TechBurst Talks

Over the past few years, delivering sustainable solutions and reducing carbon emissions have moved up the corporate agenda. But while many people like talking about it, few are ready to act.

One reason that people claim that holds them back is that sustainability solutions come with a green premium - which is the additional cost of choosing a clean technology over one that emits a greater amount of greenhouse gases. But that's not always the case anymore.

In this podcast, we are joined by the CEO & Co-founder of Ampd Energy, Brandon Ng. His company proves that you don't have to increase your costs to decrease your carbon emissions.

01:40 Intro to Brandon & Ampd Energy

- How an approach from Gammon Construction in Hong Kong changed Ampd's focus to reducing carbon emissions in the construction industry

05:00 Ampd Energy targets the construction industry, which is an industry laggard when it comes to driving productivity and innovation. However, you are seeing very strong traction in your home market in Hong Kong. What is driving your success?

- Sole focus is on the construction industry

- First customer was a marquee company - Gammon Construction

- Electric Vehicles have been in Hong Kong for over 10 years, so battery technology is viewed as "ready for primetime", not an emerging tech.

- The business case stacks up. Ampd Energy doesn't come with a "green premium", it actually reduces costs from the current solutions deployed.

10:00 Hong Kong's Construction Industry Council partnered with Hong Kong's Development Bureau to launch at HKD 1 Billion (USD 130m) Construction Innovation Technology Fund. How has this been adopted and leveraged by the construction industry and what benefits has it delivered?

12:45 What are the biggest challenges you face when trying to win new business?

- Lack of product awareness leads to misconceptions and misunderstandings about what we do

- Fear of change

14:45 What is your business model? Do customers have to buy (CapEx) yoru solution or can they lease (OpEx) it?

15:45 What are your key objectives to grow your business over the coming 12 - 24 months

- Increase market share in HK

- Expand to Singapore and other markets across Asia

- Continue to educate and advocate for greener, cleaner and quieter construction sites using Ampd's products

18:00 What impact has the rise in importance of sustainability and reducing carbon emissions had on your business?

- Investment firms holding industry responsible for the carbon emissions

19:30 What are the Critical Success Factors for driving your long term (5-10 year) growth and success? And the biggest risks?

- Urbanisation

- Bridging the gap in debt financing to give Ampd the working capital to build more product in advance of orders received

- Attracting talent

25:45 What do you know today that you wish you knew when you started Ampd in 2015?

26:40 When you expand into new markets, will you go direct or leverage channel partners?

28:00 How can the audience follow Ampd Energy or get in touch with you?

Website: www.ampd.energy

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/ampd_energy/

Brandon Ng: https://www.linkedin.com/in/branng/

If you are a regular listener to the TechBurst Asia podcast, you'll know I love talking about OpenRAN, which is kind of strange. I have spent much of the past 20 years looking at the solutions that can leverage the latest and greatest networks, but I am far from an expert when it comes to what it takes to build those networks - and even less of an expert on the technology they run on. So why does OpenRAN fascinate me?

Well, it isn't the technology behind it, it's the disruptive business, operating and financial models that it creates. And I like to see how the industry will respond to this disruption.

And let's face it, OpenRAN has been riding pretty high on the hype curve, so I want to understand what it will take for it to live up to that hype.

Today's guest is uniquely suited to help me understand this. He has spent the past couple years working on the groundbreaking Rakuten OpenRAN deployment in Japan, so he's seen first hand the benefits OpenRAN can deliver - and the challenges faced when deploying it.

In addition to that, he works for a company that, on the surface, looks like it would be one of the main companies disrupted by this new model, so I want to understand why they are embracing it.

He is Terry McCabe, Nokia's Chief Technology Officer for Asia Pacific & Japan, where he spearheads Nokia's 5G technology strategy. And yes, we'll talk a bit about 5G - and 6G - as well.

Show Notes:

01:30 How does Nokia define OpenRAN?

04:10 OpenRAN has the potential to disrupt how mobile operators will purchase their networks in the future - yet that didn't stop Nokia from being an early supporter of the OpenRAN Alliance. What was the rationale behind that decision?

05:30 The first major OpenRAN network deployment was Rakuten in Japan - and Nokia was one of the vendors involved in it. What were your major learnings from this deployment?

09:30 What are Nokia's plans for the next phase of OpenRAN?

