KUALA LUMPUR – The Malaysia Global Business Forum (MGBF)’s exclusive roundtable on ‘Digital Resilience in the Corporate Sector’ was held in a hybrid setting at the Element by Westin Kuala Lumpur Hotel recently.
The discussion focused on what business leaders need to understand, to ensure business resilience and sustainability as well as to remain relevant in the digital economy especially as part of their post-COVID-19 recovery strategies.
In attendance as guest of honour was Deputy Minister of Communications and Multimedia, Datuk Zahidi Zainul Abidin.
During his keynote speech titled ‘Driving Digital Resilience in the Context of Regulatory and Policy Frameworks,’ Zahidi said that the Malaysian government will continue to invest in digital infrastructure with the 5G rollout being one of the examples.
“The new 5G networks will support a massive number of connected devices and are expected to be much faster, reliant, and efficient. 5G technology will also provide a more stable mobile network for these activities and will also enable infrastructure for other services. This will allow foreign and domestic investors the required bandwidth to grow well into the future,” he added.
Furthermore, he said that emphasising on empowering the youth and fresh graduates in the digital economy is essential. The youths need to be strengthened and nurtured to be skill workers in the growing digital economy.
However, he added that individuals has a responsibility to take initiative and be digitally resilient through equipping themselves with the right skills.
“Doing this would ensure they are future-proofed and Malaysia can be an investment destination not because we have cheap labour, but because we have highly qualified and productive individuals,” Zahidi said.
Digital resilience needed for sustainable future
In the Asia Pacific region, investments in digital resilience reportedly grew fastest in 2020 in correlation with the region’s overall response to the COVID-19 pandemic in comparison to Europe and North America.
The surge is due to organisations realising the importance of being prepared for future business disruptions.
According to Nordin Abdullah founding chairman of MGBF, in order to survive in the business ecosystem that is becoming increasingly digital, leaders must be aware of the evolving threat matrix of the global digital economy. The dawn of this megatrend means the new corporate leaders must be empowered to take action to move towards building a digitally resilient ecosystem.
“From start-ups to small- and medium-enterprises (SMEs) to larger organisations, all must invest in their own digital resilience. Simply because it is a component of any sustainable future. Failure to do so will only ensure you become a dinosaur in the digital era,” concluded Nordin, who is also a crisis management analyst.
In his closing remark, CEO of Novem CS Sdn Bhd,, Murugason R. Thangaratnam said that cyber security is the minimum baseline in a corporate sector’s digital equation.
“Cyber-resilient organisations need to prioritise the protection of their crown jewels. A major component of cyber resilience is the ability to adapt and evolve your security posture to stay ahead of threats,” Murugason added.
The outcome of the discussion highlighted three critical success factors – a policy and regulatory ecosystem that encourages innovation that leads to economic growth, the need for considerable investments from both the public and private sectors, and to empower the next generation of human capital and to inculcate the understanding of digital resilience for a sustainable future.
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