A newly published white paper ‘Immersive STEM Learning Experiences to Shape Shared Futures,’ which details insights from the DCU-led STEM Teacher Internship (STInt) Programme, was launched by the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science Simon Harris, TD.

Authored by DCU’s Associate Prof Eilish McLoughlin, Prof Deirdre Butler and Dr. Mairéad Hurley, the report stresses the importance of building and deepening teacher-industry connections to enhance learner outcomes.

Better STEM learning needed

It also highlights that “Our world and educational systems are constantly evolving to address new challenges and demands faced by society. Education must prepare young people to innovate and to address problems that were not even imagined at the dawn of the 21st Century.”

The mission of the STEM Teacher internship programme is to inspire innovative learning by facilitating collaborative STEM partnerships between key stakeholders in schools, Universities and industry.

The white paper argues that there are two major challenges to achieving this mission:

Firstly, we need to address inequities in education, specifically issues of diversity, equity and inclusion in STEM education, which negatively affect diversity and inclusion in STEM professions and careers.

Secondly, the need for consensus between higher education, policy and practice when it comes to STEM education, and the need for capacity-building measures to support teachers to deliver integrated STEM education in our Irish classrooms.

The white paper proposes two recommendations to address these key challenges:

Build and deepen teachers’ understanding of integrated STEM education through immersive professional experiences in real-world STEM contexts, and

Develop and strengthen connections across and between actors within the STEM learning ecosystem to enhance learner outcomes.

The paper calls attention to the Irish Government’s STEM Education Policy Statement (2017 – 2026) whereby it points out the need for more connection between educators and industry:

“Business and industry will engage in partnerships with schools with a focus on how they can best support STEM education in our schools and provide learners with an insight into how STEM learning can develop into a career in STEM.” (STEM Education Policy Statement 2017-2026, p. 20)

Professor Daire Keogh, DCU President said:

“The STInt model has shown itself to be transformative for the teaching of STEM competencies in primary and post primary schools. It not only advances the attainment of key skills, but it also promotes greater diversity and inclusion in STEM, and allows for positive industry engagement in the education of our young people. The programme reflects DCU’s values as Ireland’s ‘University of Enterprise’ and national leadership in Teacher Education.

“I support the White Paper’s recommendation, that the government invest in scaling up the STInt Programme for nationwide adoption, and, critically, that Teacher Education be included in future calls under the state’s Human Capital Initiative. This would have a hugely positive impact on the future of Irish education and on our wider society.”

Dr Ruth Freeman, Director Science for Society, Science Foundation Ireland, said:

“As we celebrate National Science Week it’s great to see that teachers, who are such a pivotal influence on young people’s future education and career choices, have had the opportunity to gain a greater understanding of careers in the industry through the STEM internship programme. I congratulate all concerned and look forward to considering the recommendations.”

Led by Associate Professor Eilish McLoughlin from the School of Physical Sciences and Professor Deirdre Butler from the School of STEM Education, Innovation and Global Studies at Dublin City University, the STInt programme is now in its seventh year and has expanded from just five DCU teacher internships in one host organisation in 2016, to 45 students from from D...

A survey shows that 75% of Irish people think that climate change and its consequences are the biggest challenges for humanity in the 21st century. The report focused on citizens’ perceptions of climate change and the actions they expect their country to take to combat it.

More than 30 000 respondents participated in the European Investment Bank (EIB) survey between 26 August and 22 September 2021.

Climate Change Main Points from The Research

68% believe that they are more concerned about the climate emergency than their government.

72% feel that climate change impacts their everyday lives (five points higher than last year).

59% think the country will fail in drastically reducing its carbon emissions by 2050, as pledged in the Paris Agreement.

66% favour stricter government measures that impose changes on people’s behaviour (six points lower than last year).

69% would welcome a tax on products and services that contribute most to global warming.

85% say they want to replace short-distance flights with fast, low-polluting trains in collaboration with neighbouring countries.

