28/06/2014 Talking Business with Linda Yueh

Uruguay beat Colombia? We will be back with the latest

headlines as well. Right now it is time for talking business.

Flooding and access to clean water are issues that affect Britain,

As cities get smarter, will technology provide

the answers to that and other public services challenges?

Here in Singapore, I am Linda Yueh and we are Talking Business.

More people moving to cities can help with access to public services

like water, but managing urbanisation poses

Extreme weather and flooding have affected cities around the world.

Plus a lack of access to clean water is an issue for countries

ranging from China and India to rich nations like Singapore.

Four out of five people live in areas where access to fresh water

Around the world, nearly 800 million people lack access to clean water.

Nearly half of those are in Africa, with the remainder in Asia

Around half of the global population is potentially affected by

flooding which has wreaked havoc even in rich countries.

The Netherlands is a country that is accustomed to

Key parts of the nation are below sea level.

I caught up with the Dutch Minister for infrastructure

and the environment, Melanie Shultz van Haegen to find out why flooding

has come to the forefront of global policy concerns.

It has become more of an issue because of two reasons.

Rising sea levels, more water coming from rivers

More heavy rainfall and also more dry periods,

More and more people living in urban areas and one of the

problems for example that you see in Japan and Asia is when people go and

live in these urban areas they also need fresh water and clean water.

They do ground water extraction and so on the one hand you see

the city subsiding and on the other hand, you see the sea

You glance around the world and you look at the UK, and the US.

Are you quite surprised that they have such massive

problems with flooding? I am not that surprised.

We had a lot of practice in the Netherlands

because the Netherlands is a country that has lain below sea`level.

Two thirds of our GDP is earned at this level.

So we have had a lot of years to experience and to learn

Most countries did not have that until now.

Until the sea water level rising starts to hear,

The first time when Katrina hit New Orleans, we were all surprised,

this is not a poor country, it is a developed country.

But now we see New York after Sandy with the same problems of flooding

It is not a problem for some countries, it is all countries.

And I think that they are now getting aware that

What kind of policy solutions do you see

as needed to prevent it as opposed to dealing with it after the fact?

It is important to see it as an integral problem.

If you only work on the technical solutions, making dams or something

It should be a long`term approach for

governments, so you need commitment even after the elections.

Because these are long`term projects.

Because the water is coming from rivers and threatening people

It is also about protecting your coastal zone with sand supply.

There are so many solutions that are important and we can export

a lot of the knowledge and experience from the Netherlands.

Finally, I find it fascinating that on the

one hand we have been talking about flooding and on the other hand we

are talking about the use of water, water shortage, around the world.

And urbanisation is one of the causes of why this flooding

has become a bigger issue, even for developed countries.

because it brings more mainstream services to people.

You have looked at this issue quite a lot.

It would be interesting to get your take on what I see

A very interesting balance to be struck there?

Well, clean water has not been such a problem for governments

They say people should get their own water and nowadays,

you see that they really understand that that is a problem if they don't

give them clean water, they will take themselves by illegal ground

And that extraction will give you problems of pollution

So they have to walk on clean water programmes.

They have to walk that they have to work on clean programmes.

They aren't even more expensive than preventing flooding.

So it is difficult for government to set aside money

It is also something that takes a long time to plan.

For some countries, like Singapore, it is difficult because there is

They do not have much in natural resources.

So you always have to think about technologies, too.

How do you make fresh water from saltwater, for example?

These examples, the new technologies, the use of clean water

for everyone, these changes for governments in coming years.

These are the challenges for governments.

That was Melanie. So governments may want to resolve water issues but

they don't have a long`term view and financing seems to be a problem.

Could the private sector be a solution?

Could also be good business? Joining me to discuss this is David

Henderson and Joseph Hung who provides technologies for

desalination solutions. Water is great business. For many reasons. It

is one of the biggest challenges of the 21st century. Secondly, it is a

challenge that we need to address. And if you think of water on

different levels, we needed for pretty much everything we do. That

is something that most people miss. Most people see lakes, they turn the

tap on and there is water, but they don't understand that everything we

produce, everything we eat, everything we do involves water. Is

that why you are starting a water business? Pretty much. Water is

everywhere. Increasingly more so in the next century. What are you

hoping to do with your business? I just want to publicise my technology

into the market. What kind of technology is it. It is a kind of

desalination. We take waste from industries and disseminate water at

a lower cost. Is it hard to get financing? We started off with

co`founders and now we have companies funding us. But it is in

the private sector. We haven't gone into the VCs. That is the next

round, venture capital. At what point would you say that is a good

water business to invest in? Like most VCs, we look for big

opportunities, big problems. And of course technology that can solve

that problem. He is on his way with his technology. The thing about

water is that government have `` governments have a big say in it.

