Innovations in agrifood must be accelerated for resilience against various challenges including the COVID-19 pandemic and for enhanced productivity to meet increasing food demand. Dr. Paul Teng, Managing Director and Dean of NIE International Pte. Ltd. and Adjunct Senior Fellow of the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, gives an overview […]
The development of productivity specialists is one of the flagship programs of the APO to enhance the capability of National Productivity Organizations (NPOs) by inculcating knowledge and building skills among their professional staff. Productivity specialists are expected to undertake productivity improvement programs at the firm and organizational level and provide inputs to developing national productivity […]
Agrifood supply chains involve multiple stakeholders, materials, and steps. Stakeholders include farmers, processors, distributors, retailers, and consumers from different geographic locations. The materials vary from raw materials such as a vegetable from a single source to processed ones such as precooked meals with multiple sources. The steps include farm production, harvesting, sorting, storing, processing, distributing, […]
A study showed that 1.4 billion tons of perishable food is wasted worldwide due to inefficiencies within food supply chains. Cold chains are a solution to retain the quality and safety of perishable food from farm to fork, but further innovation is needed for longer shelf-life and better quality to meet growing demand, with broader […]
SMEs are the economic backbone in most countries. The global pandemic has hit SMEs hard and forced many to go out of business. Consultant Tushar Sharma, Tata Consultancy Services Limited, provides insights on regrowth strategies and approaches for SMEs in the postpandemic business landscape. Practical applications of a refined business model relying on digital platforms […]
Decentralization is a process where a central authority transfers responsibility for planning, management, and raising and allocating resources to field units of public agencies of subordinate levels of government. In recent years, many countries have begun to undertake decentralization to make government more efficient, responsive, and accountable. The core idea of decentralization is that local […]
The future of work encompasses changes in work, the workforce, and the workplace with significant changes to be anticipated. One is the rise of smart factories and workplaces, undergirded by technologies like intelligent co-robots, management by algorithm, and the Internet of Things. Another is the emergence of the platform economy, where increasing connectivity has created […]
Due to cancer, stroke, etc., approximately 300,000 people worldwide lose their ability to speak every year. One way to restore the voice is with an electrolarynx device, which generates robotic sound. The University of Tokyo doctoral course student Masaki Takeuchi and his team developed Syrinx, a hands-free electrolarynx. The neck brace allows hands-free operation and […]
This P-Talk discusses how intelligent automation (a combination of robotic process automation and artificial intelligence) in the service sector can offer unprecedented economies of scale and scope, maximizing service-sector productivity, as most costs are incurred in their development. Physical robots cost a fraction of adding to the headcount, and virtual robots can be deployed at […]