In 2021, the pandemic pushed technological advances forward faster than ever before, but significant changes are in store even more.

Over the past year, we saw the concepts of Web3 and the metaverse go from a distant aspiration to an accepted fact. In 2022, for the first time, a significant and growing number of people will learn what it’s like to live daily with these fast-emerging technologies.

A brief history of the internet

In the mid-1990s, the early forms of the internet were focused on providing universal access to centrally managed information and services. You might search property on propertyguru.com, read news on thestar.com.my, or look up directions on Google Maps. 

Giving every person on the planet access to the sum of all human knowledge, as Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales put it, is what we now call Web1. 

Web2 began with the rise of social media and intelligent messenger platforms such as WeChat and WhatsApp, which allow consumers a bilateral interaction. While the term was coined in 1999, this model began to impact around 2005 significantly.

With Web 2, consumers could access central information repositories, just as before. But they could also create and share their content. In the Web1 model, users mainly were just consumers of information. In Web 2, they became creators of Facebook posts, blogs, YouTube videos, and much more.

The advent of Web 2.0 unleashed new business models and a torrent of creativity. Yet, the transformative potential of Web 2.0 has been limited because interactions among users still largely happen on a central platform.

Today, user-generated content is king, but that content is almost exclusively shared on a handful of large social media platforms worldwide. These platforms have become the most important lead generators for many industries.

Also Read: Hashed launches US$200M Fund II to back Web3 technologies

A challenge to the power brokers

We still live in a world of Web 2, but Web 3 is already emerging more quickly than either of its predecessors. Web3 is a catchall term for many ideas and technologies that lead to eliminating the middlemen that today manage your online interactions.

Your data and account information will belong exclusively to you. It will travel with you as you move from online shopping to news, to social media and so on.

Under Web3, information is no longer collated centrally by huge, gatekeeper companies such as Google, Facebook, and Grab.

Instead, it is generated and stored, decentralised, on and by your devices. Content can be shared among consumers and businesses without the involvement of a central platform. 

Web3 will take the intermediary role away from institutions that have long exploited their position. In the future, data, home videos, and even legal contracts such as those embodied in NFTs will be protected and communicated by blockchain technology. This change will shake up our existing power structures in ways we still can’t entirely foresee.

The need for a central repository of information will be gone. Traditional financial institutions, classified websites, social media platforms and other pillars of society that have benefitted from their central roles in the flows of money and influence will all feel the impact. 

The user’s experience will also be wildly different. Information will be shared in real-time through blockchain technology. Rather than waiting days for bank transfers, deposits, or other financial transactions to be completed, they will be instant and cost little or nothing.

Web3 will give users a multitude of new dimensions for access. One person may have multiple versions of themselves (digital twins) in the new virtual worlds that make up the metaverse. Large companies are responding by creating virtual worlds where their customers can engage, and invitation-only private domains are rising.

Digital-first countries will thrive

Dismantling central control will pose challenges to society, business and politics. Trust is an essential element of commerce that will have to be reset and redefined in the new era. 

Change is unavoidable. How we respond to it will be essential. The evolution to Web3 will also give new and significant opportunities to those who embrace it. That includes governments, businesses, and individual consumers. 

The companies that I advise are already exploring the potential of Web 3.0 and understand that it will create new challenges but also opportunities.

Also Read: The different ways the Web3.0 is enabling marketplaces

Countries such as Malaysia and Singapore, which have always been at the forefront of technological development, will benefit through faster economic growth and greater resilience against the shock caused by future events such as pandemics, extreme weather, and economic downturns.

And, when we think we have Web3 all worked out, the next shake-up will be just around the corner: quantum computing.

One well-known explorer has made their motto, “To infinity and beyond!”

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Creating and nurturing investments that have a meaningful impact on society and the environment is a new year’s resolution that more investors will be making as the world comes together to achieve net-zero.

The commitment to sustainable impact investments will be integral to the growth of new transformative industries and climate technologies.

My interest in this emerging area of sustainability stems from my personal experience. During my time in the Singapore military, I witnessed the potential of technologies such as manned and unmanned field sensors.

Unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) operations at the time were used for strategic purposes such as defence operations that tracked an enemy’s activities via surveillance, real-time imagery, and surveys.

But beyond their military application, these sensors can be used to monitor, report, and verify what corporations are doing to contribute towards climate action positively. 

Fighting for nature

As an ex-soldier who used to train and fight in nature, I like to think that I’m now fighting for nature through the investments we are making that positively impact the environment.

It’s been encouraging to witness the rise of a growing number of successful startups providing solutions for things like tree-tracking and forestry conservation by leveraging technologies such as geospatial data services.

