{"id":5348,"date":"2021-03-07T09:53:40","date_gmt":"2021-03-07T09:53:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/techclot.com\/index.php\/2021\/03\/07\/new-and-strengthened-research-priorities-post-pandemic\/"},"modified":"2021-03-07T09:53:40","modified_gmt":"2021-03-07T09:53:40","slug":"new-and-strengthened-research-priorities-post-pandemic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/techclot.com\/index.php\/2021\/03\/07\/new-and-strengthened-research-priorities-post-pandemic\/","title":{"rendered":"New and strengthened research priorities post-pandemic"},"content":{"rendered":"

New and strengthened research priorities post-pandemic<\/a><\/p>\n

ASIA<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

COVID-19 has led to a realignment of research spending priorities as governments announce future research funding. The pandemic has underlined the importance of investing in research and development to prepare for pandemic shocks and for increasing health and economic resilience. <\/p>\n

Adjustments in research priorities and future preparedness for pandemics and health emergencies have been the hallmark of budget planning in several Asian countries in recent months, alongside stepping up digitisation \u2013 spotlighted by a move to online teaching and online research collaboration. <\/p>\n

South Korea, in a government announcement in January, said it would spend KRW41.9 billion (US$37 million) to develop treatments and vaccines against new infections as part of a KRW5.8 trillion (US$5.2 billion) science and ICT budget for this year \u2013 a 12% rise on 2020 with a focus on basic research, as well as new technologies such as artificial intelligence to drive its innovation-led economy.<\/p>\n

Lessons were already learned from previous epidemics, notably SARS, and its response was also \u201cthe result of strenuous long-term investments in basic research\u201d. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe strong competitiveness of the manufacturing sector in Korea has also led to a successful response to the pandemic,\u201d said Park Hyun-Wook, vice president for research at KAIST (Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology), pointing to South Korea\u2019s relative success in early control of the pandemic. <\/p>\n

Taiwan is in the enviable position of not having to shut down its economy as it kept coronavirus well under control in 2020. Its economy expanded 2.98% in 2020 \u2013 among the fastest growing in Asia during the pandemic year \u2013 mainly propelled by its pole position in global manufacturing and research of semiconductors, which are the computer chips required for digital devices. <\/p>\n

Universities in Taiwan continued with in-person classes, and saw minimal research disruption in 2020, although this February the beginning of the spring term was postponed by two weeks as a precaution. Experts now expect some adjustment in research priorities in the coming year even if government research funding does not rise. <\/p>\n

In December, Singapore announced an increase in spending for its next five-year plan for Research, Innovation and Enterprise, known as RIE2025, to SG$25 billion (US$18.75 billion) over five years, compared to SG$19 billion (US$14.25 billion) for the previous five-year plan from 2016-20, known as RIE2020.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen the prime minister announced the funding, it was a 30% increase to SG$25 billion over five years. So that is a very significant increase. The downstream effect would be that universities like us would have more research funding,\u201d said the president of the National University of Singapore (NUS), Tan Eng Chye.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe government is very heartened by the responses from the research ecosystem [in Singapore] to COVID and this is a good indication to the government that well-sustained investment in research and innovation is important,\u201d Tan told University World News<\/i>. <\/p>\n

Disruption of research and new pandemic-related initiatives<\/b><\/p>\n

There had been some research disruption including lab closures at NUS last year, \u201cbut these have now reopened and for the most part researchers have caught up with the help of an extra half year of funding,\u201d said Tan.<\/p>\n

At NUS some researchers had moved to work on COVID-related research alongside their own research, including on optimising testing kits, \u201cand this is continuing, because we expect the fight [against COVID] to be more long term,\u201d Tan said. \u201cThey still continue with their current research, or they\u2019re doing both, and we have given them extra resources from our own [university] funds.\u201d<\/p>\n

Chen Ming-Syan, executive vice president at National Taiwan University (NTU), said: \u201cThe government supported us with extra funding to study issues related to this pandemic.\u201d<\/p>\n

