Asia's tech news, weekly: March 5th 2024

China's 2024 space plan, India's semiconductors moves, Australian cybersecurity, Japan & quantum tech, Singapore & Malaysia target scammers, insect agri-tech in Vietnam, Philippines smart city tech...

• Japan: Softbank Group founder reportedly exploring establishment of $100BN AI chip company, Project Izanagi, with sights on similar industry standing to NVIDIA, Intel and AMD

• China Aerospace Science & Tech Corp unveils 2024 plans for 70 launches of more than 290 spacecraft into orbit, with further 30 or so launches by commercial launch sector

• South Korea: DeepX nears $90M funding with specialized AI-focused semiconductors, working with Hyundai Kia Motors Robotics Lab and others to enter mass production

• India: Government commences evaluation of $21BN worth of semiconductor-related proposals, both domestic and international, with gov't set to bear half of costs

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'Our current cryptographic techniques are highly secure against current techs. They are totally unready for the quantum age and the new types of attacks our adversaries are aggressively developing.'

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• North Korea's first spy satellite, Malligyong-1, is believed now to be live following orbit changes detected that suggest Pyongyang has control of the craft

• Australia: Space Machines preps for launch of Australia's largest private satellite to provide orbital logistics and services to maintain, refuel, repair and decommission satellites and other spacecraft

• Hong Kong: Gov't to allocate US$383M to Cyberport business park in 3-year AI subsidy scheme in bid to push universities, research institutes and businesses to use AI Supercomputing Centre

• Australian Signals Directorate Blueprint for Secure Cloud, an online tool to support the design, configuration and deployment of collaborative and secure cloud and hybrid workspaces, focusing on Microsoft 365

• China: Beijing City to create 'Rocket Street' for commercial aerospace research and production, with 41 launch projects in progress supported by over $14M in funding, and over 157 enterprises

• Australia: Microsoft partners Tank Stream Labs for AI Hub at Sydney Startup Hub to build support ecosystem for founders, developers and startups working on AI technologies

• Japan: Institute for Molecular Science and firms including Fujitsu, Hitachi and NEC partner to establish company to commercialize high-speed quantum computer by 2030

• Singapore and Malaysia ink MOU to increase cross-border cooperation to tackle scams across telecommunications channels

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'While mainland China bans all forms of crypto trading, the gov't leaves the option open in Hong Kong... as a sandbox for Beijing to toy with web3 without potentially incurring financial volatility for the rest of the country.'

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• India preps for 3 unmanned space launches prior to manned launch, with first G1 mission set for July to test Gaganyaan Crew Module and featuring a humanoid robot

• Thailand: An overview of the country's increasing challenges from cyber-attacks, including a trojan attack targeting ID documents, facial recognition data and SMS

• India: Union Cabinet green lights Gujarat chip plant in collaboration Japan's Renesas and Thailand's Stars Microelectronics, focusing on trains, defence, space and EVs

• Australia: LaunchVic unveils $1M MedTech Market Growth Program providing up to $5K in matched funding for selected Victorian medical-tech startups

Deloitte: 2024 Global Semicionductor Industry Outlook

• Australia: Quasar Satellite Technologies selected as 1 of 7 companies for 13th edition of US Air Force research Catalyst Accelerator with space domain awareness innovation

• China: Suzhou city reports that more than 29M residents now have digital yuan wallets, with near 2M firms, public bodies, and state-run organizations now holding corporate digital yuan accounts

• Philippines: Iveda launches $5M venture to fulfil contracts over 12 months to bring AI-driven smart cities tech to 100 government units

• India: Gov't approves semiconductor fabrication plant partnership for Gujarat between Tata Electronics and Taiwan’s Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp

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'...China Satcom will promote the construction of satellites with larger, single-satellite capacity... by the end of the 14th Five-Year Plan the total capacity of high-throughput communication satellites will exceed 500GBps...'

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• India: Samsung Semiconductor India Research unveils R&D facility in Bengaluru

• Japan's Astroscale launches rocket via New Zealand's Rocket Lab services to inspect 'dead' rocket debris in orbit, aiming to identify method to remove this, and later, other, debris, from space

• Australia-ASEAN Summit to see Prime Minister Albanese unveil a $2BN fund to boost Australian trade and investment in South-East Asia, focusing particularly on clean energy and infrastructure

• Vietnam: An intro to Entobel, converting black soldier flies, their eggs and larvae into sustainable animal feed protein and soil fertilizer

• India: An intro to 7 Indian semiconductor-related firms boosting the country's tech ambitions

• Japan: Government-backed research group to partner Tenstorrent Inc on the design of its first advanced AI semiconductor chip, built on open-standard RISC-V architecture

• India: Gov't approves semiconductor assembly and test facility plan for Assam state, to be operated by Tata Semiconductor Assembly unit and partners, focusing on semiconductor packaging

• India: Digantara raises $2M with Space-Mission Assurance Platform - Space-MAP - leveraging multi-modal data pool to provide stakeholders with insights aiding safety and sustainability of space operations

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How Much Trade Transits the South China Sea?: '...roughly 80% of global trade by volume and 70% by value is transported by sea. Of that volume, 60% of maritime trade passes through Asia...'

