Six in 10 APAC companies report stable office attendance Sixty percent of APAC companies say office attendance is stable

A new CBRE survey has found that over 60% of companies in the Asia Pacific region say office attendance has reached a steady state, reflecting acceptance of flexible and hybrid working models as the future of work. About a third (32%) of firms expect office usage to increase, while 4% anticipate a decrease.

The survey highlighted that 43% of Asia Pacific companies have achieved a peak utilisation rate of 80% or higher. This trend presents opportunities for companies to recalibrate their workplaces to align with evolving work styles and attract top talent, CBRE said.

Unassigned seating (hotdesking and activity-based working) and collaborative spaces are emerging as effective ways to boost workplace efficiency, with companies are increasingly adopting flexible seating and higher desk sharing ratios to achieve this goal. Additionally, 49% of companies plan to expand their use of flexible spaces in the next three years, with interest in utilising on-demand event spaces, CBRE said. 

Cost remains a critical factor influencing both lease renewals and relocations. Among respondents, 50% cited better lease terms and rents as well as cost savings as the primary motivation for relocating to new offices. Despite these financial concerns, 58% of the companies are committed to enhancing employee experience and 45% focused on boosting employee productivity.

“Asia Pacific occupiers are seizing cost saving opportunities in tenant-favoured markets to upgrade to higher quality buildings in better locations with minimal cost escalation,” said Luke Moffat, Head of Advisory & Transaction Services, Asia Pacific for CBRE.

“Sustainability and wellness are another area of focus for occupiers. Therefore, the more proactive landlords are offering green building and wellness certifications, green lease clauses, electric vehicle charging stations, and various energy-saving features, the more they can attract occupiers to their assets.”

The survey found that 70% of companies want employees back in the office at least three days a week, with half aiming for a five-day workweek. Employees in Asia Pacific are showing slightly higher office attendance than requested as 73% of them reported working in the office at least three days a week. 

The survey also highlighted uneven office attendance throughout the week, with Tuesdays and Wednesdays seeing the highest attendance rates across the Asia Pacific, except in mainland China where attendance is the highest on Mondays. Fridays show the lowest attendance, suggesting that companies may need to implement initiatives to maintain vibrancy and engagement for those who choose to come in, potentially increasing turnout over time. 

“Companies should rethink how they measure and interpret office utilisation to accurately estimate current and future space needs,” said Ada Choi, Head of Research, Asia Pacific, for CBRE. 

“With hybrid work patterns leading to uneven attendance, it is essential to maintain a vibrant environment during off-peak times while accommodating maximum capacity without compromising the work experience.” 

Source: CBRE’s 2024 Asia Pacific Office Occupier Survey. Infographic summarising key findings, including the use of unassigned seating, ESG and tech adoption, and cost factors.

*CBRE’s 2024 Asia Pacific Office Occupier Survey was conducted from 6 June to 12 July 2024, featuring insights from around 130 corporate real estate executives in the region.

Qualtrics explores customer expectations in Asia Pacific

• Around 75% of Singapore and Hong Kong consumers indicate it is very or extremely important for organisations to respond to their feedback, markedly higher than Australia (64%) and New Zealand (52%).
• Among the four countries, Singaporeans are the most unforgiving as only 23% are likely to continue using that brand if their feedback is ignored.
• Nearly half of Singapore respondents (46%) expect a response from an organisation within the same working day.

Qualtrics, the experience management software provider, has released the results of its inaugural study* on customer experience (CX) in Asia Pacific. The Asia-Pacific Region’s Changing Customer Experience Environment report reveals differences in perceptions across different locations.

Qualtrics believes that companies are witnessing an “experience gap” – which is referred to as the gap between the experience that companies believe they are delivering and the experience their customers are actually receiving. Businesses today are awash with operational data (O data), which tells you what has happened. What they need to start collecting is experience data (X data), which will allow them to garner insights into why things are happening. Having both data sets will allow companies to reduce the experience gap and hence, positively impact the operational metrics of the business.

“Qualtrics is committed to helping brands in Asia Pacific measure, prioritise and optimise the experiences companies deliver across the four core foundational aspects of business – customers, products, employees, and brands. This study offers a deep dive into the region’s specific customer experience demands and offers key insights into the evolving landscape,” said Bill McMurray, MD of Asia Pacific and Japan at Qualtrics.

“Consumers in Asia Pacific have a wide variety of choice and if they do not like the service an organisation delivers, they will simply find another organisation that does it better. Ultimately, brands need to understand that nailing customer experience management can generate immense rewards, while getting it wrong will result in loss of customers, decreased revenue, reduced market share and even a damaged brand reputation.”

With 63% of business leaders in Southeast Asia having listed CX as their top business priority, according to Forrester, more businesses in the region will recognise the need to increase their efforts across all customer touchpoints, and international companies will also need to pay more attention to localising their customer management initiatives. The study reveals these top ten CX insights across Asia Pacific:

Customers demand action
Approximately 75% of Singaporean and Hong Kong consumers indicated that it is very or extremely important for organisations to respond to their feedback, markedly higher than Australia (64%) and New Zealand (52%).

Ignoring feedback is a fireable offence
On average, 39% of respondents in the Asia Pacific region are unlikely to continue doing business with an organisation that does not respond to their feedback. Singaporeans are the most unforgiving – only 23% are likely to continue using that brand if their feedback is ignored.

Fix it the first time
Just 2% of respondents feel that first-time resolution is anything less than moderately important. Some of the top frustrations cited are having to ask for the same information multiple times, and not having issues resolved the first time.

Respond today, not tomorrow
Nearly half of all respondents (46%) expect a response from an organisation within the same working day. Hong Kong customers appear to be more demanding, with 68% expecting brands to reply to their feedback on the same day.

Beware of the experience gap
Organisations must prioritise minimising the amount of effort customers exert to have their issues resolved. Companies must learn what customers’ value most in the experience you provide to them and then ensure that these aspects are executed at the highest level.

Make customers believe
Make sure your consumers know that you are listening and acting on their feedback. While Asia Pacific customers are keen to provide feedback, with 83% being likely to complete a customer experience survey from an organisation they deal with, 37% of these customers are uncertain as to whether organisations listen to and act on it.

Invest in the online experience
Online processes and offerings makes organisations more efficient and enable rapid, effective scaling. Results show that more than half of Asia Pacific customers (58%) are open to making the leap to online-only offerings.

Be one easy call away
While customers are more open to online channels for services and feedback, brands should still make it a point to have their phone numbers readily available to customers in the case they feel they need to contact the organisation. Eighty-four percent of customers thought it was important to have a company contact number on the home page or within a single click of it.

Put security first
Customers do not always “see” your security, but they want to know that it is there. Walk the fine line of having publicly accessible information about the company’s security measures, without revealing too much information to potential data thieves. Nine in 10 (87%) of the respondents believe that it is very important to be able to trust organisations with their customer data.

