Spotlight Asia – Pioneering tech innovators #1
In our Spotlight Asia series we’re celebrating some of the leading innovators and game-changers in the emerging tech sectors across Asian markets. It’s a guide to who-to-know and how they’ve shaped the industry for the future, an invaluable source focused on the up-and-coming and established minds in the emerging tech space.
As the rate of innovation increases exponentially through technologies such as blockchain, AI, and IoT, there’s a new breed of high-achievers entering the space. Others have further solidified their place in the sector with years of experience informing their ideas.
Xunlei’s ThunderChain platform enables enterprise efficiency, processing over one-million transactions per second
Lei Chen, CEO of Xunlei Limited, believes in the adoption of blockchain technologies for real-life scenarios “rather than just being studied in laboratories”. Having previously worked at Google and Microsoft in the US with a focus on cloud computing, he returned to China in 2015 to set up OneThing Technologies, Xunlei’s own cloud computing division, before taking the helm as CEO in 2017.
The Nasdaq-listed digital services provider has introduced 16 products covering industries including finance, social welfare, law and healthcare. The company’s ThunderChain platform is a multi-chain framework enabling multiple transactions to be executed on different chains in parallel, built to address transparency and security challenges in real-life network scenarios. “It can bring order, trust and cryptography rules to the internet world,” says Chen.
In 2019, the platform was implemented by more than 100 enterprises and organisations and successfully deployed in more than 50 projects. It can help banks assess bad debt risks and judge business solvency accurately and efficiently, also solving financial accounting problems for SMEs. China’s branches of government have also benefited from the platform with improved data sharing abilities and inter-departmental cooperation.
Chen recently noted that the sector should look to creating a blockchain architecture with the capability of sustaining one-million transactions per second and response time within seconds, which is something he claims that ThunderChain can already achieve. Chen also said that the blockchain revolution will impact data ownership, insisting that data should be of the people, for the people and by the people.
Xunlei plans to make ThunderChain an open-source system to support more applications of blockchain technologies.
Robert A Lento leads Limelight in acting as CDN providers for gaming heavyweight Nintendo
Robert Lento received his Bachelor of Science in Management from the State University in New York, after which he went on to take up roles in a number of companies such as a number of leadership positions at ENTEX Information Services and as President of LAN Systems of Donnelly Enterprise Solutions.
Lento was named as Limelight’s CEO in January 2013 and has served on the board of directors since that time.
Limelight operates a private global network which allows people to bypass internet congestion and avoid many security potholes. They have also managed to develop and optimise their own software stack.
In an interview published earlier this year, he explains that they have identified four strategic imperatives for 2020 to continue building on their lead in video delivery.
The first is capacity, where they expect to increase it by at least another 30 terabits per second up to 90 tbps; the second is expanding their proactive management of the network, which will help them handle the increased traffic growth with greater efficiency and drive higher quality; the third is placing more control into the hands of their customers; and lastly is driving innovation.
“Edge functions and Limelight Realtime Streaming are just two specific offerings we are developing to satisfy customer needs and help differentiate us from the competition,” he concluded.
Vesmond Wong consistently helps build ICT companies who invest in, incubate and scale companies
Vesmond Wong is a serial entrepreneur who is known for his ability to identify industry trends ahead of disruption, which is clear from his founding and managing of a notable variety of technology companies.
Before DeClout he was intimately connected to a number of companies such as Cavu Corp Pte. in 2000, and Vanda Systems in 1995 where he was the Country General Manager since its inception till early 2000.
At DeClout they focus on a number of verticals. IT infrastructure sales and services, Vertical Domain Clouds where they create ecosystems that add value and supports the exchange of data, information and ideas.
The DeClout Investments wing allows the group to identify complementary opportunities that are synergistic to the Group.
So-Young Kang creates mobile-first, micro-learning solutions designed for behaviour change
So-Young Kang is an entrepreneur, published author, an educator, and speaks worldwide. True to that, she began teaching piano at 11 and taught professionally in Japan before moving onto Citigroup and McKinsey & Company.
Gnowbe’s mobile micro-learning and engagement solution is intended to help the modern workforce learn faster and better. They look to make a significant business impact by changing the way corporate education is conducted.
It leverages bite-sized learning, social learning and gamification to encourage active engagement and to drive behaviour change. It has resulted in 8-10x higher engagement than traditional e-learning methods which has led to them having key clients and partners such as KPMG, Mercer, Adecco and Navitas.
Kang is the Founder of Awaken Group, Author of “Inside Out”, WEF Young Global Leader, MVA from Harvard Business School, BA from the University of Pennsylvania. She wants to change the world by maximising the potential within people.
Reneum Institute leverages blockchain technology to incentivise green growth
Reneum Institute provides a reliable revenue stream to clean energy projects through Renewable Energy Certificates with the goal of supporting the Paris Accord goals by leveraging the decentralised nature of the blockchain technology.
Renewable Energy Certificates are tradable, non-tangible energy commodities that represent proof that 1 megawatt-hour (MWh) of electricity was generated from an eligible renewable energy resource.
What do you think of our list? Do you agree with our choices? Tell us who you think should be featured in November for the European edition – or create a list of your own and share it with us!
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