Technology Park Malaysia CEO Dzuleira Abu Bakar has called on the Budget 2022 to be one that will set the country into a recovery momentum, while there has been many areas identified for the budget to do its job, digitalisation will be the underlying factor that will play a crucial role in many of them.
Malaysia’s economy is driven by industrialasion, agriculture and raw material all of which readying for a major overhaul with the advent of IR4 and 5G, in this aspect TPM is gearing itself as the entity that will drive this revolution and be the catalyst to transform these sectors.
TPM has been allocated RM30 million for it to be upgraded into an Industrial Revolution 4.0 International Innovation Hub. The hub will act as a centre of excellence and support the innovation ecosystem by developing new technology clusters such as drones, robotics and autonomous vehicles.
Under its new objective, the centre will become the first Artificial Intelligence Park in Malaysia and will introduce various facilities such as 5G Development Hub, Sustainable Urban Farming Incubation Facility, Biotechnology Incubation Hub and Autonomous Vehicle & Robotics Hub. According to Dzuleira, through IIH, she aims to impact 10,000 entrepreneurs by providing access to infrastructure and facilities. Other targets set include coaching, mentoring and training 5,000 entrepreneurs on market access, and enrolling 7,500 participants in a Knowledge Exchange programme with international research universities and institutes. There is also the ambition to enlist 750 SMEs, incubatees or start-ups in the facilities which will be fitted with 5G technology.
Drone development is another focus area for TPM, in which it targets to support 50 companies through guidance and living lab drone facilities. While homegrown company Aerodyne has recently been acknowledged as the top drone services company in the world, she wants Malaysia to grow its basket of world-renowned drone-capable companies. This was the reason behind Area 57 a centre of excellence (COE) for Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) and Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS). The creation, development and commercialisation of technology and innovation related to UAVs or drones, will drive the recovery and growth of Malaysia’s economy. The drone technology industry in the global drone market is forecast to achieve US$41.3 billion in 2026.
The matching grant of RM100 million for Bumiputras to explore the aerospace industry is a good move to encourage the pipeline to continue churning out innovative solutions. Youths are kept excited about the industry through the RM5 million allocation to develop a Drone Sports Excellence Centre under e-sports.
The Government’s plan to increase R&D activities and accelerate the commercialisation of technology, as reflected in the RM423 million allocation to MOSTI and the Higher Education Ministry and a matching grant of RM12 million for Collaborative Research in Science, Engineering and Technology is certainly a boon for driving a knowledge based economy. Based on the learnings from the National Technology and Innovation (NTIS) which was launched last year, over 500 complete applications were submitted to progress their products and solutions for technology and market readiness.
In this aspect, Budget 2022 upholds the formation of the technology commercialisation accelerator. TCA is formed from the strategic consolidation of TPM and Malaysian Global Innovation and Creativity Center (MaGIC) and will start operations next year.