The Public’s Perception

Over 60% of Irish people believe that they are more concerned about climate change than their government. So they are reasonably sceptical regarding their country’s capability to undergo an ambitious green transition.

And with the majority of people believing that Ireland will fail to reduce its carbon emissions by 2050, 66% of Irish people favour stricter government measures. Similar to the ones implemented to combat the COVID-19 crisis — that would impose changes on people’s behaviour.

Meanwhile, 8% of Irish people believe that global warming is not due to human activities.

To help reduce carbon emissions by 2050, Christian Kettel, Vice president of EIB, said they are “working closely with Ireland’s public and private sectors to facilitate change through innovative partnerships to boost energy efficiency in buildings and advice on introducing cleaner modes of transport in urban areas.

The Energy Debate

Most Irish people support renewable energy (70%) to address climate change and are slightly less supportive of nuclear power than other Europeans.

Finally, people are less likely to think that their country should rely on energy savings than other Europeans despite the older generation being more supportive of saving energy than the younger generation.

Most Popular Solutions to Tackle Climate Change

Most of the Irish public (69%) would support introducing a tax on products and services that contribute most to global warming. Even among those with lower incomes, 68% would favour such a tax in Ireland.

They are also in favour of a 5-year minimum warranty on any electric or electronic product (90%) and replacing short-distance flights with fast, low-emission trains (85%). Along with softer measures like strengthening education and increasing awareness of sustainable consumption for young adults (93%).

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The latest Global Interconnection Index (GXI Vol. 5), an annual market study published by Equinix, reveals that the pandemic has forced Irish enterprises into digital overdrive. Businesses in Ireland are now compacting the time required to deploy their digital infrastructure to multiple regions, expand to multiple edge locations and integrate multiple clouds—what might have taken two years is now achievable within six months.

This accelerated pace of digital transformation is predicted to continue to fuel the rapid growth in interconnection bandwidth. According to the GXI Vol. 5, overall interconnection bandwidth – the measure of private connectivity for the transfer of data between organisations – is forecast to reach 143+ terabits per second (Tbps) per year in Ireland by 2024, representing a five-year compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 58%. This growth is 26% faster than the EMEA average of 46% CAGR and is aligned with the increasing demand for the digital infrastructure needed to bring more businesses online, facilitate electronic integration with partners and supply chains, and reach more people in distributed hybrid work environments.

The study also uncovered the Irish industries that are experiencing exceptional growth in interconnection bandwidth. Ireland will see the third-highest growth rate in EMEA for interconnection bandwidth consumption by the health & life sciences sector. When it comes to EMEA’s manufacturing and cloud & IT industries, Ireland will see the fifth-highest growth rate. The GXI Vol.5 found that worldwide, the manufacturing industry will witness the second-highest deployment of interconnection bandwidth, behind the financial services sector which will deploy more than 50%.

The Public Sector, Healthcare & Life Sciences, Industrial Services and Transportation industries are expected to experience the fastest digital infrastructure growth, which is forecast to drive a 48% or more CAGR in interconnection bandwidth from 2020 to 2024 globally. These industries that were previously lagging in interconnection adoption are now leading in interconnection growth rate as a result of the pandemic.

Furthermore, the GXI Vol.5 found that digital leaders are interconnecting with 10 times as many partners, enabling them to ride the wave of digital transformation and enjoy best-of-breed services from a vast pool of service providers and partners.

“Irish enterprises understand the fundamental role that sophisticated digital infrastructure plays in their overall growth plans,” said Maurice Mortell, Managing Director for Ireland, Equinix. “The pandemic has been significant in catalysing a digital movement in Ireland and we are seeing how high-growth industries – such as healthcare, manufacturing and IT – are ramping up their digital mastery to out-pace competition and become leaders in their respective fields.”

