Moving Toward A Better Future

Day two of the Accelerating Asia Pacific summit kicked off with a quote from Bill gates that said, “The world is getting better but it’s not getting better fast enough, and it’s not getting better for everyone”. This set the tone for the rest of the day where Microsoft showcased their efforts around working together with governments and organizations to create better cities, healthcare services, and disaster response systems.

Technology has been integrated into our daily lives to provide us with better services and facilities. Julian Goh, Urban Planning Director from Siemens Corporate Technology, shared how utilising information and communication technology helped make the impossible possible. For example, the Mass Rapid Transit system in Singapore was improved by sharing critical data to facilitate more transits on the same railway while improving the safety aspect.

As more and more government services in different countries are moving towards an e-government system, technology is now more important than before. With these technological changes, we are now living in a city we could never have imagined before.

Using information and communication technology to enhance the quality of healthcare is not uncommon but there are still several challenges to be solved such as interoperability between different systems, data privacy, and security.

Jenny Prince (Plunket), Dr. Ilias Yee (Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights Programme), and Mubbashir Iftikhar (KPJ Healthcare) shared their experience on how technology has created better healthcare services. In addition, they also recognized that this is just the beginning and recommended that software companies, governments, and patients must work together in order to progress healthcare services.

The infamous Japan 2011 earthquake was the most devastating natural disaster in recent years. It was very interesting to learn that Windows Azure played a major role in processing and monitoring the radiation levels in the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant. Despite the sheer volume of data, the application was created within a day. In addition, Shugo Ikemoto (NPO Support Center for Program Development) and Kei Kudo (NPO Sodateage Net) shared how technology could aid Japan’s recovery from the disaster.

It was refreshing to learn how Microsoft is making a difference to create a better tomorrow, and a better future. The world is getting better and everyone has a part to play in creating a better tomorrow.