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Asia School of Business

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Innovation

Center for Technology, Strategy & Sustainability

Sapura Energy empowers us to position ourselves as a leading research center, with a focus on business strategies, technology, and the socio-political dynamics of emerging markets.

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Our Mission

Host visiting scholars and students to lecture and conduct research in the region.

 

Conduct research and subsequently publish the findings.

 

Conduct rigorous and impactful research on business strategies in emerging markets and the firms’ socio-political environment.

Host public keynote events for our research programs to spark intellectual discussions and public interest, furthering knowledge generation.

Promote university-industry linkages and cross-disciplinary collaboration to enhance the understanding and performance of enterprises in emerging markets.

Our Research Projects

ASB-MIT Work of the Future Research Project
Research Center: Center of Technology, Strategy & Sustainability
Dr. Renato Lima de Oliveira, Tan Zhai Gen, Deborah Chow, Vaisnavi Mogan Rao

As part of MIT’s Work of the Future – Global Research Network, the research project aims to examine Malaysia’s adoption of technology (Industry 4.0) and explore how the future of work might evolve in several countries, including Turkey, Malaysia, and Brazil.

Sustainability@ASB
Research Center: Center of Technology, Strategy & Sustainability
Dr. Renato Lima de Oliveira, Tan Zhai Gen, Deborah Chow, Vaisnavi Mogan Rao

The rise of environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) criteria to assess companies shows that investors are mindful that climate risk is investment risk. Hence, companies that do not have a clear sustainability plan will be left behind in competing for capital, talent, and aligning values with customers and other stakeholders. 

Scenario Workshop for Energy Transition in Malaysia
Research Center: Center of Technology, Strategy & Sustainability
Dr. Renato Lima de Oliveira, Tan Zhai Gen, Deborah Chow, Vaisnavi Mogan Rao

The workshop is part of a larger MOU partnership between ASB CTSS and IASS, which also comprises other ongoing collaborations in the area of energy transition and climate policies.

Launch of the “Industry 4.0 Technology Adoption in Malaysian Manufacturing: Strategies for Enhancing Competitiveness” policy report.

The Center of Technology, Strategy and Sustainability Asia School of Business launched its report on “Industry 4.0 Technology Adoption in Malaysian Manufacturing: Strategies for Enhancing Competitiveness” at The Wembley, George Town, Pulau Pinang, on 10 February 2023, with the support of the Penang State Government.

CTSS Updates

News and Events

Visiting Fellow: Dr. Antonio Coco

BowerGroupAsia’s BGA Expert Series: “Where do we go from here: US-ASEAN Trade Relationship”

Launch of the “Industry 4.0 Technology Adoption in Malaysian Manufacturing: Strategies for Enhancing Competitiveness” policy report

Developing and Financing Green Housing in Asia Conference

Research with Impact: From Academia to Policymaking book launch and dialogue session

CTSS Updates

Research Publication

An Energy Justice Index for The Energy Transition in The Global South

Malaysia’s New Voluntary Carbon Market: Origins, Ecosystem and Prospects

Science and Engineering Knowledge Production in ASEAN: Global Emergence, Fading Regionalism

Unlocking a Low-Carbon Future for Malaysia

Financial Development and Misallocation in the ASEAN Region

Research project under the CTSS Research Grant 2021 for Professor Loredana Padurean

IDE Jetro Conference

Consciousness for Sustainability

The Center of Technology, Strategy & Sustainability (CTSS) Faculty Director

Dr. Renato Lima de Oliveira is an Associate Professor I at Asia School of Business and a research affiliate at MIT, where he earned his PhD in Political Science with a focus on political economy and comparative politics.

His research area is on the political economy of development and state-business relations, particularly in the areas of industrial and innovation policies, and energy politics. He has also worked as a consultant for energy, environment, and politics. At ASB, he teaches courses on international business, energy markets, and advises Action Learning projects.

Dr. Renato Lima de Oliveira

Associate Professor I at Asia School of Business and a research affiliate at MIT

Tan Zhai Gen

Assistant Director, Research

Fathin Rusliza

Research Centre Coordinator, ASB

Shre Maha Manohar

Research and Communications Executive, ASB

Milaine Thia

Manager, Research & Communications, ASB

Ganesha Pillai A/L Prathapa Senan

Senior Research Associate, ASB

Emir Izat Abdul Rashid

Senior Research Associate, ASB

Maizakiah Ayu Abdullah

Master Degree, Engineering System and Management, Masdar Institute of Science and Technology ​Managing Director, COMET – Community Energy Toolkit

Silvio Meira

Emeritus Professor at the Center of Informatics of the Federal University of Pernambuco

Clarissa Ai Ling Lee

Senior Lecturer with the Faculty of Creative Arts at Universiti Malaya

Dr. Pieter E. Stek

PhD in Technology, Policy & Management from Delft University

Visiting Fellow: Dr. Antonio Coco

Dr. Antonio Coco, Visiting Fellow at the Center for Technology, Strategy, and Sustainability (CTSS) at the Asia School of Business (ASB) 

The Center for Technology, Strategy, and Sustainability (CTSS) is glad to announce the completion of Dr. Antonio Coco’s time with us as a Visiting Fellow at the Asia School of Business (ASB)! 