Industry Perspective on the Global Interconnection Index

Joachim Goyvaerts, Director, Benelux and Ireland, PayPal commented

“A pioneer in the digital payment industry, PayPal has evolved to become a trusted strategic partner to more than 400 million global users. Financial services need to move faster than ever and leverage a robust digital infrastructure to support their clients. Our comprehensive platform powers global commerce and provides exceptional payment experiences in a quick and convenient way, helping customers build a solid foundation for their services and growth.”

Kashif Abbas, General Manager Online, Smartbox Group added:

“As Europe’s leading retailer in unique gift experiences, Smartbox is a digital innovator bringing exceptional gifting solutions to 40,000 partners across 11 countries in Europe. Our highly flexible and scalable digital infrastructure has helped us to drive the digital transformation required to facilitate the rapid growth of our retail and e-commerce business. In 2020, we delivered over 6.5 million individual gift experiences ensuring our customers and their loved ones were a...

Dubliner, Samantha Kelly, Ireland’s Tweeting Goddess and founder of the online business community, the Women’s Inspire Network (WIN), has been appointed to the role of Chief Communications Officer (CCO) with SaaS platform, Wedo.

The world’s first live streaming social platform and neobank, Wedo was founded by tech entrepreneur, Indiana Gregg, in 2020. It is an American and European communication and financial platform for people who want to take charge of and monetise their online business.

“I am thrilled to be joining Wedo, as their purpose aligns perfectly with mine, backing entrepreneurs and helping them communicate effectively, embrace digital media, and trade profitably”, Samantha Kelly commented.

Wedo was developed as a solution to the high costs and complications of being a solo entrepreneur and starting up a business. The platform offers all the necessary tools for entrepreneurs in one convenient location, including a calendar, chat and video communication like webinars, booking tools, invoicing, and a wallet feature to make and receive payments.

Welcoming the Irish social media consultant on board, Indiana Gregg, founder and CEO of Wedo, said Samantha Kelly will be invaluable in the Wedo mission to help small businesses and freelancers break down barriers to entrepreneurship.

“Samantha aligns with our mission to help more people help more people. She’s a go-getter and has a wonderful communications skillset and will no doubt be a great team player! We’re thrilled to welcome her to the Wedo family” – Indiana Gregg

Wedo recently completed a seed investment round, raising $3 million to further develop the platform offering.

The aim is to foster an engaged community of freelancers, independent consultants and entrepreneurs all around the world, to learn from each other and to fine-tune their business offering as a result, Samantha Kelly says.

“As director of the Women’s Inspire Network, my work brings me into contact with hundreds of accomplished women with all sorts of business expertise. WIN and Wedo both work on the same basis of helping people to help people. And, my years as a freelancing entrepreneur means I am tuned to the different challenges and opportunities, and how to address them.”

As well as working as a social media strategist, speaker and trainer, Samantha Kelly started the WIN online business group, and is a top Twitter expert in Ireland, with over 63k followers on the handle @Tweetinggoddess.

See for more details.

We look at the ELY gift pack, from the ELY Wine Bar which was their interesting attempt to deal with the constraints of lockdown in Ireland.

ELY’s gift pack, Lydia’s Selection, reviewed

The delivery time was prompt, which is always a good start for any product like this. Then the packaging was secure, again important for potentially delicate goods inside, and it all arrived safely and undamaged. The cardboard box was sturdy enough to do its job, but then was quickly compostable too, so no messy packaging to deal with. At the office the contents evoked interest in several other people who were around who promptly decided that it was a fun and fresh potential option that they would be using for Christmas this year.

In terms of the contents, top votes went to the two cheeses, both of which were really, really good. The hard cheese was like a mature and more flavoured version of the more common Spanish version of cheddar, it was super tasty and you could see why it was paired with the red wine. Similarly the soft cheese was a much superior version of a brie or camembert, soft, almost like butter, but very tasty. The crackers and chutney that came with it complemented the cheese well too. The charcuterie seemed nice, but disappeared so far that someone here must have really liked it.

The selection was well put together and this will make good gift packs if you are looking for something fun and a little different for the food and wine lover in your life.

