Archive for the ‘Tech Focus’ Category
Saturday, September 28th, 2019
How can technology help in the fight against zoonisis? Aspiring vet, Erin Tan, did some research on the topic and shares what she thinks in this second article in a two-part series.
* This article first appeared in HalenessMe.
The web-based app Supramap uses genomic data to track the global movement of avian influenza virus.
Emerging technology can help in mainly two ways.
Firstly, through harnessing the power of Big Data, information from previous outbreaks, and studies conducted independently around the world, can be collated to help predict where a deadly zoonotic virus will strike next.
About The Author
Erin Tan is an aspiring Veterinarian.
She will be reading Veterinary Medicine at Emmanuel College in the University of Cambridge.
The vast availability of health data today means that data must be intelligently handled, using the right tools to derive helpful trends.
For instance, Google Flu Trends collated data from users’ searches to estimate influenza activity, and was found to show strong correlation with official data collected by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention during the 2009 flu pandemic.
The web-based app Supramap uses genomic data to track the global movement of avian influenza virus.
Google Flu Trends collated data from users’ searches to estimate influenza activity.
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Tags:analytics, Big Data, healthtech, medicine, MedTech, Tech Focus, technology, veterinary medicine
Posted in Big Data, Brief, Healthcare, Opinion, Tech Focus, Technology | No Comments »
Saturday, September 21st, 2019
The word ‘zoonosis’ is not one that is popular in the common lexicon, and yet it is something that can affect our lives profoundly. Aspiring vet med student, Erin Tan, did some research on the topic and shares what she thinks in this two-part story.
* This article first appeared in HalenessMe.
Zoonoses. Source: GAO.
A zoonosis is a disease which can be transferred from animals to humans, and there are many examples of zoonoses which many are familiar with.
About the Author
Erin Tan is an aspiring Veterinary Medicine student.
She has been offered a place to study Vet Med at the University of Cambridge, the Royal Veterinary College in London, and the Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies at the University of Edinburgh.
She is still deciding which of these places to take up.
One has only to recall the SARS outbreak of 2003 to recognise the destructive potential of zoonoses.
Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), a disease which originated from viruses in bats that jumped to palm civets and then to humans, severely impacted countries like Hong Kong, China, Singapore, and even Canada.
774 lives were claimed globally by this never-before-seen disease.
Stories of doctors, nurses and other health workers who had perished saving the lives of SARS patients filled the papers.
International travel to affected areas dropped sharply by 50-70%, resulting in the closure of many tourism-related businesses.
The civet cat is closely associated with the outbreak of SARS in Asia.
Clearly, while the containment of SARS – especially in Singapore – is generally hailed as a success story, the outbreak did result in significant social and economic drawbacks.
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Tags:healthtech, medicine, MedTech, Tech Focus, technology, veterinary medicine
Posted in Brief, Healthcare, infographics, Opinion, Tech Focus | No Comments »
Saturday, February 16th, 2019
Pet ownership is on the rise, and so is telemedicine for humans. Is telemedicine also useful for diagnosis and treatment of animals? Aspiring vet med student, Erin Tan, did some research on the topic and shares what she thinks.
Consult a vet from home via the Internet. Photo by Velizar Ivanov on Unsplash.
Pet ownership is on the rise.
With canine pets licensed in Singapore increasing by 32% in the past decade – according to the Agri-Veterinary Authority of Singapore – and the booming pet industry in places like China and India, it is evident that pet owners form a large, and valuable, market.
With teleconsultation, the vet can “see to” animals needing medical consultations even when he/she is not in the clinic.
The pet-care market in Asia is valued at around US$1 billion a year, and is expected to grow to US$1.5 billion by 2020.
Another trend in recent years is the rise of telemedicine in the human health industry.
There has been a proliferation of apps like MaNaDr, Doctor Anywhere and MyDoc, which aim to connect patients with doctors over a digital platform and make the provision of healthcare much more convenient.