10:45 It hasn't always been smooth sailing for OpenRAN, not least when Nokia and some other vendors halted their participation in the OpenRAN Alliance due to concerns raised by the US government about IP protection. That has since been resolved, but is this a sign of the challenges OpenRAN will face in the future?

12:00 When some operators, like AT&T, talk about their plans for OpenRAN, they state their initial deployments will be for in-building and rural coverage. Does that mean we won't see it deployed in city centres?

13:15 What does the ideal OpenRAN customer look like?

14:15 OpenRAN and its potential role in Private 5G

15:30 Who / What / Where should we be keeping an eye on for the next phase of growth for OpenRAN?

17:30 Some people believe that it's too late for OpenRAN to be leveraged for 5G network deployments, meaning that it's real impact would be on 6G deployments. Would you agree?

18:30 What are the Critical Success Factors for OpenRAN to live up to the hype?

19:30 What are some of the risks OpenRAN faces (e.g. energy consumption, openness)

21:30 How do you think the OpenRAN Alliance will evolve - and what impact will the hyperscalers have on the industry?

23:35 What's your prediction for how OpenRAN will evolve in the near term (12-24 months)?

26:00 What are the Best & Worst Case Scenarios for OpenRAN in the medium to long term (5-10 years)?

28:00 Beyond OpenRAN, what else excites you about the future of connectivity?

(spoiler alert: 6G, Enterprise Solutions, Private Networks)

Welcome to the final episode of our 3 part series on Emerging Tech Trends with our guest, Analyse Asia's Bernard Leong.

In part 2, we covered the latest developments in Drones, AI and digital transformation.

For this final episode, we'll dig deep into what's going on with Crypto, what are NFTs, why have they become so popular and how can they be used - and then we'll close out by addressing the big one - what the hell is going on with China.

(note: this podcast was recorded prior to China's recent announcement that declares all crypto-currency transactions illegal - amazing how fast things change!)

Show Notes:

00:40 What's the latest trends we need to know about Crypto & Blockchain?

- Private blockchains are just databases - and they have failed

02:10 The latest killer apps - Decentralized Finance (DeFi) & Non Fungible Tokens (NFTs)

- NFT use cases beyond memes

- Creating a syndicate - Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAO)

- Countries issuing their one cryptocurrency - like the Digital Chinese Yuan

07:40 Bitcoin / crypto and the Sustainability issues

11:00 The latest on the US / China trade war

- There will be two supply chains - China and the rest of the world

15:40 China's crackdown on its own consumer tech vendors

- China's trying to avoid the demographic time bomb that the US, Japan and Singapore face

18:30 How China imposes "shock therapy" on its own ecosystem

- Making online education market non-profit

- Killing off the 9x9x6 work culture

- The US, Japan and Singapore killed off their own manufacturing industries - China wants to retain theirs and copy Germany's model

- Crackdown on children's gaming - limited to a few hours per week during specific times

25:00 If I'm a Chinese tech billionaire, should I be scared right now?

25:40 What's next for Bernard and Analyse Asia

28:10 What have you been reading lately that had the most impact on you?

In the first episode of this 3 part series, we did a role reversal, where I switched from being the host - to being the guest to share my views on the latest trends, opportunities and risks related to Smart Cities and 5G.

For this episode, it's back to normal - I'll be interviewing Analyse Asia's Bernard Leong to get his take on the future of drones, the latest developments around AI and Machine Learning, and what digital transformation trends evolved due to the pandemic.

Show Notes:

00:00 Bernard hasn't been on a podcast in two years, including his own Analyse Asia podcast. What has he been up to in the meantime?

01:30 How has the pandemic impacted the future of drones? Are you more or less optimistic?

09:15 What are the latest trends we need to know about in AI and Machine Learning?

- How Machine Learning works

- What's real and what's hype?

- Artificial General Intelligence vs Artificial Narrow Intelligence

21:00 AI's Ethics Dilemma - how do we overcome privacy concerns, the data bias problem, etc.

27:45 What are the COOL emerging solutions that are leveraging AI?

32:00 The pandemic has fast-tracked everyone's digital transformation agendas - what are the key trends (e.g. eKYC) that we need to know about?

Welcome to the first of a 3-part series on emerging trends in Asia's technology and innovation ecosystems. In this episode, we are going to look at how the Smart Cities & 5G are progressing - and we have a special guest to help us delve into that topic...me. That's right, the host becomes the guest - and we have a special guest host as well.