Welcome new technology
Half (48%) of customers would be satisfied dealing with an organisation staffed by artificial intelligence (AI). However, companies must understand which customer experiences to optimise through technology versus the human touch.

When it comes to consumers’ preferences in Singapore, locals ranked service (22%), quality of product (21%) and value for money (18%) as the top three attributes they value when dealing with an organisation. In terms of communicating with a brand, Singaporeans listed email (49%) as their preferred mode of interaction over other channels such phone (23%), online chat (15%) or face-to-face (13%).

On the other hand, the majority of Hong Kong consumers found the product quality to be far more important (55%), followed by service (54%), and trust (43%). In contrast, they prefer to interact with an organisation via phone (31%), instead of email (30%), face-to-face (20%) or online chat (18%).

The Qualtrics XM Platform manages the four core experiences of business - customer, employee, product and brand experience - on a single platform. The platform automatically analyses these touch points, helping organisations uncover key business drivers, predict future customer needs, and retain employees and customers.

Interested?

Download Qualtrics' The Asia-Pacific Region’s Changing Customer Experience Environment report

*The multi-country customer survey polled 1,100 consumers online across four Asia Pacific markets, namely Singapore, Hong Kong, Australia and New Zealand. Nationally representative samples of customers were obtained in each country, with fieldwork taking place in January 2017.

posted from Bloggeroid

Bangkok is the most-visited destination in Asia Pacific

Source: Mastercard. Report cover.

While Bangkok, Thailand remains the most-visited destination in the Asia Pacific region, Singapore continues to lead the Thai capital in total visitor expenditure, according to the latest findings from the Mastercard Asia Pacific Destinations Index 2017*.

Singapore has tracked a 18% leap in visitor spend over 2015 and 2016. One of only five destinations of the top 20 by total expenditure to reach a minimum spend of US$200 per day, Singapore attracted the highest spending visitors at US$254 per day, followed by Beijing, mainland China (US$242), Shanghai, China (US$234), Hong Kong (US$211) and Taipei, Taiwan (US$208).

Half of the top 20 most-visited destinations in Asia Pacific saw more than 10% growth in international overnight arrivals from 2015 to 2016. Destinations that benefitted most from this growth include Northeast Asian and Southeast Asian markets – Seoul, Korea (32.7%), Osaka, Japan (23.8%), Bali, Indonesia (22.5%), Tokyo, Japan (22.2%), Hokkaido, Japan (21.9%), Chiba, Japan (21.5%) and Pattaya, Thailand (20.6%).

This growth provides significant opportunities which governments, tourism bodies, and merchants can benefit from, including greater economic, cultural and infrastructural development.

Overall, overnight arrivals** to the 171 Asia Pacific destinations in 2016 stood at 339.2 million (9.8% CAGR from 2009 to 2016), led by Bangkok which tracked 19.3 million visitors. Singapore (13.1 million) came in second place, followed by Tokyo (12.6 million), Seoul (12.4 million) and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (11.3 million). China stands as Asia Pacific’s most avid outbound travel market, having contributed 55 million international overnight visitors to the region last year or 16.2% of the total.

The top ten Asia Pacific destinations ranked by international overnight arrivals:

1. Bangkok – 19.3 million

2. Singapore – 13.1 million

3. Tokyo – 12.6 million

4. Seoul – 12.4 million

5. Kuala Lumpur – 11.3 million

6. Phuket, Thailand – 9.1 million

7. Hong Kong – 8.9 million

8. Pattaya – 8.1 million

9. Osaka – 7.4 million

10. Taipei – 7.4 million

Visitors to Asia Pacific destinations are travelling to the region more, and doing so for longer periods. In 2016, visitors to the region stayed for a total of 1,768.7 million nights, an 8.1% CAGR from 1,023.1 million nights in 2009. Bangkok took the lead with 87.6 million nights, while Sydney came in second place with 87.5 million, followed by Kuala Lumpur at 76.7 million.

In particular, Sydney’s second-place position is especially outstanding compared to its number of overnight arrivals. Taking 20th place in the latter ranking, Sydney’s ratio of average number nights stayed versus number of overnight arrivals is shared by fellow Australian destinations Melbourne and Brisbane on the Index. As many tourists have to travel a distance to reach Australia, they are more likely to stay for longer periods to make their journey worthwhile.

The top ten Asia Pacific destinations ranked by total nights stayed:

1. Bangkok – 87.6 million

2. Sydney – 87.5 million

3. Kuala Lumpur – 76.7 million

4. Tokyo – 74.3 million

5. Melbourne – 62.9 million

6. Bali, Indonesia – 62.4 million

7. Singapore – 60.7 million

8. Seoul – 56.0 million

9. Brisbane – 51.8 million

10. Taipei – 47.8 million

Spurred by Asia Pacific’s burgeoning middle class, overall tourism expenditure in the region jumped from US$141.5 billion in 2009 to US$244.9 billion in 2016, an 8.2% CAGR Moreover, Asia Pacific’s top 20 source markets contributed US$201.5 billion to the region’s tourism revenues in 2016.

The mass of tourists from Northeast Asia have helped to boost these earnings. Key findings from the Index revealed China (17.7%) and South Korea (8.8%) as the largest contributors to tourism expenditure in Asia Pacific. In fact, these two markets were also top source markets for Singapore (China visitors were the No. 1 tourist segment), Bangkok (China  No. 1) and Tokyo (Korea No. 1, China No. 2), the region’s leading destinations by visitor expenditure. As renowned global shopping and dining locales, they are popular amongst affluent Chinese and South Korean tourists seeking new shopping or culinary experiences.

The top ten Asia Pacific destinations ranked by expenditure:

1. Singapore – US$15.4 billion

2. Bangkok – US$12.7 billion

3. Tokyo – US$11.1 billion

4. Taipei – US$9.9 billion

5. Seoul – US$9.4 billion

6. Bali – US$8.7 billion

7. Phuket – US$8.3 billion

8. Kuala Lumpur – US$7.3 billion

9. Sydney – US$6.8 billion

10. Hong Kong– US$6.6 billion

Interested?

Download the Mastercard Asia Pacific Destinations Index 2017 report

*The Mastercard Asia Pacific Destinations Index is an offshoot of Mastercard’s annual Global Destination Cities Index. In recent years, Asia Pacific cities have increasingly dominated the fastest growing and most visited destinations in the world. According to the 2016 Mastercard Global Destination Cities Index, five of the ten most visited cities in the world were in Asia Pacific.

The Asia Pacific Destinations Index takes a more in-depth, focused look at these tourism trends, ranking 171 destinations, including island resorts as well as towns and cities across the region, in terms of the total number of international overnight arrivals; cross-border spending; and the total number of nights spent at each destination. These 171 destinations are drawn from 22 countries across Asia Pacific and represent 90% of all international overnight arrivals within the region.

Public data is used in deriving the international overnight visitor arrivals and their cross-border spending in each of the destinations, using custom-made algorithms. This Index and the accompanying reports are not based on Mastercard volumes or transactional data.

*Overnight visitors stay at least one night in the destination country.

