The Future of Work

Singapore’s MoneyFM 89.3 features Go Digital ASEAN in an interview with The Asia Foundation’s Mehreen Tanvirand and Google.org’s Marija Ralic. They spoke with with Saturday Mornings’ Glenn van Zutphen and Neil Humphreys on how Go Digital ASEAN is supporting and training micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) and underserved communities i… Read more

Today, Mastercard announced Mastercard Strive Malaysia to support Malaysia’s growth and digitalization priorities. In collaboration with The Asia Foundation, the program aims to digitalize and support the growth of 100,000 micro-and small enterprises (MSEs), focusing on women-owned and women-led businesses. The program strives to meet the evolving… Read more

As powerful technologies like artificial intelligence continue to generate headlines, digital skills have never been in greater demand. Asia’s private sector is well positioned to help meet that demand—and to profit.

On June 2, 2023, Skills2Work welcomed 32 Malaysian graduates of the Customer Experience (CX) Pathway to its alum network after completing the three-week training program. Despite the disruption of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Global Business Services (GBS) industry witnessed substantial growth. According to MSC Malaysia, there are 579 active GBS comp… Read more

The Keyword, a blog produced by Google.org, highlights Go Digital ASEAN and its partnership with Hatch in coverage of the “Grow with Go for SMEs” event celebrating digital learning programs in Singapore. The Go Digital ASEAN initiative broadens participation in the digital economy and reaches marginalized communities with the most to gain from digi… Read more

Over the past decade, public and private sector institutions have implemented a wide range of digital skilling programs. Given the demand for upskilling and re-skilling the workforce, these programs often have overlapping audiences, objectives, and content. A plethora of digital skilling programs are beneficial to the Asia-Pacific population, but d… Read more

BFM: The Business Station’s “Evening Edition” spotlights The Asia Foundation’s Skills2Work program in an interview with Foundation Program Manager Anusuya Krishnan.  Last month, we celebrated International Women’s Day and this year’s theme is DigitALL: Innovation and Technology for Gender Equality. We discuss women in tech and what it takes to… Read more

The Asia Foundation, through its Future Skills Alliance, is collaborating with Visa to address the growing gender digital skills divide in Asia and the Pacific. The partnership aims to broaden participation in the digital economy among women who are either at the early stages of their careers, returning to work, or running their businesses. Through… Read more

BFM: The Business Station, a Malaysia-based independent radio station, highlights The Asia Foundation’s STEM ConnecterHER program and the Foundation’s Qistina Kamarudin, in an episode of “Inside Story”. In line with International Women’s Day last week, and the International Day of Women and Girls in Science last month, we’re looking into women and… Read more

Drawing on the input and expertise of Bali Care Economy Dialogue participants, this Roadmap for Action is a co-created regional agenda for building a resilient care ecosystem in Asia and the Pacific. Beginning with an overview of key issues discussed at the Dialogue, the Roadmap for Action lays out overarching priorities, key asks, and important an… Read more

The Asia Foundation, UN Women, and the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade are pleased to invite you to a virtual reflection session that will provide an overview of a recent regional convening—the Bali Care Economy Dialogue—that took place in November 2022 to leverage global momentum around transforming the care economy while elevat… Read more

Penang Monthly, a publication owned by the Penang Institute, features an article co-authored by The Asia Foundation’s technical and vocational education and training (TVET) expert Nadya Subramaniam on how the TVET system in Malaysia has shifted notably towards efforts to streamline governance and improve collaboration with industry players. TVET IN… Read more

Disruption to labor markets brought by Covid-19, alongside rapid digitalization, created a ‘double disruption’ for marginalized sectors in the Asia-Pacific region. The micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSME) sector has generally suffered in the Asia-Pacific region, but female entrepreneurs were most affected. They have been facing challenges su… Read more

There is growing recognition that care work is both a ubiquitous and critical social and economic activity. Globally, care providers support over one billion people, including children, elderly adults, and people with disabilities. While some are paid for this work, most are women from marginalized backgrounds who are unpaid or poorly paid and lack… Read more

Globally, care workers support over one billion people, including young children, aging adults, and people with disabilities. While some are paid for this work, most care providers are unpaid and lack adequate family support to redistribute care responsibilities. Paid care workers also lack support from their governments in accessing the critical s… Read more

A high-level meeting in Bali, Indonesia, this week will seek to position care work as a priority for economic growth in the Asia-Pacific region, where women perform 80 percent of the total amount of unpaid care work—larger than any other region in the world. The Bali Care Economy Dialogue from 12-14 November will convene approximately 70 experts fr… Read more

Unpaid caregiving has become an insupportable burden for economies in Asia and the Pacific. On the eve of the G20 Summit, the Bali Care Economy Dialogue will mobilize governments, business, and civil society to forge a regional agenda.