A scholar in international law, Antonio is a Senior Lecturer at the University of Essex where he conducts research on the governance of cyberspace, as well as the use of information and communication technologies. We spoke to Antonio about the significance of his current projects, takeaways from his time at ASB, and challenges of regulating technology in the modern world. 

Tell us about your academic journey. What sparked your interest for the field that you’re in? 

I’ve always been fascinated by how the actions of states impact the life of individuals. I think that when I started studying law, I was not really interested in micro issues of legal relations between people, but I was really attracted by the bigger picture: What governments do with each other or against each other, and how it impacts the life of individuals. I had a love for thinking beyond borders, not just within the limits of my country. 

I fell in love with international law when I pursued my LLM in International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights after an internship at the Special Tribunal for Lebanon. The internship was my first time really dealing with adjudication of the international law of armed conflict with lawyers from all over the world working together, showing me the potential for these state-created rules to protect the interests of human beings, particularly in situations of emergencies like conflicts and natural disasters, as well as the rights of individuals at home against their governments. This humanitarian spirit pushed me in my studies even once I finished my LLM. Eventually, I completed a Ph.D. in the field of international criminal law. 

It seems like there’s quite a large gap between international criminal law and your current research on technology regulation. How did you arrive at your current research focus? 

My academic background started with a distinct expertise in international criminal law, human rights and the law of armed conflict. I became more of a generalist when I took a job teaching public international law at Oxford University. I started looking beyond specific fields of international law to examine the actual processes for how law comes into existence: How rules (for instance, those enshrined in treaties) are made between states, and how we assess responsibility for violations of international law. Simultaneously, issues of technology and cyberspace were gaining traction. I started researching how international law applies to the development, use and governance of new technologies, particularly cyberspace and artificial intelligence.

What are you working on now? 

Now, I primarily deal with new technologies. I worked for two or three years mostly on cyberspace, and started looking more into artificial intelligence in the past year. My research has primarily focused on two things: First, the obligation of states to exercise due diligence in preventing malicious actors from using information infrastructure to cause harm and, second, how rules of international law are actually made. The research that I conducted and presented at ASB concerned this second strand, and looked at how states come together to make rules for the governance and use of cyberspace and artificial intelligence. 

What did you work on during your time at CTSS? 

During my time as a Visiting Fellow, I assessed the ways in which multi-stakeholder initiatives affect how information and communication technologies are developed, used, and governed internationally. As states, industry representatives, civil society, non-governmental organisations, and academic institutions become more proactive in contributing to making law related to new technology, initiatives led by non-state entities have emerged to negotiate and produce non-binding documents that indicate the state of the law in the field. 

My research compared these initiatives to assess their strengths, weaknesses, and what have they achieved. What are they achieving? In particular, I’ve looked into two initiatives. The first is the Oxford Process on International Law Protections in Cyberspace, a series of meetings on how international law applies in cyberspace, that gathered inputs from governments, tech companies, civil society, and academic institutions from various nationalities and continents. The aim was to explore the state of the law in areas of pressing global concern, possibly producing short statements restating internationally agreed-upon rules, including on the protection of healthcare systems against malicious cyber operations, vaccine research during the pandemic, foreign electoral interference, ransomware operations, misinformation and disinformation. 

The second initiative was the Tallinn Manuals, an academic initiative based at the NATO Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence . The first manual looked at how the law of armed conflict can be applied to cyber operations. Can rules that were conceived for kinetic weapons apply to cyber operations? The second Manual expanded its scope to international law applicable in peacetime. The Manuals are a primarily academic endeavour that focuses on lex lata, i.e. the law as it is, without trying to propose new rules. 

The research I presented was about the merits and limits of these projects. These initiatives clarify rules that already exist, with no ability to enforce or bind states and citizens into following them. What is their value, then? 

Could you summarise your findings? 

Firstly, I submit that these initiatives may function as a catalyst to stimulate states into taking ownership of lawmaking. When states see that non-state entities are taking a position in certain issues, they become more proactive in making clear their own position through publishing papers and issuing official government positions to reclaim ownership of law-making processes. Secondly, these initiatives provide an easily accessible rulebook for government legal advisors or other lawyers to refer to. When needed, they can look at the outputs of these initiatives led by reputable institutions and academics. Thirdly, projects like the Oxford Process and Tallinn Manuals can be said to constitute capacity-building initiatives, since they facilitate dialogue and collaboration between stakeholders ranging from academics to civil society to state actors and corporations. They contribute to setting agreed terminology and create knowledge which enriches the understanding of these issues. 

