• Thailand has gained another crucially technological advancement made possible by no. 1 digital technology, AIS and leading business conglomerate in the ASEAN, SCG in collaboration with Prince of Songkla University (PSU). For the first time in Thailand, the three organizations have successfully demonstrated the use of 5G technology for industry. The experiment was endorsed by the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC).

• 5G technology was utilized to operate an unmanned forklift via AIS 5G network. The unmanned forklift was parked at SCG plant in Saraburi while the operator attempted to control it at SCG Headquarters in Bangsue, Bangkok. SCG operator was able to operate the forklift fluidly, maneuvering palettes from point A to point B accurately in real-time. This 5G industrial test paves way to increased productivity and safety, and opportunity for staff remote-training. It has become an important model for other industries to follow.

• AIS and SCG have signed an MOU in research and innovation development using 5G network for multiple projects, plus staff competency to put Thai performance at the world’s frontline. The two giants intend to build 5G ecosystem together to enhance sustainable innovations and increase Thailand’s industrial competitiveness as well as the living quality of Thai people.

Mr. Wasit Wattanasap, Head of National Network Operation and Support at AIS said, “5G technology will dramatically change the way we do things in Thailand. It is capable of revolutionizing national industry and fulfilling Thailand 4.0 policy. Users will benefit in three ways: faster data speed, IoT connectivity, and stable and responsive network. As national leader in digital technology, AIS is committed to bring advanced technology to support driving of Thailand 4.0 policy for the benefits of Thai people.

AIS is the first to complete 5G testing nationwide. We welcome developers, researchers, students and individuals to work with us, testing 5G in multi-dimensions to understand how it works and how it can better digital economy and living quality of Thai people. AIS has proven ready to be the center for creating ecosystem specializing in innovation and delivering best customer experiences to users of all generations and all regions.

The collaboration among AIS, SCG and PSU marks a significant milestone in Thailand’s 5G test. Through NBTC consent, the 2.6 gigahertz bandwidth was utilized to demonstrate forklift’s remote operation in Saraburi province while the operator was controlling it in Bangkok, about 110 kilometers away. The result was a success, reiterating that 5G technology will definitely play an important role in Thailand’s future businesses. Needless to say, developing 5G ecosystem involves a few players including government, companies, and academic. Everyone has a part to play to promote and support 5G innovation, and to make Thailand capable to compete in the global market.”

Mr. Attapong Sathitmanothum, Director – Mechanization Automation & Robotics (MARs) and Industry 4.0, SCG said, “SCG aims to improve work operations in various fields and across business units including cement and building materials, packaging, and chemicals. We would like to enhance our company’s capabilities steadily and sustainably. A working group in Mechanization, Automation, and Robotics or MARs, along with Industry 4.0, has been established in 2016 to be a catalyst in leveling production process up to achieve Smart Factory by integrating MARs technology and Industry 4.0 together. With an investment over 860 million baht during the first three quarters of 2019, SCG has achieved several solutions including a predictive maintenance to notify us before the machine breakdown (Smart Maintenance), use of robot in laboratory (Smart Laboratory), automated dispatching system that provides cement to customers automatically (Smart Dispatching), and use of digital technology enabling data accessibility throughout supply chain so that everyone can utilize the same data as single source of truth, perform data analytics to improve our  competitiveness, and enhance our responsiveness to customers’ needs.

SCG stresses the importance of cooperative networking with intelligent and skilled organizations towards work success and speediness. Hence, it is a good initiative when SCG collaborates with AIS on this regard so SCG customers can receive products and services more efficiently and Thailand’s industry can leap further from our collaboration and optimization.

The project of remote-controlled forklift via 5G took place first at SCG plant in Saraburi where large numbers of raw materials and products are subject for moving. Forklift was chosen as a prototype due to its ease of operation in material mobility. If succeed, SCG could move on to applying 5G technology with other equipment and aspects. The forklift test confirms fast response in real-time and accuracy in data transfer necessary for advanced automated configuration. In addition, the proven capability in remote controlling can increase work productivity as drivers can operate forklifts from any location, and trainers can provide long-distance trainings to staff in various locations simultaneously and conveniently.