Skills2Work launched its pilot program in the Philippines on October 10, training a concentrated group of learners from Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao. As various industries recover from the pandemic, retrenched workers and career shifters look to start or pursue a career in Customer Experience (CX). Coupled with the increased demand for CX skills in… Read more

As Asian economies grow ever more online, STEM education has emerged as a vital pathway to the future of work for girls and young women.

The Asia Foundation has launched the STEM ConnectHER initiative as a pan-regional “network-of-networks” to connect and aims to support early-in-career women in STEM through mentorship, speaker series, and resources for leadership and capacity development. The pilot program involves member organizations in Japan, the Philippines, Singapore, Cambodia… Read more

Over 6,000 women across Malaysia and Indonesia have gained access to vital digital skills to grow their small businesses through the Accelerate My Business program. Designed to address the challenges women entrepreneurs face today, the ongoing curriculum includes live, instructor-led virtual training sessions, self-paced learning, engaging speaker… Read more

Private Sector Commitments Will Provide Digital Skills to Seven Million Women and Girls Today, the U.S. Department of Commerce and the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) launched the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF) Upskilling Initiative. This public-private endeavor supports sustainable and inclusive economic growt… Read more

The President of Mongolia, the Mongolian National Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the International Women’s Federation of Commerce and Industry, and The Asia Foundation organized a national forum on “Enhancing Women’s Participation in Economic Development”. The hybrid event was attended by over 800 participants, including representatives of Mongo… Read more

Now more than ever, Asia’s smallest businesses and entrepreneurs need to be online. This project has already trained nearly a quarter million.

Google blog The Keyword spotlights The Asia Foundation’s Go Digital ASEAN initiative in a piece written by Google’s President for the Asia Pacific, Scott Beaumont, on the company’s continued commitment to micro, small and medium enterprises in the Asia Pacific. The Go Digital ASEAN initiative broadens digital skills participation in 10 countries fo… Read more

The ASEAN Coordinating Committee on Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (ACCMSME) and The Asia Foundation released the Go Digital ASEAN Impact Summary Report today to mark this year’s international Micro, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises Day (MSME) Day. Implemented in ten ASEAN Member States in 2021 and 2022, the US$3.3M “Go Digital ASEAN” public… Read more

On May 26-28, Women entrepreneurs from Sulu joined a three-day exhibit in Manila, Anyam-Hablun: An Exhibition of Weaving Arts of Women of Sulu, to showcase their artistic creations. The exhibit is part of Accelerate Sulu: Women’s Entrepreneurship for Peace, an initiative to improve quality of life, increase employment opportunities, and promote ove… Read more

The Foundation’s Go Digital ASEAN initiative was profiled at the U.S.-ASEAN Special Summit in Washington D.C. The summit underscored the importance of U.S.-ASEAN cooperation and included the 10-country regional initiative as key to increasing opportunities for education, training, and upskilling in Southeast Asia. Private Sector Initiatives: Leadin… Read more

Implemented by The Asia Foundation, with support from Google.org, Google’s philanthropic arm, the initiative trained over 225,000 people from rural regions and underserved communities—including entrepreneurs, underemployed youth, and women. Launched in June 2020, phase one of Go Digital ASEAN focused on closing the digital gap across ASEAN and was… Read more

The Go Digital ASEAN initiative has been profiled in over 87 media stories across Indonesia and Thailand. Notable local outlets include Antara News, Jakarta Globe, Bangkok Biz News, and Thai Fintech. In partnership with Google.org, the Go Digital ASEAN initiative is expanding digital literacy across Southeast Asia to unlock new economic opportuniti… Read more

Economic recovery in Asia post-Covid-19 will require businesses, governments, and nonprofits to collaborate to future-proof and re-skill people for new opportunities in the digital economy. Together with rapid digitalization and changes in the job market, Covid-19 created “double disruption” for workers across the region, with women, youth, and oth… Read more

The Asia Foundation is collaborating with AT&T and Visa to launch the Accelerate program, an initiative that will help 6,000 women-led micro, small and medium-sized (MSMEs) enterprises in rural and remote communities gain practical skills to sustain and grow their business. In Malaysia, this initiative is fully endorsed and supported by the Min… Read more

The Asia Foundation’s Director for Economic Programs, Sofia Shakil, spoke at a July 22nd virtual webinar, “Strategies for Addressing the Asia-Pacific Digital Divide – Increasing Connectivity to Drive Economic Recovery,” organized by Financial Times. Examining the role of digital access strategies to reduce social inequality and drive post-pandemic… Read more

In the baffling post-Covid economy, where bricks-and-mortar firms stand empty and laid-off workers and small entrepreneurs struggle for a livelihood, the importance of online business skills has skyrocketed.

