The Digital Economy is shaping the way Malaysians work and live, presenting a very exciting future for the nation to look forward to. Robotics, Artificial Intelligence and Blockchain are some of the evolving technologies that are in the process of bringing sweeping changes to the country.
To make sense of these breakthrough technologies and other dynamic changes in the digital sphere, the National ICT Association of Malaysia (PIKOM) has produced its 10th edition of the PIKOM ICT Strategic Review themed Thriving in the Digital Ecosystem.
The 14-chapter report covers a range of thought-leadership topics such as the Economic Outlook, ICT Industry Outlook and ICT Salary Trends in Malaysia as well as Blockchain, Robotics in Human Resource, Digital Entrepreneurship, Digital Transformation leadership and Women & Technology. There is also a special feature on Digital Tax.
The report is anchored by PIKOM with articles also contributed by industry leaders Microsoft, HP, IBM, Persol Kelly, Jobstreet, NEM as well as MDEC and IDEAS. PIKOM records its appreciation to these contributors for their efforts in providing enriching content to enhance the PIKOM ICT Strategic Review report.
The 130-page publication was officially launched by Minister of Communications and Multimedia Gobind Singh Deo at the association’s annual flagship PIKOM Leadership Summit 2018 (PLS 2018) event held here in Petaling Jaya.
PIKOM Chairman Ganesh Kumar Bangah said the annual PIKOM ICT Strategic Review report is one of the core valuable offerings to PIKOM members and which positions the association as the private sector compass of the industry, while ensuring sustainability.
The 32-year-old private sector ICT industry association represents members which command 80% of the ICT Trade in Malaysia.
“I am very pleased and appreciative to see that the 10th edition of this publication has drawn strong partner support from 19 major industry players, namely MDEC, DELL EMC, EKTECH, MICROSOFT, GLOCOMP, PERSOL KELLY, JOBSTREET, MYKRIS, DIMENSION DATA, DAYTHREE, COMMERCE.ASIA, NEM, EPSON, FUSIONEX, FIRE EYE, HITACHI SUNWAY, KNOWLEDGE.COM, CIS SOLUCIS and HDC,” said Ganesh.
He added this industry support towards the report signifies PIKOM’s mission statement that all of the association’s programmes and activities are ‘for the industry, by the industry’.
Referring to the latest Department of Statistics Malaysia’s 2017 report on the growth performance of the ICT Industry, Ganesh said the industry has been showing an increasing trend when it registered RM178.2 billion in 2017 from RM105.7 billion in 2010.
“Based on the average annual growth rate (AAGR) of 7.8% from 2010-2017, PIKOM projects the ICT contribution to the GDP in 2018 would reach about RM192 billion,” he said.
The share of the ICT industry to the economy was about 18.3% in 2017, according to DOSM. He added the e-Commerce sector has been growing aggressively, recording a robust 14.3% increase to reach RM85.8 billion in 2017 from RM75 billion in 2016.
Ganesh said with continuing strong public-private sector programmes like #MYCYBERSALE – to encourage more companies especially SMEs onboard the online platform – the fast-pace momentum of the e-Commerce sector will continue. The association estimates the sector will record RM96.5 billion in 2018, based on the AAGR rate of 12.5% from 2010-2017.
The PLS 2018 is a core programme by PIKOM that provides the ideal platform for hundreds of thought-leaders and C-Level participants to network with some of the big names in the Malaysia’s ICT industry and at the same time, learn the latest trends and insights in technology. The Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) is the strategic partner of this event.
For the first time, the Embark on the Digital Revolution-themed PLS 2018, is being held together with Smart Sourcing Summit, the flagship business leadership event of Outsourcing Malaysia, which is a chapter of PIKOM.
Fusionex is the pinnacle partner of this combined impactful event valued at RM990 per delegate. The other partners are Taiwan Excellence, Dimension Data, NEM, PWS, VeeAM, Exclusive Networks growthX Academy and SRG.
Chief Executive Officer of Fusionex and PLS 2018 organising chair, Dato’ Seri Ivan Teh, said there will be many conversations at the two summits, covering Artificial Intelligence, Industry 4.0, Blockchain, Security and much more.
“These technologies are shaping the world we live in and I hope the discussions that we will have today and hereafter will also spur us to action and embark on the digital revolution,” he said.
Some of the interesting presentations at the event were Human Intelligence vs Artificial Intelligence, IR 4.0 – What Businesses Need to Know: The Taiwan Experience, Cyber Security – Beyond Data and IOT as well as Driving and Catalysing Digital Transformation with Blockchain.