Many of these solutions use specialised drones and UAVs. They are now part of the fast-growing ecosystem called ‘climate tech’, a term encompassing a broad set of sectors tackling the challenge of decarbonising the global economy.

The goal is to meet climate goals agreed by the international community at conferences such as the recent COP26 – climate tech represented just 6 per cent of global annual venture capital funding in 2019 but has grown more than 3,750 per cent in absolute terms since 2013, according to PwC.

The question arises of how climate tech investing can be scaled up, a significant challenge my partners and I are helping corporations solve: we know delivering real environmental change over the long term will require massive action by both government and the private sector.

By working hand-in-hand with forward-thinking companies and being committed to operating more sustainably and responsibly, we are more likely to save the wonders of nature from being lost forever to future generations.

Helping corporates succeed in sustainability

When we founded Gunung Capital, we were frustrated by the lack of climate-conscious investment options in the market and wanted to leverage our own experiences to guide companies on their sustainability journeys.

Also Read: Why is impact investing suddenly so hot?

Gunung means “mountain”, and we chose the name because it reflects our commitment to helping others ‘climb mountains’ to reach new heights on their ascent towards sustainability.

An essential part of this sustainability journey for most companies will involve carbon markets (and specifically carbon credits), which we believe will emerge as an established asset class in the decades to come.

As corporations transition their operations away from fossil fuels and towards clean energy sources, voluntary carbon credit markets will increasingly play a role in their transition plans.

Hence, carbon markets will grow in importance and gain momentum despite being relatively small at present.

The important role of carbon markets

Factors including limited liquidity, insufficient market size, non-standard transaction processes, and a lack of transparent price mechanisms mean that voluntary carbon markets have not been viable for institutional investment at scale, but that is starting to change. 

Another challenge is that there are still very few startups focused on solving the challenges infrastructure developers must overcome to grow the supply of high-quality carbon removal projects.

Investing in high-quality carbon markets should be top of mind for investors in the coming years ahead who want to support and finance new technologies, innovative businesses, and much-needed carbon offset projects here in Southeast Asia and internationally.

We’re excited to be offering services across the carbon value chain with a focus on decarbonisation and conservation of natural resources and developing, implementing, and investing in comprehensive emission reduction projects, strategies, and technologies.

Our carbon offset procurement and trading have been launched to build a carbon credit portfolio through a mix of opportunistic spot purchases and forward contracts.

Also Read: A wave of change: What sets impact investing apart from traditional investing

For example, we recently bought our first batch of carbon credits in partnership with the global carbon credit exchange and marketplace Climate Impact X (CIX). We’re also building an investment portfolio of private equity funds and exploring opportunities with a strong focus on environmental, social, and governance (ESG);.

At the same time, we are actively seeking entrepreneurs and startup founders with an intrepid spirit and grit who are building the next generation of innovative climate tech.

Finally, we are evaluating entering the carbon offset project development space to develop projects with a visible impact on the environment and generate high-quality carbon offsets to be traded on voluntary carbon markets.

As we close off one year and begin another, safeguarding and growing value for our stakeholders through ESG and impact investments is our top priority: as the planet changes, so must the responsibilities and actions of the private equity world. 

We will all be held accountable for the state of the environmental and social impacts we leave behind to the next generation, so we encourage all corporates and institutional investors to make the environment central to their new year’s resolution in 2022.

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Editor’s note: e27 aims to foster thought leadership by publishing views from the community. Share your opinion by submitting an article, video, podcast, or infographic

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As we approach the digital decade- a new era in the 4.0 revolution, online presence is becoming increasingly important for brands, founders, entrepreneurs, VCs and arguably anyone who wants to be seen at all. There is no dearth of digital marketing avenues, and it is becoming difficult to stand out in the digital noise. 

One way to position yourself as a peer leader and stand out in the crowd is through thought leadership articles. Before we delve deeper into why these articles are so important and how they can help you and your brand, let us first explore what thought leadership means.

What is thought leadership?

In 1994, Joel Kurtzman, editor-in-chief of Strategy & Business magazine, said, “Peers recognises a thought leader, customers and industry experts as someone who deeply understands the business they are in, the needs of their customers and the broader marketplace in which they operate. They have distinctively original ideas, unique points of view and new insights.” 

Today, in its simplest form and according to the Oxford dictionary, thought leadership refers to “intellectual influence and innovative or pioneering thinking”. 

So, thought leadership would mainly entail creating and sharing content that taps into the experience, talent, and passion you have for your business or community. Pair that with extensive research and try to answer the biggest questions in the minds of your target audience, peers or even competitors on a particular topic.

Now that we have established what thought leadership means, let us bust some common myths around this. More often than not, I have come across young executives and even startup founders who believe that they are not ready to be writing a thought leadership article. 