Why did you choose to come to ASB? 

There are many reasons for me choosing ASB, but the main reason is that ASB has a distinct focus of research on technology and how technology impacts life, which aligns very well with my own research. 

I was aware that ASB had a Center for Technology, Sustainability and Strategy, which was very appealing to me because I aim to conduct research that has a concrete impact in the world. A lot of academic research can feel very abstract, work that tends to exist only as intellectual exercise. I wasn’t interested in that. I wanted something that’s helpful, applied research that could make a difference. I knew that here at ASB, I would get the chance to exchange views with people that think in those pragmatic terms. At the same time, I knew that the research being done here was of a certain caliber that I wouldn’t have been able to find elsewhere. 

Finally, of course, there is the fact that ASB is in Malaysia – fantastic Malaysian food was an added bonus! 

How did your academic fellowship at ASB help you develop your research? 

I was very happy with the discussions and welcoming attitudes of everyone that I have met here at ASB. The most beneficial thing for me was the interdisciplinary approach that ASB takes to its research and learning. During my time here, I found perspectives that come from outside the law. Normally, I only interact with other lawyers. This insularity can be constraining, because you tend to then speak always in the same terms without new perspectives. At ASB, it was so helpful to speak to people from other disciplines and receive questions from people who are non-lawyers. Professor Michael Frese came to my presentation and asked very insightful questions that really made me reconsider the way I should say and write things for my audience that goes beyond lawyers. How do I make sure that whatever I say is accessible and impactful? That’s the kind of practical focus that I am glad to take away from my time here. 

What would be your primary recommendation for people working on tech policy? 

My primary recommendation would be to be pragmatic. Try to start the conversation from low– hanging fruits — that are easy to agree on, then go from there to build more ambitious policies. Cooperation with other entities often starts from very basic things. If one starts immediately with an exceedingly ambitious plan, then this prevents any sort of agreement. Start small, and this will incrementally add up to something practical, actionable, and scalable. 

I think that in the general public, there is a false sense that there is no law at all to govern technological developments, simply because a lot of the technology we have these days is completely new. This assumption is almost never the case. Usually, there are rules that just need to be rediscovered and reinterpreted, for their scope of application to be expanded or adapted. In rare cases, the solution may not exist, which is when new rules are necessary. But in general, we can always start from something that we already have. 

This interview has been edited for length and clarity. 

BowerGroupAsia’s BGA Expert Series: “Where do we go from here: US-ASEAN Trade Relationship”

24 February 2023 – The ASB Centre of Technology, Strategy and Sustainability (CTSS) teamed up with BowerGroupAsia (BGA) to host the panel discussion “Where do we go from here: US-ASEAN Trade Relationship,” featuring Datuk Seri Isham Ishak, Secretary-General of the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) of Malaysia, Murray Hiebert, Head of Research at BGA and CTSS faculty director, Prof. Renato Lima-de-Oliveira, Assistant Professor of Business and Society at ASB.

In his opening remarks, Datuk Seri Isham Ishak addressed Malaysia’s position in trade negotiations and some key challenges to close wide-ranging deals, drawing from his years of personal involvement in complex negotiations like the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTT), the latter recently ratified by Malaysia. The panel also discussed key developments and issues surrounding US-ASEAN geopolitics, trade, and impacts to businesses and supply chains.

Prof. Lima-de-Oliveira emphasized that political risks to businesses are on the rise and have been impacting global trade and business operations in terms of environmental footprint, human rights, and standing on issues such as the Russian invasion of Ukraine. He also mentioned that studies about how the socio-political environment affects business operations and strategy are part of the core mission of the CTSS. Murray Hiebert connected US domestic politics to global trade relations, in particular with China, and noted the decline in support for free trade among the key political parties in the US. The event was attended by business representatives, government and diplomatic officials, as well as faculty and students.

Launch of the “Industry 4.0 Technology Adoption in Malaysian Manufacturing: Strategies for Enhancing Competitiveness” policy report

The Center of Technology, Strategy and Sustainability Asia School of Business launched its report on “Industry 4.0 Technology Adoption in Malaysian Manufacturing: Strategies for Enhancing Competitiveness” at The Wembley, George Town, Pulau Pinang, on 10 February 2023, with the support of the Penang State Government.

