Re: Learning

Leapfrogging Technologies
July 14–15, 2009
Singapore

field trip
FUSIONOPOLIS
July 16

Tour information
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Eric Haseltine previews the conference
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conference overview
The pace of technological and scientific change in Asia is nothing short of astounding. The inventions and innovations taking place there are having a major effect on world technology and economic markets.

With Singapore as our hub, we’ll examine leapfrogging technologies from three viewpoints, concentrating on their development and utilization in Asia: developing countries that are bypassing established technologies, instead deploying next-generation technologies; highend research and development; and cost-effective ways to implement technology.

The numbers of patents and refereed publications are indicators of Asia’s emergence as a high-end technology innovator. The convergence of science and technology in Singapore, as evidenced by the construction of Biopolis, is based on the premise that new ideas flourish when novel combinations occur. China is an increasingly vigorous capitalist economy: Internet use there is exploding, homegrown businesses are turning inward to sell to a rapidly emerging domestic market, and R&D and other advanced thrusts are pervasive. In India, whose burgeoning population presents an enormous opportunity for economy of scale, the software development and communications industries are finding receptive grounds for experimentation and novel ideas.

In Asia, government-industry partnerships abound. Intellectual capital is giving way to social capital; interdisciplinarity among science and technology centers takes advantage of complementary realms of expertise. Has the reverse brain drain from the West to Asia affected technology development? Leapfrogging technologies, in computers and beyond, are being applied in creative and important ways. In many instances, the innovation cycle is about process. How will technology development and invention emanating from Asia affect the rest of the world? In short, what can we learn from Asian countries that have positioned themselves as leapfrogging-technology pioneers?

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Partial list of speakers

Mr. Chan Ping Wah, Assistant Chief Executive, Technology and Innovation, National Library Board Singapore
Mr. Calvin Chin, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Qifang.com
Dr. Daeje Chin, President and Chief Executive Officer, SkyLake Incuvest
Dr. Alex Gavino, M.D., Coordinator, Central Operations, National Telehealth Center, Philippines
Mr. Jacob Hsu, Chief Executive Officer, The Symbio Group
Mr. Michael Hutak, Oceania Director, One Laptop per Child
Mr. Mohanjit Jolly, Executive Director, DFJ India
Dr. Jong-Hwan Kim, Director, National Center for Robot Intelligence Technology, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST)
Mr. N. Prasad, Vice Chairman, Matrix Laboratories Limited
Mr. Kamal Quadir, Founder, CellBazaar
Mr. John Sanders, Head of Production Resources and Mr. Stuart McAra, Producer, Visual Effects, Lucasfilm Animation
Ms. See Swee Lan, Assistant Department Head, and Dr. Haizhou Li, Department Head, HLT Department, Institute for Infocomm Research
Mr. Kartikeya Singh, Co-Founder, Indian Youth Climate Network
Dr. Tan Chin Nam, Chairman, Media Development Authority, Singapore
Dr. Kentaro Toyama, Assistant Managing Director, Microsoft Research India
Dr. John Ure, Director, Telecommunications Research Project, University of Hong Kong
Dr. Po Chi Wu, Executive Director, Global Innovation Research Center, Peking University
Dr. Jackie Ying, Executive Director, Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology

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