Mastercard: Asia Pacific shoppers want a secure online experience

While online security remains a vital consideration for the region’s consumers, it has not stopped them from holding back on spending. According to the latest Mastercard Online Shopping Survey, eight in 10 of consumers across Asia Pacific who have shopped online last year intend to make at least one online purchase in the first half of 2017, led by those in emerging markets including mainland China (97.3%), Vietnam (96.2%), India (92.9%), Malaysia (92.8%) and Thailand (87.1%).

Findings from the study indicate that while one in two consumers in Asia Pacific feel secure shopping online, providing secure payment facilities (85.9%) remains the most critical to getting shoppers in the region to make such purchases, along with price (85.5%) and convenience (85.1%). This consideration resonates most strongly in Indonesia (95.3%), followed by the Philippines (92.2%), Taiwan (91.5%) and Malaysia (91.2%).

“The verdict is in - consumers across Asia Pacific want enhanced security and convenience when shopping online. Despite our research showing that the majority of consumers feel safe when shopping online, we cannot stop our relentless focus on developing solutions that address and erase underlying fears about the safety and security of payments across the board,” said Ben Gilbey, Senior VP, Digital Payments & and Labs, Asia Pacific, Mastercard.

“We know the payment experience consumers are looking for, no matter where they choose to shop. As a result, we will not relent on our commitment to work with merchants and key industry players to design, develop and deploy e-commerce experiences that are fast, easy, seamless and safe. Some of these include digital wallets and biometric payments, which are also reimagining and redefining the shopping experience for consumers.”

Detailed findings include:

· In Asia Pacific, nine in 10 consumers have made an online purchase in the three months preceding the survey, led by those in South Korea (96.7%), India (95.8%), Japan (95%), Vietnam (92%) and China (91.8%).

· To drive the growth of e-commerce in the region, more can be done to improve the shopping experience with free or minimal delivery charges (62.9%), assurance that transactions are secure (45.9%) and reduction in friction in transaction processes (44.1%) topping the list of suggested improvements to online shopping by respondents.

· A third of shoppers in Asia Pacific (37.3%) are getting their fashion fix online, with clothing and accessories retailers leading as the most-visited website category. This is followed by online supermarkets (37.3%), and app stores (36.9%).

· Indonesian consumers are the most satisfied with existing opportunities and facilities for online shopping (97.1%) in the region. Consumer satisfaction also rings strongly in India (94.3%) and Malaysia (92.6%).

· When choosing where to shop online, the majority of consumers in Asia Pacific rely on word of mouth recommendations from close family and friends (36.1%), followed by social networking sites (27.4%) and traditional and online media sources (17.5%). Conversely, in Thailand (52.4% vs. 15.1%), Malaysia (39% vs. 24.2%), Philippines (34.1% vs. 33.5%) and Indonesia (32.1% vs. 25.9%), consumers consider social networking sites more influential than word of mouth recommendations.

· The year-end holiday season – with Black Friday, Cyber Monday, Singles’ Day, Christmas Day and Boxing Day sales – is the most popular time of the year for online shopping, with consumers in the region shopping most frequently in December (22.1%), November (17.3%) and October (14%).

Additional findings include:

· More than half of consumers in Asia Pacific (53.9%) feel secure when shopping online. This sentiment is felt especially in India (72.1%), Indonesia (66.4%), China (63.5%), Australia (62.2%) and New Zealand (59.8%). On the other hand, consumers in Vietnam (34%), South Korea (34.6%), Japan (36.6%) and Hong Kong (37.4%) are more wary of online shopping security.

Mastercard recommends that consumers too can play a part in ensuring their own payment safety by following these online shopping tips:

· Shop only on sites with a “lock” icon in the browser’s URL bar – this icon indicates that a site is secure.

· To protect confidential information from prying eyes, refrain from using public, unsecured Wi-Fi to perform financial transactions.

· Track purchases by monitoring account activity online and checking statements. Any suspicious or unfamiliar transactions should be reported to a bank immediately.

· Make sure passwords are strong – at least eight characters and a combination of numbers and letters.

· Do not use the same password with different online shops or to log into email

*The Mastercard Online Shopping Survey was carried out across fourteen markets in Asia Pacific (Australia, mainland China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand & Vietnam). A total of 8,738 consumers were polled online in November 2016 on questions relating to the online shopping landscape, experience with e-commerce and m-commerce, reasons for shopping online versus brick and mortar stores, safety and security payment concerns, as well as views on ethical shopping, among others.

Interested?

The Mastercard Index suite in Asia Pacific includes the Mastercard Index of Consumer Confidence, as well as the Mastercard Index of Women’s Advancement, Mastercard Index of Financial Literacy, and the Mastercard Index of Global Destination Cities. In addition to the indices, Mastercard’s research properties also include a range of consumer surveys including Online Shopping, Ethical Spending and a series on consumer purchasing priorities (covering travel, dining & entertainment, education, money management, luxury and general shopping). Find out more about the Online Shopping Survey

posted from Bloggeroid

High early-stage M&A activity in APAC in Q416

• Early-stage mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activity in the Asia Pacific (APAC) region is showing the highest increase at 44% compared to the same period last year
• India outperforms other APAC countries with yyear-over-year (YoY) growth of 100%
• Globally, 1H 17 M&A announcements are expected to increase by 6%

Source: Intralinks. Cover for the report.

The Intralinks Deal Flow Predictor, a forecast of future M&A announcements, predicts a 6% increase in the total number of M&A deals to be announced globally in 1H17 compared to 1H16, setting a new record in the number of global announced deals in the first half of a year.

The APAC region, with 44% YoY growth in early-stage M&A activity in Q416, is the top performing region for early-stage M&A activity, and is set to contribute heavily to 1H17’s expected record deal count. Strong performances from India, Southeast Asia, Australia and Japan are predicted. This level of YoY growth in early-stage M&A activity is the highest in APAC for almost five years. In terms of sectors, financials, consumer & retail and healthcare will fuel the growth in APAC M&A deals announced in Q217.

“While almost all parts of APAC showed double-digit YoY growth, India once again proved to be the fastest growing country in the region, a position it has held for three consecutive quarters, with YoY growth of 100%,” said Philip Whitchelo, VP Strategy and Product Marketing at Intralinks.

"Other parts of APAC contributing to the significant growth that we are seeing in early-stage M&A activity include Southeast Asia which is up 49%, Australia up 47%, and Japan up 33%."

The Intralinks Deal Flow Predictor forecasts the number of future M&A deal announcements by tracking early-stage M&A activity – sell side M&A transactions across the world that are in preparation or have reached the due diligence stage. These early-stage deals are, on average, six months away from their public announcement. The Intralinks Deal Flow Predictor has been independently verified by Decision Economics as an accurate predictor of future changes in the global number of announced M&A transactions.

Interested?

