1415T2g1 South Korea/Participant Information/Thandar Wai Myint
Contents
About Me
SMU email: twmyint.2012@sis.smu.edu.sg
Facebook: Thandar
Academic Year: 2012
Degree: BSc in Information Systems Management
2nd Major: Organizational Behavior & Human Resources
Why TSM South Korea?
- What motivates you to join TSM?
We all know the impact of technology on society is incredible. It can help to solve our problems, make our lives better and can even bring our countries higher place. Rather than following and supporting traditional tech companies, I want to be a part of tech industry. Almost everyday, I hear the complaints, I face difficulties, I see problems from my surrounding. There are rooms for us to fill in with technology, esp, in the developing countries. Myanmar just opened its doors. It was disconnected with the whole world for decades. It needs advanced technology, skills, expertise and talent to build the bright future. We have to learn from other developed countries.
Asian countries, like China, Korea, India, Japan, are remarkable with their technological and scientific achievements. The success stories are not brought up by only one or two companies, but with the collaboration of several startups. The positive trend in those countries draw more capital and talents, inspired by traditional tech companies. What does it mean? It means if we are passionate about technology, we can be a part of that industry. We can play from whichever role we can. I want to bring innovative ideas and useful solutions to our society.
Now I am in SMU. I have a chance to see how to start tech company, how those startups are doing, what challenges they face, how they overcome, and most importantly, how they can help their countries?
- Why pick South Korea? G
The world considers S.Korea as the next global hub for tech startups. S.Korea ranked first in Bloomberg Global Innovation Index based on its research & development capability, productivity, tech density and patent activity. The country's broadband speed is incredible, an average peak connection of close to 50 megabits per second. I love to watch Korea dramas and listen K-Pop songs. S.Korea is a really good global exporter of their music and shows, which attract the millions of audiences. I wonder how they manage their streaming service.
Samsung is one of the traditional tech company, which can conquer western technologies. Korea has many startups which are strong enough to fight KOSDAQ-listed companies, such as KakaoTalk (approx, $2 billion). Even american tech companies are attractive to S.Korea. Google is nurturing S.Korean companies and help them build a global profile. Sparklabs has been formed to incubate korean startups by opening branches in Seoul and San Francisco. Korean start-ups are poised to have an explosive impact on digital media and services.By looking at the facts, I believe South Korea is a really good place to showcase about tech startups.
Internship Opportunities
- What types of internship opportunities interest you?
Any IT related opportunities, especially in application service provider or consulting firms
- Any ideal firms (based in South Korea) that you wishes to join?
Sparklabs KakaoTalk
Starting a business
- What types of business interest you?
Application service provider or Consulting firms
- What plan do you have in starting a business?
I have a group of students from NTU and SMU to build startup company related to IT (service provider/consulting) in Myanmar.
Past Experiences
* Interned at Microsoft Singapore - Part of the development team to build COTF
The Classroom of the Future, COTF, at NIE was first launched in 2005 under the BackPack.NET programme, a collaborative initiative by Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA), Microsoft Singapore and MOE schools, with the objective for schools, Ministry of Education (MOE) and National Institute of Education (NIE) to experience the possibilities of key technologies and solutions for teaching and learning. The showcase was also an ideal platform to demonstrate industry partner applications and create further opportunities for them and had attracted more than 12,000 visitors from local and overseas schools by 2010.
* Organized Business and Cultural Study Trip 2013 to Myanmar * Event Director of SMU Myanmar Community * Sub-committee of Innovate IT 2014