This is what was in the box we reviewed ->

Christmas wine and charcuterie hamper box

-Bottle of ‘Mencia’ red wine, two cheeses, ELY chutney, olives, crackers, paté, chorizo, chocolate and gift box – Delivered Nationwide –

Gift Includes:

Wine:

Adega Algueira ‘Mencia’, Ribeira Sacra, Spain, 2019. An absolute delight of a wine, textbook Mencia, the nose is fresh and fragrant, with aromas of plums, berries and cherries. The palate is juicy and lively, with a lovely touch of herbal freshness, and a hint of sourness on the finish. Just delicious – this is what we’ll be drinking all summer.

Goodies:

Cheeses. We have selected two cheeses, one hard and one soft, that we think pair perfectly with the bottle of ‘Mencia’.

Chutney. Our very own ELY chutney, created by our very talented team of chefs and taste tested by all at ELY. just to be sure!

Olives. Olives in a can? Convenient, fresh and tasty!

Crackers

We have also teamed up with new business, Vera Foods. Based is Bray they import gourmet goodies from Spain including amazing cheese crackers.

#Maynooth isn’t to shabby, there’s a decent(ish)

Let us look at what cybersecurity training is, how cyber polygons work, and what benefits such events may bring to organisations. Do cybersecurity exercises really help in repelling targeted attacks or does the interest here only have to do with possible actions of state regulators?

What are the types of cybersecurity exercises?

Today, the concepts of cybersecurity training, cyber drills, cyber polygon do not have clear boundaries. Historically, cybersecurity exercises were paper, command and staff exercises. Such events, which bring together representatives of different departments, were aimed at identifying individual skills. However, today cybersecurity drills are primarily needed to train teamwork.

Sometimes cybersecurity exercises can be conducted as CTF competitions. These are team competitions in the Capture the Flag format. However, they are more likely aimed at acquiring new knowledge and skills in the field of information security, but not at practising actions in case of a cyber-attack on an organisation.

The most advanced version of cybersecurity exercises is to emulate a real attack aimed at an infrastructure that is close to the one owned by the company. Such exercises are challenging to run.

They require a lot of financial and technical resources, specialised software and hardware platforms. In the process of repelling a test attack, employees of the organisation can learn new skills and practice collaborative work in responding to an incident.

There are two types of exercises – theoretical and functional. Theoretical that also called tabletop exercises are aimed at discussing organisational tasks and practising to make managerial decisions.

The functional drills involve technicians who use a simulated environment to practice actions in the event of an incident. There are also hybrid cybersecurity exercises that affect both management and technical personnel.

Cybersecurity exercises can also be classified by scale:

Objective- an attack on a specific enterprise is being practised

Industry-specific – simulating attacks against multiple companies in the same industry.

Cross-industry.

Regional, international.

There are no bad forms of cybersecurity exercises. Any activity where an employee gains new knowledge or hones skills in the field of information security will benefit the company.

Cybersecurity exercises can be defined as any activity that increases the readiness of personnel to counter dangerous cyber threats.

Can Red Teaming be considered cybersecurity exercises?

On the one hand, self-testing your security posture entails the risk of obtaining biased results as not all managers are ready to adequately assess the level of work of their subordinates. The evaluation provided by third parties in most cases will be more indicative.

On the other hand, you can try to carry out some types of cybersecurity drills on your own. Large, mature organisations regularly undergo various internal audits. Cybersecurity exercises can be included in the standard procedures of such departments in order to provide a view on potential problems from the outside.

The maturity of the company and its readiness for such a step are of critical importance in deciding whether to conduct cybersecurity exercises on your own or not. Here are the key questions that may arise along the way:

Is the company able to deploy a copy of the infrastructure on which the exercise will be conducted?

Is the company ready to conduct drills on a live business system?

Who will attack? Is it necessary to attract specialised companies?

How to simulate the “creativity” typical of real hackers during a test attack?

Is it possible to simulate an attack by attracting White Hat hackers? Is it safe?

