Special biometric vests normally used by elite athletes have been earmarked for a Griffith University study to monitor how fatigue can impact the driving behaviour of truckers. The School of Medicine and Dentistry’s Dr Caroline Robertson noted that the project has received nearly AU$ 200,000 in federal government funding to conduct a research trial.
She said that, thus far, 40 drivers from two companies are wearing the Hexoskin biometric vests for a total of six days – five of those are while driving and one of those is a day off. The vests will measure heart rate and breathing responses giving us an indication of how stressed or tired they are.
The researchers then overlay this data with other psychological and in-vehicle data, to form a picture of what is happening when a driver is fatigued. In-vehicle data will look at markers such as lane positioning, distance from other vehicles and steering wheel angle.
The research is the first to tackle psychological, physiological and in-vehicle data monitoring predictors of fatigue in professional drivers. Griffith University identified a need to research all three factors simultaneously as they all independently contribute to fatigue behind the wheel.
After the data has been compiled and analysed it will be used to inform companies about which factors contribute most to fatigue. The aim is for people to be informed and know what to look for before they even get behind the wheel of a truck so potentially fatal incidents can be prevented.
The global biometric system market is expected to grow from US$ 42.9 billion in 2022 to US$ 82.9 billion by 2027, at a CAGR of 14.1%. Growing advancements in biometric technology across various sectors as well as the increasing demand for authentication and identification solutions as well as security and surveillance solutions in various application areas are the primary factors driving the market growth. Moreover, the growing adoption of biometric systems in consumer electronics, BFSI as well as automotive verticals will drive the demand for this technology soon.
The government vertical secured the largest share of the biometric system market in 2021, and this trend is expected to continue during the forecast period. Biometrics helps in dismissing corruption through various government-deployed projects for large-scale identification, such as biometric civil IDs.
Biometric identification enables governments to offer subsidies, rebates, and incentives that include rations and others to eligible citizens while avoiding any possible loopholes in the system. Government agencies can also use biometric solutions to verify individuality across international boundaries. In some countries, it is mandatory for visa aspirants to provide biometric samples that are searched in criminal records and immigration databases for refraining the offenders to enter their geographies.
The market in APAC will grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast period. The biometric system market in APAC is segmented into China, Japan, India, Australia, South Korea, and the Rest of APAC. The presence of prominent biometric system manufacturers is expected to contribute to the revenue share of this region owing to the rapid economic growth in major countries such as China, Japan, India, and South Korea.
Moreover, the growth of the biometric system market in APAC may also have its origins in technological advancements, increased awareness among the masses regarding the use of biometric systems for security purposes and lowered cost of devices based on these technologies.
The Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), Rajeev Chandrasekhar, recently launched a report that explores how India can achieve its electronics production target of US $300 billion and exports of US $120 billion by 2025-26. The report is titled, ‘Globalise to Localise: Exporting at Scale and Deepening the Ecosystem are Vital to Higher Domestic Value Addition’. It was prepared by the India Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER), in collaboration with the India Cellular and Electronics Association (ICEA).
Speaking about the report, the Minister noted that to achieve its targets, the government has emphasised strengthening the country’s domestic manufacturing ecosystem to make it more resilient to supply chain disruptions. The aim is to emerge as a reliable and trusted partner in global value chains.
The report postulates that the country must export aggressively to reach the scale in electronics manufacturing. “In addition to domestic production, and supplies and domestic consumption, the exports are [an] important way to get the scales of the other economies that are competing with us,” the Minister said. Exports will create a network effect of creating the supply chain interests, and supply chain investments that in turn will increase value addition in the Indian electronics segment.
Electronics in India have come a long way since 2014, during which the country was increasingly dependent on not only petroleum imports but electronics imports. Now, the country has a US$ 76 billion manufacturing economy with exports worth US$ 16 billion. According to ICEA, the early results of the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme are beginning to show. Electronics as a sector is the 6th largest export from India this year. Mobile phones constitute the single largest component of electronics exports from the country. They are expected to contribute nearly 50% of the total electronics exports by next year.
The report examines the empirical relationship between exports and the share of domestic value addition in successful exporting nations. It finds that the two variables are negatively correlated in the short-run but exhibit positive correlation in the medium-term. The report, therefore, recommends a sequential approach that can put India’s exports on the same trajectory as China and Vietnam. The immediate goal should be to export at scale to global markets (globalise), and the subsequent objective should be to increase the share of local content (localise). The report suggests several steps and policies needed for deepening the broader electronics ecosystem within India.
