Remember that opening scene where James Bond chased a terrorist across the rooftops of Istanbul in the Hollywood favourite Skyfall?

Flying-Cam SARAH, the miniature unmanned helicopter used for close-range aerial filming in the movie, created such a buzz in Hollywood after the film’s release that several aerial filming companies were granted FAA (Federal Aviation Administration in the US) exemptions for aerial filming and saw public interest skyrocketing in the years following.

Today, aerial footage captured by drones has become so commonplace that we barely notice it anymore. In wildlife documentaries, sports coverage, commercials, or blockbusters, drones are wherever you want them to be.

It’s easy to see how drones can be handy in filming high-speed aerial footage traditionally accomplished with CGI (computer-generated imagery). On top of their speed and manoeuvrability, drones can execute dangerous feats that cameramen simply cannot afford to attempt – hanging off from cliffs, dipping between racing cars, or even hovering above choppy currents.

In recent years, many of the best aerial cinematography shots employ unmanned aircraft. (Yes, I’m talking about that dipping shot in Jurassic World that mimicked the flight movement of a Pterosaur.)

Outside the film industry, drones are also making waves in the sports space. In particular, on-the-scene coverage of extreme sports such as alpine skiing or windsurfing requires the deployment of multiple drones to follow athletes throughout their racecourse.

Before the dawn of drones, television crews used to hike neighbouring mountains to take wide shots of the action. This meant that coverage of these exciting, high-action sports became static and boring when viewed on the 2D screen.

Also Read: Ecosystem Roundup: How SEA startups resisted challenges in 2020; AirAsia partners with MaGIC for drones-based delivery in MY

Back home, the Housing Development Board (HDB) and Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*Star) recently (just two weeks ago, actually) collaborated on a research project assessing the efficacy of using drones and robots to enhance construction site safety.

The Ministry of Transport is also currently in the process of drawing up safety regulations to designate drone-flying spaces for the enjoyment of local drone enthusiasts. In our ongoing fight against dengue, the National Environment Agency (NEA) has been deploying drones to inspect roof gutters in dengue red zones. In 2017, 300 drones took to the sky on Singapore’s birthday and put up a spectacular light display with just a click of a button.

And the list goes on.

Drones within the Red Dot

At BLOCK71 Singapore, Red Dot Drone (RDD), a drone software technology startup, is taking the technology further by combining the power of artificial intelligence with drones to deliver advanced services in data visualisation and creative filming.

This month, I spoke with Akira Hirakawa, a native Japanese drone expert and co-founder of RDD, to discuss his start-up’s upcoming plans for this revolutionary new space in a niche market.

What is the unique selling point of RDD? Why is AI important in this space?

As the name suggests, we are a drone company focusing on drone software technology such as automatic flight. In recent years, it is encouraging to see that drones are being increasingly used in a myriad of functions by the wider community. However, drones sold in the commercial market currently require operational knowledge, are not easy to control, and are dependent on manual flight.

At RDD, we have been developing drone software that bypasses the aforementioned problems. Using the power of software, AI, and ML, the resulting software technology is easier and safer to use. With our proprietary technology, it is our dream that everyone would be able to operate a drone effortlessly in the near future.

Are there any limitations of drone technology we may not know of?

Drones that are used to film and tag people autonomously exist in the market. However, we think that one of the most challenging components of autonomous drones is its creative movement.

For example, in sports and entertainment industries, the basic expectations for video filming is no longer simply the function of taking videos, but instead, filming techniques are expected to be creative and artistic so that the audience can enjoy an immersive experience.

While humans still have a slight edge in this field, this is an area we would like to disrupt using AI and ML in the long run.

With the upcoming adoption of 5G technology, what changes can we expect in the drone space? How will RDD adapt to ride the 5G wave?

An exciting area that we are working on is drone remote control technology over 5G. Usually, a drone pilot must be onsite physically with a controller that utilises radio frequency to control the drone.