The university combined with National Taiwan University Hospital established the NTU Research Center for Epidemic Prevention Science, set up last year with a research budget of some US$3 million a year. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a new environment, new equipment and new research topics, all the activities are new,\u201d explained Chen. But in addition, \u201cto address issues from the global pandemic, NTU quickly integrated cross-disciplinary research activities, mostly supported by extra funding from the Ministry of Science and Technology in Taiwan.\u201d<\/p>\n

KAIST\u2019s Park in South Korea said: \u201cWe haven\u2019t seen any big changes in our research portfolio since the outbreak of the pandemic, although we have noted a slight decrease in short-term projects with industries.\u201d <\/p>\n

However, the institution launched the \u2018KAIST New Deal R&D initiative\u2019 in May with new government funding of KRW30 billion (US$27 million) for 2020-22. <\/p>\n

Park described the initiative as aiming to create \u201cepidemic-mitigating mobile clinic module systems covering everything from prevention to diagnosis to treatment\u201d. The scheme involves more than 50 professors of medical and biological sciences, engineering and industrial design focusing on antivirus technologies, infectious disease-related big data management and \u2018non-contact service platforms\u2019.<\/p>\n

The initiative has already produced innovations such as an inflatable ICU (intensive care unit) as an answer to COVID-19 ICU bed shortages. <\/p>\n

Longer-term R&D areas of focus<\/b><\/p>\n

One of the themes of Singapore\u2019s RIE2025 is dealing with new epidemics that may emerge in the future, while funding for basic research will be boosted to power the country\u2019s knowledge and innovation-based economy and stay ahead in globally competitive advanced research. <\/p>\n

\u201cAbout one-third of the SG$25 billion [RIE2025 money] is for research funding and talent development for universities and this includes PhD students and research fellows \u2013 the critical manpower that is required for research,\u201d said Tan from NUS. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe will be hiring quite aggressively because we should position ourselves, especially for the many [globally competitive] research areas,\u201d he said. These include artificial intelligence and quantum technologies. <\/p>\n

These will mean expansion, but not necessarily changes, in research direction. \u201cRIE2025 involved more than two years of consultation with the universities and the research ecosystem, starting back in 2018, so it actually aligns with what we have been preparing over the last two years at NUS,\u201d Tan explained.<\/p>\n

Nonetheless, there will be more focus on research issues such as pandemic preparedness and response.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere were various [response] issues, starting with [having] enough chemicals to test for COVID-19, enough swabs to be used for testing, and whether our innovations are agile enough and fast enough from research to market. How can we actually enhance it?\u201d said Tan.<\/p>\n

An additional area of focus is regional health surveillance. \u201cIt cannot be Singapore alone. It has to be in the context of Southeast Asia and how we reinforce the current network within Southeast Asia to ensure that, regionally, we have very good surveillance systems for pandemic infectious diseases.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another major pillar of RIE2025 is supply chain resilience and transformation because of its impact on Singaporean economy which, overall, took a big hit from the pandemic. <\/p>\n

\u201cBecause of the restrictions on travel and on transportation as a result of COVID we have seen supply chains disrupted. Supply chains are undergoing transformation,\u201d Tan said. \u201cResearch on how we can mitigate sudden disruptions is important simply because Singapore is a key node in the global supply chain network,\u201d he said, referring to Singapore\u2019s export-led economy.<\/p>\n

\u201cSupply chain is not just food or supply of materials, it also involves supply of parts\u201d assembled from around the world, so this has a lot of impact on trade,\u201d he added. <\/p>\n

Under RIE2020, as well as RIE2025, around 15% of the funds \u2013 around SG$4 billion (US$3 billion) is set aside for white space research.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe reason why it\u2019s \u2018white space\u2019 is that the area is not yet defined. But because the environment can change so quickly, in the next five years it allows a pot of money to enable research ecosystems to reposition strategically,\u201d Tan explains. In the past five years such programmes included artificial intelligence (AI), quantum engineering and quantum applications.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhatever resources you put in, it is a delicate balance to find the appropriate proportion for blue sky research versus mission-oriented research, and countries are always having to grapple with that,\u201d said Tan. <\/p>\n