The report points to an urgent need for India to create a competitive domestic ecosystem of ancillary suppliers through technology upgradation programmes, holding sourcing fairs, and introducing supporting industry development programmes.
Earlier, OpenGov Asia reported that the domestic production of electronic goods increased substantially from US$ 37 billion in 2015-16 to US$ 74.7 billion in 2020-21, growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 17.9%. Policies that have supported this growth include the PLI Scheme, the Scheme for the Promotion of Manufacturing of Electronic Components and Semiconductors (SPECS), and the Modified Electronics Manufacturing Cluster (EMC 2.0).
The Vietnam Petroleum Institute (VPI), a member of the state-owned oil and gas group PetroVietnam, is deploying artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) to identify the presence of fractured granite basements. The technology has an accuracy rate of over 80% and helps save exploration time and costs.
The discovery and successful exploitation of fractured granite basement reservoirs at Bach Ho (White Tiger) and other oil fields in Vietnam have changed the traditional oil and gas exploration perspectives. The identification of fractured granite basements using traditional methods needs specialised equipment that may require the suspension of oil well drilling and lengthening of the rig rental duration (the current rental is about US$ 65,000-US$ 68,000 per day).
To optimise this process, the VPI has worked out a fracture prediction solution that applies AI and ML to accurately detect the presence of fracture systems based on real-time data. Relevant data will be used as inputs into ML algorithms, and then models will be classified, ranked, and assessed to find out the best for fracture prediction. The VPI has tested the accuracy of this prediction model on drilling data of 12 wells in some fields with similar geological structures, showing a prediction accuracy rate of more than 80%.
The results from the machine learning operations (MLOps) platform are expected to help improve drilling effectiveness, ensure safety for the process, and shorten the rig rental duration. Depending on each contractor’s drilling plan, the saved expenses can reach hundreds of thousands of US dollars. According to the Data Director of the VPI, the fracture prediction model makes use of the oil and gas sector’s existing data to develop optimisation algorithms to create new values and guarantee security and safety.
The application of AI/ML to oil and gas exploration is the next milestone in the implementation of PetroVietnam’s digital transformation strategy. In July, the VPI built Oilgas AI, an ecosystem using AI/ML to gather, demonstrate, and analyse specialised data about crude oil, petrol, liquefied petroleum gas, and natural gas. It offered solutions that would help businesses make quicker and more effective decisions during their daily operations, as well as build long-term plans and strategies.
PetroVietnam has been developing and perfecting appropriate and effective solutions while coordinating with socio-political organisations in promoting digital transformation at its subsidiaries. In a resolution on digital transformation to 2025, with a vision to 2030, issued in February this year, PetroVietnam viewed digital transformation as a must to increase productivity, quality, efficiency, and competitiveness.
Digital transformation is seen as a strategic task of PetroVietnam and is especially important for the group’s businesses and units. The work is hoped to help the firm promote innovation and improve business performance and competitiveness, as well as its leading position in the oil and gas industry, thus contributing to the country’s digital economy.
During the first half of 2022, PetroVietnam pumped out 5.48 million tonnes of crude oil, surpassing the H1 target by 23%. Meanwhile, gasoline production exceeded the plan by 14%, and fertiliser production surpassed the target by 8%. Production and supply of gas, electricity and other energy products also reached a high level. The H1 revenue was estimated at US$ 20 billion, up 55% year-on-year and double the goal set for six months.
Hong Kong is pursuing fintech to strengthen its position as an international financial centre. Aimed at promoting fintech talent development through academia-industry collaboration, the School of Business and Management of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST Business School) and financial services company have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on collaborations covering industry insight sharing, internship and employment opportunities, as well as joint efforts on industrial research.
Marking the first initiative launched under this partnership, selected master’s degree students of the HKUST Business School have already commenced fintech training under the global fintech training program 10×1000 Tech for Inclusion. Given the overwhelmingly positive response from students, the program quota for the School has been increased from several dozen as originally planned to over 100.
Selected participants in the 10 x 1000 Tech for Inclusion program can opt for fintech-related online courses and seminars and join the 10 x 1000 community to engage with industry tutors and students from across the globe. Aimed at training 1,000 emerging talents and tech leaders each year for the next ten years, 10 x 1000 Tech for Inclusion is a philanthropic initiative launched jointly by an international financial institution.