5G technology can strengthen SCG efficiency in many ways. Workers will be safer managing information in real-time and centralization. Customers will be more satisfied because logistics will become more effective. For example, SCG can incorporate IoT into Smart Home to provide convenience as well as safety to home living. Lastly, 5G will benefit SCG people development programs tremendously, truly aligning with our Industry 4.0 direction.”

Associate Professor Dr. Peerapong Teekasakul, Director of Innovation Hub at Council of University Presidents of Thailand said, “In the past, Prince of Songkla University through the Institute of Research and Digital Innovation has been actively conducting research and development with private- and industry sectors. We co-study and co-test 5G technology in many dimensions with our goals to building and preparing the new technology ready for actual industrial usages which, in turn, will increase competitiveness for Thailand’s industry. PSU receives funding for 5G study from Innovation Hub, Ministry of Higher Education, Science, Research and Innovation, to create an advanced intelligence platform for vehicles operable with low-latency controlling system via 5G AIS network. We hope the test results will lead to use cases in Thailand’s industry in the near future.”

And it’s here that Russia is signaling what the future may hold: a wider hand in trying to censor the internet at home.

At issue is the Barents Observer, which publishes in English and Russian, and a story about an openly gay man who twice contemplated suicide but then changed his mind and is now speaking out to promote mental health. Russia’s state telecommunications regulator, Roskomnadzor, flagged the story for propagating suicide and blocked the entire Observer website in Russia last year.

But the editor of the Barents Observer wonders whether the website was targeted because of anti-Kremlin positions in the past.

From Japanese comics to political opposition web addresses to a small Norwegian publication that had roughly 20,000 Russian readers per month, Russia’s so-called “blacklist” has eclipsed 300,000. But although Moscow has become notorious for meddling in the global internet, doing so at home isn’t as easy – especially in a society that’s already used to online freedoms.

Russia so far has tread relatively carefully in its censorship efforts. Still, internet freedom monitors in Russia fear its new “sovereign internet” law could one day rival Chinese and Iranian online oversight. The London-based rights monitor Freedom House ranked Russia 51st out of 65 countries on its internet-freedom rating last year.

The legislation came into force in November, but it could be a year before the technology is in place. It aims to route Russian web traffic and data through points controlled by state authorities and to build a national domain name system. This, supporters claim, would give Russia greater control of internet content and traffic.

Authorities backing the bill have described it as a cybersecurity measure needed to defend Russia by building a fenced-off network.

But critics see it as the government’s way of further cracking down on one of the few free sources of information remaining in the country.

Cable news channels are state-run, and the television audience is gradually declining, according to the Levada Center, an independent Russian pollster. Its study of the Russian media landscape in 2019 also revealed that social networks have replaced television as the main news source for young Russians, and although 80 percent of the population had confidence in television as a news source 10 years ago, that figure is now 55 percent.

“Cyber activity has been harnessed by the Russian government to target governments and activists externally but now those same tools are turned inward,” said Heather A. Conley, director of the Europe Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. “Russian officials have seen how the internet and social media can be used by civil society to share information, organize grass-roots protests across Russia and as an instrument of transparency against Russian corruption.”

An uprising more than eight years ago over election-rigging allegations sparked Russian authorities’ first efforts to wield more control over the internet. Russian President Vladimir Putin started to see the web as “a potential threat” and consider regulations, said former lawmaker Ilya Ponomarev.

Around the same time, the first measures were introduced to block undesirable content on the internet, specifically targeting child pornography, drug-related material and anything that could be considered as encouraging suicide.

The blacklist was supposed to be implemented by nongovernmental organizations, but the role instead went to watchdog Roskomnadzor. More than 10 state agencies can ask Roskomnadzor to block a website.

“That particular legislation did nothing wrong, but it was used as a model to introduce further initiatives,” Ponomarev said. “They were introducing laws but already for the political cases – what they called extremism, terrorism and this kind of stuff, which led to the establishment of real censorship.”

