TechBurst Talks

But what I want to know is what was the latest news and buzz coming out of MWC. And luckily, I know someone who attended the event in person - so let's get the lowdown from him.

Ferry Grikpink is a Senior Partner with McKinsey & Company, the founder of McKinsey's Center for Advanced Connectivity and McKinsey's Global Lead, Digital & Analytics, for Technology, Media & Telecommunications.

Show Notes:

03:00 What were the key themes at MWC

07:00 The US (284) has nearly as many cities with 5G coverage as China (376), but it only has 10% of the number of 5G subscribers. What causes this variance?

14:00 The latest on OpenRAN, including the announcements from NTT/NEC, Google Cloud and more

17:00 Data Privacy - has the operator's failure to monetise mobile advertising created a new Value Proposition for them?

20:00 The coolest solutions at MWC, including multi-player AR gaming, creating mesh networks from chipsets and more.

23:00 Rapid Fire Q's

- Biggest surprise at MWC

- Biggest disappointment

- Wish List - what wasn't discussed that should have been?

There's a new tech industry buzzword floating around that I need to understand better - and that buzzword is OpenRAN.

The reason I need to understand it better is because it seems like it has the capability to transform the way mobile operators purchase, deploy and support their networks.

In the old days, it was easy, you rang up one of the network equipment manufacturers, like Nokia, Ericsson or Huawei, and they built your network.

But with OpenRAN, operators can choose from hundreds of vendors and thousands of network configurations. That sounds complex - so I want to understand better what OpenRAN is - and why are so many companies and operators are excited by it.

In this podcast, we are joined by the Founder & CEO of the global business advisory firm BlueFire, Rob Jones, for our introduction to OpenRAN.

Show Notes

02:00 Intro to Rob & BlueFire

05:00 What the hell is OpenRAN - and why should we care about it?

07:30 The transformation from buying from one vendor (e.g. Nokia, Ericsson, Huawei) to the OpenRAN model

11:00 OpenRAN promises massive OpEx and CapEx savings, can it deliver on those promises? And if so, what does that mean for the network equipment manufacturers.

18:00 Will the reduced costs de-risk 5G network investments and increase deployments?

22:00 How will the OpenRAN ecosystem evolve, and what role with the likes of Nokia, Ericsson and Huawei play in it?

27:00 The role of the hyperscalers - how Microsoft, Google, AWS and Facebook have jumped on the OpenRAN bandwagon.

31:00 OpenRAN's role in Private 5G

32:00 What will it take for OpenRAN to be a success?

35:00 What are the biggest risks across the OpenRAN ecosystem that could prevent it from living up to the hype?

40:00 Examples of mobile operator innovation, including Rakuten and Malaysia's 5G strategy

45:00 The bottom line - will OpenRAN live up to the hype

The pandemic put unprecedented pressures on the healthcare industry. Few countries were prepared for the crisis, which not only exposed the inefficiencies within the healthcare industry, but also led to many unnecessary deaths.

The TRUTH is - many healthcare systems around the world are in desperate need of repair, but the QUESTION is, can technology save the healthcare industry?

To help me answer this question, I am joined by Craig Vercruysse from the Lean Healthcare Practice at Moss Adams, and the former Chief Operating Officer, Chief Process Officer & Chief Information Officer for California Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco.

Show notes:

01:45 Craig's background in the healthcare industry

05:30 What is the LEAN management system - and how can it be deployed to benefit the healthcare industry?

09:45 How the US got its initial Covid response so wrong - and why Craig wasn't surprised

14:30 Why the US transitioned from contact tracing to testing

22:30 The positives that came out of the pandemic, including the re-tooling of the manufacturing industry to address the PPE shortage, the explosion of TeleHealth and more.

30:00 While the US screwed up its initial Covid response, it has done remarkably well with vaccinations. What changed to allow this?

35:00 Vaccine Passports may be required for travel in the future, but how can they be deployed, supported and secured?

39:30 Can technology save healthcare and help address the "collective trauma" being experienced by the frontline workers, transform the patient experience and solve the lack of interoperability amongst healthcare providers?

46:30 How wearables and sensors will drive the personalisation of patient management

56:30 The impact that automation will have on healthcare workers - and do we need a Universal Basic Income?

This TechBurst Asia podcast will give you your gadget fix for 2021. We will discuss Smartphones - which ones are doing well (Apple, Samsung, Xiaomi), which ones are struggling (Huawei, LG), and what features you can expect in the coming years.