A finance industry practitioner and an HKUST MBA student taking part in the program stated that fintech should serve everyone in society. The 10 x 1000 program’s introduction to fintech inclusion has helped me better understand the value of fintech and its vast opportunities, while its BASIC framework offers a primer to key fintech elements including blockchain, AI, security, IoT and computing power.
The discussion on how tech can be leveraged to achieve scale and solve user pain points is most relevant and useful to the student’s work. The case studies on implementing fintech initiatives are also a very practical reference for professionals and business owners alike.
The Dean of HKUST Business School stated that fintech has become a major pillar in the finance industry. Building on its strengths in finance and technology, the School is the leading player in the fintech sector, to advance fintech talent development in Hong Kong and equip students with practical knowledge and skills in fintech.
He added that students’ overwhelmingly positive response to 10 x 1000 Tech for Inclusion has been encouraging, which underscores their strong desire to upskill themselves for fintech-related work in the future.
The Executive Vice-President of Strategy Development and Government Affairs for the GBA region of the international financial centre stated that strengthening Hong Kong’s position as an international financial centre and turning the city into an international innovation and technology hub is not only the nation’s expectation but also a key objective of the HKSAR Government.
He noted that the company is encouraged by HKUST students’ strong reception of 10×1000 Tech for Inclusion. Building on this strong start, cooperation opportunities will be further explored with HKUST, leveraging the strengths of both organizations to contribute to fintech talent development in Hong Kong and the broader Greater Bay Area.
About the 10×1000 Tech for Inclusion Programme
Launched in October 2018, 10 x 1000 Tech for Inclusion is a philanthropic initiative that aims to prepare industry practitioners to drive future digital economic growth. Its mission is to train 1,000 learners each year for the next ten years.
A total of 31 domestic, international and regional organizations and institutions, including the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa and the United Nations World Food Programme, are currently global partners of the programme. In 2021, 1,067 learners from 66 regions and countries completed the online courses. Approximately 80% of the learners were from emerging markets across South and Southeast Asia.
The Minister of Commerce and Industry, Piyush Goyal, recently reviewed the progress of the Government e-Marketplace (GeM) portal. According to a press release, among several other things, various functionalities of the portal, as well as the timeliness in procurement and delivery were reviewed in detail. Launched in 2016, GeM is an online platform for the public procurement of goods and services in India. The initiative aims to create an open and transparent platform for government officials. Currently, there are around 62,000 government buyers on the platform.
More than 95% of all the physical order deliveries since April 2022 happened on time, in the cases where online fulfilment and payment were done via GeM. While the Minister observed consistent improvement in the on-time delivery across all transaction types on GeM, he suggested that the portal should revise thresholds and add features to further accelerate delivery timelines and provide flexibility to government buyers to choose products as per their delivery needs.
GeM’s initiatives for compressive monitoring and anomaly detection in procurement, which are based on artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML), were also reviewed. They detect and report potential collusion and fraud. The Minister said that strong legal and punitive actions must be taken against buyers and suppliers that conduct fraudulent activities.
In addition to detecting anomalies, GeM also plans to use AI-ML to make proactive feature simplifications and product suggestions to buyers to ensure informed decision-making and savings in public spending. Significant technical upgrades have also been planned by GeM, which will enable cutting-edge use cases and improve user experience on the platform. Goyal said that the portal should bring in end-to-end online fulfilment and payment for all transactions by buyers on GeM. He also recommended improving the monitoring of delivery against timelines.
Earlier this month, the Ministry of Cooperation launched the onboarding of co-ops onto GeM. The Union Minister for Home and Co-operation, Amit Shah, announced that since GeM has been open to co-operative societies, over 300 have signed up. He stated that of the 589 on this list, 289 co-ops have been added to the platform, as well as 45 out of 54 multistate co-ops. He also encouraged co-ops to register on GeM as the portal would be key to the expansion of this sector.
According to Shah, co-ops will not be given second-class treatment, but those in the sector will have to initiate change and bring in transparency. He said that the three areas where co-ops need to be transparent are elections, recruitment, and purchasing.
The government has been developing portals and websites, similar to GeM, to facilitate government operations and digitally upskill officials, reducing human error and improving the speed and quality of public service delivery. In July, the Department of Posts launched an e-learning portal to enhance the competencies of about 400,000 rural postal service and departmental employees by providing them access to standardised training content online or in a blended campus mode. This would enable them to effectively deliver several government-to-citizen (G2C) services for enhanced customer satisfaction, as OpenGov Asia reported.