Download the Intralinks Deal Flow Predictor report

Asia Pacific consumers worry more about computer data than mobile payment data

Consumers in Asia Pacific are more concerned with protecting their financial and payments information stored on a computer than they are with protecting the same information when it is stored on a mobile wallet, according to new benchmark data*, Global Consumer Survey: Consumer Trust and Security Perceptions, from ACI Worldwide and the Aite Group.

The global fraud study of more than 6,000 consumers across 20 countries revealed that only 46% of global consumers in Asia Pacific trust businesses, including restaurants and merchants, to protect their financial data. In the other hand around 80% of consumers generally believe their mobile wallet data is secure.

As payments are increasingly shifting to mobile devices and global fraud continues to rise, consumers must be vigilant about mobile fraud protection. Across the globe, consumers are adapting to technology advancements—including the ubiquity of mobile wallets and a continued shift to online shopping, but are also acquiring unbalanced perceptions around payments data security.

Principal findings amongst Asia Pacific respondents include:

· Only 46% of consumers trust businesses (e.g., stores, online shopping sites, restaurants) to protect their financial and payments data. The numbers are 47% in Indonesia, 36% in Singapore, 40% in Australia, and 42% in New Zealand. India (60%) and Thailand (51%) are the only countries where there is at least 50% confidence in stored data being well-protected.

· Around 80% of consumers report they feel at least somewhat secure with mobile wallets. India is a standout, with over 90% of consumers reporting they feel at least somewhat secure.

· Across the region, the clear fraud concern is theft by computer hacking (37% in Indonesia, 33% in India, 31% in Thailand).

· After experiencing fraud or a data breach, the majority of consumers indicated they would stop shopping with a given merchant. The numbers reached 76% in Indonesia, 73% in India, and 65% in Singapore.

· Even though many institutions have some form of anti-fraud education and training, it does not seem to resonate with all consumers: Singapore, Australia, and New Zealand showed much lower levels of awareness of anti-fraud messages, with under 50% of respondents in each country reporting that they have seen some sort of anti-fraud education for 2016.

· The majority of consumers are very interested in receiving a call or SMS message on their mobile device to help mitigate fraud.

“This data is a further wakeup call to the broader payments industry, including merchants, banks and financial intermediaries, that we must proactively educate consumers about security measures that are in place—to allay consumer concerns, which will not only result in enhanced customer experiences, but also help to reduce fraud losses,” said Andreas Suma, VP and global lead, fraud and data, ACI Worldwide.

“Moreover, consumers must become more proactive in securing their personal data by using the fraud prevention measures and services offered by their financial institutions.”

“Our research shows that consumers want to proactively manage fraud, particularly by leveraging mobile technology – whether it’s text or talk,” said Shirley Inscoe, Senior Analyst, Aite Group. “This willingness opens opportunities for financial institutions to optimise the ways in which they reach out and communicate with consumers, ultimately improving the customer experience while reducing operational costs and fraud losses.”

Interested?

Read the report

*ACI Worldwide onducted online quantitative market research in April 2016 and surveyed 6,035 consumers. The study was conducted in a total of 20 countries in the following regions:

The Americas: Brazil, Canada, Mexico, and the US

EMEA: France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, South Africa, Sweden, the
UAE, and the UK

APAC region: Australia, India, Indonesia, New Zealand, and Singapore

China, Russia, and Poland were removed compared to 2014, while Spain, Thailand, and Hungary were added for 2016.

In total, 6,035 consumers were included in the research—approximately 300 consumers, divided equally between men and women, participated in each of the 20 countries. Of the total, 5,861 own one or more type of payment card—credit card, debit card, or prepaid card.

This is the fourth time that ACI has fielded this type of survey, and some comparative results are included from 2012 and 2014. In each country, the data have a margin of error of approximately five points. Statistical tests of significance, where shown, were conducted at the 95% level of confidence.

LinkedIn's top skills for 2016 shows cloud, visualisation are hot

The annual LinkedIn Global Top Skills of 2016 list, which shows what skills employers want most from candidates. has unveiled several new trends about the global job market:

Demand for marketers is slowing
While marketing skills like marketing campaign management, search engine optimisation/search engine marketing (SEO/SEM), and channel marketing were in high demand in 2015, things have changed.

Demand for marketing skills is slowing because the supply of people with marketing skills has caught up with employers’ demand for people with marketing skills, says LinkedIn. This year, SEO/SEM dropped five spots from No. 4 to No. 9 and marketing campaign management dropped completely off the list. SEO/SEM is still in the top three for Australia and Singapore nevertheless.

Data and cloud reign supreme
Cloud and distributed computing, No. 1 for the past two years, is the top skill on almost every list — including in India and Singapore, reflecting the complex nature of actually adopting cloud computing. Following closely is the statistical analysis and data mining category, which was No. 2 last year and No. 1 in 2014.

While LinkedIn says that these skills are in high demand because they are at the cutting edge of technology, it is also because both skills are in complex fields, and training and experience is relatively hard to come by.

Show me
Data visualisation has made it to the list for the first time, in No. 8 spot. Basically, people who can organise data so that it looks attractive and is easy for others to understand is now a sought-after skill.

User interface design is the new black
User interface design, design for products that users interact with, has jumped from No. 14 in 2014 to No. 10 last year, and is now No. 5 this year.

These are the top three skills for various countries in Asia Pacific and the Middle East:

Australia

• Statistical analysis and data mining
• SEO/SEM marketing
• Middleware and integration software

China

• Virtualisation
• Network and information security
• Statistical analysis and data mining

India

• Cloud and distributed computing
• User interface design
• Web architecture and development framework

Singapore

• Cloud and distributed computing
• SEO/SEM marketing
• Public policy and international relations

UAE

• Statistical analysis and data mining
• Public policy and international relations
• Algorithm design 

LinkedIn recommends its members to make sure that they list such skills on their LinkedIn profiles. "In addition to showcasing your professional brand, you’ll also show up higher in recruiters’ search results," the company said in a blog post.

Interested?

View the full list of skills wanted by country (Slideshare - The up and down arrows reflect changes in the skill rankings compared to last year’s list)

*LinkedIn grouped similar skill descriptions into several dozen categories. For example, skills like “Android” and “iOS” would fit into the “Mobile Development” category. The company then looked at all of the hiring and recruiting activity that happened on LinkedIn between January 1 and September 1, equaling billions of data points, and identified the skill categories that belonged to members who were more likely to start new jobs and receive interest from recruiters. Skill categories that did not meet a specific threshold for membership were excluded from our analysis. 

posted from Bloggeroid

Fintech investment in Asia Pacific heats up

Investments in Asia-Pacific financial technology (fintech) ventures, primarily in China, reached US$9.62 billion as of July 31, more than twice the US$4.26 billion invested in the region in all of 2015, according to Accenture.

An analysis of CB Insights data also showed that investments in Asia-Pacific have eclipsed North America, which as of July 31 garnered US$4.58 billion in fintech investments; and also tops Europe, which attracted US$1.85 billion in the same period.