The Asia Foundation’s Go Digital ASEAN project and its activities in Singapore and Indonesia featured on Singapore’s Money FM 89.3 in a radio interview with Google.org’s APAC lead Marija Ralic. The digital literacy initiative spans Southeast Asia and will train up to 200,000 people in marginalized communities across the region. Listen to the segmen… Read more

Aiming to close the digital gap for 200,000 micro, small and medium business owners in Southeast Asia, The Asia Foundation, Pailig Development Foundation, Clevergrit Web Services, and Yoveo Digital, with support from Google.org, Google’s philanthropic arm, have teamed up to provide digital literacy training through the Go Digital ASEAN regional ini… Read more

Working women in the Pacific Islands face a trifecta of challenges from Covid-19, climate change, and disruptive technology. A new report from The Asia Foundation takes a hard look at the path to a better future.

In honor of International Women’s Day, our hosts John Rieger and Tracie Yang celebrate some of the remarkable women we’ve met in the past year on the InAsia podcast.

The Future of Work for Women in the Pacific Islands highlights challenges and opportunities women face in the context of the pandemic, climate change, and the imperatives of technology-led change. Across the Pacific there are pronounced gender disparities in labor market participation and the types and level of work women and men perform. Pacific w… Read more

The Covid-19 pandemic alone has plunged over 490 million people back into poverty, magnifying inequalities around the world. How can Asia lead the world in harnessing the power of technology for change? The Asia Foundation is pleased to support The Economist’s inaugural Technology for Change Week Asia, a virtual summit bringing together 700+ leadin… Read more

Advanced technologies like automation have utterly transformed economies, livelihoods, labor markets, and workplaces throughout Asia. Hundreds of millions of laborers have been lifted out of poverty as new technology applications created new jobs and industries. At the same time, millions were left behind without access to vital technologies and in… Read more

The year of the pandemic was a long, discontented winter that the glorious sun forgot. But it was a year we dug deep into the voices and ideas of our colleagues across Asia in our new InAsia Podcast.

Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) economies are expecting severe economic repercussions from Covid-19. According to Women, Covid-19, and the Future of Work a new policy brief prepared by the APEC Policy Support Unit with the support of The Asia Foundation, women will face disproportionate impacts caused by the pandemic. The policy brief… Read more

The Asia Foundation is inviting applications for the 2021 YSEALI Future Workforce Workshop implemented by the Foundation with the U.S. Embassy in Singapore. The Workshop, for students, entrepreneurs, and young professionals ages 20-35 from across ASEAN will be held virtually from May 16 to May 23, 2021. The virtual workshop will include a series of… Read more

Sundar Pichai profiles the Go Digital ASEAN initiative at the 2020 Singapore FinTech Festival. Implemented by The Asia Foundation, with support from Google.org, the 10-country regional project equips micro and small enterprises and underemployed youth, particularly those in rural and isolated areas, with crucial digital skills and tools across the… Read more

With support from Google.org, Google’s philanthropic arm, The Asia Foundation partnered with Engineering Good to engage with student teams from high schools and junior colleges to create simple, user-friendly solutions for youth with disabilities to improve their employability. Mentors from Google, Engineering Good, and local community partners gui… Read more

Manila Bulletin highlights Go Digital ASEAN in a featured article by Google Philippines Country Director Bernadette Nacario on the nation’s new wave of internet users. The 10-country digital literacy initiative will train up to 200,000 people in marginalized communities across the region, 60 percent of them women. The Asia Foundation’s Go Digital A… Read more

The InAsia Podcast takes a field trip to northwestern Thailand, where a small farmer far from the big city learns about online marketing and how to tell the story of her unique avocados.