Many of you will know him as the former host of the hugely successful Analyse Asia podcast - and he was also the guest on my first ever TechBurst Asia podcast. He's none other than Bernard Leong, making his first podcast appearance in over 2 years.

In parts 2 and 3 of this Emerging Trends series, we will revert back to the normal format, with Bernard joining us as the guest to discuss a wide range of topics, including the latest on drones, AI, digital transformation, crypto, NFTs and what in the world is going on in China. Parts 2 and 3 will be out in the coming days, so stay tuned.

Show Notes:

01:15 What are your learnings from doing the TechBurst Asia podcast? And what have you learned from interviewing your guests?

03:15 What is the right user experience for a citizen in a Smart City?

05:45 Smart Buildings: What is the ideal experience for the business owner or facilities manager?

09:00 Why have Smart Cities not lived up to the hype?

12:05 How has Covid pandemic changed the way that people look at Smart Cities?

14:10 How will cities evolve to address the remote working trend?

17:30 Smart City Rankings - why did you create the CRAP Smart City Ranking

19:15 What metric would you use to make a "good" Smart City ranking?

20:40 How do you evaluate the progress on Smart Cities, IoT & 5G?

23:10 What will be the key applications that will leverage 5G?

25:35 If I gave you a magic wand, what would you want to see in the next 3 - 5 years?

In a recent TechBurst Asia podcast, we delved deep into Singapore's startup and venture capital ecosystems. Not surprisingly, they are both evolving well. But what I wanted to do as a follow up is look at the wider Southeast Asia startup and venture capital ecosystems to see how countries like Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand and the others are progressing.

To help me with this, I am joined by my good friend Chris Tran, who has been supporting start-ups in those countries for the past 12 years. This makes him ideally suited to discuss how the markets are developing, identify what works and what needs improvement. And I'm also keen to learn more about the launch of his new Boutique Investment Bank that supports Southeast Asian Technology Entrepreneurs and Investors, Cap Connect.

Show notes:

00:00 Intro to Cap Connect and what led Chris to launch his own boutique investment firm

05:15 How does Chris source deal flow across the many countries in SE Asia

08:00 How is the startup ecosystem evolving across SE Asia, including Indonesia, Vietnam, Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines

16:00 How does the VC industry support SE Asia? Is it all Singapore-based or has each country developed its own funding ecosystem?

19:30 What's the good, the bad and the ugly about Singapore innovation and VC industries?

21:30 What industries are driving innovation across SE Asia

26:30 How has the pandemic impacted startups across the region - and what has been the impact on valuations?

32:00 How Chris got into venture capital and what brought him to Singapore 12 years ago

33:00 What Chris looks for in a founder or startup - and what are the red flags

34:30 What advice do you have for aspiring venture capitalists?

37:45 Tell us something about yourself that will surprise us (note: I recommend listening to this, it is the funniest segment of any podcast I have ever recorded)

We hear the hype about how great our mobile networks are, yet when I speak with enterprise customers, they always talk about the challenges they face to get fast and reliable connectivity across their global sites and operations.

In this podcast, we are going to talk to a Singaporean-based start-up about how they help customers address those challenges. Blue Wireless started in Singapore in 2015, but already supports customers across 80+ countries. We are joined by their Founder and CEO, Ivan Landen, to discuss their start-up journey and how they are committed to doing one thing - and to doing that one thing well - Connectivity.

Show Notes:

01:45 Background on Ivan and his company, Blue Wireless

02:45 The Blue Wireless start-up journey

08:40 From one country to 80 in six years

13:00 Many tech vendors are moving into adjacent sectors, but Blue Wireless focuses on solving just one problem - connectivity. Why did you choose to only focus on your core competencies?

14:45 What does your typical client look like - and industry verticals do you target?

26:50 Is 5G impacting customer demand?

30:45 What's next for Blue Wireless?

32:30 What do you know today that you wish you knew when you started Blue Wireless?

In recent years, Sustainability has risen to the forefront of the strategic objectives for companies and governments. What concerns me is that when I speak with some of the leaders in ESG, they say there is still too much talk...and too little action. Well, that's not the case for all companies.

In this podcast, we'll speak to Renee Peet, Head of Product Management and Marketing for Xylem, about how they lead by example. Xylem is ranked as one of the, if not the, world's best company with regards to sustainability objectives and deliverables. If you want to learn how you - and your company - can make a difference, I truly recommend you listen to this episode.