The fact is that anyone can be a thought leader- a startup employee, founder, entrepreneur, VC, researcher, academician, a government official, a student- anyone who has a point of view that speaks to a set target audience and answers their questions.

How to go about leveraging thought leadership articles for branding

Bryan Rhoads, former Head of Content at Intel, always says, “you have to win the internet every day.” And, thought leadership articles can help you do that. You can leverage this type of content to speak directly to your audiences, answer questions that matter in your industry, comment on trends and bring in your personal experiences and lessons you’ve learned. However, when writing a thought leadership article, you need to keep a few things in mind:

• Do not fall into the “unique POV trap”

Many aspirant authors of these articles keep waiting for that unique point of view that they think will help make their articles stand out. It is important to note that the audience isn’t necessarily waiting for something new and unique all the time. They are seeking value. 

And, the fact that you are talking about something you have experience, expertise and exposure, automatically makes it unique because your experiences and takeaways are yours alone. 

So, don’t wait for something “out-of-the-box” because you won’t have those ideas all the time. Just pick up that laptop and start typing on that one question you want to answer for your audiences today. A McKinsey & Company research proves that the 3 Cs of customer satisfaction are “consistency, consistency, and consistency.” So, keep writing.

• Video, visuals and audio are trending, but research says written content is king

Lately, with the rise of podcasts, YouTube Shorts, Instagram Reels and of course, TikTok, a lot has been said about the importance and effectiveness of audio and visual content. 

However, a report by Social Media Examiner reveals that 58 per cent, i.e., more than half of marketers prefer “original written content”, which includes blog posts, articles, and ebooks over visual content. So, if you have any doubts about the best way to establish yourself as a thought leader, know that written content is king. 

• Be subtle, do not hard sell

Another extremely important rule to follow when writing a thought leadership article is to avoid sounding too promotional. The hard sell is a turn off for everyone alike- the media giving you the platform (because they want to add value to their readers over simply selling your product), as well as your readers seeking answers and insights.

You can use thought leadership articles to promote your brand but do not hard sell. Remember, a product feature is not thought leadership. 

Here are some quick tips on how to promote your brand via thought leadership articles without sounding like a salesperson- 

• Maintain a consistent tonality and voice
• Keep your brand’s key messaging and pillars in mind while drafting the content.
• Do not try to sell everything in one article- pick one challenge, explain why it is relevant to the people you are speaking to and present a solution.

At e27, we value thought leaders and our reader base. If you are keen on embarking upon your journey of becoming a thought leader in Southeast Asia, join our Contributor Program today. 

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BandLab, a Singapore-based social music creation platform, has announced a US$53 million fundraise, led by Vulcan Capital.

K3 Ventures and existing investor Caldecott Music Group also participated.

The new capital will allow BandLab to expand its team and refine and grow its offerings to music creators and aspiring artists worldwide.

This round brings the startup’s post-money valuation to US$303 million.

Launched in 2015, BandLab is a next-generation social music creation platform, which aims to support creators of all kinds, from first-time creators to Grammy-winning producers.

Also Read: Singapore music collab platform BandLab acquires music live-streaming service Chew

Its cross-platform creative ecosystem offers users everything from its Mix Editor to a royalty-free Sounds library, as well as Mastering, newly announced AI-powered SongStarter.

Beyond creation tools, it also offers artist services like distribution and direct fan subscriptions. The upcoming integration of its recently acquired independent artist services platform ReverbNation into BandLab will further expand the suite of services available to independent artists.

Its parent BandLab Technologies also runs the professional-level digital audio workstation, Cakewalk.

“Our vision is a future where there are no barriers to making and sharing music. In particular among independent musicians and creators, and among mobile-first users, the billions with smartphones and original musical ideas,” said BandLab CEO and co-founder Meng Ru Kuok.

Also Read: YouTube co-founder, Alpha JWC, AC Ventures back Otoklix’s US$10M funding round

“We’re not only doubling down on our market-leading creator tools but also prioritising compensation for artists and protection for rights holders. If creators aren’t being paid fairly, it’s a major barrier to their development and growth as artists,” Ru Kuok added.

In September 2017, BandLab had acquired London-based music live-streaming service Chew.tv. A year earlier, it had bought a 49 per cent stake in Rolling Stone magazine.

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Modern technological advancement allows people worldwide to live longer, resulting in ageing populations everywhere. Moreover, studies indicate that in Asia, where around 60 per cent of the world’s population live, people are ageing faster than in the west.

For instance, the over 65s in Asia are expected to increase an incredible  314 per cent from 207 million in 2000 to 857 million in 2050. As people age, the world is witnessing a decline in the working-age population from another perspective. Asian workforces, in particular, are expected to reduce by hundreds of millions of people in the coming years.