In a joint project led by the NSW Police Force and Cyber Security NSW, a new AU$ 25.3 million Cyber Security Operations Centre has been launched aimed at safeguarding the NSW Police Force systems from terrorists, organised criminal networks and hackers. The Australian-first operations centre will be made up of a frontline tactical team of 15 analysts and engineers working seven days a week.
The region’s Deputy Premier and Minister for Police stated that the Cyber Security Operations Centre would strengthen the Force’s cyber security defences by identifying and blocking threats in real time. He noted that the NSW Police Force holds a significant amount of sensitive data relating to local, national and international criminal investigations, and there are criminals who seek to obtain this information.
Analysts in the Cyber Security Operations Centre Command respond to and prevent threats of disruption to the police network every day. These threats often come from organised crime networks or cyber criminals – and investment in this Australian-first operations centre is about ensuring that the centre’s analysts are equipped to stop them immediately.
Protecting police systems fundamentally means protecting the people of NSW by allowing the Force to function securely and effectively, and ensure criminal investigations proceed unthwarted, the DP said.
Meanwhile, the Minister for Customer Service and Digital Government stated that it is vital that NSW continues to push ahead with its vision to be a world leader in cyber security to protect and advance its digital economy. He said that now more than ever before, governments, people and businesses are at risk from ongoing cyber security threats and Cyber Security NSW is committed to working with government agencies to improve cyber resilience and ensure they are prepared.
The NSW Government is committed to developing an Australian-based cyber security workforce that is world-leading when it comes to taking on increasingly sophisticated cyber-attacks. Since June 2020 the NSW Government has invested AU$ 315 million through the Digital Restart Fund to bolster the Government’s cyber security capability and grow the local cyber industry.
The 2021 NSW Cyber Security Strategy was announced last year. It builds on the previous NSW Cyber Security Strategy and the 2018 NSW Cyber Security Industry Development Strategy, combining the two into one overarching cyber security strategy for NSW. This strategy seeks to outline the key strategic objectives, guiding principles and high-level focus areas that the NSW Government will use to align existing and future programs of work.
The cyber security sector plays a dual role in the digital economy – defending and protecting the economy as well as underpinning its growth. Cyber security forms the backbone of a strong digital society, providing a trusted environment necessary to grow digital transformation and the confidence needed to advance digital adoption. Concurrently, strong cyber capability protects the economy from losses due to cybercrimes and builds the foundational capability to grow the emerging digital technology sector.
As a result, it is the NSW Government’s vision for the state to become a world leader in cyber security: protecting, growing and advancing its digital economy. To become a world leader, it is imperative to build the foundations to grow the ecosystem and cyber security workforce, provide viable commercialisation pathways, generate increased local demand for and supply of sovereign cyber security solutions and capabilities and continually improve cyber resiliency across industry and government.
As a result, four commitments make up this strategy:
Working together with the NSW government, citizens, industry and state and federal counterparts will be crucial for achieving the outcomes of the strategy.
The National Cancer Grid (NCG) has established the Koita Centre for Digital Oncology (KCDO) to encourage the use of digital technologies and tools to improve cancer care across India. It will support NCG hospitals in sharing best practices in digital health, adopting digital health tools, and promoting technology initiatives including EMR adoption, healthcare data interoperability, reporting, and analytics.
Cancer care is evolving rapidly, and digital tools are becoming indispensable in improving diagnosis and treatment worldwide. KCDO will play an important role in driving digital transformation across the cancer care continuum. KCDO will also enable NCG hospitals to pilot and adopt new technologies, including artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), big data, automation, and cloud computing.
Embracing tools like telemedicine and remote patient monitoring will help make care more accessible, especially in semi-urban and rural areas. AI-assisted clinical decision support tools will help improve doctors’ ability to provide better care, and mobile patient engagement apps will help patients with medication management and better compliance with care guidelines. Similarly, the use of healthcare data analytics across hospitals will enable the tracking and benchmarking of clinical outcomes and the effectiveness of different treatment and care pathways.
KCDO will also partner with academic and research organisations to promote research and development in cancer care. According to an industry representative, the centre will create an innovation ecosystem across hospitals, healthcare technology companies, academic institutions, and research organisations to address challenges in cancer care. The new centre will enable more than 270 NCG partner hospitals to assess and deploy digital tools to enhance cancer care and make it more accessible and affordable across India.
