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.

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.

Digital Malaysia launches POKOK platform

New ICT enabled platform aims to improve the quality of life of one (1) million underprivileged rakyat by 2020

KUALA LUMPUR, April 25 2013 – Multimedia Development Corporation (MDeC) introduced a new development in its Digital Malaysia initiative today with the unveiling of a new platform to facilitate societal uplift and to harness and coordinate greater private sector contribution in term of societal development targeted to the B40 group (the lower 40 percent of the Malaysian population in terms of household income).

Termed Pembangunan Oleh Komuniti Untuk Komuniti (POKOK), the ICT-enabled collaborative platform and its methodology, is a system to match the B40 grass root issues and needs with contributions from Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) and private sectors to provide solutions via programmes, products, and services.

Datuk Badlisham Ghazali, CEO of MDeC giving his speech at the POKOK launch event.

The POKOK platform seeks to improve the quality of life of underprivileged Malaysians (the B40 group), beginning in Pahang State. POKOK commenced operations in February 2013, engaging 239 villages in all 11 districts of Pahang State to date. 40,000 individual profiles of village residents have been compiled, with 13,000 physically verified and matched to societal development activities based on their interests and skills.

Comprehensive demographics of all 239 villages have also been compiled, encompassing the spectrum of public facilities available for utilisation such as activity centres. Additionally, trainings are provided in many areas to selected local residents to inform them of local manpower requirements. Micro sourcing or supplementary income opportunities for the B40 group has seen in excess of 600 selected micro workers trained, with 300 of them securing over 1,000 paying tasks ranging from data verification, data entry to identifying local residents serving and supporting POKOK’s Community Advisory Outreach Unit as representatives.

Encik Zurin Adra Azhar, CEO of  Cypress Diversified Sdn Bhd at the POKOK press conference.

POKOK aims to gradually increase NGOs and private sector collaboration in government programs to uplift society. It is designed to improve efficiency and impacts of vertical programmes through ICT enabled tools and mechanisms, by encouraging the relevant stakeholders and the communities to track the programmes’ performance and funding utilisation enhancing transparency, efficiency and accuracy.

In addition, it will also simulate the programme’s impact from a holistic view while further enhancing its vertical programmes outreach, embracement and value through a network of ICT-enabled communities. This approach has resulted in 6 vertical activities ready for implementation and conducted by the initial 1st wave NGO and private sector participants. The activities include Reading & Spoken English Program, the Child Safety Campaign, Cancer Awareness and Clinical Program and Cycling For The Community. Moving forward, this platform will be the framework that will be applied nationwide.

POKOK was deployed in collaboration with the Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development, as the public sector champion and the Pahang State Government for its implementation in Pahang.

“There are 2.4 million Malaysian households who live on an average of below RM2,300 per month. Categorised as the Malaysian B40s, there is a need to elevate their livelihoods as we move into the digital era and transforming the country into a developed nation by 2020” said Datuk Badlisham Ghazali, CEO of MDeC.

“The digital economy presents many income-generating opportunities. The B40 who are not competent in IT can still benefit from the many IT-enabled platforms such as eCommerce aggregators, and relevant digital platforms which are supported by on-the-ground resources will help bring economic benefits to the non IT-savvy B40 communities. We are enthused to work alongside the Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development, the Pahang State Government and Cypress Diversified Sdn Bhd to make this aspiration a reality via the POKOK platform” he continued.

Digital Malaysia is the nation’s programme to advance the country towards a developed digital economy by 2020 by creating an ecosystem that promotes the pervasive use of ICT in all aspects of the society, government and economy.

Founded on three strategic thrusts of moving from Supply to Demand focused; from Consumption to Production Centric; and from Low Knowledge-Add to High Knowledge-Add; the move from the programme aims to:

• improve ICT contribution to the nation’s Gross National Income to RM294 billion or 17%, an increase from the current 9.8%;
• create 160,000 high value jobs and an additional RM7,000 digital income per annum for over 350,000 citizens by the year 2020.