South Korea\u2019s R&D focus<\/b><\/p>\n

Being better prepared for flu-like epidemics since the 2003 SARS outbreak in Asia helped South Korea in the initial stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, with strong testing and control measures keeping case numbers low last year. But KAIST\u2019s Park said: \u201cThere has been a dire need and strong interest in the fields of antivirus research, diagnosis, treatment and the prevention of epidemics, and research funding for these fields has increased.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe believe that non-contact technologies such as virtual reality and visual conferencing will also continue to attract more funding,\u201d he said, noting the switch to online teaching and meetings during the pandemic. <\/p>\n

\u201cAt KAIST, we are interested in several flagship research areas: mobility, new materials, AI, and bio-medicine. All these forward-looking research topics are closely combined with deep-learning-powered AI technologies and we are investing heavily in these areas.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe expect that robotics and new mobility made of new nano-materials, and precise bio-medicine powered by machine learning will improve our quality of life. New mobility and robotics can help us communicate with each other and conduct tasks in a non-contact environment,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

But Park warned that a heavy concentration on pandemic-related research could affect other areas of research. \u201cI am concerned that the heavy investments in the field of infectious diseases in the wake of the pandemic will affect long-term and balanced R&D policy plans. I am also afraid that uncertainties on the future will lead to fewer investments in basic research and technology,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

Taiwan R&D<\/b><\/p>\n

Taiwan\u2019s spending on basic research declined prior to the pandemic, dropping by 3.6% in 2018-19 compared to previous year, according to figures released last year. This was mainly due to budget cuts in government spending, as well as in higher education funding. <\/p>\n

But Taiwan\u2019s research spending as a proportion of GDP is high by international standards, at around 3.36% of total GDP or over US$20 billion annually spent on R&D, behind top performer South Korea at 4.9% of GDP. Corporate spending on research makes up about 80% of the total. <\/p>\n

However, last year Premier Su Tseng-chang said Taiwan\u2019s control of coronavirus and ability to maintain economic growth was a product of Taiwan\u2019s epidemic prevention which he said was \u201cbuilt on big data and the effective application of technology\u201d. <\/p>\n

In April the government announced a TWD$4 billion (US$144 million) plan for a new disease prevention centre in Taipei to focus on research, development and testing of vaccines. <\/p>\n

NTU\u2019s Chen said despite COVID\u2019s limited impact on university life and research \u2013 Taiwan\u2019s universities and labs never had to shut down \u2013 \u201ceven if we get back to normal this year or a year later, it will be a new normal, not as it was before the pandemic. It makes sense to look ahead to the new environment and adjust our research topics at this moment.\u201d<\/p>\n

NTU has set up some new research centres funded by the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Science and Technology, which reflect the university\u2019s own research strengths. <\/p>\n

They include centres for Genomic and Precision Medicine, Precision Population Health Science, Artificial Intelligence and Advanced Robotics, Green Materials Science and Technology, and Integrative Science for Sustainability.<\/p>\n

Chen added: \u201cIn my opinion, the pandemic has moved our progress on digitalisation for human activities forward by 30 years all at once. New emerging areas include those needed for automation during the pandemic, such as AI, computer vision, natural language processing, and also medical-related research and technology.\u201d<\/p>\n

The government, for example is creating a cabinet level department of digital development, speeded up by the pandemic. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Published at Sun, 07 Mar 2021 08:26:15 +0000<\/p>\n

Future of Work: Sandeep Goel, SVP of Moglix, on how technology will pave the way for a futuristic …<\/a><\/p>\n

The year 2020 can safely be called one of the most unique years for India\u2019s manufacturing sector. Moreover, the COVID-19 pandemic compelled the sector to reboot and restart like never before. <\/p>\n

While delivering a talk on Day 2 of the fourth edition of the Future of Work summit<\/strong>, Sandeep Goel, SVP of Moglix,<\/strong> highlighted the evolution of the B2B ecommerce and manufacturing sector over the years, saying  that 2020 had changed everything. Moglix is a B2B ecommerce platform that supplies industrial goods and equipment.<\/p>\n

Make in India campaign boosted <\/h2>\n

One of the most obvious outcomes of the pandemic was the acceleration of \u2018Made in India\u2019 products, <\/strong>according to Sandeep. <\/p>\n