How hard is it to work with governments? Because you would have

to work with them if you want to go to any scale with your business? It

is tricky. It depends which government. We started with the

Middle East because we found it depends which government. We started

with the Middle East because we founded Elizabeth... They really

need it. Yes, the demand is there, and when that is the case, it is

easier to work with them. And we also tried China and Singapore. How

well you finding it? You have to keep in mind the government side of

it. I think there is a big transformation taking place. I think

if you went back 20 or 30 years, prior to that, governments did not

care as much and there were others create a lot of issues that happened

around that. I think that has changed. Most governments understand

that water is pivotal to the economy. Never mind their welfare

and health of people, if you don't have good water for your

agricultural processes and your economy, you are in trouble.

Singapore is a great example of that. They recognise the importance

of water. I think it has changed. Is there a danger that water, which is

a precious resource, gets taken over by private businesses and the end up

in a James Bond world where you will dominate the world using water. I'm

exaggerating, a little bit! But the idea that something that is a public

good wishes run by private businesses in some capacity, will

that not make some people quite worried? Yes, there is always a

concern when you have something as valuable as water and the private

sector is involved. But I think the private sector being involved is a

good thing, not a bad thing. The reason is that the private sector

brings innovation. And there is a lot of response ability placed on

the private sector. I don't think you can get away with things like

you used to. The great example I use is when you think historically,

something would happen where there was water `` whether it was water or

something else, it may make the front cover of a paper somewhere.

This was like in the 1970s or 1960s. People would read about it and

forget about it. But everybody now has a smartphone, or a Twitter

account and private companies now realise that they can't afford the

brand issues around irresponsibly see. Because everybody is going to

police them. So I am not concerned about the private sector being

involved. I'm actually involve `` Amity concerned there should be more

private sector involvement. What do you see as the biggest obstacle? We

have to convince governments and large corporations to allow us to

test our technology with them. I'm proud to say we have just overcome

it. The next stage is commercialisation so we will take

what we have proven and bring it to the market. Why are you in this

business? That is a good question. When we set up our firm, all we do

is water and waste water. When we looked around the world we said we

would set up a financial firm. We like a start`up, we had to

differentiate. There is a massive problem with water. There was not a

professional institutional body addressing it. We saw an opportunity

to build a differentiated investment product. There is lots of

institutional and private investors that want to help solve this problem

and make a return. David and Josef on. Water is one of the issues

facing big cities with growing population straining public systems.

More and more cities are becoming smart. Imagine a city whose traffic

lights are precisely calibrated to the speed of vehicles so there

aren't any traffic jams. All stores that project adverts that cater to

your consumption preferences. Computers could play a greater role

in the running of cities and our lives. Cities may transform the way

that we live. Is it a good thing to live in so`called smart cities and

what is the role of the non`governmental sector? To find out

I caught up with a representative for the centre of liveable cities

and Michael Dixon from IBM. I don't think cities have changed much in

5000 years. 3000 years ago we could have gone to the Middle East.

Buildings where people slept, where Jordan listened to adults to learn

things, buildings where sick people were. ` children. In the last 20

years there has been a huge change. We have seen and chronic

infrastructure being put in place that has brought it together in ways

we couldn't imagine. ` electronic. The large amount of data we are

bringing together, the analytics that goes with it, the mobile

access, to live free from the cloud, integration of social media, is

changing the face of cities for the first time in a long time. `

delivery. Do you think there is a fundamental transformation of

cities? The technology has accelerated tremendously in the last

20 years. When you talk about the green city or liveable city or

sustainable city, what you're talking about is people. The

outcomes of livability of people, a good quality of life, a clean

environment. A city that can provide jobs. How do you get right mix of

balance. Technology is part of it. I think even more fundamental is the

fact you have an integrated approach to planning. To getting things done.