To this effect, 25 Digital Malaysia projects will be implemented in stages. The first wave of eight projects was rolled out in July 2012, with the remaining 17 projects to be announced in stages.

FACT SHEET: THE POKOK PLATFORM

Further details of the POKOK platform are as follows:

The POKOK platform is the brainchild of Cypress Diversified Sdn Bhd and was officially commenced in February 2013. The platform will be carried out in five (5) phases which are:

• Mobilisation Phase (February – March 2013)
• Implementation Phase 1 (April – May 2013)
• Implementation Phase 2 (June – July 2013)
• Implementation Phase 3 (August – September 2013)
• Implementation Phase 4 (October – November 2013)

POKOK is a technological platform that will facilitate the implementation of the “Facilitating Societal Upliftment” and “Microsourcing To Generate Income For The B40” projects under Digital Malaysia.

The 2020 targets for these projects respectively are:


Facilitating Societal Upliftment:

- GNI: RM70 million
- 1,400 job opportunities
- RM 72 million of investment

Microsourcing to Generate Income for the B40:
- GNI: RM287 million
- 340,000 job opportunities
- RM413 million of investment

POKOK vertical implementation with NGOs and Private Sector to date:

1. Reading & Spoken English Program
• This project is in partnership with the Pahang State Library where The Asia Foundation has donated its source of English books which will be then used in the programme. The pilot project will be carried in 10 locations with the involvement of 1,000 community members throughout Pahang.

2. Cancer-Free Family Project
• The project is carried out by the National Cancer Society Malaysia with the help of the Pahang State Department of Health in 10 locations, involving 2,000 community members. This project aims to raise awareness and provide information on cancer, conduct clinical tests, as well as help those who will undergo further tests.

3. Child Safety Campaign
• The Malaysian Child Resource Institute (MCRI) in partnership with the Pahang State Department of Education and the Royal Malaysia Police will see the project carried out in 10 locations with 4,000 community members who will spread the message on child safety to primary school children and their caretakers.

4. Connecting Communities Through Cycling
• Kayuh Komuniti in collaboration with the Bera District Council will build a Mountain Bike trail. The project will be implemented by the local community, 500 in total, within the Bera District.

5. Micro sourcing: Temporary Work Activity
• This activity will be implemented by Ikrar Potensi Sdn Bhd which will create jobs and raise the skill levels of those who fall into the B40 group. For now, 1,000 individuals will be able to benefit from this activity.

6. Domestic Home Management Services
• This activity will also be implemented by Ikrar Potensi Sdn Bhd, in partnership with the Pahang State Single Mothers Association to offer job opportunities, 50 individuals in its first phase, as professional domestic workers.

Digital Malaysia Progressing Ahead as Planned

Eight Digital Malaysia Projects in various stages of implementation


KUALA LUMPUR, September 27 2012 – The Digital Malaysia programme is on track with the gradual implementation of its first eight projects with a cumulative targeted GNI of RM270.75 Mil by the end of 2013.

The projects’ progress reported to the Digital Malaysia Steering Committee chaired by Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation Datuk Seri Panglima Dr. Maximus Ongkili on Tuesday (Sept. 25), has also seen investment commitment of RM187.47 Mil from the private sector.

These eight projects which are the first wave of the Digital Malaysia programme are:  the Asian e-Fulfillment Hub, Enabling e-Payment Services for SMEs and Micro Enterprises, Shared Enterprise Services, Develop On-Demand Customised Online Education, Microsourcing to Generate Income for the B40, Facilitating Societal Upliftment, Establish a Trusted Mobile Digital Wallet Platform and Growing the Embedded Systems Industry.