He further highlighted that even though supply chains were disrupted because of the pandemic, and there was uncertainty around the source of raw materials, the positive result of all the disruption (at the global level) was the boost given to local supply chains and economies.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cDemand and supply started matching within our country,\u201d he said. Sandeep further added that companies operating in the offline space took the initiative to go  online in the wake of the pandemic, \u201cThis change was seen across organisations right from the bottom of the pyramid to the top companies.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"Future
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Challenges that persist<\/h2>\n

While the pandemic did bring about several changes that boosted India\u2019s manufacturing sector, Sandeep in his keynote session on \u2018Reimagining the Future of Procurement\u2019<\/em> outlined key challenges that continue to persist – the master data <\/strong>used is not clean and streamlined; transaction data integration<\/strong> continues to remain a challenge, and there is a lack of intuitiveness <\/strong>when it comes to applications. <\/p>\n

Sandeep said that an organisation has to deal with several kinds of data including internal data, client data, supplier data, logistics,<\/strong> and service provider data.<\/strong> However, he said, \u201cIf all four of these are not in sync, it becomes a nightmare (for the company).\u201d<\/p>\n

He further notes that duplicate or incomplete data creates issues in order processing, which has a detrimental effect on the company\u2019s operations. <\/p>\n

He gave an example of the predicament his organisation had to undergo once. \u201cWe received an order for  something called \u2018jalebi lights\u2019. My team was at an utter loss, and we had to go back to the client, who then clarified that \u2018jalebi lights\u2019 refer to spiral-shaped LED lights.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

He further explained that when applications are not intuitive, a process that should not take longer than five or 10 minutes, takes a few days to complete.<\/p>\n

Leveraging technology to overcome these challenges<\/h2>\n

According to Sandeep, the challenges in creating an efficient supply chain can be overcome using technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML). \u201cAI and ML are very powerful tools <\/strong>in solving master data problems,\u201d he said, adding, \u201cThe algorithms can help detect duplicity and ML can help you look up historical data.\u201d For example, if a customer orders \u2018jalebi lights\u2019 for the first time, it can be referenced as spiralled LED lights using ML, so that the next time a similar order comes, there is no discrepancy or delay.<\/p>\n

\u201cAI and ML will be master data cleansing technology in the future.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Sandeep also added that the role of product managers is extremely critical. \u201cThey must design the application in a manner that requires the least amount of training and is reliable.\u201d<\/p>\n

Future of manufacturing<\/h2>\n

Sandeep said that while the Internet of Things (IoT) has become popular and has gained popularity in recent years, what he predicts in the future is \u2018Commerce of Things.\u2019 <\/strong>He explained, \u201cIn Commerce of Things, a washing machine will be able to send a request to an e-commerce website days before the washing powder is about to get over.\u201d<\/p>\n

He also added that drones, flying cars, <\/strong>etc. will further revolutionise<\/strong> the logistics segment <\/strong>to a great extent.<\/p>\n

Finally, what will the future of manufacturing look like? \u201cA turbine running in a plant sends a message to the e-commerce company for a ball bearing. When the order is placed, a drone will fly to the warehouse, pick up that bearing and deliver it to the plant.\u201d Sandeep concluded.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\n

A big shout out to our Future of Work 2021 Co-presenting Sponsors Hewlett Packard Enterprise and Unique Solutions; Digital Excellence Partner, Google Cloud; Associate Sponsor HP and Intel; and Sponsors: Atlassian, Freight Tiger, Archon I Cohesity, TeamViewer, and Pocket Aces<\/em><\/p>\n

\"Future
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

Published at Sun, 07 Mar 2021 07:52:30 +0000<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

New and strengthened research priorities post-pandemic ASIA COVID-19 has led to a realignment of research…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":5347,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5348","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-artificial-intelligence"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/techclot.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/j6vWAC.png?fit=30%2C44&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3orZX-1og","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/techclot.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5348","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/techclot.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/techclot.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/techclot.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/techclot.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5348"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/techclot.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5348\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/techclot.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5347"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/techclot.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5348"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/techclot.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5348"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/techclot.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5348"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}