DIGITAL MALAYSIA 354 ROADMAP WILL DRIVE MALAYSIA’S SHIFT TOWARDS A DIGITAL ECONOMY

KUALA LUMPUR, 27th January, 2014: Malaysia’s efforts to shift into a Digital Economy are being accelerated by the deployment of the Digital Malaysia 354 Roadmap (DM354 Roadmap). The 7th Digital Malaysia Steering Committee Meeting chaired by Datuk Seri Ahmad Shabery Cheek, Minister of Communication and Multimedia, which concluded recently, focused on the next steps required to ensure the successful implementation of the roadmap.

“The “354” in the Digital Malaysia Roadmap represents the 3 ICT Focus Areas, 5 Sub-sectors and 4 Digital Malaysia communities. The Roadmap received the Prime Minister’s approval at the 25th MSC Malaysia Implementation Council Meeting held in November 2013.  We are committed to realising the DM 354 Roadmap which will drive the growth of Malaysia’s digital economy by addressing key ICT focus areas and developing action plans to stimulate the country’s’ digital landscape”, said Datuk Seri Ahmad Shabery Cheek.

The deployment of DM354 Roadmap is designed to move the levers and stimulate growth in Malaysia’s digital landscape by enabling the environment in 3 ICT focus areas, namely Access, Adoption and Use. This eventually will increase accessibility on internet with relevant adoption on digital content and wider usage of digital technology by government, businesses and communities to improve productivity and enhance quality of life.

The data-driven intervention programme will kick off with the ICT services sector which will see the growth of Big Data Analytics (BDA) adoption industry by industry. This will also pave way for the greater adoption of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) in the country which will give institutions the predictive tools they need to improve learning outcomes for students thus, enhancing the quality of graduates. This adoption, with the participation of the government and private sectors, will not only reduce costs and raise productivity but also provide a comprehensive and holistic approach that is needed to grow the Big Data ecosystem in Malaysia.

The Ministry of Communications and Multimedia, with the support of the Malaysian Administrative Modernisation and Management Planning Unit (MAMPU) will see the development of Malaysia’s Big Data framework in 2014, while MAMPU and MDeC will jointly implement four government initiated BDA pilot projects by 2015.  MDeC will roll out the private sector led BDA project to create 20 BDA applications.

Datuk Badlisham Ghazali, CEO of MDeC said, “The nascent Big Data Analytics segment presents diverse opportunities that require immediate attention. Malaysia has already started in its BDA journey and the potential revenue is estimated to be about RM0.72 billion by 2020. To-date, a total of ninety-six (96) MSC Malaysia status companies are actively involved in various aspects of BDA. Our long term aim is to position Malaysia as a BDA hub in South-east Asia”.

On the job front, Big Data is creating big job opportunities for IT professionals including roles such as data scientist, developers, and administrators.  “The DM 354 Roadmap will also allow us to develop our nation’s talents into a strong pool of data scientists. Ultimately, this will result in the creation of Malaysian talents who are highly proficient knowledge workers in various economic sectors and industries, with IT competencies at the core” concluded Datuk Ahmad Shabery Cheek.

Digital Malaysia’s desired Digital Economy outcomes includes increased wealth (GNI), enhanced productivity and improved standard of living. The existing and planned initiatives and programmes under DM charts the path to achieving DM’s 2020 aspirational goals which includes increasing the Digital Economy’s contribution to GDP from 13% to 17%, raising Malaysia’s ranking in World Economic Forum (WEF) Global IT Report (GITR) from top 28 countries to top 20 countries amongst 138 economies; and raising Malaysia’s ranking from top 16 to top 10 amongst 59 economies in the Competitiveness Scoreboard, all by 2020.