There is much potential in marrying the two thriving industries together, by making telemedicine available for veterinarians to deliver medical advice and consultations to pet-owners, through virtual means.
Manifestations of veterinary telemedicine would include platforms for pet-owners to ask vets for advice by sending photos and messages to vets on duty, or tele-consults via video calls.
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Tags:healthtech, MaNaDr, medicine, MedTech, Tech Focus, technology, telemedicine, veterinary medicine
Posted in Apps, Healthcare, Internet, Opinion, Tech Focus | No Comments »
Saturday, July 1st, 2017
CyArk & Seagate are collaborating to preserve world heritage sites in the digital realm for the benefit of posterity.
I came across a meaningful project this week – an international non-profit organisation named CyArk is actively capturing digital images and physical dimensions of historical sites and structures to create photorealistic 3D models for archival.
Editor’s note:
I’m really happy that such meaningful work is being carried out by organisations such as CyArk, founded by Iraqi civil engineer Ben Kacyra.
It is a great example of how technology is being harnessed in a positive way for the benefit of humanity.
It’s also fantastic that CyArk enjoys recognition and support from the public and large corporations such as Seagate, Google and Autodesk.
Bravo!
This is so that future generations can reference these resources even if the actual archeological sites are damaged – through war, natural disasters, or age – or completely destroyed.
They have been at it since 2003 and are supported by corporations such as Seagate which began their partnership with CyArk in 2015 by providing its data storage solutions both in the field and in the office.
Since 2003, CyArk has amassed high-tech digital records of over 200 heritage sites in 40 countries, including Angkor Wat in Cambodia, Bagan in Myanmar and the Sydney Opera House in Australia.
In recent years, CyArk has upped the ante by capturing additional photos that can be used to render interactive virtual reality (VR) content for users to enjoy an immersive experience when “visiting” these historical sites in the virtual realm.
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Tags:Ayutthaya, CyArk, data, education, heritage, history, Seagate, storage, Tech Focus, Thailand, virtual reality
Posted in audioVisual, Brief, Education, Events, events, Seagate, storage drive, Tech Focus, Travel, virtual reality (VR) | Comments Closed
Friday, May 29th, 2015
Andrew Milroy, Senior Vice President, ICT Practice, Asia Pacific at Frost & Sullivan and CommunicAsia2015 Summit speaker shares his top technology predictions that will transform the digital landscape in 2015. This guest blog was contributed by Milroy.
Andrew Milroy, Senior Vice President, ICT Practice, Asia Pacific at Frost & Sullivan and CommunicAsia2015 Summit speaker.
Asia Pacific is dynamic, engaged, and more connected than ever, proving that the Internet has revolutionised the way individuals, communities and businesses communicate.
Three technology trends in 2015
- Internet of Things (IoT)
- Proliferation of wearables
- Software Defined Everything
Both immense opportunities and pressures have been created for businesses to tap into and keep up with the rapid adoption of all things digital.
Below I share my view on three technology trends set to transform the digital landscape in 2015, and their impacts on enterprises and consumers of today.
1. Internet of Things (IoT) gets real
The IoT is a network of IT enabled devices communicating to each other.
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Tags:CommunicAsia, CommunicAsia2015, conferences, EnterpriseIT, EnterpriseIT2015, exhibitions, MBS, Singapore, trade shows
Posted in Brief, Business IT, Enterprise IT, Internet, Interview, Opinion, Tech Focus, Technology | No Comments »
Friday, January 2nd, 2015
Shopping is a favourite past time in Singapore and at the heart of the vendor’s efficiency and the consumer’s experience is the Point Of Sale (POS) being used.
As we step into 2015, Bikash Kumar shares his thoughts on some of the key trends shaping the evolution of POS technology in 2015.
Mobile POS enables greater consumer interaction with the sales staff.
* This article is a guest post written by Bikash Kumar – MD, Integrated Retail Management Consulting Pte. Ltd. The opinions expressed are his own and do not represent that of tech4tea.com.