We will look at the smart wearables market to see if Smartwatches have finally lived up to the hype, and to find out if anyone can catch the Apple Watch.

And finally, we'll get the lowdown on the latest announcements from Apple about its latest iPad innovations, the launch of AirTags, and the new colourful iMacs.

To help us with this analysis, we are joined by one of the world's leading device analysts, IDC Asia Pacific's Bryan Ma.

SHOW NOTES:

02:00 Who is winning the smartphone race?

04:00 LG exits the smartphone market - what mistakes did they make?

06:30 Why do so many smartphone vendors fail (Nokia, BlackBerry, LG)

08:50 How the China / US trade war has led to Huawei's chipset crisis

14:30 What are the latest features (cameras, foldables, rollables) that are driving the market?

18:00 What impact is 5G having on the smartphone market?

20:40 What the hell is a rollable phone? And do we need it?

22:00 When will Apple come out with a foldable phone?

23:00 Apple is releasing an iPhone software update with a new privacy feature that requires apps like Facebook to ask for the user's approval to track them. Facebook hates this, I love it, what does Bryan think?

27:20 Can 5G's speeds and low latency save AR/VR?

31:00 The latest on wearables - the big three vendors (Xiaomi, Apple, Huawei) are running away with it. Can Google save Fitbit? Should Samsung give up on the smartwatch market? And can anyone catch the Apple Watch?

39:00 Apple's new product launches - the slick new iPads, colourful iMacs and surprise launch - Apple goes into tracking with AirTags.

49:00 Bryan's predictions - what will the world look like in 5 years for smartphones, wearables and AR / VR / Mixed Reality headsets.

In recent years, we have seen an increase in the number of initiatives that have raised global awareness about the importance of gender diversity, the challenge of the gender pay gap - as well as the issue of a lack of women in senior leadership positions.

But while these initiatives draw more attention to these issues, what I want to understand is has this attention led to progress. Are we getting any closer to closing the Gender Gap?

And today's guest, Uma Thana Balasingam, is ideally suited to help me delve deeper into this question.

In her day job, she's the Vice President of the Partner & Commercial Organization for VMWare in Asia Pacific. She has also been recognised by CRN in their "Most Powerful Women of the Channel" global list, and she also features in Singapore's Top 100 Women in IT.

But she does so much more across the ICT ecosystem than just that.

She's also the Co-Founder of Lean In's Singapore Chapter and the Founder of Lean In Women in Tech Asia and Women in Tech Singapore.

Show Notes:

02:00 Intro to Uma - how she got where she is today

07:20 The opportunities the pandemic created for VMWare

10:00 How has the pandemic affected how you communicate with your internal and external teams?

14:00 What do you understand today from a business perspective that you wish you understood 5 or 10 years ago?

17:00 How has an introvert thrived in what many would think are extrovert roles?

20:00 We hear about gender equality and the gender pay gap, but the question is, are we really making progress?

24:00 The World Economic Forum's Global Gender Gap Report 2021 highlights the massive gender gaps in emerging jobs - what do we need to do to improve this?

31:30 Intro to Lean In Singapore

33:30 What is unconscious bias? And can you give us examples of where you have experienced it?

42:40 The Provocative Questions. Uma and I agreed that I would be intentionally provocative in this section - asking her questions that some men might want to ask, but won't because they are concerned they will be branded as sexist.

64:30 What can men do to help create fair and equal environments for women?

The amount of data that we create, capture, and consume is growing exponentially. In fact, according to IDC, the amount of data we will create in the next three years - will be more than the data we created over the past 30 years. That sounds great, but it does raise a lot of questions.

What are companies and governments doing with that data?

Is our data being used ethically?

Who should be responsible for setting the regulations about how data captured can be used?

These are just some of the questions that we will discuss in this podcast.

Today's guest, Michael Conlin, will help delve deeper into these questions. He currently is the Chief Technology Officer for Definitive Logic, a US-based analytics and digital transformation specialist vendor, and was previously, the first ever Chief Data Officer for the U.S. Department of Defense (and almost the U.S. Data Czar - listen in to find out what happened).

Show Notes:

02:00 The journey that led a psychology major to become the first Chief Data Officer for the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD)

09:00 The transition from the private to the public sector - what attracted Micheal to the DoD?