It should be noted that conducting an attack on a real infrastructure is associated with significant risks, especially when possible temporal disruptions may threaten human lives and health. In some cases, such intervention in the operation of critical systems...

Thousands of self-assessed taxpayers throughout the country are scrambling to avoid late filing surcharges of 5% or 10%meet the ROS pay-and-file deadline on November 17th

Tax experts at Taxback.com are urging those who have yet to file, to move swiftly to try and meet the deadline, or if the timeline is simply too tight, then to at least mitigate the impact of late filing surcharges imposed by Revenue.

Avoid Late Filing Surcharges of 5% or 10%

The tax experts have issued a pay and file explainer including some top tips for those who are obliged to file an income tax return for 2021.

Speaking in advance of the deadline, Barry Cahill of Taxback.com, said:

“The October 31st deadline has already passed, but anyone who uses the Revenue online system has until November 17th to get their affairs in order. We know this time of year can be stressful for people – many of those affected are small to medium-sized business owners who, in the midst of the day to day running of a business, may have lost track of their tax affairs, or simply may not be as organised as they had hoped to be, and so are now clambering around trying to collate receipts and relevant documentation.”

Missing the Deadline

Taxback.com say two things could happen if you file late – you will be subject to both interest and surcharges.

Mr. Cahill explained: “Revenue can charge interest at a rate of 0.0219% of your liability per day or part of a day that you extend beyond the deadline. This may seem like a small percentage, but it all adds up.

“Legally, Revenue is entitled to charge interest to anyone who is late paying their liability, but in actuality, this is rarely charged, and if so, usually only to tax avoiders or evaders.

The second possible charge is the 5% (increasing to 10%) surcharge. Revenue is fastidious when it comes to self-assessed taxpayers filing tax returns and the late fling surcharge is automatically applied by ROS.

But Revenue is not an unreasonable entity – their policy is always to communicate with the taxpayer to resolve any situation. So, I would advise you to either contact them directly – or ask whoever handles your tax affairs to do so, to explain your situation and to relay to them that you are moving to rectify matters as soon as possible.

There had been calls for a further extension of the November 17th deadline for business in receipt of some Covid supports, but as of yet there has not been any extension confirmed and at this late stage in the year it is unlikely to be introduced.”

Mr. Cahill concluded: “Being self-assessed should not be seen as intimidating – neither should it be something that people ignore. The more tax savvy you become, and the more financially literate we become as a nation, the fear element of the ‘taxman’ should reduce.

Revenue’s job is to ensure that everyone is taxed correctly and fairly. However, it is up to us to ensure that we include everything on our return to reduce our liability. Don’t be afraid to spend a little extra to get the help of an expert, it could be the best money you spend this year”.

See more stories here.

A new national Quality Standards Framework for Ireland’s enterprise hub, co-working and the remote working sector has been unveiled by Minister Damien English TD, Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Trade & Employment.

The development of the framework was overseen by a National Steering Committee, chaired by Minister English, was funded by Enterprise Ireland and managed and coordinated by the Community Enterprise Association Ireland.

Quality Standards Framework

The first of its kind in the world, the new framework provides a professional standard for the 350+ enterprise hub, co-working and remote working locations nationwide that play a pivotal role in supporting start-ups, SMEs, multinationals and remote workers across the public and private sectors.

Entitled QHubs, the overarching aim of the new quality standard is to raise the overall quality, environmental and innovation performance of the sector, due to the ISO standards the framework is grounded in, and ensure the national hub network continues to support the realisation of a sustainable and balanced regional development model for Ireland.

Committee members included senior officials from Enterprise Ireland; IDA Ireland; Skillnet Ireland; the National Standards Authority of Ireland (NSAI); the Department of Enterprise, Trade & Employment, the Western Development Commission; the Regional Enterprise Plans Programme and the County & City Managers Association (CCMA). Independent consultants Dolmen Design & Innovation were appointed to design and deliver the project.