By deal volume however North America and Europe, show more activity as the Asia-Pacific increase is due to big investments in a few select fintech companies in China, Accenture said. There have been 192 deals in the Asia-Pacific region so far this year, as compared with 509 in North America and 230 in Europe.

In fact, the top 10 investments in Asia-Pacific fintech ventures occurred in mainland China and Hong Kong, accounting for 90% of overall Asia-Pacific investments and valued at US$8.75 billion. In total, China and Hong Kong fintech ventures have attracted US$9 billion in investments to date in 2016.

“China’s established companies, rather than nascent startups, are at the forefront of the fintech trend in the region,” said Beat Monnerat, Accenture Senior MD, Financial Services Asia-Pacific. “Fintech companies with major backers such as Alibaba and JD.com are focused on providing positive end-to-end customer experiences, which includes payments and lending. This is transforming China’s financial services industry and is consistent with the global ‘Fourth Industrial Revolution’, which is bringing innovation from non-traditional competitors to the financial services industry.”

Ant Financial Services Group, the financial-services affiliate of e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding that operates China’s online-payments platform Alipay, closed a US$4.5 billion fundraising round in April. Ping An-backed Lufax, which is now using the name Lu.com, completed a US$1.2 billion round of fundraising in January. In that same month, China’s second largest e-commerce company, JD.com, raised US$1 billion in new funding for its consumer finance subsidiary, JD Finance.

In recent years, major Alibaba affiliates and China’s biggest social network company, Tencent, have also invested in other smaller startups, such as Fenqile, a micro-loan site which literally means “happy instalments,” Qufenqi, an electronics retailer that lets buyers pay in monthly instalments, and India’s One97 Communications, a mobile Internet company.

“The fintech trend in China continues to skew toward online payments and lending, including peer-to-peer (P2P), which is creating market-share dilution for banks,” said Albert Chan, MD, financial services for China, Accenture. “China’s banks, whether building their own competitive platforms or not, should consider investing in collaborative fintech ventures in order to remain competitive.”

Qlik app identifies Hong Kong as most expensive city in APAC

Screen capture from the app.

Qlik has created a web-based app for consumers to allow them to compare the cost of living across eight key cities in the Asia Pacific (APAC) region. Built on Qlik Sense, the Qlik APAC Cost of Living app focuses on living costs in Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, Mumbai, Seoul, Shanghai, Singapore, Sydney and Tokyo.

The app uses embedded visual analytics to present a cross-section of goods such as property, transport, education, entertainment, utilities, food, restaurants and clothing, in addition to allowing users to view the data by 'budget', 'mid-range' or 'expensive' cost ranges across any category.

Source: Qlik infographic. While Kuala Lumpur, Mumbai and Shanghai score below the APAC average on almost every item in the comparison basket, the other cities scored above the regional average in various categories. 

Deeper insights

With heat maps, the app can instantly illustrate how the prices of individual items in various countries differ from the APAC average.

“With the constant fluctuations in Asian economies and changing consumer price indices (CPI), getting to grips with the cost of maintaining a certain standard of living before you move somewhere can be difficult,” said Phillip Beniac, Regional Vice President, Asia Pacific for Qlik.

“The Qlik APAC Cost of Living app takes the pain out of the process by using visual analytics to compare the average cost of living in various cities. Easy to assimilate visual representations enable expatriates, as well as local residents, to compare selected APAC cities side by side, and drill into the data to find out how their city of choice stacks up against the rest.”

Beniac added that the app enables storytelling. "You can click deeper into the active data. It is not a static Powerpoint," he said. "This is about discovery, this is about insight."

Tokyo most expensive, Hong Kong, and Sydney close behind

Using heat maps, the Qlik APAC Cost of Living app instantly illustrates how the prices of individual items in various countries differ from the APAC average, with red highlighting the costliest and blue denoting the least expensive. A ‘Highs and Lows’ page enables users to track prices of particular items – from alcohol and entertainment to clothing and household essentials – across Asia Pacific.

Japan’s most populated city, Tokyo, takes the overall title as the most expensive city, with costs 39% higher than the APAC average. However, delving deeper into the data reveals that all is not how it may seem. For example, looking only at the ‘Expensive’ category of items shows that Hong Kong usurps Tokyo as the most expensive city to live the high life. At the other end of the spectrum, exploring ‘Budget’ costs shows Sydney elevated in the rankings to second behind only Tokyo.

“APAC is well regarded as an attractive location for expats and also sees a great deal of mobility from within the region, with potential to accelerate due to recent initiatives such as the Asian Economic Community formed in December 2015,” commented Professor Wong Poh Kam, National University of Singapore (NUS) Business School.

“Part of this attractiveness of the region is the perceived low cost of living in various countries. However, cost of living standards can often be misunderstood unless people have access to a good level of detailed information that informs them what it will cost to live their particular lifestyle. For example, not everyone wants or needs to own a car, which can be a particularly expensive proposition in some APAC cities, especially Singapore and Tokyo, where the public transport network is already extensive.”

Some of the most interesting insights include:

Although Shanghai’s cost of living data places it 11% lower than the APAC average, it is the most expensive city to stay in shape, with a monthly gym membership costing US$157 and a session with a personal trainer costing US$393. In contrast, although Seoul has a similar overall cost of living to Shanghai coming in at 10% lower than average, a monthly gym membership will set you back just US$30, while a personal trainer session costs only US$72.

While Sydney is known for being a gourmet paradise, it is also the priciest place in APAC to eat out in hotel restaurants, with a meal for two costing up to US$247. That is about twice what it costs in Shanghai (US$133) or Tokyo (US$116), while Seoul is the cheapest choice (US$53), followed by Mumbai (US$61) and Hong Kong US$70).

In terms of finding a place to live, Kuala Lumpur is most attractive option for people who like to live in the city centre, with property costing US$331 per sq ft to buy and US$1.11 per sq ft to rent. Hong Kong tops the city centre list at US$2,002 per sq ft to buy and US$6.52 per sq ft to rent. On the other hand, if renting in the inner suburbs, then Mumbai (US$0.24 per sq ft), Kuala Lumpur (US$0.41 per sq ft) and Sydney (US$0.9 per sq ft) are the most attractive.

The app also casts light on some enormous cost disparities. For example, the cost of sending one student to an international school in Shanghai (US$45,229) is the equivalent of sending 22 to an international school in Mumbai (US$2,016).

“In the same way that organisations now routinely use business intelligence, individuals are seeking ways to use everyday data to analyse and derive insights into what’s going on in their lives. The Qlik Cost of Living app is a great example of how you don’t have to be a data scientist to get useful insights from data, by using visual analytics,” added Beniac.

CK Tan, Senior Manager, Product Marketing, Asia Pacific, Qlik, said that the mobile-ready app would be of interest to people planning to relocate across countries, or those who want to travel.

The app will be updated at least annually and is likely to see more cities added as well as more categories. While the apps it has created are free, Qlik does not rule out monetisation in the future.

Interested?