Because of this physical limitation of the equipment, a drone can only fly within a few kilometres from the position of its drone pilot. Drone remote control over 5G will overcome this physical limitation.

Furthermore, with the entrance of 5G technology, drones can be easily used to perform many other functions, such as delivery or remote surveillance. In future, there could be drones constantly flying in the sky and accomplishing their tasks, monitored and supported remotely by various drone operation centres.

Also Read: EPS, Schulte Group back F-drones that develops autonomous drones capable of delivering 100kg payloads over 100km

This way, we can save both manpower and time, and also reduce human exposure to potentially hazardous elements.

Currently, our RDD technology is capable of drone remote control over 4G/5G connectivity, enabling remote control of commercial drones at different locations in Singapore. In this video, we control a drone in Japan from our Singapore office over Zoom using 4G network.

Since the end of 2020, we have been generously supported by the Singtel 5G Lab to utilise their 5G environment for further R&D and testing. We are ready and excited to incorporate 5G capabilities into our future drone operations.

What are some crucial industries around the world that will benefit from AI drone technology?

There are many industries in that drones could be deployed for better results. Off the top of my head, I would say that surveying, monitoring, inspection, delivery, agriculture, sports/entertainment, and public safety are some of the key areas in that drones can be utilised to make a positive change.

Although the regulations and expectations in each industry will be diverse, we believe these industries will benefit from RDD’s AI drone technology.

What do you envision to be the future of drone AI?

We believe that drones will become a commonplace tool and be used to serve different needs across all age groups in our society.

Even for our primary use case, we believe that the future of aerial filming will utilise multiple drones flying autonomously at the same time to capture creative shots from multiple angles. We call this Flying Filming Studio, and we will continue to work on our drone AI technology to realise this dream.

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Contact centres have been particularly vulnerable to COVID-19. Organisations of all sizes and from most industries were required to shift their on-premises call centre operations to work-from-home environments.

This was accompanied by unprecedented spikes in customer enquiries, creating extra pressure on contact centre operators. 

The experience of the contact centre sector during COVID-19 is instructive for startup founders looking to keep open lines of communication with their customers and stakeholders as they scale.

The same tools that allowed large contact centres to pivot and adapt during a global crisis can be employed by startup founders to build versatile and resilient customer communications platforms. 

People reach for the phone in a crisis

Some contact centres, like those for emergency services, mental health outreach or COVID-19 hotlines, are clearly essential services. But even for more commercially focused outfits, customer communication by phone is vital to maintain trust and loyalty. Our research has shown that customers seeking support and reassurance in a crisis prefer to pick up the phone.

Two in three customers preferred phone contact to other forms of communication during the COVID-19 crisis. Businesses with existing cloud-based contact centres and those that quickly adopted them have been able to meet this expectation by transitioning staff to work from home with minimal downtime.

This experience has led the contact centre industry as a whole to view cloud solutions as more adaptable and resilient, and we can expect to see a wholesale shift to this model in the medium term. 

Also Read: What Tokopedia does to ensure high quality customer relations management

While prioritising access to customer support via phone is important, it’s also critical to remember to provide customers with an omni-channel experience to enable them to engage with your brand via their platform of choice. Customers today expect to connect with brands using the same channels they use to communicate with friends, from SMS to Snapchat.

To build separate, siloed customer communications solutions to manage each of these channels is a mistake. It leads to a fragmented picture of customer behaviour or sentiments, which impedes your ability to respond to customers in a way that builds loyalty and trust.

Cloud-based solutions that allow customers to contact you over multiple channels are a better option and platforms that integrate customer data, habits and preferences from  They can be scaled to accommodate upticks in inbound customer inquiries during difficult periods, and can be expanded laterally to include new communications channels as they emerge. 