China expects to see a 170 million decline in its working-age population in the next three decades. Likewise, in Singapore, the over-65 population is predicted to surge from 14 per cent in 2019 to 25 per cent in the next decade.

Meanwhile, Selina Seah, Director at Singapore’s Centre for Healthcare Assistive and Robotics Technology (CHART), said that the country is significantly exposed to the “three tsunamis” in healthcare– an ageing population, a shrinking workforce, and rising chronic diseases.

Thus, healthcare is a particularly vulnerable area, with the World Health Organization (WHO) predicting a shortfall of 18 million health workers by 2030, primarily in low and middle-income countries.

The situation is further exacerbated by the drastic fall in population growth in the region, which is already negative in Japan and projected to be zero for the entire Asian region by 2050.

Meanwhile, the robotics industry is on a rapid rise, with robots handling everything from doctors to firing employees. So, it stands to reason that the proactive Asian countries, especially Singapore, Japan, China, South Korea, and Taiwan, should focus on robotics technology to handle their citizens’ healthcare needs in the challenging years ahead.

Also Read: We are a coding and robotics school. This is how we prepare for COVID-19 outbreak

Asia is therefore using an estimated 65 per cent of the world’s robots, also becoming the region with the highest robot production. Japan is the world’s leading adopter of robots and its leading producer and exporter of robots, at 55 per cent of total manufacture.

Furthermore, Japan’s innovative strategies are combining AI and robotics to enable robots to solve complex social issues and increase economic growth. One project focuses on developing service robots to ensure adequate services for elderly homecare needs and for caring for seniors in healthcare settings.

Moreover, Toyota’s Human Support Robot (HSR) is an existing platform that combines robots with human factors to offer basic care and support nursing in long-term care facilities.

Meanwhile, Singapore’s Changi General Hospital (CGH, a 1000-bed, academic medical institution caring for over 1 million people, has installed over 50 robots as staff members, engaged in a diverse array of duties, from performing surgeries to handling administration.

As CHART’s Selina Seah said, “we thought the aged patients would not take well to the robots. However, we discovered in our research that elderly patients look at robots like life-sized toys. So, they are brought back to their childhood and, in fact, able to interact and respond better to therapy with robots than they do with a human.”

Likewise, South Korea’s Seoul Medical Center engages three types of robots to help medical staff treat coronavirus patients. One robot type checks visitors’ temperature before allowing them in; the second robot type sterilises negative pressure rooms. The third robot delivers clothes and other soiled and used items to a disposal area.

In Taiwan, a startup, Brain Navi Biotechnology, has created surgical robots for brain surgery. The platform uses machine vision, robotic technology, and algorithms for real-time imaging, precise surgery, and minimally invasive surgical procedures.

Also, through robotic technology, the machines recognise surgical instruments within seconds and register patients through a contactless machine vision process.

With the pandemic uppermost in all activities, Thailand too has engaged AI and robotics innovation to support medical professionals. Innovations by Thai companies have created a 3-in-1 negative pressure patient transport capsule that generates negative pressure, removes harmful particles in the air, and disinfects itself.

Another innovation, the IoT Cold Chain monitors and controls the icy temperatures required for vaccine storage, while the CARA Robot assists medical staff to deliver medicine and food supplies within hospitals and isolation venues, and the Xterlizer can disinfect 25 square meters and destroy bacteria and fungi with UV-C light within five minutes.

Also Read: A true living AI is adaptive, conscious, caring and ethical: Dr David Hanson of Hanson Robotics

China too has stepped up its robot use following the pandemic, using robots to deliver food to ensure social distancing, monitor mask-wearing,o monitor temperature of people, and guide patients while promoting public awareness of preventing epidemics.

In the same vein, Southeast Asian countries appear to engage exoskeleton rehabilitation robotics for patients’ physiotherapy sessions. Singapore’s National University Health System spent US$1.34 million to buy exoskeletons and to train twelve physiotherapists for two years.

The exclusive challenges each country in the Southeast Asian region faces and its unique culture are reflected in the projects undertaken by each country. However, what appears to overwrite all of it is that Southeast Asian nations significantly outperform other regions of the world, especially the US. and Europe. 

Equally apparent is that these service robots are a key mechanism to boost productivity, global competitiveness and enhance living standards. And the widespread adoption of these service robots is recognized as a positive sign of growth and progress.

Moreover, as CEO and co-founder of iRobot, Colin Angle, said, “People are fascinated by robots because they’re machines that can mimic life.”

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Editor’s note: e27 aims to foster thought leadership by publishing views from the community. Share your opinion by submitting an article, video, podcast, or infographic.

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