Making it matter

Four years ago, we started a website with a simple goal: writing good stories for government officials across Asia Pacific.

Since then, we have come a long way. University College London named a scholarship programme in our honour; we partnered with three branches of the United Nations to run a summit for over 1,000 senior government officials; we reached 2.5 million readers; we partnered with some of the world’s greatest companies to tackle policy challenges.

We want to use our platform as a force for good. So this year, we have chosen 7 campaign areas that we feel will be crucial for the governments of Asia and beyond.

Our strategy this year is ‘making it matter’: finding ways to do tangible good with our partners. Helping them to build solutions to knotty problems, and building the digital economy of the region. We’ll be an engine for growth, a source of optimism, a platform for partnerships and a trusted friend to the officials and innovators of Asia Pacific.

The campaigns are:

Disaster recovery

Floods, tsunamis, earthquakes and landslides are an increasing occurrence with changing global weather patterns – particularly for South East Asia.

Fortunately, there is much that can be done. We want to work with governments and companies to create good communications plans; disaster recovery maps; mitigation strategies; data sharing and simulation tools; AI and weather forecasts and IOT sensors to track water levels.

Sanitation

As Asia’s cities grow, one area is very commonly overlooked: sanitation.. We want to promote new ways of using data and tech to tackle this, and support infrastructure projects that make a difference. This can be from Surabaya’s CCTV-led approach, to bottom up movements like India’s Pad Man and Swachh Bharat. It also involves innovative approaches such as behavioural economics.

Transport and Infrastructure

Think of the hours lost every year in Bangkok, Manila and Jakarta’s traffic gridlock, or the increasing problems in Yangon, Phnom Penh and Vientiane. We want to work with people who are helping tackle this, from metro builders to software engineers, using analytics, infrastructure, mapping, algorithms, and control rooms.

Digital Economy and Skills

How can we build a more inclusive economy? How can we empower startups and entrepreneurs? How can we help older generations react when their industry is disrupted? And how can AI be encouraged, regulated and used effectively? These are key questions that can be addressed through partnerships, international cooperation and innovation.

Epayments and Eprocurement

Everything is changing in Asian economies, powered by a new wave of mega apps and new epayments providers. How can they support government objectives; partner to increase financial inclusion; improve public service delivery, even? And how are they exploring entry into the world of digital identity?

Eprocurement is also fundamental for reform. It enables governments to slash graft, improve efficiency and better understand their spending patterns. We’ll continue our push for this.

Ageing Demographics

Even countries with large young populations face a challenge of looking after a growing elderly population. In the next decade, India will have over 300m elderly people, for example. So how can governments and hospitals partner to address these issues, and improve their healthcare systems? This will be a focus both for GovInsider and our new spinoff publication, Hospital Insider.

Public Safety

The security risks in Asia are worsening, and new technology can help. From CCTV to fire and flood management systems, and from police radios to immigration systems – we are excited by innovation in a crucial area of public service. And we care deeply about protecting critical infrastructure, and sharing cyber security advice.

We are also open to other ideas. How can we work together to ‘make it matter’? This mission cuts across everything that we do, and every approach that we have. Let’s change the world!