DIGITAL MALAYSIA: THE RIGHT WAY FORWARD

Intel Malaysia presents wish list for Budget 2013

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, September 20, 2012 – As Intel celebrates its 40th anniversary in Malaysia and reflects upon its journey as a partner in nation building and the role that Malaysia plays as a strategic site for Intel’s global operations, Intel Country Manager, Sales and Marketing, Prakash Mallya believes that Malaysia is all set to transform itself into a high-income and developed nation by year 2020.

Initiatives like the unveiling of the National Education Blueprint to transform the country’s education system, the formation of Talent Corp to identify, attract, nurture and retain more skilled workers into the country, the incorporation of Collaborative Research in Engineering, Science and Technology (CREST) Center to focus on research & development, talent development and product commercialization, and the launching of Digital Malaysia to develop a digital economy that connects and empowers government, businesses and citizens, are among the key measures implemented that will help achieve the nation’s targets to increase Gross National Income (GNI) to US$523 billion, raise per capita income to US$15,000 and create 3.3 million new jobs by year 2020.

However, the Government needs to maintain a sharp focus on critical areas of Digital Malaysia, digital literacy, education transformation and ICT as key enablers for building the knowledge economy, and Intel Malaysia hopes to see meaningful and significant allocations for these areas in the upcoming Budget 2013.

*Note to Editor: Kindly attribute the quotes below to Prakash Mallya, Country Manager Sales and Marketing, Intel Malaysia

Universalizing Digital Literacy in Malaysia – The Digital Rakyat
Digital literacy and technological knowledge are key components in the development of human capital for tomorrow. The introduction of the Science Act and Science and Technology Human Capital Roadmap launched early this year is one of the many platforms made available by the Government for science and technology to thrive in Malaysia.

Earlier this year, Intel Malaysia, in cooperation with MSD Digital Intelligence, introduced the Intel Easy Steps Program into 168 rural Community Broadband Centres (CBCs) in the country. The Intel Easy Steps Program is a community education offering for adult and youth learners with little or no experience with computers, and who are in need of basic technology skills.

This collaboration underlines Intel's commitment to provide learning opportunities for Malaysians to acquire ICT skills that enable them to participate in Malaysia's continuing growth and development.  Based on our observations in the deployment of Intel’s Easy Steps adult and youth literacy program in 168 CBCs nationwide, CBCs provide a platform for the community it serves to easily converge and be exposed to a systematic approach to ICT education.

Recommendation for Budget 2013
• Intel Malaysia hopes that in Budget 2013, the Government will provide allocations and incentives for organizations that introduce and implement community services and /or programs that help improve digital literacy.
• We would like to see the strengthening of existing programs to universalize digital literacy in every household in the country, and hope to see the establishment of more community broadband centers (CBCs) in underserved communities.

Education Transformation
Technology is an essential foundation of education transformation.  In 2009, the Terengganu government initiated a state-funded eLearning program to increase computer literacy among Terengganu students in collaboration with Intel Malaysia. As of 2012, a total of 93,000 Intel classmate PCs have been distributed to students beginning in primary Year 4 (age 10) through secondary Form 2 (age 14). The initiative has effectively transformed the manner in which education is provided and consumed, with education modules centred around digitized content and digital interactivity. This manner of education also encourages critical thinking amongst students through research enabled by Internet access.

Terengganu’s Projek Buku Elektronik on Intel-powered classmate PCs (CMPCs) was further facilitated by the implementation of Intel Teach professional development, enabling teachers to integrate technology into classroom teaching and learning activities.  Now in its third year, Terengganu’s Projek Buku Elektronik has successfully increased computer literacy among young students, and has bridged the digital divide by bringing computers into the homes of low-income and rural families.

In addition to that, Malaysia’s effort to close the digital divide among the people with the provision of one million 1Malaysia laptops was implemented by the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC). Coupled with the rollout of 1Bestarinet which will connect all state schools nationwide to broadband internet by the end of 2013 as planned in the recently announced National Education Blueprint, Intel believes Malaysia is on the right track of integrating technology into the teaching and learning of subjects that promote innovation such as math, science and engineering.

Recommendation for Budget 2013
• To cultivate the next generation of innovators who can support Malaysia’s national agenda of developing a knowledge-driven and high-income nation, Intel hopes that the Government will continue to prioritize and channel allocations towards integrating technology in the entire education process.
• Intel hopes to see a strong commitment in Budget 2013 to support training in ICT-enabled education modules for teachers nationwide and provide them with the right tools and strategies (or pedagogy) to support a student-centric learning environment.
• Intel believes that one of the best methods to ensure students are well equipped with technology tools that enable effective learning is to adopt a one device per child policy in schools.  For 2013, we hope that the Government will allocate additional budget to implement e-Learning programs, expand broadband penetration and equip students with these tools and with 21st century skills such as technology, media, computer and digital literacy, effective communication, critical thinking, problem solving and collaboration in all schools nationwide.

Positioning Malaysia as a World-Class Data Centre Hub
In line with Digital Malaysia to create an ecosystem to promote the use of ICT in all aspects of the economy, Intel Malaysia believes that a solid framework must exist for the systematic growth and development of data centres and cloud infrastructure.

The Malaysian government has identified the data centre business as a significant contributor to the country's economic growth, with a projection that this sector will contribute RM2.4 billion to GNI and create about 13,000 jobs by 2020.

In an internal survey conducted by Intel, the Data Center Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) model shows a minimal cost differential between US and APAC countries – an encouraging indicator that cost is not a barrier to growth for data centres in the country.  As global demand for IT services such as hosting and shared services outsourcing continue to rise, Malaysia is well poised to capitalise on this growth opportunity.  

In further driving this agenda, Malaysia has already put some safeguards in place including policies such as the Personal Data Protection Act to address critical challenges especially that of security. However, there are still several milestones we have to reach and Intel recommends that we look into finding accommodative solutions for issues like IP and transit costs which are not competitive. 

Recommendation for Budget 2013
• Intel Malaysia hopes to see continued commitment from the Government in the Budget 2013 to support the growth of data centres in Malaysia.
• Intel recommends that the Government look into making IP and transit costs more competitive to accelerate Malaysia’s push in being a world-class data center hub.

While we recognise that there are other priorities for the Malaysian Government to ensure a balanced budget that achieves sustained economic growth, it is certainly our hope that the recommendations provided above be taken into due consideration. Intel is very encouraged by the path of transformation the Government is leading the country through. By demonstrating the wisdom and will to make the right decisions at the right time, we are certain that Malaysia will be able to seize the significant opportunities present to truly usher the nation into a new era of sustained growth and economic prosperity.