Bikash Kumar has a Bachelor of Business Studies (1988-91) from the College of Business Studies in the University of Delhi; and an MBA (1991-93) from the Faculty of Management Study from the same university.
The Point of Sale (POS) system is where consumers pay for their purchases in a retail store.
Traditionally, the POS systems have been used to generate information on transactions within a retail outlet.
However, the POS technology has been improving significantly, allowing retail staff to deliver multiple operations, besides just scanning merchandise and generating bills.
According to Integrated Retail, a firm that specialises in designing, deploying and maintaining POS systems across the region, the POS systems are likely to see further enhancements in 2015.
Here are five key changes that we are likely to see.
- Morphing from Point of Sale to a Point of Service
- POS is increasingly mobile and it is lighter
- POS systems are becoming inter-connected
- POS system activities are traceable in real time
- POS is driving up productivity
Below are my thoughts on each of these key changes.
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Tags:consumers, Integrated Retail, opinion, Point of Sales, POS, shopping, Tech Focus, technology, trends
Posted in Business IT, Enterprise IT, Figures, Gadgets, gadgets, Interview, Interview, Mobile, Opinion, Shopping, Tech Focus, Technology | No Comments »
Saturday, December 6th, 2014
The vision of Intel Education’s initiatives is: Empowering Tomorrow’s Innovators. Here’s a peek into how Intel is plugging into the education scene.
From left: Eileen Lento, Ph.D; John Galvin; Sam Al-Schamma – key education advocates and leaders in Intel.
To most people, including myself, Intel is the leading chip maker that manufactures the processors in the computers that we use.
The company is also heavily involved in helping educational organisations and government bodies harness technology to reinvent teaching and learning for the younger generation.
Intel’s contribution to Education
To improve education in more than 70 countries, Intel and the Intel Foundation has, in the past decade, invested more than US$1billion, contributed more than 4 million employee volunteer hours, trained 14 million teachers, and helped 5 million people gain digital literacy.
I had the pleasure of listening to key executives in Intel Education over lunch earlier this week during the Bett Asia Leadership Summit in Singapore at the Marina Bay Sands.
John Galvin – a vice president of the Sales and Marketing Group and general manager of Intel Education at Intel Corporation – hosted the lunch and shared his experience in setting global strategy and implementation of innovative technology solutions to advance education worldwide.
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Tags:Bett, education, Intel, Intel Foundation, Tech Focus, technology
Posted in Brief, Education, Enterprise IT, Events, events, Intel, Tech Focus | No Comments »
Wednesday, September 24th, 2014
Our phone numbers are something we hand out readily to our contacts, yet we would like to protect them from misuse. StitMe is a service that enables users to control who can call you and when, without divulging your real number.
StitMe allows you to keep your mobile number private and control who can call you and when.
I was having tea the other day with Gurtaj Singh and he caught my interest with this app that he had launched just recently in the US.
Clean break
Is your kid going to college and you’re worried that he/she will end up bullied and harassed by calls from friends or ex-boyfriends/girlfriends?
Get him/her to use StitMe instead.
That way, should/when they break up, the other party would not be able to harass your kid through calling.
It’s called StitMe and is not available outside of US yet but it sounded like it had great potential to solve one of the biggest dilemmas of the modern age.
You want as many friends, colleagues and potential contacts to be able to contact you, but you don’t want to receive calls from unwarranted telemarketers because your telephone number had been harvested and compiled in some call list that are being sold or circulated without your consent.
Worse still, in the US, anybody can use your telephone number to do a reverse number lookup (the equivalent of a Whois query) and get personal information about you like your residential address etc.
StitMe is compatible with iOS and Android devices.
Currently it is only available in the US.
This is where StitMe comes in – users of the free service need not hand out their real telephone numbers anymore.
Between two StitMe users, all you give out is your StitMe User ID.
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Tags:Apps, service, smartphones, StitMe, Tech Focus, technology
Posted in Android, App, Brief, Business IT, Enterprise IT, Events, iOS, Phones, smartphones, Software, Tech Focus, Technology, Tickers | No Comments »