When a location, centre or hub signs up to the new QHubs Standard, they will go through the following process to achieve their quality standards status:

Engage in an ‘Innovation and Quality Diagnostic’ process to define their current status based on their strategic purpose, size, capacity and occupancy as well as services and facilities available.

This ranges from Level 1, which is a local community hub that provides good quality and affordable workspaces, shared services and networking opportunities, to Level 4, which offers more regional, national and international collaborations, shared learning and peer to peer opportunities, and market access for client companies that want to scale globally.

With assistance from a dedicated mentor, each participant will identify their desired ambitions and goals, such as how to add value to the facility for client companies via improved services, products, experiences and upgrading business model and processes used. This offers an opportunity for locations to move up through the ranking system from Level 1 to 4, if that is their desired ambition.

A customised ‘Growth Pathway’ will be developed to help each participating location work towards their targets, as well as access to the support required to achieve this. This Growth Pathway is verified by an external independent party.

Annually all hubs will be measured and their progress benchmarked, with an external verification party reviewing progress in line with their Growth Pathway. To facilitate this, a range of KPI’s will be set in a variety of areas such as:

Quality, Environmental and Innovative performance

Community & Network

Customer Experience

Digitisation

Job Creation

As well as having access to a host of best-in-class resources, managers and team members of each location will be invited to engage in MentorsWork, a 12-week management and innovation programme from Skillnet Ireland and SFA.

Involving one-to-one mentoring, webinars, masterclasses and workshops, the programme is designed to meet the ongoing talent development needs of the managers and staff across the national network.

An annual Benchmarking Report of the sector, broken down by county, region and sector, will be shared with all participants, while an annual Award Ceremony will take place to recognise growth and performance achievements as well as share best practice learning.

Minister Damien English said: “There is a significant num...

The highly prestigious ‘Breakthrough Clinical Cancer Research Fellowship Programme in association with Cancer Research’, are now inviting medical graduates, in any cancer discipline in Ireland, to apply.

The two-year training fellowships will be offered biennially and fully funded by one of Ireland’s leading cancer research charities, Breakthrough Cancer are now inviting medical graduates, in any Cancer discipline in Ireland, to apply. The two-year training fellowships will be offered biennially and fully funded by one of Ireland’s leading cancer research charities, Breakthrough Cancer Research.

Breakthrough Cancer Research Fellowship Programme.

This new programme has been created for medical graduates who are dedicated to a career in the fields of oncology, haematology, or a related discipline. The programme will facilitate patient focused research in UCC and its associated hospitals to help develop and improve cancer treatments for Irish patients. Bringing concepts from inception to completion is just one thing the training program aims to for the fellows to create as well as experiencing the full spectrum of clinical/translation research and successful applicants can work closely with clinical scientists as well as they’re research teams to take care of cancer patients in the Cork region and beyond.

Photo courtesy of the CÚRAM SFI Research Centre for smart medical devices.

Professor Rosim Connolly, the recently appointed Professor Gerald O’Sullivan Clinical Chair in Cancer research initiated the opportunity to build on existing fellowships such as the ICAT fellowships and the National Doctors Training and Planning (NDTP) aims to provide a high-quality training experience in advance of or instead of international training opportunities. The fellowship will also facilitate a certifiable educational experience such as an MD in Clinical Medicine if not already obtained by the successful applicant.

Announcing the Fellowship, Professor Connolly said, “Cancer research is one of five focus research areas for UCC’s College of Health and Medicine and over the last decade, UCC has seen a major expansion in clinical and translational medical research. As the recently appointed Professor Gerald O’Sullivan Clinical Chair in Cancer Research at UCC, my aim is to further develop the clinical and translational research infrastructure in the region to ensure high quality patient-focused cancer research at UCC and its affiliated hospitals.

This Fellowship will enable the successful applicant to bring concepts from inception to completion and improve outcomes for cancer patients in Ireland.” Breakthrough Cancer research is one of Ireland’s leading cancer research charities: it aims to inspire and enable the financial support for exceptional research for cancer in Ireland in order to develop more effective treatments for patients’ cancer care and survival. The organisation works closely with researchers and clinicians in practice all over the country so that research is targeted at finding new treatment options for poor prognoses and incurable cancers.