Regardless of whether they contact your business by phone, in-app chat, or via a social channel, your customers expect to connect to someone who can help them right away. Building a cloud-based contact solution can facilitate the kind of experience that customers expect 

Cloud contact solutions are also easily scalable to accommodate growth, allow for frequent iteration and testing, provide deep data and key business insights to make better decisions and they’re more reliable than legacy systems. 

Rapid changes will benefit organisations and customers in the long-term

The pandemic accelerated deployment of customer care strategies informed by conversational AI, designed to make more productive human agents and happier, longer-lasting customers.

When customers are reaching out, it’s because they need help that they can’t find on your website or app, such as tech support, or enquiry about an order that hasn’t arrived. At this point, customers are usually irate and expect an immediate response, keeping them stuck on hold will taint their experience and directly impact your business’s reputation. 

Twilio’s recent Customer Communications Report found that after a poor communication experience, 38 per cent of customers will switch to a competitor or cancel orders or services, 66 per cent will tell a friend about their experience, and 41 per cent will stop doing business with the company altogether.

Also Read: Twilio’s annual State of Customer Engagement report

While providing unsatisfactory service to customers is never intentional, the limitations of fragmented, on-premises contact centre systems can make it difficult to keep up with evolving customer expectations. 

With a cloud-based framework, however, you can create an experience that anticipates customers’ needs and provides unrivalled service. You can gather data about your customers from multiple sources and provide a tailored and personalised experience every time.

What does this mean for startups?

For early-stage companies like startups, customer loyalty is especially important. You do not have decades of brand-building to rely on, and negative experiences with one company can easily send a customer to a competitor. 

To survive and stay competitive, start-ups and smaller businesses should absorb the lessons from the experience of the contact centre sector through the COVID-19 crisis. 

Startups have a crucial advantage over more established operators when it comes to deploying future-proof cloud-based customer communications solutions. They are not encumbered by the sunk costs and legacy systems that make transition to such a system so difficult for larger, older organisations. 

Customisation, adding new channels, integration of new systems with your existing system, and budget are all necessary considerations when deciding to engage a cloud-based contact centre solution to manage customer communications. 

Customers of startups are early adopters who use more digital channels than most other consumers, but who also expect a 360-degree, always-on customer experience. Impress these customers by delivering a superior experience and you will win the loyalty of an influential market segment who will evangelise your product. Lose them, and they will move on to the next company.

The difference between these two scenarios will be how well you build, maintain and manage your customer communications architecture.

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Skymind Holdings, an international firm dedicated to the development of Artificial Intelligence (AI), has appointed Yasmin Mahmood as its Chairperson.

Yasmin was previously the CEO of Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC), the national arm of the Malaysian government driving the development of the country’s digital economy. She stepped down as the CEO after helming MDEC for more than four years.

Also Read: MDEC chief Yasmin Mahmood steps down; to join a tech venture in Jakarta

Before that, she took on management roles at global tech companies, including Dell and HP and was the Managing Director of Microsoft Malaysia.

With a presence in 17 countries, including Germany, Japan and the United Kingdom, Skymind develops innovative AI technologies that it claims are deployed in Fortune 500 companies including Nvidia, IBM, Huawei and NASA.

Last year, its venture arm, London-based Skymind Global Ventures, launched a US$800 million fund to support promising new AI companies and academic research globally.

As part of plans to expand Skymind’s footprint across Southeast Asia, the company expanded into Malaysia in October 2019, with the country serving as the group’s regional AI hub.

“We are pleased to welcome Datuk Yasmin, a well-respected and internationally recognised leader in the IT industry, to Skymind. Her extensive experience, knowledge and insights will help guide the vision and strategic opportunities of Skymind as we march ahead with our scale and growth plans,” said Shawn Tan, Global CEO of Skymind.

Also Read: Ethics and Artificial Intelligence: Is the technology only as good as the human behind it?

“For the last year, when she served as our Advisor, we saw how her leadership and passion has empowered Skymind to strengthen partnerships, develop strategic alliances, and expand our presence here in Malaysia as well as regionally and globally,” he added.

