APF Canada President and CEO Jeff Nankivell joins the Foundation's Business Asia Program Manager, Anastasia Ufimtseva, to discuss key findings and takeaways from the latest Investment Monitor 2022 annual report focused solely on research and development (R&D), including what it can tell us about current relations and potential in R&D foreign direct investment collaboration between Canada and the Asia Pacific. For more on the latest investment flows between Canada and Asia, read our...

Ranjit Singh, researcher at the AI on the Ground Initiative, Data & Society Research Institute, invites us to reframe our thinking about how technology impacts the globe’s largest populations in the Global South. They, in fact, form the “majority world” rather than a collective remainder in the conceptualization, use, and application of technology. Observing how tech actually affects communities on the ground and the nature of their relationship with technology can help tailor and...

In this episode, Sanjana Hattotuwa, special advisor at ICT4Peace Foundation and research fellow in Dunedin, Aotearoa NZ, prompts us to ask better questions about online content: how does it inform our world view? What values does it advance? And how do we wrest control of it? Drawing the analogy of DJs and clubs, Sanjana breaks down the role of content creators and the platforms that host them, as well as what it all means for the millions of users in the Global South who have long “begged”...

Rasheed Griffith sits down with Elina Noor to outline the technology landscape, competing priorities, and structural constraints in the Caribbean. Cautioning observers to see the Caribbean for what it actually is rather than what we want to see in it, he debunks assumptions about China’s presence and influence in the region through initiatives like the Digital Silk Road. Rasheed is non-resident senior fellow with the Asia and Latin America Program at the Inter-American Dialogue and Head of...

In this sobering reflection on the continued impact of systemic injustice in the digital age, Sara Cole Stratton argues powerfully for the inclusion of different worldviews and knowledge systems. Her unique perspective of viewing digital tech through a Māori lens is borne of first-hand encounters with racism and the effects of colonial imposition on everyday life and decision-making, from institutionalized laws to algorithmic bias in technology. Sara is the founder of Māori Lab in NZ and a...

In this episode, Elina Noor surveys the landscape of Brazil’s and Latin America’s digital priorities and challenges with Virgilio Almeida, Professor Emeritus of Computer Science at the Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG) in Brazil and Faculty Associate at the Berkman Klein Center at Harvard University. Virgilio talks about the paradox of an expanding social media space for Brazil’s vulnerable communities but a shrinking public space for discussions on digital policies. Drawing parallels...

In the first episode of the Asia Pacific Conversation podcast series, host Jeff Nankivell, President & CEO of APF Canada, sits down with Dr. Rebecca Sta Maria, APEC Executive Director, to discuss the opportunities and challenges the APEC region represents for Canada and what Canadians can gain from active engagement and participation in the region.

In this episode, Imen Ghedhioui, former advisor to Tunisia’s Ministry of Communication Technologies and Digital Transformation, explains why the intersection between the behavioral sciences and technology is crucial for digital access, inclusion, and integration. She talks about the localization of technology to further those aims, and underscores the importance of agency in interacting with tech — of personal agency vis-a-vis data and of national agency in digital infrastructure development.

As one of Southeast Asia’s smaller countries, Cambodia is often overlooked and underrated. Yet, the country’s youth dividend, technological leapfrogging, and economic growth rate over the past decade warrant a closer look at its potential. In outlining Cambodia’s priorities and challenges in the digital space, Siriwat Chhem, Director of the Centre for Inclusive Digital Economy at the Asian Vision Institute, explains why context, functionality, and unintended consequences all matter in making...

In this episode, Merih Angin, Assistant Professor at Koç University in Turkey, underscores the criticality of viewing tech holistically. She unpacks why a cross-disciplinary and multi-perspective approach is important, and dives deep into the diversity of tech priorities among various stakeholders in one country - Turkey - alone.

In this episode of Between the Binary, host Elina Noor speaks with Moliehi Makumane, a researcher with the Security and Technology Programme at UNIDIR and a former cyber diplomat. Here, Moliehi prompts us to apply a broader lens to thinking about technology in a development setting: we talk of South Africa’s digital priorities, positioning amid powerful state and industry partners, indigenous innovations for the world (“create local, think global”), as well as the challenges of South-South...

From great power rivalry to gender inclusivity, Fitri Bintang Timur, Researcher, Centre for Strategic and International Studies Indonesia, outlines how Indonesia is navigating its digital priorities amid disruption and decoupling. Fitri reminds that despite the headlines, all challenges are ultimately local and capacity-building efforts must be sensitive to realities on the ground.

In out first episode of the series, Farish Noor, Professor of History at the University of Malaya, sets the scene for thinking about the present-day role and implications of technology by looking back at the relationship between history and technology. Farish traces the trajectory of technology, weaponization, and colonialism; unpacks the link between data and power; and offers some thoughts about how to break the cycle of the past for a more constructive digital future.

In advance of his APF Canada webinar, author and APF Canada Distinguished Fellow Bart Édes discusses strategic foresight, its applications and implications for the COVID-19 pandemic, and what it can tell us about the world of tomorrow.

A discussion about Canada's participation in the 2022 Beijing Olympics.

A discussion about the battle between Facebook and the Government of Australia over the country's news media law.

A discussion about the unprecedented acceleration in digital adoption in Southeast Asia as an engine of economic development, particularly in the context of the post-pandemic world.

Welcome to our Asia Watch: Beyond the Headlines series, where we take a deeper dive into current developments in Asia of interest and impact for Canadians.