The steering committee was also updated on key milestones achieved in the implementation of the ICT Satellite Account (ICTSA) by the Ministry of Finance in collaboration with Multimedia Development Corporation (MDeC), the Department of Statistics (DoS) and the Economic Planning Unit (EPU). The ICTSA will measure the impact of the ICT sector on the local economy.

Following in the steps of the successful Tourism Satellite Account, the ICTSA will provide a statistical framework for organising and presenting information about ICT and e-Commerce products and related activities. These would be based on six (6) primary indicators and nineteen (19) secondary supply and demand side indicators.

The first report targeted to be published by the year end will cover the period of 2005 to 2010. The set-up of the ICTSA is also timely as it will provide greater insight and data on ICT and e-Commerce, two fundamental components of Digital Malaysia, in light of the implementation of its eight projects this year.

Addressing the Steering Committee, Datuk Seri Panglima Dr. Maximus Ongkili said: “Last year, the Prime Minister announced the Digital Malaysia initiative and gave MDeC the task of spearheading this effort. Since then, MDeC and MOSTI have been hard at work in mapping out the development of Digital Malaysia. The projects are progressing as planned and we are pleased to note the commitment by the public and private sectors in rolling out these projects.”

Datuk Badlisham Ghazali, the Chief Executive Officer for MDeC added, “While these projects are ripe for development with the right infrastructure, systems and partners in place, it would not achieve its ultimate target of increasing the nation’s Gross National Income (GNI), enhancing productivity and improving standards of living without the participation of the right target audience.”

He also said, “The setting up of the e-Payment services enablement, for example, aims to get 40,000 merchants particularly SMEs, on board by the end of 2013. This will enable them to capitalise on the over 30 million debit card and credit card users in the country.”

“The customised online education project on the other hand, has attracted 502 users and 12 content providers in its initial BETA roll out. With the final version ready soon, we hope to see more content providers coming on board. Furthermore, we sincerely believe that more people should also be made aware of the availability of such online courses and programmes,” concluded Datuk Badlisham.

Digital Malaysia is the nation’s programme to advance the country towards a developed digital economy by 2020 by creating an ecosystem that promotes the pervasive use of ICT in all aspects of the society, government and economy.

Founded on three strategic thrusts of moving from Supply to Demand focused; from Consumption to Production Centric; and from Low Knowledge-Add to High Knowledge-Add; the move from the programme aims to:

• improve ICT contribution to the nation’s Gross National Income to RM294 billion or 17%, an increase from the current 9.8%;
• create 160,000 high value jobs and an additional RM7,000 digital income per annum for over 350,000 citizens by the year 2020.

To this effect, 25 Digital Malaysia projects will be implemented in stages. The first wave of eight projects was rolled out in July this year, with the remaining 17 projects to be announced in stages from next year.

Details of the eight projects are as follows:

EPP 1: E-COMMERCE

Project 1: Asian e-Fulfillment Hub

The project aims to make Malaysia the centre of e-Commerce related logistics services for Asia by leveraging on the power of the internet for the assembly, packaging, shipping and tracking of products across the region. MIDA is the public sector lead for this project. To date, logistics talent has been identified, trained and certified. In addition the operations of the logistics hub have also been established in Tampoi, Johor.

EPP 2 : ENTERPRISE ENABLEMENT

Project 1: Enabling e-Payment Services for SMEs and Micro Enterprises

The project with SME Corp as the public sector lead, aims to encourage more Malaysian businesses particularly SMEs and Micro enterprises to offer e-Payment services at their respective outlets. This will be done by creating more merchant outlet points enabled by electronic funds transfer at point of sale (EFTPOS) terminal, smartphone reader and online e-Payment. To facilitate this, a Third Party Acquirer (TPA) Selection Committee has been created to appoint qualified panel of TPAs who will serve as private sector champions of the project.

In addition, the project will also see the development of Regional Service Hubs by the approved TPAs by Dec 2012 to ensure that the roll-out of the terminals among the Micro enterprises and SMEs nationwide are supported.