The report is the outcome of a broader cross-national research program with MIT’s Work of the Future Global Research Network, looking at digital transformation and work in manufacturing. This report on Malaysia found that while firms adopt IR4.0 to improve productivity and quality, the availability of talent, skills and continuous training remains the biggest challenge to IR4.0 adoption. The report suggested that:>br>
–In the short-term, efforts for continuous training and upskilling should be enhanced, including strengthening the technical and vocational education system.
– In the mid-term, the state should develop incentives that match entrepreneurial discovery of new activities.
– In the long-term, Malaysia needs a new industrial policy to chart a way out of premature deindustrialisation.

The report launch event featured welcoming remarks by YB Dato’ Abdul Halim Hussain, the Penang State EXCO for Trade, Industry and Entrepreneur Development, a keynote presentation by Dr Timothy Sturgeon, Senior Researcher at Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s (MIT) Industrial Performance Center (IPC), a presentation of the report by Dr Renato Lima de Oliveira, Faculty Director of the CTSS, and a panel discussion on “Policy for Talent and Skills Upgrading in Penang”, with Dr Renato and Dato Dr Shanmuganathan Palanisamy, CEO of Kontron Malaysia, which was moderated by Ms Ong Wooi Leng from the Penang Institute. The event was attended by around 100 participants from policymaking, research and academic institutions, and the private sector.

Research with Impact: From Academia to Policymaking book launch and dialogue session

January 10, 2023 – The Research with Impact: From Academia to Policymaking event organised by the Centre for Technology, Strategy and Sustainability (CTSS) at the Asia School of Business was held on the 9th of January 2023 at the Asia School of Business’ Khazanah Auditorium.

The event was held to launch the How to Engage Policymakers with your Research book co-edited by Dr Syahirah Abdul Rahman, Sr Lecturer in Business and Management at Oxford Brookes Business School and a policy brief presentation, Unlocking a Low-Carbon Future for Malaysia, by Prof Renato Lima de Oliveira, Assistant Professor of Business and Society at the Asia School of Business (ASB). This was followed by a panel discussion with policymakers and researchers.

To find our more about “Unlocking a Low-Carbon Future for Malaysia” report, in collaboration with the Institute of Advanced Sustianability Studies (IASS, now the Research Institute for Sustainability, RIFS), Postdam, please visit https://www.iass-potsdam.de/en/news/unlocking-low-carbon-future-malaysia

Financial Development and Misallocation in the ASEAN Region – Research project under the CTSS Research Grant 2021 for Professor Ikuo Takei

To what extent financial development explains the misallocation of finance? (Figure 1) I analyze publicly listed manufacturing firm financials in selected ASEAN region countries—Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam—and Hong Kong from 1999 to 2019. I estimate the efficient allocation of debt and equity within a sector employing a production-based framework. That is to say, total debt and equity in a sector are held constant, and reallocate debt and equity across firms within a sector to maximize value-added as a counterfactual experiment (Figure 2). There are two key findings. First, I find the estimated degree of cross-sectional misallocation of finance has a negative relationship in the long run with proxies of the national-level Financial Development Index (FDI). Second, the size of the change of value added from observed to efficient allocation in developing countries is quantitatively significant. On the one hand, aggregate real value-added improves by in a range of 42-91% in Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam, reflecting the substantial efficiency gains available from financial reallocation. On the other hand, Hong Kong and Singapore exhibit modest improvement of 8-22%. Note: FDI is a composite measure of depth, access, and efficiency of financial markets published by the IMF. 

A study for market validation of the tools required for scaling start-ups in emerging economies specifically in Malaysia and neighbouring Southeast Asia countries. – Research project under the CTSS Research Grant 2021 for Professor Loredana Padurean

The present research was an effort to validate and better understand the scaling tools or strategies used by startups in scaling up their ventures. The research also attempted to find out any other scaling strategies used by entrepreneurs to scale their ventures. The study was principally based on primary data and the data were collected from startup companies in Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, Philippines, Pakistan, Singapore and China. Five in-depth interviews have been conducted with ventures located in Malaysia, Indonesia and Philippines to gather the insights of scaling strategies used across startups in different geographies and industries. To decipher the insights gathered through the in-depth interviews, survey method with structured questionnaire was then used to solidify the findings via in-depth interviews, This research did not seek to detail each and every industry-specific strategies that startups use, but aimed to identify and validate the scaling tools or strategies commonly used by startups in the scaling stage of venture, irrespective of sector or industry.

IDE Jetro Conference

On the 17-19 of August 2022, the Center of Technology, Strategy and Sustainability hosted the “Crisis, Transition and (De-) Globalization in the Offshore O&G Energy Value Chain Workshop” together with the Institute of Developing Economies JETRO (IDE-JETRO) of Japan. The research workshop included attendees from the University of Oslo, Africa School of Business, Japan/IDE-JETRO and other industry players, where the researchers heard from Malaysian industry players on issues regarding the O&G energy value chain and also research areas for the future.