The Asia Foundation has received a grant from the Center for Disaster Philanthropy’s Covid-19 Response Fund to support vulnerable communities in Myanmar and Nepal impacted by Covid-19. Across Asia, vulnerable communities such as women, youth, small- and medium-sized business (SMB) owners, and returnee migrant workers continue to be critically impac… Read more

Southeast Asia may be mad for social media, but peek behind the smartphone mania and the skills to get a job in the new economy or take a small business online are still in short supply. As the pandemic turns up the pressure to go digital, a new project from The Asia Foundation and Google.org is about to change that.

The Asia Foundation has joined the H&M Foundation in a new partnership to coordinate immediate disaster relief for female garment workers in Bangladesh who have been impacted by Covid-19. In addition, through this partnership The Asia Foundation and the H&M Foundation are working to address the longer-term needs, welfare, and livelihoods of… Read more

Thailand has managed the pandemic with aplomb, and economic activity has begun to rebound, but like an invisible ocean tide, signs are emerging that Thailand is in the early stages of a far-reaching economic crisis.

Go Digital ASEAN will deliver training to 4,000 micro-entrepreneurs and underemployed youth in Brunei, including those from ethnic minorities and those with disabilities. The program addresses Brunei’s rising unemployment rate and expands economic opportunity to minimize the negative impacts of Covid-19. On July 16, The Asia Foundation held a count… Read more

In a still-locked-down Asia-Pacific, the world of work is becoming a world of screens. The digital economy can be a lifeline for both workers and small businesses as they struggle with Covid-19 and the future of work, but prosperity for all will require a delicate balancing act.

Biz Brunei, The Star, The Scoop, and Borneo Bulletin profiles the Go Digital ASEAN initiative’s national launch event in Brunei. Go Digital ASEAN is a regional initiative implemented by The Asia Foundation with the support of Google.org bringing digital integration and literacy to underserved communities including underemployed youth workers. The S… Read more

Covid-19 is an unprecedented public health crisis that has led to staggering losses in economic activity and jobs. The pandemic will accelerate the adoption of automation by firms and organizations across the region, according to a new policy brief prepared by the APEC Policy Support Unit with the support of The Asia Foundation, titled Covid-19, 4I… Read more

Nikkei Asian Review features The Asia Foundation and the Go Digital ASEAN initiative in an op-ed written by President of Google Asia Pacific Scott Beaumont. Third, in places where there are intractable digital access gaps that need special attention, we should put in place more targeted programs to rebalance the scales. The Asia Foundation — with… Read more

The ASEAN Coordinating Committee on Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (ACCMSME) and The Asia Foundation have come together, to launch the Go Digital ASEAN initiative. Supported by a USD3.3m grant from Google.org, the initiative is designed to equip micro and small enterprises as well as underemployed youth, particularly those in rural and isolate… Read more

A Thomson Reuters Foundation feature article, “Digital lifeline for women running Asia’s small businesses,” examines digital access for marginalized groups across Southeast Asia, facing financial pressures long before Covid-19. Go Digital ASEAN is a new digital literacy initiative supported by Google.org, Google’s philanthropic arm, to train up to… Read more

Covid-19 in Southeast Asia is hitting small, mom-and-pop businesses particularly hard. As other enterprises move online to survive, can the region’s microentrepreneurs compete without digital tools? It will be a challenge.

The Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) presents a variety of opportunities and challenges for the ASEAN region. With support from Microsoft, The Asia Foundation led a regional research program examining the challenges confronting ASEAN policymakers in the face of 4IR transformations and provided recommendations for how stakeholders can work togethe… Read more

This conversation will examine how COVID-19 has hastened digitalization and technological innovation in labor markets, jeopardizing the livelihoods of many Asia-Pacific workers and increasing the need for dynamic, market-aligned upskilling and reskilling. Featuring John Karr, Senior Director, Technology Programs, The Asia Foundation Oliver Petzold,… Read more

Organized jointly by the Korea Development Institute School of Public Policy and Management and The Asia Foundation, the “Asian Approaches to Development Cooperation” (AADC) dialogue series brings together development experts and government officials from the Asia region and beyond to share perspectives and to facilitate mutual learning between and… Read more

Today marks the launch of the inaugural class of The Asia Foundation’s “Accelerate Women’s Entrepreneurship: Supporting Migrant Women-Owned Businesses” program in Shanghai, China. This program is part of Moody’s Reshape Tomorrow™ initiative, an innovative global program to help owners of small and growing businesses and made possible by a gr… Read more

For millions of Nepali workers who have gone overseas for work in recent years, smartphones have become a crucial tool for navigating the highly complex and risky process of international migration. Yet despite this widespread smartphone usage, there remain serious information gaps between those seeking to migrate and the providers of important ser… Read more