: India hacked, Singapore goes offline, Shenzhen, video apps, maps and more

Digital Asia links: India hacked, Singapore goes offline, Shenzhen, video apps, maps and more

The Asia Pacific is the most dynamic digital landscape in the world, home to the fastest adopters of new technologies and the largest concentration of mobile and social media users. An escalation in online activism, changing cyber dynamics, developments in digital diplomacy and the exploitation of big data are shaping the region's engagement with the world.

  • Why Google Maps works better in Pyongyang than in Seoul.
  • China's Communist Youth League misses Taiwan, and this love letter explaining why has gone viral on WeChat.
  • Social media is driving political change in Cambodia, but will the country's Facebook boom move beyond urban centres?
  • How the digital innovation and data revolution is impacting governance in Indonesia.
  • China's video-streaming apps (estimated at 80 so far) are creating an 'Internet celebrity economy' which generates more sales than the country's box office.
  • 100,000 public servants in Singapore will be blocked from accessing the internet on work computers from May 2017. Prime Minister Lee, who has gone without work internet access for four months, said the move is necessary to protect government systems from cyber attacks.
  • Two pieces on why WeChat's global expansion has been a disaster (and why most Chinese apps fail overseas).
  • It's open season on online hate speech in Myanmar.
  • This big data initiative aims to tap real-time traffic data to deal with road safety and congestion in the Philippines.
  • Code words and Facebook enabled some Chinese youth to discuss Tiananmen on 4 June. 
  • A multi-year, multi-technology cyber-espionage attack targeting Indian diplomats and military personnel included phishing emails, fake blogs and news sites. Here's how India's Ambassador to Afghanistan was targeted
  • housing crisis in Shenzhen, China's Silicon Valley, is leading to a flow of tech talent, resources and money to cheaper locations, including nearby Dongguan.  
  • Designer and technologist Keiichi Matsuda provides a terrifying insight into what a media saturated future could look like:




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