Project 2:  Shared Cloud Enterprise Services

This project aims to garner more local companies to adopt Cloud-as-a-Service (CaaS) solutions as well as to get more independent software vendors (ISVs) to offer their services on the Cloud. To this effect, the adoption program commenced with five interested applicants that will be approved by October this year. In addition, a new Centre of Excellence has also been created for graduates. The recruitment of graduates for training programmes and the formalisation of more partners in the CoE are currently in development.



EPP 3: SPUR THE NETIZENS

Project 1: Develop On-Demand, Customised Online Education

This project aims to provide Malaysian internet users with customised education content with an entertainment edge (edutainment). A beta version of the programme has been introduced successfully to 502 users earlier this year and it is targeted to reach 1000 users by the end of 2012. The content will also be available through mobile applications on the iPhone iOS and Google Android platforms by the end of the year.


EPP 4:  UPLIFT THE B40

Project 1: Microsourcing to Generate Income for the B40

This project with the Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development as public sector lead, aims to provide training for the Bottom 40 members of the community, to enable them to work remotely from their home in order to generate additional income for themselves and their family. These include basic computer literacy skills training that will enable them to perform simple tasks such as data collection and entry for corporations and organisations. To date, the training modules have been identified and MDeC has been working with key microsourcing partners and training providers to ensure that the microsourcing platform will be operational by the end of the year.

Project 2:  Facilitating Societal Upliftment

Also with the Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development as public sector lead, this project provides the system and tools needed to match community development programmes and funding distributions to the right communities and areas. It will also ensure that there will be proper mechanisms in place to deploy and track these programmes, as well as obtain feedback from the target communities. The pilot project will be deployed in Pahang soon.


EPP 7: GROW THE TECHNOLOGY SECTOR

Project 1: Grow the Embedded Systems Industry

An embedded system is some combination of computer hardware and software, either fixed in capability or programmable, that is specifically designed for a particular function. Industrial machines, automobiles, medical equipment, cameras, household appliances, airplanes, vending machines as well as the more obvious mobile computing devices are among the myriad possible hosts of an embedded system.

The project entails the creation of an embedded systems pilot project and a Centre of Excellence (CoE) for the industry. The approval committee will select potential pilot projects by the end of October 2012. The Penang Skills Development Centre (PSDC) and MIMOS have also been identified as partners to the CoE ecosystem.


EPP 8: EMPOWER GREATER ECONOMY

Project 1: Develop a trusted Mobile Digital Wallet System

The project will create an ecosystem that will ensure a more pervasive adoption of Near Field Communications (NFC) by encouraging greater service provider participation and subsequently enabling more customers to enjoy the service in light of more manufacturers embedding the NFC capabilities in their latest mobile phones or devices. Currently, the project is in the trial stage with a local telecommunication partner. The service is to be ready for commercialisation by local telcos by end of 2012.

Digital Malaysia to advance Digital Economy with Three Strategic Thrusts

Kuala Lumpur, 5 July 2012 – The Deputy Minister of Science, Technology & Innovation (MOSTI), YB Datuk Haji Fadillah bin Haji Yusof today unveiled details of Digital Malaysia, a national programme based on three strategic thrusts to advance the country towards a developed digital economy by 2020. He did this with Datuk Badlisham Ghazali, Chief Executive Officer of the Multimedia Development Corporation (MDeC), an organisation under MOSTI, which was mandated by the Prime Minister, YAB Dato' Sri Haji Mohd Najib bin Tun Haji Abdul Razak to steer the programme.

Speaking at the event, YB Datuk Haji Fadillah bin Haji Yusof said, “Digital Malaysia is a unique programme based on its three strategic thrusts. It will create an ecosystem that promotes the pervasive use of ICT in all aspects of the economy to connect communities globally and interact in real time resulting in increased Gross National Income, enhanced productivity and improved standards of living.(From L to R) YBhg. Datuk Badlisham Ghazali, CEO of Multimedia Development Corporation (MDeC), YB Datuk Haji Fadillah bin Haji Yusof, Deputy Minister of Science, Technology & Innovation (MOSTI), and Y. Bhg. Dato Dr. Madinah Mohamad, KSU MOSTI, are seen officiating the Digital Malaysia initiative.