“I am passionate about AI and how it can revolutionise and reimagine anything and everything.  With the company’s track record of AI innovations and a focused growth strategy, this is an exciting time to work with Shawn and his team,” noted Yasmin.

“Skymind is in a unique position to catalyse an innovation ecosystem, thereby creating high-income and high-value jobs in Malaysia to serve the global markets,” she further opined.

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Image Credit: Skymind

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Docosan, a Vietnam-based health-tech startup, announced today that it has raised over US$1 million in a round led by Taiwanese VC firm AppWorks.

Singaporean VC firm Huat Ventures and biotech entrepreneur David Ma also participated in the round.

The development was first reported by TechInAsia.

While Docosan has not disclosed its plans with the fresh capital, it said it will add telehealth and pharmacy services to its platform.

Launched just last year, Docosan’s goal is to improve access to quality healthcare for people in Vietnam. The app enables patients to compare healthcare providers, book appointments, chat with primary care assistants, and manage health data for free.

Docosan uses internationally-recognised protocols such as HIPAA (the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability) and DICOM (Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine) to ensure health records are portable across many different systems.

The company claims to have helped 50,000 patients in Vietnam book appointments with physicians across 35 specialties within less than a year of operations.

Also Read: Meet the 20 startups selected for Taiwanese accelerator AppWorks virtual showcase

“Many clinics are frustrated after spending large amounts on social media marketing because these networks’ vast, opaque user bases are difficult to harness to reach new patients,” said Beth Ann Lopez, co-founder of Docosan.

“Docosan’s proprietary booking software provides doctors an easier way to manage bookings compared to the crowded waiting rooms, which people are increasingly wary of amid the pandemic,” she added.

Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, digital healthcare services have seen a boom as more people are growing increasingly cautious of visiting crowded spaces.

Due to this, many consumers in Southeast Asia are now seeing health-tech solutions as a lifestyle staple.

Observing this trend, many leading companies such as Grab, AIA and gojek have all integrated healthcare content into their offerings.

According to a study by Solidiance, total healthcare spending in ASEAN is estimated to reach US$740 billion by 2025, up from US$420 billion in 2017.

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Image Credit:  National Cancer Institute

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Indonesian e-commerce honcho Bukalapak has raised US$234 million in a fresh funding round led by Microsoft, Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC, and local media giant Emtek, reports Reuters.

Other investors joining the mega-round include SC Ventures (the investment arm of Standard Chartered) and Korean web portal Naver.

The report stated, citing sources, Bukalapak is planning to list in Indonesia and has engaged Bank Mandiri’s securities arm Mandiri Sekuritas to assist in the process.

Should the local listing materialise, the e-commerce giant will then look to merge with a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) in the United States.

The latest funding round comes six months after reports stated Bukalapak was raising a US$100 million funding round, which at the time had already included Microsoft, GIC and Emtek.

Launched in 2010, Bukalapak, which was last valued at US$2.5 billion in 2019, claims it has over 100 million users on its platform.

The company recently partnered with Standard Chartered to launch “innovative offerings” as part of efforts to advance the latter’s on digital banking.

Also Read: [Updated] Standard Chartered partners with Bukalapak to launch digital banking solutions

The 9-figure funding round comes amid increased interest in the Southeast Asian tech sector with multiple tech startups seeking public listings.

Yesterday, regional super-app Grab announced it was merging with SPAC Altimeter Growth Corp in what will be the world’s largest SPAC deal.

Its e-commerce rival Tokopedia is in talks with ride-hailing giant gojek in a merger that would see the US$18 billion combined entity pursue a dual listing on the Indonesia and US exchanges.

Meanwhile, Indonesian travel giant Traveloka is in discussions with Peter Thiel-backed SPAC Bridgetown Holdings, in a deal potentially worth US$5 billion.

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Image Credit: Bukalapak

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