TWO NEW INITIATIVES TO BE LAUNCHED UNDER DIGITAL MALAYSIA

Initiatives to accelerate eCommerce growth and improve quality of life for Pondok communities respectively

CYBERJAYA, APRIL 18, 2014: The 9th Digital Malaysia Steering Committee recently concluded with the tabling of two initiatives, one to accelerate eCommerce by means of a nationwide cybersale and the second one, to improve the quality of life for traditional religious institutions (Sekolah Pondok) through crowdfunding.

The inaugural cybersale, scheduled to take place in the third quarter of the year is part of Digital Malaysia’s ongoing efforts to accelerate the growth of the eCommerce sector by boosting participation from both vendors and buyers. The sale will be similar to the United States’ initiative known as Cyber Monday, and seeks to draw participation from Malaysia’s leading retailers with the support of partners from the banking, logistics and telecommunications industry.

Datuk Seri Ahmad Shabery Cheek, Minister of Communications and Multimedia, who is Chairman of the Digital Malaysia Steering Committee, said “eCommerce is a key component of the digital economy. Its significance has also been recognized as one of the key ICT sub-sectors in the Digital Malaysia 354 Roadmap. This is a good initiative that will bring leading retailers and customers together under one roof and will further boost the adoption of eCommerce in Malaysia. We are confident that this event will be able to further popularise online shopping as a convenient and exciting experience”.

Digital Malaysia also announced a new initiative to facilitate societal uplift for the Pondok community, a part of the B40 group (the lower 40 percent of the Malaysian population in terms of household income). The initiative will first take place in Kedah as a pilot state.

The initiative will profile Pondok institutions to identify gaps and potential solutions that can be addressed via digital means. It also aims to promote ICT adoption and usage by Pondok communities to improve their quality of life, enable them to earn income and uplift their overall reputations.

Led by MDeC with the support of Yayasan Pembangunan Pondok Malaysia (YPPM) as the public sector champion and pitchIN as the private sector partner, the initiative will leverage on current ICT programmes, digital applications and crowdsourcing models (including social crowd funding) to uplift the Pondok community.

“The digital economy presents many income-generating opportunities. The B40 who may be less conversant with technology can still benefit from the many digital platforms. We are excited to work alongside YPPM and pitchIN to make this aspiration a reality via the Digital Malaysia social crowdfunding initiative specifically for the Pondok community” said Datuk Badlisham Ghazali, CEO of MDeC.

Digital Malaysia is a national programme to advance the country towards a developed digital economy by 2020 by creating an ecosystem that promotes the pervasive use of Digital Technology in all aspects of the economy. This will include connecting communities globally and in real time, in order to increase the nation’s Gross National Income (GNI), enhance productivity and improve standards of living.

Collectively, Digital Malaysia aims to achieve the following: the creation of 160,000 high value jobs, increase Malaysia’s ICT contribution from 9.8% to 17%, provide an additional 1% SME contribution to Gross Domestic Product and create an additional RM7,000 of digital income per annum for 350,000 Citizens.