The recently launched Malaysia Digital Economy Blueprint (MyDIGITAL) is part of the country’s initiative to accelerate the country’s digital economy. Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said the blueprint is set to enhance digital literacy and strengthen the digital implementation across all industries nationwide.
Commenting on the blueprint, Aaron Sarma, General Partner at ScaleUp Malaysia says, “”In the context of our economic recovery post pandemic, our digital roadmap is our destiny. This plan falls short in meeting the fierce urgency of now. Rural communities need access to the internet, students need education, businesses need to be digitised – NOW.”
“What I wish we saw was shorter execution timelines, more focus and a leaner council with more private sector involvement to ensure agile and effective execution in response to market needs,” he added.
Everpeaks Chief Executive Officer and Founder, Joachim Sebastian hopes the Government will also address concerns on digital taxes that would be a hurdle to the aspirations of the blueprint as it reduces regional and global competitiveness of Malaysian-based digital solutions.
With the recent launch of Fulfilment by Everpeaks (FBE), a duty-free, ecommerce integrated warehousing and fulfilment solution that facilitates global manufacturer to consumer (M2C) commerce, Joachim believes Everpeaks will be a driving force in contributing to the country’s lap into the industrial revolution to firmly establish the nation as a digital economic axis in the region.
On another note, Ashran Dato Ghazi, CEO of Dattel Asia Group said with policies and goals already in place, the next step would be ensuring a speedy, timely and agile execution.
“To me the blueprint is a consolidation paper to ensure that everyone has a single source of reference. The more important thing is how can the council [Digital Economy Council] play a role in making new bold things that will be executed fast,” he highlighted.
With the Council chaired by the Prime Minister, Ashran says there a need to leverage on new bold approaches.
He also urged for a more democratised approach by the Government to solutions and collaborations that are not monopolistic. This, he says, will allow the ecosystem to thrive and setting the right top-down policies in order will enable a bottom-up approach service delivery.
Additionally, Ahmad Taufek Omar, Executive Vice President and Chief Executive Officer, TM One says, “With cloud, government and critical sectors can roll out new innovations, achieve cost efficiency and enhance its public service delivery to all Malaysians.”
“We also understand that data residency, data sovereignty and cybersecurity are extremely vital for the government. Cloud Alpha offerings are tailored precisely to fulfil these needs – with comprehensive cybersecurity, strong connectivity and hosted locally,” he added.
The digital blueprint will be focusing on empowering the cloud service adoption, data, the Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Internet of Thing (IoT) through partnerships with the tech company and private sectors.
