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The Asia and Pacific region is home to dynamic start-up ecosystems, with new enterprises that produce digital solutions for domestic, regional and global markets serving wide variety of businesses, public institutions, civil society and consumers directly.

During a time of accelerated digital transformation and rapid adoption of digital tools, governments are adjusting to the new normal that the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has brought about. Internet savvy, digitally connected citizens demand the same level of service from their government as they do from a company that is competing for their business with the latest digital tools. Governments across Asia and the Pacific are responding to change by updating their e-government services, augmenting their data analytics capabilities, and putting in place digital economy development plans.

The island countries of the Pacific are scattered across an enormous area that makes up nearly one third of the globe. This huge region is nearly all ocean—about 30 million square kilometers of it.

Economic growth and investment in infrastructure go hand in hand. A growing economy needs constantly improved infrastructure to ensure that the production and exchange of goods and services happens as smoothly and efficiently as possible

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development places gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls at the heart of its implementation with its promise to “leave no one behind”.

Port Vila is the capital of Vanuatu. The Port Vila Urban Area (PVUA), defined as the Port Vila Municipality (PVM) and adjoining peri-urban areas, has a population of about 70,000. About 49,300 of these people live in PVM. Per capita gross national income in Vanuatu was approximately 279,402 vatu (Vt) (around $3,073) in 2011.

This handbook serves as a guide to the applications, technologies, business models, and regulations that should be considered when evaluating the feasibility of a battery energy storage system (BESS) project.

Asia’s robust economic growth in the past decades has lifted millions out of poverty. From an estimated 1.4 billion people living in extreme poverty in 1990 the number had gone down to about 903.4 million by 2005.1 Still, rapid economic growth and pervasive poverty have continuously degraded the region’s natural resources. The quality of the environment has deteriorated, and climate change has had an impact, threatening the productivity and integrity of natural systems as well as people’s health, safety, and livelihoods.