Business
Inventions, Products, Services and
Innovations from ASEAN Countries
B
ased on the GII 2015 Report,
ASEAN countries, except for
Singapore, have a lackluster
showing when it comes to
innovation. Although some of the member nations rank well as top exporters,
the ASEAN region as a whole is still far
from being considered as a source for
technological advancements and innovative ideas. The region has not adequately
harnessed the potential of the alliance
established nearly five decades ago to significantly advance economic and technological progress.
Still, there are many bright spots in
the ASEAN region when it comes to
technology, inventions, products, and
services. The following are some of the
most notable among them:
20
asean life
Thumb Drive
Did you know that this ever popular
little piece of technology is a Singaporean
invention? Although the claim is being
contested, it can’t be denied that a
Singaporean firm happened to be one of
the pioneering creators of the portable
flash storage devices. The company is
Trek Technology, which partnered with
IBM back then to market the first USB
thumb drives the world has known.
Trek Technology won its patent claims
at a Singaporean court but in the United
Kingdom, its pertinent patents have been
revoked. It’s just unfortunate that at present,
many manufacturers including big names
like Acer and Lenovo are producing and
selling USB flash drives without any regard
for Trek’s patents.
Match.com
One of the most popular dating websites at present, Match.com was founded
21 years ago by American engineer and
entrepreneur Gary Kremen and Singaporean technopreneur Peng T. Ong. Match.
com may not be based in Singapore and it
may not be entirely created and operated by
Singaporeans but it would have not materialized without the active involvement of a
Singaporean technopreneur.
Sound Card
It would be too presumptuous to claim
that PCs would not have sound if it weren’t
for a Singaporean company, but it’s worth
highlighting the fact that it was a Singaporean startup that paved the way for sound
cards on computers. It was in 1989 when