This report provides an overview of frontier technology development in Asia and the Pacific. It highlights key opportunities and challenges of frontier technologies across the three dimensions of sustainabledevelopment - economic, social and environmental. The report also proposes some key policy priorities that could: 1) form the basis of a next...

The current global political and economic setting is complex and fast-changing, with society transforming in ways that challenge existing views about the world and how it is governed. Technology is disrupting the status quo and creating a future of unknowns. Meanwhile, globalism has accelerated and a backlash has formed as...

To the hundreds of millions of people in Asia with access to the web, online platforms have emerged as valuable tools for navigating this connected world. In sectors as diverse as finance, logistics, cross-border trade, talent acquisition, household services, and the traditional buying and selling of goods, online platforms are...

Asia has emerged as a major area of growth for enterprises that harness platform business models. Globally, Asia is second only to North America in generating large successful platform companies. The growing significance of platform companies is perhaps inevitable, given the size and scale of Asia in the global economy,...

With the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Economic Community set to come into effect by the end of 2015, retail e-commerce offers a unique opportunity to connect millions of merchants and consumers across the region. Today, e-commerce remains relatively underdeveloped in Southeast Asia, accounting for less than 1 percent...

Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) are an important segment in the economies of member states in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). Across the five countries of Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand, SMEs contribute between 30% and 60% of the countries’ gross domestic product (GDP) and employ between...

Recognizing the potential of data innovation, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) innovation teams at the Regional Centre for Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States (ECIS) and the Regional Hub for Arab States embarked on a “big data for development exploration journey,” seeking to harness new sources of data...

The steady integration of new technologies (e.g. cloud computing, social media, mobile technology) into the everyday lives of people, businesses and governments is helping to open up governments and giving rise to new forms of public engagement and relationships that transcend public, private and social spheres. This new digital environment...

This report is part of the ‘Formative Evaluation of the Innovation Initiative in UNFPA’.1 The motivations for the evaluation included critically reflecting on lessons learned from the promotion of innovation since the 2014 creation of the UNFPA Innovation Fund, providing inputs for the next UNFPA Strategic Plan (2018–2021) and UNFPA...

The “data revolution” has put statistics squarely at the heart of the sustainable development agenda. Success will depend upon not only the international community’s ability to transform how we produce data, but also the extent to which governments, civil society, and development partners use this information effectively to improve people’s...

Many people are excited about data, particularly when those data are big. Big data, we are told, will be the fuel that drives the next industrial revolution, radically reshaping economic structures, employment patterns and reaching into every aspect of economic and social life. While considering the potential impacts of big...

This report explores the ways in which information and communication technologies (ICTs) can contribute to efforts towards meeting child-focused development goals. The diffusion of ICTs has been highly uneven, and it is clear that digital divides not only trace but can also further deepen existing social divides, between income-rich and...

The following multinational research explores the role of digital resilience (the ability to prevent and respond to online risk1) in providing children with the skills and characteristics needed to navigate the internet safely. Analysing the ndings from children aged 9-18 in Australia, Japan, Indonesia, Korea and Taiwan; it investigates the...

In February 2016 at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, the mobile industry became the first industry to commit to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), an ambitious plan unanimously adopted in 2015 by all 193 countries in the United Nations General Assembly aiming to end extreme poverty, fight inequality and protect...

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has played a key role in the peace, prosperity and geopolitical stability of its 10 member economies: Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. According to the OECD, ASEAN is one of the fastest growing regions in the...

Technology is changing our world in ways unimaginable even a decade ago. Mobile technology in particular has begun to permeate our daily lives, providing unparalleled access to information. It is also raising the quality of education and improving access to it. Early initiatives in mobile education, or “mEducation,” are already...

Women’s World Banking’s research has shown that women are inherent savers, managing to save on average 10 to 15 percent of their earnings despite low and often unpredictable incomes. However, low-income women often face barriers to accessing a safe place to save due to mobility and time constraints as well...

Fast evolving cloud-computing platforms that enable new business models, combined with a rapid uptake in digital technologies by consumers and a change in consumer behavior and preferences have enabled the emergence of a so-called ‘sharing economy’. With new start-ups offering all kinds of services springing up every day, there was...

The universe of small and medium-sized firms is very mixed. In the majority of countries, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are defined as firms employing between 10 and 250 people. Firms with up to 10 employees are usually referred to as micro firms. There is, however, no commonly agreed definition...

Digitally driven economic growth continues to be one of the few bright spots in a sluggish global economy. Reducing or eliminating numerous factors that inhibit online interactions and exchange could cause this growth to be even faster and could have an even bigger impact. To better understand these sources of...

We have studied the trade patterns and growth of enterprises using the eBay Marketplace. Irrespective of where in the world we look, we have found micro and small businesses leveraging the online commerce platform model to engage in expansive commerce, often on a global scale. Across the more than 40...

Chapter 7 of Asia-Pacific Trade and Investment Report 2016 Digital technology is shaping the future of global trade and investment. One aspect of the adoption of digital technology by global exporters and importers is the purchase and sale of goods and services online, which is part of what is broadly understood...

E-payments hold a broad range of promises for individuals, communities and economies at large. Adaptation to digital transactions is already having a transformative impact on societies through a lowering of transaction costs, particularly for SMEs, and thereby adding to productivity, economic growth and social benefits. Constraining transaction flows, through restrictions...

Evidence Works 2016 convened senior officials from government, nongovernmental organisations (NGOs), and philanthropic organisations to engage in dialogue and exchange ideas about the policies and practices governments around the world are putting in place to promote the use of evidence and data in policymaking to improve outcomes for citizens and...