“The Digital Malaysia programme’s three strategic thrusts will leverage on new and existing initiatives to drive Malaysia towards a digital economy. By effectively combining existing ICT and digital initiatives, Digital Malaysia will foster a cohesive digital ecosystem that will ensure Malaysia becomes a developed digital economy,” he added.

Digital Malaysia is underpinned by three (3) strategic thrusts that have been identified as critical game changers:
• Move Malaysia from being supply to demand focused, i.e. initiating more demand-focused activities to leverage existing infrastructure, economic activity, market trends and consumer behaviour;
• Shift behaviours from being consumption to production centric, i.e. encouraging and enabling internet users to produce as much as they consume from digital technologies;
• Evolve from low knowledge-add to high knowledge-add i.e. increasing development of local talent in key industries to become innovators and knowledge workers.

Digital Malaysia will deliver its targeted goals via a number of projects. Currently eight (8) projects have been identified and are being rolled-out from this year. They include the Asian e-fulfilment Hub; e-Payment services for small and medium businesses and microenterprises; Shared cloud enterprise services, Microsourcing for income generation, Accelerated international trade through e-Commerce, On-demand customised online education; Growing the embedded systems industry and a Mobile Digital Wallet.

The Digital Malaysia programme is a dynamic one and will continuously evolve with an ongoing ideation process and mechanism leading to the development of new projects in the coming years.

Ultimately, Digital Malaysia aims to help Malaysia raise its ICT contribution to 17% of GNI; raise its ranking in the Economists’ Intelligence Unit Digital Economy Rankings to be within the top 20 and also be within the top 10 of the International Institute for Management Development (IMD) World Competitiveness Yearbook.

An estimated investment value of RM 31.2 billion is expected to be generated from Digital Malaysia based on a Public-Private-Partnership (PPP) model, which is expected to create 160,000 jobs and make the overall Digital Economy contribution to GNI, RM294 Billion (17%) by 2020.

From a productivity standpoint, Digital Malaysia is expected to contribute 1% to the projected absolute growth of SME contribution to GDP by 2020. In terms of impact on standard of living, the programme targets to deliver an additional RM7,000 per annum for 350,000 citizens from digital income.

Datuk Badlisham Ghazali, CEO of MDeC, said “Digital Malaysia is unique because of its strategy which is built on three strategic thrusts. It will help to create a new class of digital entrepreneurs through our demand-focused initiatives and it will help nurture a new generation of Digital-savvy youth through the use of digital learning who will form the bulk of Malaysia’s workforce from 2020. Digital Malaysia will also help drive automation and technology adoption amongst SMEs to boost productivity”.

“Today Malaysia enjoys a strong ICT foundation, but a holistic digital initiative is still needed to ensure that Malaysia is able to advance further and Digital Malaysia with its three strategic thrusts, will ensure this ,” added Badlisham.

Digital Malaysia is under the stewardship of the Digital Malaysia Steering Committee led by YB Datuk Seri Panglima Dr. Maximus Johnity Ongkili and reports to the Prime Minister.

Industry Commentary on Digital Malaysia Announcement

Tan Choon Sang, Country Manager, Autodesk Malaysia
Autodesk is very excited with the announcement by Multimedia Development Corporation (MDeC) to propel the nation towards a developed digital economy by 2020. One of the major global forces that exerts great pressure on companies and the economy is the advent of technology and “digital” lifestyles. While ICT adoption feeds on the age of access and experience, the rise of consumer and mobile computing opens up opportunities for businesses to drive productivity and innovation.

