Recently, Sarawak hosted a two-day conference of International ICT Infrastructure and Digital Economy (IDECS) 2017, which truly reflected the State Government’s short and long -term commitment to develop its technologies with the objective to develop a proper infrastructure system for the development of Digital economy – or Digital Sarawak.
Chief Minister, who is known for his passion for ICT development, has been sagacious in making the initiative and giving solid support to the conference with the theme “Transforming Sarawak through digital economy”, which could be considered a transcendental event.
Obviously, since Sarawak is new in ICT, it will seek advice of experts from abroad, including Sarawakians, who have played prominent roles in the national IT initiatives, as it goes along the path of developing a world-class ICT infrastructure as a solid foundation to build the Digital Economy
The development of the ICT infrastructure may include wireless long-term evolution (LTE) technology in future, as Sarawak has a huge landmass in relation to the small population, which is mostly isolated in little pockets in the hinterland.
Therefore, Sarawak must think in terms of welcoming relevant foreign direct investment to leap-frog in ICT development especially in major urban centers where the lifestyle fits the young and educated graduates, who are keen to work on cutting-edge technologies.
Chief Minister, Datuk Amar Abang Haji Johari Tun Openg, in his opening speech, said Sarawak must leap-frog in the development of ICT, not only because it is far behind in the development, but more importantly it must develop a proper infrastructure system for the development of Digital economy – or Digital Sarawak, which will create an entirely new dimension of development and growth for the State.
He said the State Government, realizing the importance of Digital Economy, is prepared to take the lead in building a world-class ICT infrastructure for Sarawak rather than leaving the future to commercial operators and service providers at the mercy of others; enough is enough.
He announced the State Government’s commitment to invest RM1billion for the development of ICT Infrastructures to ensure they will be fit to support the Digital industries and commerce and lure foreign investments into Sarawak.
He said the State Government may also consider setting up Sarawak Digital Economy Corporation to integrate the physical and virtual worlds in developing Sarawak Digital Economy in a wholesome manner.
Admittedly, Sarawak, at the moment, has basic ICT infrastructure, which is decent enough for personal use in selected spots, but not good enough to build the future of the Sarawak economy on.
Hence, Sarawak, now having about 1,200 communication towers, must have 5,000 towers throughout the State to be able to reach every possible settlement, close the gap and cover all the blind spots.
In this regards, the Digital Village in Samajaya could be further strengthened to provide a Silicon Valley-type of infrastructure to drive digital-minded Sarawakians to produce new disruptive business models.
The State Secretary, Tan Sri Datuk Amar Haji Mohamad Morshidi Abdul Ghani, in his welcoming speech, said the main intent of the two-day conference is to provide a platform for leading experts to share and discuss with key stakeholders on what is needed to develop a thriving Digital Economy.
The conference had been designed to cover areas like the necessary ICT infrastructure, the 21st century skills and knowledge needed to develop, drive and partake in digital economy, and the necessary governance structures.
They could be covered in the three tracks of the conference namely Enabling Technologies and Infrastructure for Digital Economy; Transforming and Transitioning People, Government, Commerce and Industries to be Digital Economy Ready; and Integrating with the Global Digital Economy.
Each track had Key Note speakers followed by several speakers, who would address on related topics. Each track would end with a plenary session to recapitulate and summarize all the main ideas presented under that track.
A wrap-up session would encapsulate the discussions of the entire conference and provide directions for the way forward in developing Sarawak’s Digital economy.
He suggested that the 1,500- odd delegates, attending the conference, in their deliberations should endeavor to get answers to pertinent questions like what are the key elements and guiding principles of Digital Economy, what are the key trends, business and technology drivers for the Digital Economy, what are the key lessons and success factors for developing the Digital Economy.
Besides, they should also try to get answers on the role of government in developing the Digital Economy, what are the technologies, Infrastructure and speed needed that will fuel Digital Economy of the future or what are the new policies/regulations that Sarawak will need to put in place, what are the institutions and the governance structures that Sarawak must put in place to take full advantage of the Digital Economy.
Of course, the people must also know what are the risks and security challenges that they need to be aware of, what knowledge and skills must be developed to make Sarawak competitive in the Digital economy and what measures can be used to assess progress in Digital Economy?
Tan Sri Datuk Amar Haji Mohamad Morshidi said one of the main objectives of the conference was to sensitize key stakeholders on the inevitable need to embrace digital economy and to create awareness on its benefit as well as challenges.
The Chief Minister’s has made a clarion call for a strategic shift in the economic transformation through the development of Digital Economy. This is not only timely, but also imperative if Sarawak were are not to be left behind in terms of the socio economic development.
He recalled buying a particular state-of- the-art smart phone in the year 2014 and was proud of it as he thought that was the latest technology at that time. Today, that smart phone is obsolete, out dated and outmoded. It does not have many of the features that the latest models of smart phones can do. And that was only three years ago.
Tan Sri Datuk Amar Morshidi said the two-day conference is about sharing technological innovations and how they change the way people behave. The speed at which technology is being developed is very fast and it has disruptive impact in everything that the people do.
The conference would be about changes in the way people produce goods, deliver services and transact business and the way they share information and interact with each other. Follow-up labs and workshops would be conducted in which the output would be deliberated further in greater detail.
He said Don Tapscott, a bestselling author on the subject of Digital Economy would be the keynote speaker of the two – day conference. He is being rated as the fourth most influential management speaker alive by the Thinkers 50 group in 2015.
Don Tapscott would be complemented by 17 other highly experienced and knowledgeable speakers from the academia, technology providers, industry players and practitioners. Actually, they were some of the leading minds and practitioners of Digital Economy in the world, who have agreed to share their knowledge, experiences and thoughts in the conference.
They would be moderated by three notable personalities in the industry namely Freda Liu, Jeff Sandhu and Karamjit Singh.
Tan Sri Datuk Amar Morshidi was confident, with the range and depth of knowledge and experience gathered, the proceedings of the conference would be extremely enriching and useful.
He called on the over 1500 delegates, who included State leaders, senior civil servants, business leaders, young entrepreneurs, think tanks and university students to participate actively through questions, suggestions and critiques.
Obviously, they were investing their time and money to attend the conference with the common interests to deliberate together to bring better prosperity and progress to the people of Sarawak, who will forever be indebted to all their contributions.
He believed the presence and participation of some of the leading minds and practitioners of Digital Economy in the conference truly reflected their shared commitment and desire to advance the global digital agenda.
As the conference is about charting the future of the State, the delegates must make their opinions, their concerns in particular, to be heard so that they would be given due consideration when formulating the action plans.
He said the conference came about as the result of enormous collective efforts, which began early this year. Many institutions and individuals had contributed in one form or the other towards its success.
Tan Sri Datuk Amar Morshidi thanked all collaborators, supporters and companies, 36 of them in all, that took part in exhibiting their products and services during the conference.
In welcoming all speakers and delegates from outside Sarawak with the local greeting of “Selamat Datang to Sarawak”, he called on them to stay longer to experience the goodwill and friendship of the people and enjoy the natural beauty of the State.