The result has been a loose definition of what can be blocked. Some Japanese manga has been added to the blacklist as child pornography. News websites run by Kremlin critics Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Garry Kasparov are inaccessible to Russians because they’ve been categorized as “extremism.”

And the Barents Observer was punished for allegedly promoting suicide even though the subject of its story was doing the opposite.

Thomas Nilsen, the editor, suspects the real trouble dates to 2014, when a Russian official publicly accused the website of anti-Russian reporting because it used terms such as “Putinism” and was critical of the country’s annexation of Crimea from Ukraine.

“We are located in probably the most remote corner of Europe,” Nilsen said. “But not because we chose to end up in this situation, we feel that, yeah, we are on the border to Russia but we are also on the border to the fight for freedom of the internet.”

Not all of Russia’s Internet blockades have been successful.

After the Telegram messaging app, especially popular in Russia, refused to give authorities access to its users’ encrypted messages in 2018, Roskomnadzor unsuccessfully attempted to block it but inadvertently denied Russians access to a slew of unrelated online services.

Telegram remains widely used by Russians, including many officials – even Roskomnadzor head Alexander Zharov is on the app. The country blocked LinkedIn in 2016 because it stores the user data of Russian citizens outside of Russia, but it’s been hesitant to take the same action with more popular social platforms Facebook and Twitter.

“They perfectly understand that 90 percent of (online) users are apolitical,” Khodorkovsky said. “But if you deprive them of a beloved product, they can politicize, which no one wants.”

Artem Kozlyuk of Roskomsvoboda, a group that fights censorship on the internet and promotes freedom of information, said that the new sovereign internet law “opens up a new chapter of regulation” because it involves infrastructure control through deep-packet inspection technology – an advanced way to filter traffic.

He doubts that Russia will actually have the capability to cut itself off from the global web, as the country’s authorities have claimed. But service could go dark in some regions for a short time.

That’s already happened during protests in Moscow and Ingushetia, a republic in the Caucasus region.

A block had devastating consequences for the Barents Observer. The publication has lost two-thirds of its Russian audience since being put on the internet blacklist.

Nilsen, the Observer’s editor, said he’d rather that happen than to succumb to self-censorship.

“We have decided never to compromise on what we are writing,” he said. “We are following what we believe is good ethics of journalism. And we don’t want to change anything because Roskomnadzor disagrees with us.”

Amid turmoil in different corners of the world, universities that send students to far-flung destinations have temporarily curtailed some programs while closely monitoring others.

Nine American University students studying in Beijing are hundreds of miles from the center of a coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan, China. But they have been encouraged to wear surgical masks, wash their hands frequently and avoid large crowds, said Mark Hayes, director of the school’s study-abroad programs.

“None of them are in the affected areas that have been quarantined,” Hayes said. “We have been working to give them information.”

Three students from Georgetown University are studying in Beijing, said Meghan Dubyak, a spokeswoman. The school issued a campuswide advisory in recent days urging students and faculty to get flu shots and to rely on International SOS, a platform that provides medical alerts and evacuation services for students and faculty abroad.

Authorities in Wuhan have halted regional travel, and hundreds of flights from the city’s international airport were canceled Thursday. In Beijing, officials have canceled mass Lunar New Year celebrations, hoping to limit the spread of the airborne illness.

China’s leader, Xi Jinping, warned Saturday of an “accelerating spread” of the virus that has claimed at least 56 lives. Infections have been confirmed in cities throughout China – including Beijing – and in Japan, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Vietnam, Nepal, Australia, France and the United States.

The response to the coronavirus has been rapidly evolving: On Saturday, Hong Kong announced schools would be closed until mid-February.

Leaders at George Washington University have shared safety information with students studying in China and other countries, Crystal Nosal, a spokeswoman, said in an email.

“Students were encouraged to stay aware and seek the most up-to-date information from their programs about the changing conditions while in the country or traveling through the region,” Nosal said. “The health and welfare of our community members is our utmost priority.”