The Qlik APAC Cost of Living app, built on Qlik Sense, is based on data collected from varied sources including desktop research as well as surveys of regional retail chains and hotels. Download the app

Explore other Qlik apps - one of the latest is on the UEFA Euro 2016 football championships

posted from Bloggeroid

Twitter offers video content for marketing campaigns with First View

Source: Twitter. How First View works.

Twitter has introduced First View in Asia Pacific. The feature is a way to share brand stories with video content across Twitter's audience, the company said. As of April 2016, Statista says that Twitter has 320 million users.

Asia Pacific is the largest and fastest-growing region for Twitter worldwide, and First View can empower Asian businesses of any size to take their marketing campaigns to the next level using Twitter's platform for real-time, public conversations. Nike Philippines, Samsung Australia and Tata Motors India are among the first advertisers in the region to leverage the feature.

"Audiences today demand video content. With First View, marketers have the ability to connect with their audience through richer forms of communication and creative content, while ensuring that they are constantly top-of-mind on their feeds," said Maya Hari, Senior Director for Product Strategy & Sales, Asia Pacific, Latin America and Emerging Markets. "First View provides advertisers with the opportunity to own the most valuable ad space on our platform on any given day, expanding their reach within a 24-hour period."

Premium placement

When users first visit the Twitter app or log in to twitter.com, the top ad slot in the timelines will be a Promoted Video from that brand. "Word of mouth is more important than ever. Twitter's First View gives Samsung the opportunity to reach a wide audience to generate buzz and conversation about our new #GalaxyS7 and #GalaxyS7edge smartphones. We are able to hit a broad audience with great video content to help drive social momentum," said Philip Newton, Corporate Vice President & CMO Samsung Electronics Australia.

"Video is one of the hottest topics for all marketers at the moment. We are delighted to see exciting products being launched by Twitter, giving us more opportunities to build great experience for our audience. The ability of using video to generate global conversations and dominate moments of interest with First View opens up a great playing field, and ties in strongly with Mindshare's vision of Adaptive Marketing," said Quentin Perrot, Senior Account Director APAC, MindShare, the company managing Nike's media strategy in Southeast Asia.

Interested?

First View is now available in 29 countries including the Asia Pacific markets Australia, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Philippines and Singapore.

Hubspot's cool new Millennial-ready Asia Pacific HQ in Singapore

Source: HubSpot. The company held a lion dance as part of the official opening ceremony. Mahtani, left, posts with Sherman, right.

HubSpot has officially opened the doors of its Singapore office and announced it will hire 150 more Singapore-based employees over the next three years. HubSpot Singapore currently has 30 employees.

The Singapore office — affectionately known as SingSpot — joins Sydney, Australia as the second HubSpot office in Asia Pacific and will act as the company’s regional headquarters. HubSpot first came to Asia Pacific in 2014 in an effort to extend HubSpot’s global reach and make an impact with the many midmarket companies and data-driven marketing and sales professionals in the region looking for a more personalised and integrated way of doing business.

Messages written on a chalkboard wall.

A reception area.

HubSpot is an inbound marketing and sales platform that matches marketing and sales techniques to the way people live, work, shop and buy, in the words of its President and COO JD Sherman. The company believes in inbound marketing as opposed to the traditional 'outbound' marketing methods of buying ads, buying email lists, and hoping for leads. Inbound marketing focuses on creating content that attracts people towards the brand.

With a larger presence in Singapore and employees spanning nearly all aspects of HubSpot’s business including sales, marketing, services, and support, HubSpot can build on the momentum and growth that has taken place over the past two years. “HubSpot has an incredible opportunity for growth in Asia Pacific and we could not be happier to be celebrating that with a new office and a commitment to hiring 150 new employees,” said Sherman, who added that he is very pleased with the progress and momentum so far.

“HubSpot’s Singapore-based team will be core to the impact that we’re making across Asia Pacific and the growth and success of our customers in the region,” he said.

Sherman said HubSpot's expansion to Ireland has taught the company that there are three main success factors for HubSpot's international growth: the inbound marketing strategy, ensuring that the founding team "is a great team and they really work well together", and giving that team a great leader.

As HubSpot expands its presence across Asia Pacific, the team will be led from Singapore by Jeetu Mahtani, Managing Director of International for HubSpot. Mahtani said that HubSpot's international business is growing 77% year on year, and called Singapore an ideal location for its talent pool and world-class infrastructure, including Changi Airport. He added that and that the new headquarters will offer easy access to prospects, customers and agency partners.

"HubSpot has just scratched the surface of what we can achieve in Asia Pacific. We’re looking forward to creating remarkable experiences and results for our customers across the region and so excited to do so with a full team on the ground in Singapore. With the right team in place, we’ll be unstoppable,” he said.

The office includes key characteristics that have become HubSpot staples across all global offices, as well as a few that are uniquely Singaporean. The office is decorated with an “East Meets-West” theme featuring corrugated metal and other marine accents to give a nod to the area’s history as a major shipping hub.

Conference rooms are named after inspirational people, including Raffles and Gandhi. This one is named 'LKY' after Singapore's late statesman

This collaboration space includes marine-style lighting.

Desks at the HubSpot Singapore office convert at the touch of a button from traditional 'sitting' desks to a format where employees can stand and work. 

All 90+ desks in the space are electronic and can convert from sitting to standing at the push of a button. The office is equipped with conference rooms, collaboration spaces and nomad desks so that employees can choose the space they work best in. APAC employees will now have a dedicated IT help desk and board room.

Hubspot’s new Singapore location features some unique features typical of offices with Millennials, including:

● Dedicated quiet space
● Mother’s room
● Snack-stocked kitchen
● Games room
● “Hidden” lounge space with game console

The games console.

Source: HubSpot. The candy wall at the HubSpot Singapore office pantry.

The pantry even includes freezer and fridge space for community use.

Today, over 18,000 companies in more than 90 countries use HubSpot’s software, services, and support to transform the way they attract, engage, and delight their customers. HubSpot’s inbound marketing software includes social media publishing and monitoring, blogging, SEO, website content management, email marketing, marketing automation, and reporting and analytics, in one integrated platform. HubSpot has over 1,100 employees in five locations, including Singapore.

Interested?

Read the TechTrade Asia blog post about how Singapore staff designed AirBnB's new office
Read the WorkSmart Asia blog post about Facebook Singapore's office

Hashtag: #HubSpotSingaporeHousewarming

MasterCard Start Path Global wants to accelerate the APAC startup journey

Start Path immersion weeks are held in
different cities around the world.

The MasterCard Start Path Global programme has seen success in the Asia Pacific region and is intensifying its search regionally as a continuing reminder of the innovation potential of the area. The programme began in the US and Europe and is now focused on expanding both in the Asia Pacific and Middle East and Africa regions, said Stephane Wyper, global lead of MasterCard Start Path.

Since 2014, Start Path has provided more than 60 startups a variety of operational support, mentorship, and investment to develop the next generation of commerce solutions. In Asia Pacific, the program is currently working closely with startups such as Japan-based Moneytree and ViSenze from Singapore.

