RIYADH, 13 May — Last week Riyadh hosted the Kingdom’s largest e-commerce conference and exhibition, E-commerce Saudi Arabia 2001. We interviewed many of the major speakers and we will be bringing you their comments over the next few weeks. Each presenter put forward the subject of e-commerce from his own point of view based on what his government or company was achieving. However, in every discussion there were common threads. The idea of moving rapidly was emphasized by all. The need for improved infrastructure and affordable Internet access was a focus. Privacy, security and protection of intellectual property were all issues of concern.
While the ideas of the international speakers from Western nations were important from a global standpoint, demonstrate what is possible and will impact Saudi Arabia, they do not give us the hope and push that we need. That is why this week it is important to concentrate on the comments of a speaker from Malaysia, a Muslim nation and developing country. Dr. Muhammad Rais ibn Abdul Karim is the director general of the Malaysian Administrative Modernization and Management Planning Unit (MAMPU) in the Prime Minister’s Department.
Malaysia has embarked on an ambitious plan to make e-government a reality in the nation and to use information technology to help Malaysia and its citizens compete globally. Malaysia’s growth has been shaped and guided by strategic five-year development master plans. The backdrop to all these programs is Vision 2020, a national agenda that sets out specific goals and objectives for long-term development.
According to Abdul Karim, Vision 2020 includes national programs such as the National IT Agenda and the Multimedia Super Corridor with its seven flagship applications. Vision 2020 is an optimistic, yet realistic aspiration, which draws upon past achievements and embodies the collective hopes of the Malaysian people. The goal of the program is for Malaysia to become a fully-developed, matured and knowledge-rich society by the year 2020.
“Malaysia has embarked on an ambitious plan to leapfrog into the Information Age,” explained Abdul Karim. “We are creating an environment that encourages businesses to be innovative. We are partnering with global IT players to get the technology we need, providing both us and them with opportunities for mutual enrichment and success.”
For example, in the area of telecom, Malaysia privatized and sold a minority share in the national telecommunications company. They are now in the process of rolling out Broadband access services. A study by Frost & Sullivan on the Asia Pacific Broadband Access Services Market revealed that Malaysia is set to chart exponential growth in this area till the year 2006. The report noted that by 2003, the number of local DSL subscribers would be more than double the number of ISDN subscribers. The DSL market is expected to chart substantial growth from its 200 subscriber base last year to over 100,000 in 2003 — the majority of them businesses. “The ultimate objective of governance is to develop and realize the potential of every citizen to the fullest extent and increase the quality of life through economic, political, and social developments,” said Abdul Karim. “In a knowledge-based economy and society, comparative advantages are not inherited, they are created. In a recent report released by the UNDP, the gap between the haves and the have-nots is widening. It is quite obvious that left to the free market forces and the corporate drive for profit, the same phenomenon will persist or even deteriorate. Malaysia believes that the best alternative is to build partnerships with the private sector and the community sector as well as international institutions and multinationals; and at the same time develop capacities in terms of institutions, human resources, leadership and technology.”
One of the cornerstones of this new development is the Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC). It is a length of greenfield “corridor,” 15 kilometers wide and 50 kilometers long, that starts from the Kuala Lumpur City Center (KLCC), itself an intelligent precinct, which houses the world’s tallest buildings — down south to the site of the region’s largest international airport, the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA). The MSC was launched on June 27, 1998.
Two of the world’s first Smart Cities are being developed in the MSC. The first is Putrajaya, the new seat of government and administrative capital of Malaysia where the concept of electronic government will be introduced. The second is Cyberjaya, an intelligent city with multimedia industries, R&D centers, a multimedia university and operational headquarters for multinationals wishing to direct their worldwide manufacturing and trading activities using multimedia technology.
“In Malaysia we have learned that we must welcome the Information Age from the top down and the bottom up,” said Abdul Karim. “This means that we must involve the entire society — government, businesses and citizens to make Vision 2020 a success.”
To push the acceptance of such ideas as e-commerce and e-government, the government has not only instituted business friendly policies but has launched projects like the “E-Labor Exchange,” that show immediate benefit to ordinary citizens. The end goal is to give everyone 24 X 7 access to high quality, citizen centric government services. As an initial push in this direction the government began six pilot projects in 1998 that have timelines through 2004. All the projects are up and running, with contracts signed and services being extended, to help the nation realize that e-government is a reality.
At the same time that the government is working to provide e-services they are also working to bring in a legal framework to cope with the new realities. The Digital Signature Act was signed in 1997 and enforced in 1998. Other important cyberlaws that were enacted focus on copyright protection and computer crimes. The Malaysian authorities are now working on laws to ensure data protection and intellectual property rights.
“Through the plan of Vision 2020 we are working to transform Malaysia’s economic structure from one that is manufacturing-based to one that is knowledge-based, with intense dependence on knowledge, skills, ideas, relationships and services for value creation and sustenance,” said Abdul Karim. “Malaysia has chosen to be open and pragmatic in dealing with change, and is committed to working with other world citizens to encourage creativity, innovation and entrepreneurship.”
Now one might think that these are so many lofty plans and goals but are they really happening? A press release put out over the weekend showed the degree to which Malaysia is working to bring IT to all levels of society. Malaysian school children may no longer be using traditional textbooks if a pilot e-school project scheduled to begin in June is successful.
The pioneering program, a joint collaboration between the Malaysian firm One-Ed Dot Com and Psion to deliver e-learning solutions, will involve 4,000 secondary school students as well as 650 teachers from 50 schools. Textbooks will be available in digital form on the Psion netBook, which will also be the student’s personal gateway to the Internet. The Psion netBooks used in this pilot project will be equipped with both fixed and wireless communication capabilities enabling students to connect to the web from their homes and surf wirelessly in schools and classrooms.
One-Ed Dot Com assisted by its technology partner Ericsson, will supply the Psion netBooks. If the project gets off the ground and receives good support, One-Ed Dot Com hopes to provide “e-books” to all government schools by 2004. One-Ed Dot Com is a Malaysia-based joint venture between the Kedah State Development Corporation, Ericsson, Widuri Canggih Sdn Bhd and Virtual Applications Technology Sdn Bhd.
This is an excellent example of local businesses and government joining together with global technology partners to help IT enable society.