14:30 What was it like on Day 1 when you realised you were responsible for straightening out the data structure and strategy for the DoD's 3.2 million employees and across its 13,000 operational IT systems?

20:00 The U.S. has a Border Czar, Bird Flu Czar & Cybersecurity Czar - was he the Data Czar?

23:30 What are the main differences between being a CTO/CDO in the public versus private sector - and what unique challenges did you face with the DoD?

33:15 Why do we still trust Facebook despite its data breach that released the personal information of 533 million users - but don't trust the government with our data?

43:15 The role of Ethics in Artificial Intelligence

52:15 Who should be responsible for setting the rules and regulations relating to the acceptable and ethical use of data captured by companies, governments, etc.?

60:00 Microsoft recently signed a USD 22 Billion contract with the US military to deliver 120,000 HoloLens mixed reality headsets. If you were the CDO/CTO overseeing this for the military, how would you mitigate the risks - and what opportunities would you see for the devices?

67:15 You recently left the U.S. DoD and its 3.2 million employees for Definitive Logic and its 250 employees. What led to the change?

71:30 The Fun questions

How does an introvert like you thrive in situations that require you to play the role of an extrovert?

Tell us about your interesting hobbies, including being a blacksmith, enamelist, glass gaffer, goldsmith, sculptor & lapidary.

Prince William was recently crowned the world's sexiest bald man - are you disappointed that you weren't nominated?

The global pandemic has impacted every industry, but one industry that will face more impact than most is the Real Estate industry.

In this podcast, we'll look at the pandemic's impact on the Future of Buildings from the Design, Build and Operate perspectives.

Guests:

Tim Kobe

• Founder and CEO, Eight Inc.
• Founder and Chairman, x8ventures
• Author of the new book, Return on Experience

Thomas Jakob

• Regional President, Bosch.IO Asia Pacific

Susheel Koul

• Division President - Corporate Solutions, JLL Asia Pacific

Show Notes

02:00 Intro to the guests, their companies and the role they play in the Future of Buildings

03:30 What's something that the pandemic has fundamentally changed with your business?

08:40 Once you got over the initial shock of the pandemic, what opportunities did you identify that your companies should go after?

14:20 Let's say that I am your customer. Not only am I trying to ensure that I can create a safe and secure environment for my employees, customers and citizens to return to, but also an environment they WANT to return to. What advice would you give me?

21:15 You each sell products & services to corporate clients, but people are the end users. How do you incorporate the consumer - or employee - or citizen experience into your work?

27:50 One positive that has come about as a result of the pandemic, is that governments have used the time to fast-track their sustainability initiatives - which will hopefully lead to more green & energy efficient buildings in the future. How has this increased focus on sustainability impacted your company and your clients?

33:25 You each possess a vision for what is possible - even if the market isn't ready for it. Tell me about something your company has the capabilities to deliver, but you're still waiting for someone to say, "yeah, let's go for it".

38:20 The pandemic has forced companies to care more about the welfare of their employees. The question is, will this corporate empathy last when we shift into the post-pandemic world?

43:00 What is your key takeaway that the audience should remember for the post-Covid future?

47:00 Fast and fun round of questions

• What's your prediction for when we get back to business as usual - or will we?
• Tell me something about the future of work that will be fundamentally different post covid.
• Work from home - will it last in a post-covid world?
• Tell me something your company has done during the pandemic that makes you proud.
• In pre-Covid days, we all spent much of our time travelling around the world for our work. But those days are long gone. What's the best - and worst - thing about not having the crazy travel schedule?

We live in a world where the latest technologies, including AI, 5G, and blockchain, have the capability to truly transform the way we work, live and play. The problem is, they don't always live up to the hype.

Far too often, the ICT industry pushes the latest technologies and solutions on the market and hope they get adopted, rather than by tailoring solutions to meet the market's needs and proving that they can deliver tangible business value. The supply and demand sides of the market don't work together as effectively as they should, and that's why we are lucky to have today's guest, Michael Gryseels, with us because he sits at the crossroads of technology supply and market demand.He's currently the Executive Vice Chairman of Thailand's True Digital Group and the Chief Digital Officer for CP Group, which is Thailand's largest private company and one of the largest conglomerates globally.

This combination of roles provides him not only with insights into the market's requirements - but also the capability to launch solutions to meet those requirements.

Prior to these roles, he spent nearly 20 years with McKinsey & Company, where he was a Senior Partner and led McKinsey Digital Labs in Asia.

