When it comes to innovation, Asia trails behind Europe and North America according to the latest Global Innovation Index 2013. Only two Asian economies, Hong Kong (ranked 7th) and Singapore (ranked 8th), were listed in the top 10. Switzerland, Sweden, Netherlands, UK and the US topped the rankings. The Asia Wall Street Journal attributes North…
Author: Smart Societies
Smart Societies explores changes to emerging economies in Asia driven by science, technology, education, and innovation.
Indonesia: Asia’s Next Big Opportunity
The Boston Consulting Group has a new report examining Indonesia’s rising middle-class and affluent consumers. Indonesia’s middle class is growing in size and purchasing power. With a population of 248 million, it is already the fourth-largest in the world. Its middle class expected to double to 141 million by 2020. During that period, some 8…
Opportunities in India’s transforming R&D landscape
Over the next decade India’s research and development (R&D) sector is expected to undergo major changes as the Indian government progressively reforms and scales up public investments into science and technology. India’s rapidly changing R&D sector will create new opportunities for Australia as it seeks to advance its strategic relationship with India. India’s young demographic…
The world’s most and least ethnically diverse countries
If you called up two people at random in a particular country and ask them their ethnicity, what are the odds that they would give different answers? The higher the odds, the more ethnically diverse the country. Five Harvard economists and social scientists set out to measure ethnic diversity and have mapped out the results….
China Changing: What does it mean for developing countries
Three decades of rapid growth and structural change have transformed China into an upper-middle-income country and global economic powerhouse. China’s transformations over this period wielded increasing influence over the development path of other countries, either directly through bilateral trade and financial flows or indirectly through growth spillovers and terms of trade effects. Looking ahead, as…
Education Trends in Japan and Korea
Below are some interesting education trends in Asia reported in the recent OECD Education Indicators 2013. Japan Teachers spend longer hours in school compared to other OECD countries. In 2011, public school teachers in primary to upper secondary education worked for 1 883 hours, more than the OECD average of 1 671 hours at primary…
Australia is preferred destination for many international students
According to the latest OECD indicators on education, the most significant feature of the tertiary education landscape in Australia is the large proportion of international students. Australia is a key destination for students from around the world, hosting more than 6% of the world’s foreign students. This figure places Australia as the third most popular…
5 ways to engage Asia’s innovation century
By Eugene Sebastian A couple of months ago, the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade called for submissions that would help inform its whole-of-Australia approach to developing country strategies with the five Asia Pacific priority countries: China, India, Indonesia, Japan and South Korea. Nearly 250 submissions were submitted. One submission from Monash University…
Pivoting towards an Asia’s innovation century
By Eugene Sebastian Australian universities have a huge role to play in helping Australia build effective relationships with Asia. If there is one significant opportunity to further strengthen Australia’s link with the region it is through the pursuit of research and innovation collaborations. Traditionally, Australian universities have focused most of their research attention on Europe…
State of Victoria emphasises innovation in South East Asia
The Premier of Victoria, Dr Denis Napthine, is leading a super trade mission of 450 business and education delegates to South East Asia. The delegation will focus on Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Vietnam and the Philippines. Higher education and research is a major focus of the visit. About five Victorian universities are accompanying the premier. They…
Silent transformation of India’s R&D
Authors: Eugene Sebastian and Mohan Krishnamoorthy Over the next decade India’s research and development (R&D) sector is expected to undergo major changes as the Indian government progressively reforms and scales up public investments into science and technology. India along with China is set to drive global R&D. According to latest data, global R&D spending is expected…
Are we promoting superficial and instant global higher education?
Guest Contributor: Phan Le Ha, Monash University Is the over-promotion of ‘the’ assumed unproblematic western styled approach to internationalising higher education leading to a superficial engagement with Asia? Late last year, the Australian Government formally linked the country’s future to its northern neighbours. Prime Minister Julia Gillard even declared: “Whatever else this country brings, it…
Why some universities international strategy fail
Why do some university international strategy fail? According to British researchers, the challenge tends to be largely due to internal rather that externally driven factors. In describing their research, they conducted interviews of senior management, marketing group and academics responsible for international strategy implementation at a medium sized university located in central England. Nan Jiang…
Asia’s smart cities
What makes a ‘smart city’? Climate strategist, Boyd Cohen mashed up about nine data sources and city rankings to create a master list of the 10 smartest cities in the Asia Pacific region. Hong Kong is ranked number one in the region for its multiple government funded universities, high rates of transit rides per capita,…
Emerging economies to grow in 2013
A recent Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) predicts China’s economy to rebound and grow at 8.5% in 2013 and 8.9% in 2014. Brazil, India, Indonesia, Russia and South Africa economies are also set to grow. The report, which is a twice-yearly analysis of the major economic trends and prospects for the next two…
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