But even before the emergence of a new coronavirus was widely recognized, several campuses in the District of Columbia – American, Catholic, George Washington and Georgetown universities – were suspending academic programs for another reason: explosive protests in Hong Kong that have gained international attention.

The demonstrations were triggered by legislation that would have allowed the extradition of criminal defendants to mainland China. Hong Kong’s government formally withdrew the proposal in October, but protesters want officials to meet other demands – including an independent investigation into police conduct and direct elections for government leaders.

Study-abroad program directors must tread a fine line between obstructing students’ ability to explore new places and keeping them safe.

In November, the peaceful protests in Hong Kong took a turn when a student at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology died after demonstrators clashed with police.

“The protests moved onto college campuses,” said Grace Schneider, director of education abroad at Catholic University. “Hong Kong is one that, obviously, it was a long time ramping up. The protests started small, nonviolent, and went on for months.”

Leaders at Georgetown evacuated a group of students who were studying at the Chinese University of Hong Kong in November, said Livvy Gordon, a junior and global business major at Georgetown.

“We had been in Hong Kong for almost three months at that point, and I had seen one protest from afar,” Gordon said. “We were shocked once it began to escalate and once things moved to campus.”

Some students see political unrest as a learning opportunity. Rohit Seth, a 19-year-old sophomore at American University, said he wants a chance to understand, firsthand, the tension between pro-Brexit and pro-European Union voters in London. Hundreds of thousands of protesters filled the streets of London in October to decry the Brexit referendum authorizing the United Kingdom to withdraw from the EU.

“With everything happening with Brexit, I think it’s important to be abroad when all this big stuff is happening,” Seth said at an information session for students looking for study-abroad opportunities.

AU’s Hayes said his office has warned students about potential travel issues in the region. Brexit could affect students’ ability to travel across Europe and return to their host school in London.

AU in recent years discontinued a study-abroad program in Aleppo, Syria, and evacuated students from Beirut amid safety concerns. Catholic suspended its program in Chile this semester after protesters fought a subway fare increase in October.

Two popular study-abroad sites in Australia – Sydney and Melbourne – have not been directly affected by bush fires engulfing parts of the country, but program directors are still monitoring the flames.

Four Howard University students are studying in Sydney, about 50 miles away from the fire zone, said Maraina Montgomery, assistant director of study-abroad programs.

Officials do not expect programs to be upended by fires but are concerned about air quality. Reports from Melbourne said air quality in mid-January was six times worse than what’s considered healthy. In recent days, conditions have improved.

Bryony Whitelaw, a junior at AU, said her host school in Melbourne has sent information about where the fires are roaring and how far those sites are from campus.

“I’m not looking forward to it if it is as bad as it has been the last few days, but I should be fine,” Whitelaw said about the air quality in mid-January.

Scientists have cited climate change as the underlying cause of an outbreak of fires that have cost more than two dozen people their lives and destroyed upward of 2,000 homes. Whitelaw views it as a learning opportunity.

“Maybe it’s an opportunity for the world to get together and say we need to make some radical changes there,” Whitelaw said.

At the Institute for the International Education of Students, also called IES Abroad, faculty are encouraged to embrace the chaos, said William Hoye, executive vice president and chief operating officer. The nonprofit offers study-abroad programs in 34 locations around the world.

“We’re often focused on our faculty making sure what’s happening in the country has a teachable moment,” Hoye said. “We want the faculty and staff to not just understand where the protests are, but why the protests are.”

IES suspended summer programs in Hong Kong and is offering students in Sydney the option to move their studies to neighboring New Zealand, Hoye said.

Foreign universities that host American students regularly issue safety tips to prospective students. Study-abroad offices at Washington-area schools reported sharing a host of resources with students, including State Department travel advisories and travel insurance, in case programs are abruptly cut short.

“When countries are more unstable, we’ll be a little more cautious with students, letting them know upfront about the situation and that we don’t necessarily know yet what’s going to happen,” Catholic University’s Schneider said.