Most importantly, it is about government, good governance at

city level. Is it technology that is making its mark, slightly

different... ` smart. Technology is an enabler but it is cities that

make the difference. Tackling urban mobility, putting together huge

amounts of data from the public transport system and the private

road network to deliver better services to people. It is about

large amount of data being used to analytics to give information for

decision`making that makes a big difference to the way assets are

used and services are delivered. When you mentioned data and

technology we worry about hacking. Does that mean we could be, our

cities could be more vulnerable in the future to cyber

opportunities around engagement for individuals. Individuals are getting

the ability to communicate with each other, with their government, in all

sort of ways that haven't been possible. The advantages of those

kind of engagement, the ability to embrace the city, to express

requirement, to meet those requirements with all sort of

services, is unprecedented change for cities. It gives them the chance

to become smarter, I think we are ahead of a long period of evolution.

On the issue of cyber security, it is a huge issue for people as they

look at data. Is that a danger for cities in the future? I think cities

take that as part of the capability they need to address. Or cities that

as an issue, it is one of the many issues they deal with. Dashboard.

at lower costs. That is what many of at lower costs. That is what many of

these kind of projects deliver. Do you think cities are fully aware of

the dangers? Sustainable cities have to be resilient. Resilience means

they must be able to withstand shocks from all sorts of things come

in disasters, as well as things that happened, not necessarily natural.

Security, physical security, data security. These are issues that are

part of the complexity, when we talk about cities grappling with and

managing. What is the city of the future if you had to look ahead 20

years? In Singapore we have the iPhone app and you can find out

property transactions, in the neighbourhood, real`time. On the

click of an iPhone. There are a lot of things that increasingly, you

click on an app and you know when the next bus will arrive. And if you

could be helping onto a train. There were lots of things, especially

among younger people, that are very connected. ` hopping. With

smartphones. The city of the future is already here, cities like in

Indonesia with two and a half million people. The mayor got

elected because he has a Twitter following of 600,000 in a city of

two and a half million. He is using this new smart technology to reach

out to his citizens so he can feel the powers of his citizens, almost

real time. He knows what their needs are, so he can better response and

plan. That is governance. What about you? The city of the feature will be

predicated on personalised services, the kind of things we can see in the

commercial environment. ` future. Government traditionally has tackled

problems by specific departments. I think we will see that change. I

think we will see Cecil 's security department is working closely with

health departments, working with employment services and education

and public safety. ` social. In society and in the cities that

really pull those cities together, it will change, people will be able

to consume services where they have direct input into what they need. No

more traffic jams? Why not? We need to go back, we are very creative

people. We solve these kind of problems. There were people who said

London couldn't have any more people are hundred years ago because the

horse manure was such an impediment on progress in the city. It is

short`sighted to say we will solve this, we have seen vehicles,

electric vehicles, driverless cars, all sort of initiatives that

addresses issues. I joke that my children, or my grandchildren will

joke about, tell me about when you swung on the big wheel and pushed

the things on the floor. Those kind of things will be passing into

history. Have you ever wondered what it is like to run the city? Hazel is

93 years old and has been mayor of the Canadian city of Mississauga for

36 years. She tells me why the job has got harder over the years. When

I took over as mayor of Mississauga we had a population of 260,000. We

had a certain economic base. That space has greatly increased. We have

many businesses to look after. Secondly we have added more than

half a million people. We have more people. The needs of the people have

changed. As a result it is a much tougher job than it was. It is a

full`time job. Many people actual age would be sitting in the garden

having a cup of tea. ` act your age. How long do you expect to be doing

this job before you decide to sit in your garden and have a cup of tea

instead? I don't think there will be sitting in my garden because even

though I'm the mayor I do my own gardening and housework. I don't

think I'll be doing that. I will be very active. I'm not going to give

up doing the job for local government, trying to get more

responsibility for local government, and certainly getting more funding

so they can do a job which they are called upon to do. And I able, local

government is able to do the job. They just don't have the funding to

do the job. One of my jobs will be to see off we can get more authority

for local government and more funding. So they can discharge their

responsibilities. There are not many women who have remained in politics

for as long as you have. It must've changed a lot over your lifetime. It

has changed a lot. When I look back to when I was first elected mayor of

streets fill, there were few mayors across Canada. Now there are mayors

for large cities, in the provinces, the only thing we lack now, although

we did have the Prime Minister who was a woman for a short while, Kim

Cambell, it is happening. Not as quickly as I would like to see it

happen, but it is happening. Smart cities that use energy and resources

efficiently could transform our lives. Greater urbanisation could be

the solution to bring you greater access to clean water for the

hundreds of millions and provide was security. But flooding and financing

remained problems. ` water. In any case the future could look a lot

different to today. That's all we have time for. Check out our

website. And me on twitter. Join us next time for more Talking Business

with me, Linda Yueh. Good evening, today we saw some

torrential downpours, thunder,