Published daily by the Lowy Institute

Digital Asia links: Cyber silk road, Instagram, emojis, QR codes, big data and more

Digital Asia links: Cyber silk road, Instagram, emojis, QR codes, big data and more

The Asia Pacific is the most dynamic digital landscape in the world, home to the fastest adopters of new technologies and the largest concentration of mobile and social media users. An escalation in online activism, changing cyber dynamics, developments in digital diplomacy and the exploitation of big data are shaping the region's engagement with the world.

  • Jack Ma, head of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba, wants to build a 'cyber silk road' to Russia.
  • Why the influence of social media on Singapore's politics is here to stay.
  • China's anti-corruption agency has added a feature on its smartphone app so users can report official corruption in real time and upload photos as evidence. The update is already proving popular. (H/t Sam.)
  • It looks like the North Korean Government has added Instagram to the country's list of blocked social media sites. 
  • The scanning of QR codes has been a tech fail in most countries,  but not in China.
  • Allegations that South Asia's Islamist militant propaganda websites and social media accounts are promoting Islamic State at the expense of al Qaeda. 
  • Perhaps coinciding with President Xi Jinping's visit to China's first big data exchange, the Chinese Academy of Sciences has called for a big data alliance to be set up for the country's One Belt-One Road initiative.  
  • Myanmar's internet may be freer than ever before but at the intersection of information, technology and politics, new hazards are emerging.
  • New research shows China far outstrips the US and Germany when it comes to industry 4.0 technology patents (4th industrial revolution), with Chinese researchers patenting wireless sensor networks, energy-efficient technologies, low-cost robots and big data.
  • India's slow response to cyber warfare is under the spotlight.
  • Following the cyberattack on the US Government's Office of Personnel Management, the hunt for hacking group 'Deep Panda' intensifies
  • An emoji keyboard with 3000- stickers, thanks to popular Japanese messaging app LINE. Foreign Minister Bishop, and others interested, can download it here. And if you don't know what an emoji is:




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