NCG is a government initiative, deployed through the Department of Atomic Energy, to create a network of cancer centres, research institutes, patient groups, and charitable institutions from around the country. The objective is to develop uniform standards of patient care for the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of cancer. The organisation also provides specialised training and education in oncology and facilitates collaborative basic, translational, and clinical research in cancer.
The development of technology in cancer care in the country has accelerated over the past few years. In July, researchers from the Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT-Madras) developed PIVOT, an AI-based tool that can predict cancer-causing genes. PIVOT uses a model that utilises information on mutations, expression of genes, and copy number variation in genes and perturbations in the biological network that results from an altered gene expression. The tool applies machine learning to classify genes as tumour suppressor genes, oncogenes, or neutral genes. PIVOT successfully predicted both the existing oncogenes and tumour-suppressor genes like TP53, and PIK3CA, among others, and new cancer-related genes such as PRKCA, SOX9, and PSMD4.
As OpenGov Asia reported, cancer, being a complex disease, cannot be dealt with in a one-treatment-fits-all fashion. As cancer treatment increasingly shifts towards personalised medicine, models like PIVOT, which aim at pinpointing differences between patients are very useful. Current cancer treatments are known to be detrimental to the overall health of the patient. Knowing the genes responsible for the initiation and progression of cancer in a patient can help determine the combination of drugs and therapy most suitable for their recovery.
RMIT University is a partner in SELFY, a new European research project aiming to make digitally connected vehicles safer. Approximately 50 million connected and autonomous cars are expected to be circulating in Europe by 2026 as part of a Cooperative Connected Autonomous Mobility (CCAM) ecosystem in which road users interact not only with each other but with other elements of the transport infrastructure.
While CCAM is seen to improve the coordination of road traffic, for example by providing real-time data about driving conditions or upcoming congestion on the motorway, increased digital connectivity attracts a heightened risk of malicious assaults on the system. This includes cyber-attacks or cyberterrorism events that could not only disrupt mobility but cause harm.
Thus, the SELF-assessment, protection & healing tools for a trustworthY and resilient CCAM, or SELFY for short, were developed. It is a European-funded research collaboration between project coordinator Eurecat and RMIT since their partnership began in May 2021. As an associated partner in the project, RMIT will co-supervise a researcher alongside the Technische Hochschule Ingolstadt in Germany.
The Research Director of the RMIT University Centre of Cyber Security Research and Innovation (CCSRI), School of Computing Technologies, stated that the University will contribute with expertise in artificial intelligence techniques to detect cyber-attacks in large-scale distributed systems.
Meanwhile, SELFY will develop collaborative tools aimed at increasing the security, protection and resilience of the CCAM environment against cyber-attacks or malicious actions, for example by detecting vulnerable vehicles and security breaches.
Following the successful validation of the tools in the laboratory, the project team will build three scenarios in realistic, controlled environments to demonstrate their performance and effectiveness.
As European regulations begin mandating cybersecurity certificates for digitally connected vehicles, the research team expects the toolbox to be adopted by various traffic and infrastructure management organisations, providing self-awareness, self-resilience and trust among road users.
Tari will work on SELFY, whose formal kick-off took place in July, alongside Professor Ibrahim Khalil, Associate Professor Fengling Han and Dr Shabnam Kasra Kermanshahi from RMIT’s School of Computing Technologies. The project consortium includes 16 partners from eight countries including Australia, Spain, France, Germany, Austria, the Netherlands, Japan and Turkey.
Recent research shows that the global autonomous car market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 31.3% and reach US$11.03 billion in the forecast period of 2021-2028. In 2020, the market was valued at US$ 1.45 billion.
This growth in the market can be attributed to the speedy development in sensor-processing technologies, adaptive algorithms, high-definition mapping, and the placement of infrastructure-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-vehicle communication technologies are reassuring numerous corporations to magnify their manufacturing capabilities and navigate vehicle automation to an elevated level.
The National Transport Commission of Australia’s Automated Vehicle Program Approach (2020) outlines the nation’s current automated vehicle reform program, including its purpose, work completed to date, further planned reforms and interaction with other agencies. The document will receive regular updates as work progresses.
Currently, several, parallel reforms are being developed to achieve end-to-end regulation for automated vehicles. Transport ministers have already agreed to several key policy decisions, including:
The federal government is currently implementing the agreed first supply recommendations from the Safety assurance system for automated vehicles project as well.
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