KUALA LUMPUR – A new Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution (C4IR) is to be established in Malaysia to accelerate technology adoption.
The Ministry of Finance (MOF) reported in a statement recently that the centre is independent within the World Economic Forum (WEF) meant to aid the country to achieve its visions under the 4IR Policy and Malaysia’s Digital Economy Blueprint.
Furthermore, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob will officiate the centre after it is set up in the second half of the year.
MOF said that this will in turn help secure a more equitable, inclusive and sustainable growth for the country as Malaysia’s economy recovers from the pandemic.
This C4IR centre is set to be the first in Southeast Asia and will be part of the WEF’s worldwide network for multi-stakeholder cooperation in order to gain benefits of emerging and innovative technology.
The MOF stated that the centre shows the government’s commitment towards putting technology first so it can act as a catalyst for Malaysia’s economic growth and post COVID-19 recovery while at the same time supporting the country to be a regional leader in the digital economy.
“Through its present global network of centres, the C41R is pioneering an agile and human-centred model of technologically focused policy development and implementation,” the ministry said.
The announcement of C4IR’s establishment was made by Finance Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz during the WEF Annual Meeting held in Switzerland recently.
Leveraging 4IR tech a necessity
The minister stated that Malaysia is trying to accelerate its digital transformation journey and leveraging 4IR technologies like artificial intelligence, nanotechnology, renewable energy, and quantum computing, will be a major driver for the country’s sustainable, resilient and inclusive growth in the years to come.
For this purpose, the C4IR ensures that Malaysia’s tech selections and their interactions across the physical, digital and biological domains will help humanity materially and also meaningfully, he said.
“As such, the MOF looks forward to collaborating with other relevant ministries to expeditiously assure the C4IR’s success as a platform for technological transfers and development of local capacity be as quick as can be,” he added.
Meanwhile, Jeremy Jurgens, WEF’s managing director, stated that the organisation is excited to welcome Malaysia to the global network of the C4IR later in 2022.
He explained that Malaysia will play a crucial role in leading the digital transformation charge within Southeast Asia as it would be the first centre in the region.
Apart from that, the MOF also stated that the C4IR will be managed by the Economic Planning Unit in the Prime Minister’s Department after its establishment. The programmes will be developed and implemented in collaboration with the MOF, the Communications and Multimedia Ministry (MCMC), and the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MOSTI).
In addition to that, the WEF will continue to collaborate on the operations of the C4IR.
Malaysia’s 4IR agenda will have key target beneficiaries in segments such as for youths, social enterprises, businesses, and public sector, the MOF added.
Youths could benefit through having better access to learning strategies and skill-enhancement programmes powered by edutech while social enterprises could use the tech to solve socio-economic issues, facilitate digital onboarding and narrow the rural-urban digital gap.
The MOF added that businesses could also develop indursty-led and sectoral based 4IR powered capabilities and the public sector could use the data to enhance public service delivery.
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