Over the past 20 years, Breakthrough has helped bring 8 novel treatments to clinical trial and the organisation has a further 5 in the pipeline. Commenting on the charity’s support for the research Fellowship, Orla Dolan, CEO of Breakthrough Cancer Research said, “Cancer takes one life every hour of every day in Ireland. We are all aware of the power and need for research. It is the only thing that will lead to breakthroughs and give patients the futures they deserve.

This highly prestigious, fully funded training opportunity is an investment in the next generation of cancer researchers. It will provide the successful candidates with a structured certifiable educational experience that is supported by clinical and translational research mentors in the UCC Cancer Trials Cluster. We are therefore thrilled to fund this research Fellowship Programme to help advance cancer research and make breakthr...

Fintech in the Economic Landscape

It would come as no surprise to anyone that the United States has a significant number of fintech startups. Silicon Valley is understood to be one of the most innovative ecosystems for such activities, after all.

However, most people would probably be surprised to learn that Asia is predicted to surpass even the United States in this regard over the coming years. This is an interesting development and merits further investigation. Let’s dive in and take a deeper look at fintech in Southeast Asia.

Fintech in Southeast Asia

Fintech’s growth in Southeast Asia has been rapid, to say the least. It has the distinct honor of being the fastest-growing fintech market in the world at the moment. This is quite a feat considering the technological hegemony that the United States and Europe have established over the years. Nevertheless, Southeast Asian countries have risen to become some of the most promising players in the fintech market.

What is behind the rise of fintech in Southeast Asia? Let’s take a look at the various factors.

Networking Capability

One of the biggest drivers behind the boom of fintech in Southeast Asia is the high levels of internet connectivity among citizens. The region has presented several remarkable trends; chief among them is the fact that people use e-commerce and social networking sites regularly but still have no access to formal banking and financial services.

This apparent lack of interest in participating in banking has had the strange effect of banks needing to emphasize their relevance and importance to consumers. This is because banks and financial service providers have been unable to capitalize on the vast amounts of consumer data available to other services.

This data can be used to improve their own services and decision-making processes. Since citizens in these countries spend much of their free time on social media sites, the idea that data is there to be utilized isn’t incorrect. In fact, the lack of access to this data represents huge potential losses to the formal banking sector that fintech in Southeast Asia is looking to leverage.

Business Climate

A shift in consumer dynamics often drives change. In the case of fintech in Southeast Asia, the evolution of consumer demographics has played a major role in its adoption. Of course, a young, tech-savvy consumer base isn’t enough by itself. The supporting infrastructure has also improved considerably over the years.

With the rise in e-commerce sites, both local and international, the Southeast Asian market has slowly begun to address the logistical, financial, and technological challenges that stifled the industry. Digital payments are slowly replacing cash on delivery, and trust in the ecosystem is being built slowly.

Fintech in Southeast Asia is bringing payment portals and streamlining the financial services for many of these e-commerce platforms. Naturally, these developments are opening up routes to progress for various other industries. The overall outlook of fintech is positive.

Modern Organizations

The business environment spoken of previously has increased the demands placed on businesses throughout the region. Organizations that have existed for decades are under stress due to the emergence of leaner competitors. Inefficiencies can be fatal in this environment which has motivated major players to look for competitive advantages.

Not only are smaller businesses looking to penetrate the market by utilizing fintech and other modern processes, but older organizations are also renewing their operations to get rid of deadweight in an attempt to stay relevant.

In either case, fintech is making organizations faster and more effective, building a more modern portfolio of services for the contemporary consumer.

Investment

The region lacks managed monetary service offerings. The percentages of people with formal bank accounts in Vietnam, the Philippines, Cambodia, and Indonesia are 31%, 34%, 22%, and 49%, respec...