Words: Eugene Sebastian ASEAN needs to play a more significant role in regional and global affairs. ASEAN (Association of South East Asian Nations) is a group of smaller and medium-sized states that is disparate, with very different levels of development and diversity of political views. What the regional grouping tends to do well more often…
Author: Smart Societies
Smart Societies explores changes to emerging economies in Asia driven by science, technology, education, and innovation.
A Pacific Century, Not Asian Century?
Words: Eugene Sebastian 21st century is not and will not belong to Asia alone according to experts. The town of Locke is about 140 kilometres northeast of San Francisco. It’s the last surviving rural Chinatown in America. California’s ties with China go back to the gold rush of the mid-nineteenth century where large number of…
University tie-up a leap forward in Indonesia
By Paul Ramadge This year a senior group of Indonesian academics visited Monash University‘s Clayton campus and toured some of the national facilities co-located at the university – the synchrotron, the centre for nano-fabrication, the bio-sciences precinct and the New Horizons zone developing next-generation engineering and manufacturing technologies. Monash had a clear objective. It wanted…
‘India and China to be next hub of Nobel laureates in medicine’
By Times of India STOCKHOLM: India’s rising economic might will soon help produce a Nobel laureate in medicine, predicted the man who chairs the committee that picks Nobel laureates. The secretary general of the Nobel CommitteeGoran K Hannson told the TOI in an exclusive interview that his recent visit to India and China and having seen the backing for…
What will higher education look like in 2020?
By Eugene Sebastian A new study by the Observatory on Borderless Higher Education scans the horizon of higher education to see what the future looks like for higher education. The study is based on interviews with 21 international education professionals. Below are some interesting points from the study: 1. Competition and cooperation Universities will continue…
Amartya Sen: ‘You need an educated, healthy workforce to sustain economic development’
by Udit Misra, Forbes India To reclaim a high growth trajectory, prioritise expenditure on education and healthcare instead of ill-directed subsidies and tax exemptions, the Nobel Prize-winning economist Amartya Sen tells Forbes India at the launch of An Uncertain Glory: India and its contradictions, a book he’s co-authored with Jean DrezDuring the last two…
Smart Societies on Flipboard
Smart Societies (smart-societies.com) is an active research project led by a group of growing number of individuals interested in themes of education, research and innovation in emerging economies. The project specifically examines the changing social, political, education and business landscapes and the forces and under-currents that are transforming economies in the Asia Pacific, Africa and Latin…
Financial crisis boosts suicides
Two curious and contrasting things happens during a financial crisis: massive layoffs and bankruptcies leads to a surge in suicides, at the same time, many rich got richer, doubling their wealth in some cases. A study by the University of Hong Kong examining suicide data from the World Health Organisation‘s mortality database and the online…
Word of mouth and advertising in Southeast Asia
In Southeast Asia, word-of-mouth recommendations from family and friends continues to be the most influential source of advertising among consumers, according to research released by Nielsen. The study also revealed that consumers’ trust in traditional advertising remains strong, while the credibility of online advertising improved in recent years. Nielsen’s Global Survey of Trust in Advertising…
Chinese Universities Become More Attractive For Budding Fortune 500 CEOs
By Michelle FlorCruz on September 06 2013 9:56 AM Many of China’s colleges and universities are becoming increasingly competitive, and according to a British study, they are attracting global talent and putting themselves on a global map of top institutions that’s been long dominated by American universities. A new study by British-based Times Higher Education has ranked the…
Australia-China scientific collaboration productive
By Xu Haijing CANBERRA, Aug. 17 (Xinhua) — Dating back to 1960s, when Australia and China were yet to establish diplomatic relations, scientists from both countries had already started paying visits to each other. Half a century later, this relationship is described by Australian Chief Scientist Ian Chubb as scientifically productive and mutually beneficiary. Professor…
World rankings of universities
This week, the Shanghai Jiao Tong University released its latest annual Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU). The United States continues to dominate global higher education rankings with 17 universities in the top 20 and 149 in the top 500. Australian universities have been steadily improving. This year five institutions are in the top 100,…
Engaging Brazilian science
By Eugene Sebastian A couple of weeks ago the Australia Trade Commission – Austrade – reported dramatic increases in Brazilian Government’s ‘Science without Borders’ (SWB) scholarship students to Australia. The latest scholarship rounds, saw a total of 3231 applications to study in Australia in 2014, a 150 percent increase compared to the last call. Austrade…
India’s R&D Plans
By Eugene Sebastian India‘s new Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) Policy was released in January 2013. It envisions placing India among the top five global scientific powers by 2020. It proposes to use STI for faster, sustainable and more inclusive growth with a focus both on STI for people and people for STI. It plans to boost innovation through research…
China’s looming graduate bubble
China faces a graduate bubble driven by rapid expansion in its higher education sector. Chinese graduates are finding it difficult to gain employment. In 1997, 400,000 students graduated from four-year university programs. Today, Chinese schools produce more than 3 million per year. Carl Minzner, from Fordham Law School argues that a rush to open universities…
Smart Societies 