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• Huawei cloud services to expand footprint with new data centres and launch of cloud service in Egypt, and AI-focused cloud computing centre in Hong Kong

• Singapore: 70/30 Food Tech closes $700K seed extension round, launching R&D lab in India's Bangalore for fungi mycelium-based protein products

• Malaysia: An overview of the gov't MYStartup program, and a brief look at Johor Bahru's recent growth as a startup ecosystem in Southern Malaysia

• Australia Cyber Conference 2024 Canberra is set for March 25–27, presented by the Australian Information Security Association

Deloitte & GSA: Asia Pacific Semiconductor Industry Trends

• Thailand: An overview of the National Innovation Agency's new strategy to develop and boost Thai startups, aiming to align them with global innovation demand

• Singapore's RizqX fintech takes 2nd place at Venture Z startup competition in Saudi Arabia with Shariah-compliant investment options

• Vietnam: NativeX education-tech startup secures $4M in 8 months since launch with English learning targeting 10 million working professionals

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'Using advanced blockchain intelligence tools and on-chain tracking technologies, XREX’s anti-money laundering and information security departments proved the flow of illicit funds and the owners of crypto assets...'

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• Philippines: BitGet cryptocurrency exchange commences roadshow on college campuses as part of $10M Blockchain4Youth campaign, aiming to raise student awareness of web3 and crypto

• South Korea's largest telco, SK Telecom, partners US AI startup Perplexity for artificial intelligence-driven search engine as an alternative to offerings from Google and Naver

• China's Nio EV major inks global licenses to UAE's Forseven electric cars firm for use of Nio technical info and software for R&D, manufacturing and distribution of its vehicles

• Thailand: Edsy ed-tech firm completes gov't-supported 'Evaluation and Development of English Communication Potential Using Artificial Intelligence Technology' for Bangkok students

• Inaugural Japan Global Innovators' Forum set for March 15th, with discussions focusing on age tech, disaster relief tech, ESG and clean energy

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'TSMC has already received a total of $8BN USD in Japanese government subsidies. Meanwhile, it is still haggling with the US government and hasn’t seen a single cent from the reported $15BN in tax credits and subsidies...'

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• FinTech Australia ups environmental focus with launch of monthly event showcasing sustainability-focused fintech firms, with first FinTech for Net Zero event set for March 12th

• Philippines: A brief overview of the Luft Pinoy eVTOL, a concept-stage electric-hydrogen aircraft with a prototype expected to be completed by year-end

• Australian global payments firm, Airwallex, partners McLaren Formula 1 racing team to offer acceleration grants to startups

• Hong Kong: BlockShow x BlockDown Asia 2024 conference set for May 8-9, looking at all things Web3

ORF: Fixing Cyber Vulnerabilities - An Agenda for the Quad

• Australia: Flight Information Management System moves forward with traffic control system linking drones, air taxis and other uncrewed aircraft with existing air traffic management system

Indo-Pacific: "...minilateral arrangements, typically involving small groups of 3 to 6 members, have increasingly come to occupy an in-between layer in the region’s security architecture."

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"Managing the issue of disinformation on social media platforms is a collective endeavor. It is not merely a matter of regulatory enforcement but a challenge to culture and society more broadly."

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In wider-world technology news:

» An overview of Barcelona Supercomputing Center's moves to develop a European presence in expertise and manufacturing for RISC-V-based chips

» Florida lawmakers passed a ban on social media for under-16s, targeting networks that track user activity, allow children to upload, and any features designed for excessive or compulsive use

» Quantum Internet Alliance formally launched in February, with industry, academia, research and tech organization members currently across 9 European countries

» Industry majors join to launch AI-RAN Alliance aimed at integrating artificial intelligence into cellular tech to advance radio access network tech and mobile networks

» Russian scientists have built a 20-qubit quantum computer with plans for 50 qubit computing by year-end, delivering on 2021's 5-year $790M gov't investment

» US states of Colorado and Illinois focus on quantum technologies as Tech Hubs under the Chips & Science Act, with state governments creating additional funding

» The Critical Risks of Critical Minerals: "Many of the minerals being sought are in some of the poorest performing countries on Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index..."

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Critical minerals supply chains: "Since last year, lithium is down by more than 80 percent, while nickel and cobalt have both tumbled over 40 percent..."

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Indo-Pacific tech news: Other editions

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