Singapore University of Social Sciences

Level: Basic
Duration: 2 days
Venue: Singapore University of Social Sciences
Minimum number to run: 25 participants

In this course, we will discuss the digital revolution and compare it with previous industrial revolutions. The current Industrial Revolution 4.0 is evolving at an exponential pace. The speed of its breakthroughs is unprecedented, the disruption it creates transforms almost every industry in every country, and the impacts on individuals, civil societies and governments demand personal and collective responses. This course surveys the dominance and impact of the tech sector in contemporary society within the political and historical contexts of industrial revolutions through selected case studies of these digital tech titans/giants – Google, Amazon, Facebook, Tencent and Alibaba – and compares them with other entities such as the state and corporations. It also outlines the challenges and discusses how we can benefit from the digital revolution such as IoT, robotics, and big data. Students will also discuss the opportunities offered by the emergence of tech titans, how government and society can regulate some of the externalities such as cybersecurity, privacy, impact on consumption, digital gap and unemployment.

Objective

A. Knowledge and Understanding (Theory Component)

At the end of this course, participants should be able to:

• Discuss the speed, scope and impact of the digital revolution vis-à-vis the first three industrial revolutions.
• Explain key concepts relating to the digital revolution.
• Relate “new empires” to other types of “empires”.
  
  

B. Key Skills (Practical Component)

At the end of this course, participants should be able to:

• Identify the nexus and interconnections between different platforms, nodes and technologies in digital development.
• Describe the political, social, and economic challenges of the digital revolution.
• Show how individuals and the collective can respond to these challenges.
  
  

Topics

Time	Agenda
Day 1
09:00 - 09:15	2-Day Course Overview -Emergence of digital tech giants -US-China dominance in cyberspace -The social, economic and political impacts of digital tech giants
09:15 - 10:45	Industrial Revolution 4.0 and its predecessors
10:45 - 11:00	Break
11:00 - 12:30	The Internet of Things (IoT), Social Media and the Role of the State
12:30 - 13:30	Lunch
13:30 - 15:00	The Internet of Things (IoT), Social Media and the Role of the State
15:00 - 16:00	The Chinese Case Study
16:00 - 17:00	Class Exercise: Compare the respective features of US and Chinese digital tech giants and discuss the similarities/differences between them.
17:00 - 17:30	The Chinese Case Study
Day 2
09:15 - 10:45	The Social and Economic Impacts of Tech Giants
10:45 - 11:00	Break
11:00 - 12:00	Some major challenges of using digital technologies and coping mechanism
12:00 - 13:00	Lunch
13:00 - 16:30	Class Exercise
16:30 - 17:30	Assessment

Trainer’s Profile

Tai Wei LIM is an area studies specialist (specializing in East Asia, especially China and Japan) and a historian who graduated with a PhD from Cornell University. He has taught Japanese Management and courses on Japanese economic development at the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK), Overseas Study Mission to Tokyo/Cross Cultural Communication seminar at Singapore University of Social Sciences (SUSS) and courses on Japanese postwar economic development in Waseda University's summer program. He has also published widely on the topics of popular cultural industries, porcelain industrial clusters, Northeast Asian relations and the energy sector with publishers like The Atlantic, Sage, National University of Singapore, Rowman and Littlefield, Wiley, Seoul National University, Hong Kong University, Cornell University, Springer, Emerald, Oxford Research Group, Brill, etc. He has also presented papers on Japan's production network, Northeast Asian coal industries at conferences organized by University of California at Berkeley, APEC, etc. He has also published with University of London Imperial College Press in other areas.

Application Procedures

Please submit the following documents to cet@suss.edu.sg:

1. Coloured copy (back and front) of NRIC for Singaporeans and PRs, or "Employment"/"S" Pass for foreign applicant
   
2. Application form
   
   

Course Fee

¹ Mid-Career Enhanced Subsidy: Singaporeans aged 40 and above may enjoy subsidies up to 90% of the course fees.
² Enhanced Training Support for SMEs: SME-sponsored employees (Singaporean Citizens and PRs) aged 21 and above may enjoy subsidies up to 90% of the course fees. 
³ Additional subsidy for Singaporeans:  With effect from 1 January 2023, the GST rate will be revised from 7% to 8%. There will be no fee increase for Singaporeans taking SSG subsidized course(s) from 1 January to 31 December 2023.

• Participants are required to achieve at least 75% attendance and pass any prescribed examinations/assessments or submit any course/project work (if any) under the course requirement.
• Participants are required to complete all surveys and feedbacks related to the course. 
• The course fees are reviewed annually and may be revised. The University reserves the right to adjust the course fees without prior notice. 
• Singapore University of Social Sciences reserves the right to amend and/or revise the above schedule without prior notice.

For clarification, please contact the Centre for Continuing and Professional Education (CCPE) via the following:

Telephone: +65 6248 0263
Email: CET@suss.edu.sg