Moneytree joined the Start Path programme late last year. The startup’s cloud-based personal finance app and financial data aggregation platform lets users track their financial account balances. Through Start Path, Moneytree is exploring technology integration and new business opportunities with MasterCard partners in other markets. The programme also provides access to customised mentoring from MasterCard experts and connections in geographic locations where Moneytree is looking to expand.

ViSenze, a machine intelligence startup and a spinoff of from the National University of Singapore, makes advanced visual search and image recognition solutions to help businesses in e-commerce, m-commerce and online advertising. Using machine learning and computer vision technology, ViSenze addresses the challenges of keyword searches by recommending visually similar items to an uploaded image, either on e-commerce platforms, or on content publisher platforms like social media and video networks.

Today, ViSenze allows shoppers to use an image of a product to locate similar products on sale at major e-retailers such as Reebonz, Lazada, Zalora, Rakuten, and Flipkart, and is exploring the use of its AI visual search engine outside of the e-commerce space, such as with intellectual property databases. The company is working on a new solution that applies the same AI engine to search videos.

"I'm pretty happy that I participated in this programme. As an artificial intelligence (AI) company in visual search, payment is not our fore. Having them introduce different domain experts on different parts of the customer journey that we are not experts in allowed us to move faster," said ViSenze CEO and Co-founder Oliver Tan.

Tan shared that Start Path brokered introductions to the right people at the major firms that his core solution targets. "These conversations are very useful as I get to learn what problems they have. You can decide very early whether you can solve their problems," he said.

“Startups are actively experimenting with new solutions aimed at transforming the status quo across a wide variety of industries including financial services, retail, and healthcare,” said Wyper. “We can provide critical support through operational expertise and access to a steady pipeline of customers, channels and partners. In just two years, Start Path Global has a strong record of helping startups transform innovations into sustainable business propositions.”

The Start Path journey, Wyper said, includes an initial immersion week that gives access to a breadth of MasterCard's business lines, as well as to customers. "We bring (customers) in and try and create potential opportunities, define specific areas we are going to support," he explained. There is regular engagement thereafter, culminating in a second immersion week after 23 months that focuses more on commercial execution. Wyper noted that startups in the programme receive assistance tailored to their unique challenges and products. "We help with the payment process, conduct pilots with startups, and connect them with our own customers such as banks and telcommunications providers," he elaborated.

Start Path also maintains relationships for the long term with alumni. "A lot have continued to see solid growth," Wyper shared.

Wyper added that up to 15% of Start Path members are working on security and payments, MasterCard's traditional business offerings. Other companies focused on solutions before or after the transaction, he said, listing AI,  financial inclusion, wearables beacons and biometrics as some of the unique selling propositions of member startups. "We're making sure that we aren't just focused the traditional innovation markets," he said.

Tan advises startups aspiring to join the programme to be very clear about what problems their products can solve. "If you communicate that very clearly then MasterCard can put you in touch with the people you need to meet and there's very little time wastage," he said. "Be very clear and keep an open mind. You will be able to discover things you never knew, just by joining a programme like this."

Interested?

Each quarter, MasterCard Start Path recruits a new class of startups to embark on a six-month virtual programme. The programme is currently accepting applications from non-US based startups for its next class up till March 21, 2016. Twenty companies will be shortlisted and invited to a Pitch Day in Toronto, Canada on May 11 and 12, 2016, after which eight companies will be invited to join the programme. Apply

Download the ViSenze app (iOS)

Hashtags: #startups, #StartPathGlobal, #startpath

posted from Bloggeroid

Leaders can easily become laggards in new application economy

Lim May-Ann, MD, TRPC, presents the results of the CA Technologies Asia Pacific & Japan Application Economy Index 2016.

Singapore may be No. 1 in the Asia Pacific and Japan when it comes to the application economy today, but it could well fall to fourth in terms of future potential, according to the inaugural edition of its Asia Pacific & Japan (APJ) Application Economy Index (AEI) 2016, which identifies the readiness of 10 APJ markets to thrive in today's digital world. Singapore led the top half followed by Australia, South Korea, Japan and Hong Kong respectively, while Malaysia, mainland China, Thailand, India and Indonesia made up the rest of the ranks.

The results of the study - developed and commissioned by CA Technologies and carried out by research consulting firm TRPC, and unveiled at last month's CA Technologies APJ Media & Analysts Summit 2016 - give a snapshot of where Asia's economies are today in terms of how conducive their market environments are for application development and market entry.

“The Application Economy Index segments markets based on their ability to integrate, develop and benefit from application usage,” explained Lim May-Ann, MD, TRPC. “We found Singapore, Australia, South Korea, Japan and Hong Kong most ready to maximise opportunities provided by the application economy, placing them in the 'Disruptors' group. China and Malaysia form the 'Challengers' group in the middle, while Thailand, India and Indonesia make up the 'Mainstream' group that needs to focus on developing conditions for businesses to thrive in the application economy.”

However, a different picture emerges when the study examined future leaders of the application economy through the use of what the survey terms 'market potential accelerators' (MPA), an index that evaluates factors which have the ability to impact and accelerate market potential in the new application economy.

In our increasingly connected world, every business is really in the software business and needs to embrace digital transformation, CA Technologies said. The index evaluates three main pillars that are critical for a vibrant application economy:

Pillar 1, also known as government use and support of technology and innovation: To develop sound technology policies and promote innovation, governments themselves should understand and use software and applications.

Internet and mobile infrastructure, pillar 2: Without the necessary infrastructure and enabled access to technology, an application economy cannot fully develop. Basic connectivity and network backbones must be in place, along with an environment which supports business growth and transformation.

Business agility is the third pillar: The ability to move nimbly and quickly in driving – and capturing – market disruption. For this to be possible, countries need to have an environment conducive for entrepreneurship and new forms of commerce to happen.

Source: CA Technologies infographic. Singapore, Australia and Korea lead rankings, while China, India and Indonesia could well overtake if they capitalise on opportunities.

TRPC studied the number of smartphone users in a market, the number of people who use mobile Internet on a daily basis, the use of virtual social networks, the daily use of mobile applications, and the size of the youth demographic in the market, re-ranking the countries studied accordingly. Lim of TRPC noted that apps are now the window to the Internet for many Asian users, and not the URL, making apps more critical to success in the application economy. She recounted that consumers would tell her they do not use the Internet, but that they are actively using the Facebook app on their phones.

China, India and Indonesia were found to have the potential to leapfrog to the top three places if they capitalise on the opportunities before them. On the other hand, the earlier leaders – Singapore, Hong Kong, South Korea, Australia and Japan, run the risk of falling behind if they do not act quickly to address the gaps in their markets.

According to CA Technologies Singapore’s drop in rankings in the MPA highlights how the pace of innovation must keep up with the rapid pace of disruption in today’s application economy. Enterprises must act fast to capture market share, and governments need to push ahead with policies to improve infrastructure ahead of demand.