We believe that with emerging digital tools and the fast-developing opportunities from infinite computing, the newly set up ecosystem under Digital Malaysia will promote an environment for businesses to up their game in the global marketplace. The market demands that companies innovate in order to remain competitive, achieve greater operational efficiencies and profitability. Thus, digital tools such as Autodesk Digital Prototyping and Building Information Modeling provide the opportunity to level the playing field for business of all sizes to create, compete and thrive.

At Autodesk, we certainly welcome this development and we look forward to being part of the ecosystem that pushes the boundaries of what is possible in the design and engineering market. Digital Malaysia is yet another step forward to empower and prime the marketplace for a truly developed digital nation.

Masaya Ueno, President and Chief Executive Officer, Rakuten Online Shopping
The demands of consumers today are changing and the spheres in which they inhabit and consume for their lifestyle needs are no longer confined. The advent of e-commerce has unlocked a borderless world on the Web for merchants to expand their businesses and provided consumers with broader options for their shopping and service needs. Digital Malaysia is set to enable businesses to grow and capitalise on opportunities in the digital economy with greater integration of ICT.

Rakuten welcomes the unveiling of Digital Malaysia. Having just announced Rakuten’s market entry in Malaysia, we are encouraged by the Government’s commitment to drive Malaysia towards a digital economy. We believe that initiatives under Digital Malaysia will strengthen the nation’s e-commerce industry and encourage merchants to leverage opportunities online as a natural next step for their businesses.

Merchants hoping to expand their customer reach online should determine the right partner that will not only empower them with the e-commerce platform but also share the tools and e-commerce knowledge needed to build a successful online business. Rakuten provides an innovative e-commerce business model that is a WIN-WIN for both merchants and consumers alike.

Nafis Jasmani, Country Manager, Axis Communications, Malaysia
Axis Communications applauds the government’s fostering of ICT as the backbone of business, productivity, trade and social development in Digital Malaysia. This initiative augurs well for the adoption of IP-based or network video surveillance given that public safety continues to be a top priority for the government and its various stakeholders.

Video surveillance has stood the test of time as the go-to technology for obtaining information around crime and security related incidents. The network video is one of the most useful tools for fighting crime and protecting citizens, acting both to detect and deter. It creates a secure environment and helps first responders pinpoint where their assistance is most needed. Today’s IP-based surveillance cameras can offer several enhanced features such as sharper image quality, motion and tampering detection.

Digital Malaysia will ease the transition of video into the IP world and enable businesses to embrace and reap the benefits of the advancements in video analytics. With digital surveillance, the authorities can offer the best security solutions to create a wide-area security net, so that both the nation’s assets as well as the rakyat continues to be safe and secure. We are convinced that Digital Malaysia will bring the country one step closer to fulfilling its ambition to improve the standard of living of the people and making the country a safer place to live in.

Zulkifli Md Ghairi, Country Manager of CA IT Infrastructure Solutions Sdn Bhd.
CA Technologies applauds the Malaysian Government’s efforts to advance the country towards a developed digital economy by 2020. We are strongly encouraged by the government’s efforts to promote the use of ICT to improve productivity and the standard of living in the country.

We believe that, businesses have to innovate to drive competitive differentiation, find new revenue streams to accelerate growth and obtain increased value from ICT in order to fully leverage the opportunities in a digital economy. ICT provides companies with the necessary tools to manage cost and risk, reduce delivery cycle times, and enable increased productivity.

Digital Malaysia promises to fast forward Malaysian enterprises to embrace the benefits of cloud computing, virtualization and Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), improving productivity and competitiveness. Whether a company is operating a private cloud, or in a hybrid environment – it all has to be managed and secured, which is the expertise of CA Technologies for over 35 years. CA Technologies supports Digital Malaysia’s efforts in empowering enterprises to manage and secure their IT and accelerate their delivery of business service innovation, and is convinced that this will bring us closer to the vision of becoming a developed nation.