Show Notes:

01:45 What does water have to do with Sustainability?

05:00 Who is Xylem - and what role do they play in the Sustainability ecosystem?

08:15 What types of solutions does Xylem provide - and how do they differ for developed and developing markets?

13:50 Who are the major players in the Water Sustainability ecosystem?

14:30 What impact has the pandemic had on your customers? Are they moving forward or holding back?

18:30 How does Xylem drive innovation and how do they engage the wider ecosystem to deliver it?

23:30 Driving a Sustainability agenda at a high level is easy - how does Xylem ensure that it permeates to all levels within the organisation?

29:30 What are the biggest challenges the industry faces?

32:30 Bottom line - what's the worst case scenario if we don't address the world's water issues?

34:30 And the best case scenario - what does the ecosystem need to do to make sure we don't hit the worst case scenario?

36:30 What can I - and we - do on a personal level to help avoid water / climate disaster?

Do your part, check out: https://www.xylem.com/en-ms/watermark/

Keeping up with Asia's innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystems is challenging because the region's DeepTech, Venture Capital and Start-up ecosystems are incredibly complex and diverse. Today, we are going to try to break it down by focusing on the ecosystems in just one country - Singapore.

We are going to discuss three key topics. First, we'll look at DeepTech to discover the latest trends and to understand what unique challenges start-ups in this space face.

Second, we'll look at the state of Venture Capital in Singapore, and, more specifically, is there enough VC funds available to support the longer commercialisation cycles of DeepTech Startups.

Finally, we'll discuss how the start-up ecosystem is evolving and find out what cool new innovations are on the horizon.

To do this, we are joined by David Toh, the Interim CEO of NTUitive, which is the innovation and enterprise subsidiary of Nanyang Technological University (NTU), which is ranked Number 12 in the latest World University Rankings.

Show Notes:

01:00 Intro to NTUitive, including how it supports start-ups and engages with the technology innovation ecosystem.

06:00 How does NTU look at DeepTech? And some examples of DeepTech solutions coming out of NTU.

13:30 What unique challenges do DeepTech start-ups face? And due to their longer commercialisation cycle, how do they set near-term success metrics?

19:30 Where has NTUitive been successful, and where is there room for improvement?

21:30 David's journey from semicon engineer to equity analyst to fund manager to the world of Venture Capital.

27:45 Some of the start-ups David has helped on their start-up journey

29:45 What's the current state of Singapore's start-up and venture capital ecosystems?

37:45 What characteristics does David look for in start-ups - and are there any red flags that would prevent him engaging with a start-up.

43:45 Let's look five to ten years in the future, and DeepTech has been incredibly successful in Singapore. How did the ecosystem evolve to enable that success?

Alternatively, let's say that DeepTech bombs. What mistakes did the ecosystem make?

48:30 What advice do you have for someone who is thinking about creating a start-up? Or someone who wants to go into Venture Capital?

The global pandemic has wreaked havoc on many industries - with the Food & Beverage industry one of the hardest hit. Most countries, at some point, have had to ban dining in - and even once that restriction is lifted, they have limited the restaurant capacity to only 50-70% of the pre-pandemic levels.

To survive financially, restaurants have had to pivot their business and operating models online to create new revenue streams.

In this episode, we are going to look at the role tech has played in helping restaurants overcome these unprecedented challenges.

If you live in Asia and like food, you'll know today's guest, Dave Pynt. Dave is the chef and owner of the one Michelin starred restaurant Burnt Ends - which is currently ranked #14 on Asia's Top 50 Restaurants and #59 globally.

Show Notes:

01:30 Intro to Dave and how a surfer from Western Australia developed into one of Asia's top chefs

08:00 Dave's restaurant portfolio, including 2 x Meatsmiths in Singapore, another Meatsmith in Doha and The Ledge in the Maldives

10:50 How Dave leveraged tech in the pre-Covid world

12:45 How the Burnt Ends Group has used tech to transform their operations

18:30 How does a restaurant with no IT department drive digital transformation?

24:00 What's next for Burnt Ends Group (hint: BE to move from Teck Lim to Dempsey - and a Brew Pub launching in 2023)

And more chats about Dave's favourite places to eat, the importance of good ingredients and what it's like to cook a wild boar on a spit on the slopes of Mt. Fuji.