Digital Transformation

SMU Professor of Computer Science David Lo is honoured with IEEE Fellow, the highest grade of membership in the IEEE, for his contributions to “synergising software engineering and data mining”. IEEE is the world’s largest technical professional organisation dedicated to advancing technology for the benefit of humanity.

Over many decades, university has been the final stop for many students before they venture into adulthood. It stands as an institution that tests and challenges those who enter, providing them with knowledge to be ready when it matters most-the real world.

From online marketplace behemoths like Amazon, Taobao, Shopee and Lazada, to digitally native, direct-to-consumer brands, e-commerce is a thriving, rapidly burgeoning sector. The exponential growth of online retail has been further fuelled by the pandemic: According to findings from the IBM US Retail Index, Covid-19 has accelerated the move from physical stores to online platforms by about five years.

Influencer marketing has been a leading marketing method of choice for consumer brands in recent years. But has the strategy reached its peak?

Blockchain technology has been, in recent years, hailed as a breakthrough disruptor, poised to drive innovation in virtually every industry ranging from legacy organisations to game-changing start-ups in the new digital economy. This revolutionary technology stems from the ability of blockchain to act as a decentralised distributed ledger. It promises more secure, real-time transactions and record-keeping, making it harder for important data to be manipulated or falsified.

   

Ever felt overwhelmed when entering a mega-mall, populated by culinary treats, unbeatable bargains, and trending looks at every price point? Try expanding that smorgasbord of offerings immeasurably, and one could imagine why online shopping is at once a wondrous distraction and a black hole of potential purchases.

The robots are coming. Indeed, in many cases, they are already here — tech-enabled automation has taken over many manual, routine tasks across industries including accounting, and that will continue to happen at an accelerating rate.

The effects of COVID-19 have rippled through the social fabric of communities the world over. Businesses and investments, in particular, have been shaken by the economic uncertainty that arose from the pandemic, with several industries transformed by the exceptional events of the past year.

The climate crisis grows more urgent by the second. By some expert accounts, we only have about a decade to halt the irreversible damage caused by climate change.