“The arrival of the application economy has challenged the status quo,” said Kenneth Arredondo, President & GM, Asia Pacific & Japan, CA Technologies. “The pace of innovation must match the pace of disruption, and forward-looking, pro-active strategies for managing risks and capitalising on opportunities must be put in place if businesses are to succeed in the application economy.”

“In anticipation of the future marketplace, the best bet is still for enterprises to act fast to capture market share, and governments to improve the enabling infrastructure for businesses to develop and adapt quickly to changing market environments.”

TRPC's Lim agreed. "People are going to need to move very quickly, to capitalise on the opportunities that the application economy brings to them," she said. "The risks are there, the opportunities are there. The early mover advantage is very important. If you can overcome some of these indicators which we and CA Technologies have identified, if you can minimise the risks and capitalise on the opportunities then (the rankings) won't make sense next year."

Singapore’s ranking was boosted with its top placings for government use of technology, strength of intellectual property protection and innovation. The country’s ranking was also lifted by strong numbers for business agility, with lead scores in the time taken to set up a business, debit card penetration and mobile payments readiness. However, Singapore’s cybersecurity strength was an outlier where it ranked 6th, suggesting that this area requires more attention.

“Singapore’s leadership position is unsurprising, given its consistently high scores across all categories, especially in the government use and support of technology is especially strong,” said Nick Lim, VP, Asia South, CA Technologies. “While Singapore is in good stead to thrive in the application economy, dynamic socioeconomic conditions in the region will create unique opportunities in emerging markets, so businesses will find it more critical than ever to harness software to stay competitive and relevant in a fast changing world.”

When MPAs are taken into account, Singapore risks slipping to 4th place if it fails to address gaps in its market. Some of the challenges faced by Singapore include a mature mobile market with limited share for new applications, an ageing population and a small total size of smartphone users. However, opportunities exist for the country in the form of strong daily mobile Internet use, daily use of applications and use of virtual social networks.

Country studies

Singapore

Singapore is consistently strong across all categories, especially in pillar 1, top in IP protection, top in innovation parameters, and top in government use of technology.

Challenges include the mature state of mobile market, and relatively small population of smartphone users (4.8 million), but there are opportunities as reflected by:

• High statistics for daily mobile Internet use, app use, and use of virtual social networks
• Proactive government policies such as the Next Generation Nationwide Broadband Network
• Personal data privacy protection act 2012, and the Infocomm Media Masterplan 2025

Australia

Australia is consistently strong across all categories, especially in pillar 2. It is second in Internet penetration, third in average mobile connection speeds, and third in smartphone penetration.

Challenges include being 4th in IP protection, 5th in mobile payments readiness, and 8th in the ratio of youth population to overall population. Opportunities include leveraging on virtual social networks as the use of networks like Facebook is wide.

Mainland China

China had mostly mid-level scores for pillar 1: 7th in government use of technology, 5th in IP protection, 6th in innovation

Challenges include pillar 3, where China had the weakest scores. China scored 9th in terms of time taken to set up a business, 9th in strength of cybersecurity, and 4th in mobile payments readiness. Opportunities identified include the government 'Internet plus' strategy to drive economic growth through new technologies and services, and the more than 1 billion smartphone users in China; 93% of them access the mobile Internet daily, Lim of TRPC said.

Hong Kong

Hong Kong's forward-looking government policies drove strong scores. Hong Kong is second for government and the support of technology and innovation, 2nd in innovation and 3rd in IP protection.

The city's challenges include a relatively small population of smartphone users - scoring 9th, as well as a small youth demographic, where Hong Kong is also ranked 9th.

India

India had consistently low scores across all parameters with the exception of cybersecurity, where it scored third.

Its challenges include a unique mobile phone usage pattern due to infrastructural challenges and a complicated mobile tariff regime. For opportunities the country will have an estimated 236 million mobile Internet users by 2016. It will also have 427 million smartphone users in its marketplace. There is a sizeable proportion of youth in its market, as nearly two in 10 (18.1%) of its population is aged between 15 and 24.

Indonesia

Indonesia could leapfrog from No. 10 to No. 3 by leapfrogging straight into the mobile economy. For many Indonesians their first computer is going to be a mobile phone. The country had poor scores in most of the parameters, such as 10th in innovation, 10th in average mobile connection speeds, 10th in time taken to set up a business and 10th for mobile payments.

Challenges include more protection needed for innovation and ideas, higher debit/credit penetration and mobile payments readiness will be needed to encourage e-commerce. For opportunities Indonesia has an above-average score for the number of people who use mobile Internet and apps daily, as well as social network usage.

Japan

Japan enjoys strong IP protection (No. 2), but pillar 1 generally needs improvement. It has high pillar 2 scores, coming in 1st in Internet penetration, and second in average mobile connection speeds.

Challenges include low smartphone penetration at 8th, and not being well-versed in the use of apps (9th) nor social networking (8th). It also has the smallest youth demographic population in the region. Opportunities include excellent Internet connectivity, and the time taken to start a business is shorter than the regional average. Japan also has good business agility scores.

Malaysia

Malaysia scored in the midrange across parameters, but is first in strength of cybersecurity.

Challenges include the relatively small market of smartphone users (21 million) and the lowest number of people who use mobile Internet daily. Opportunities include an above average percentage of youth population between age of 15 and 24, standing it in good stead in the age of digital natives.

South Korea

South Korea had strong scores for pillar 2 - it is first in average mobile connection speed, first smartphone penetration, and third in Internet penetration.

Challenges include a below-average number of people who use mobile Internet on a daily basis (8th) and who use social networks (7th). Opportunities-wise, the government has been proactive in adjusting regulations which improve economic prospects of the application economy with initiatives such as the Cloud Computing Promotion act. It also has a fairly large user base of smartphone users at 42 million.

Thailand

Thailand had low scores for pillar 1, where it is 8th in terms of government use of technology, 8th in innovation, and 10th in IP protection. The country also had low scores for pillar 2, being 8th in Internet penetration, ninth for average mobile connection speeds, and 7th for smartphone penetration.

Challenges include work needed to improve IP protection and strength of cybersecurity. Opportunities, on the other hand, are plentiful. Thailand tabled 10 Digital Economy Bills, TRPC's Lim said, ranging from personal data protection and cybersecurity to electronic transactions and digital development. Thailand is also ranked 4th in daily use of apps and the degree of use of social networks.

"Winners and losers have yet to be determined," said Lim of TRPC. "Those who move quickly into the market, who can capture marketshare (will win). You want to move quickly into the market with the most number of users."

Interested?

Read more about CA’s APJ Application Economy Index 2016 (PDF)
View the infographic

Read the TechTrade Asia blog post about how to win in an application economy

Hashtag: #CAAPJSummit

*Methodology: The 10 parameters of the CA Technologies APJ Application Economy Index (AEI2016) and five MPAs are sourced from publicly-available indices. As indicators used had different units and scales, any indicator that did not use a 10-point scale was normalised to make the indicator values comparable, as well as to construct aggregate scores for each economy.