Show notes:

01:15 Intro to True Digital, CP Group and A Day in the Life of Michael

05:15 CP Group operates in 15 industry verticals. What process do you follow to identify the opportunities and source the innovation that will digitise these industries?

07:00 You have been in your roles for 3 years, can you give us some examples of the initiatives that you've implemented, or solutions that you've deployed, that you're proud of?

10:00 Status of 5G in Thailand, including which 5G use cases has True Digital identified, does Thailand's strong manufacturing sector create an opportunity for Private 5G, and what are the Critical Success Factors for operators to be successful in 5G?

15:10 Where would you like to see True Digital and CP Group in 3 years time?

17:15 When you look at the global mobile operators, which ones do you think are doing the best job at driving digital solutions?

19:00 When implementing digital solutions, companies often get stuck in what McKinsey defines as "Pilot Purgatory". What advice do you have for companies to overcome this?

22:10 Which technologies do you think will have the biggest impact in the next 12 to 24 months?

24:00 Fun Questions

• What do you know today about True Digital / CP Group / Thailand that you wish you understood when you started on this journey?
• You have lived in 15 countries - and worked in many more. Outside of Thailand, where did you find the most exciting place to work?
• When I was 16 years old, I had a blond mohawk, spent my after school hours skateboarding and attending as many punk rock shows as possible. What were you doing at 16?
• Let's say I have the power to turn back time - and I can turn you into a university student today. What would you study - and what would you want to do with your career?

We recently have talked about the future of 5G - and today - we will take that to the next level. We'll discuss the models being used to fund 5G investments, the consumer and enterprise solutions and services that will help operators monetise those investments and discuss which types of operators are best suited to capitalise on the emerging opportunities.

We are joined by Ferry Grijpink, a Senior Partner with McKinsey & Company based out of Amsterdam. Ferry is also the Founder of the McKinsey Center for Advanced Connectivity and is their Global Lead for Digital and Analytics for the Telecoms, Media and Tech Industry.

Show notes:

01:00 Intro to Ferry Grijpink, Senior Partner at McKinsey & Company

02:20 How can operators monetise consumer 5G solutions and services - beyond gaming

06:00 The 5G funding models - is network sharing the way forward?

09:30 What is OpenRAN - and can it become a game changer?

13:45 Why do operators struggle to provide solutions and services to the SMB market segment?

17:30 Which industry verticals and use cases will drive the Enterprise 5G market opportunity?

20:45 What role - if any - will operators play in the Private 5G market?

23:30 Which telecoms markets do you find the most exciting?

26:35 What advice do you have for operators to help them build the infrastructure, solutions and services to be successful in the 5G world?

28:45 The fun questions

- Which 5G buzzwords (e.g. OpenRAN, Private 5G, shared network infrastructure) will get the most hype in 2021?

- What do you miss about living and working in Asia?

- What would you do with your career if you weren't in consulting?

Ferry has a new "5G Chart of the Day - all charts, no bullshit" newsletter. You can subscribe to it here: https://ferrycgrijpink.substack.com/

Keep an eye out for Ferry & I talking on Clubhouse soon...

TechBurst Asia sat down with PwC's Mike Graham to discuss Southeast Asia's latest tech trends and the annoying buzzwords and catchphrases we have been forced to endure during the pandemic. We also talk about our predictions for what WILL - and WON'T happen in 2021.

Show Notes

01:00 Intro to Mike Graham and his multiple roles at PwC

08:20 Review of 2020: Which companies managed the pandemic well - and not so well?

12:15 What positives can we take from 2020?

15:50 What will the big stories in 2021 related to 5G in Southeast Asia

23:50 Why have Southeast Asia telcos lagged behind the global telcos with regards to innovation?

28:30 We keep hearing that during 2020, companies will implement 10 years of digital transformation in 2 months - can we keep the pace of change?

32:00 Which buzzword (e.g. 5G, OpenRAN, Digital Twins, FinTech) will have the biggest impact in 2021?

34:30 Random tech chats about OpenRAN, Rakuten, Jio, Drones, Smart Cities, higher education's role in PPP's, etc.

43:15 What WON'T happen in 2021?

47:00 What is the worst buzzword or phrase we created during the pandemic?

48:00 The importance of finding a way to decompress while working from home (spoiler alert: jigsaw puzzles help!)

52:00 PwC's new B2B digital marketplace to help their clients source innovative solutions - and help start-ups reach enterprise customers.