High on a Hill

What technology should we innovate for Malaysia?

Nov 11, 2009 14:33

The MSC Malaysia International Advisory Panel is a group of individuals who advise the Malaysian Government on how to build a fertile environment for innovation to grow in the country's Information Communication Technologies (ICT) sector.

The current members of this panel includes distinguished Malaysians such as the Prime Minister, the Deputy Prime Minister, the Minister of Science, Technology & Innovation, the Chairman of Multimedia Development Corporation (MDEC) which is the agency that oversees the growth programs, and the CEO of MDEC.

Internationally, we have:

• Dr Mahmoud Bouneb, EGM of Al Jazeera Children's Channel


• Dr Robert Bishop, founder & chairman of BBWorld Consulting Services SARL


• Steve Forbes, chairman & CEO of Forbes


• Stephen McGuckin, MD of DHL


• Dr Ya-Qin Zhang, corporate VP of Microsoft Corp


• Prof William F Miller, the Herbert Hoover Professor of Public & Private Management Emeritus at Stanford University


• Dr John Gage, partner of Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers


• Samuel J Palmisano, chairman & CEO of IBM


• Muhammad Yunus, founder of Grameen Bank


• Dr Rajendra K Pachauri, chairman of Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)


• NR Narayana Murthy, chairman of the Board and chief mentor of Infosys Technologies


• Brian Mefford, chairman & CEO of Connected Nation


• Dennis A Roberson, vice provost, Research Professor in Computer Science, Illinois Institute of Technology.

Yesterday was the Learning Symposium where we could learn from these distinguished individuals. I had the opportunity to sit in and tweet. Here are some thoughts that were brought forward.

On innovating for improved education 
At the Learning Symposium, we heard about encouraging the growth of innovative technology to help students learn. I have a lot of thoughts on this subject: What about tools for teachers? In the past, teachers were responsible only for teaching specific subjects, but now teachers are also responsible for producing wholesome students. Class sizes have increased, too, which mean teachers may have a hard time keeping up with the varying needs of each individual student.

We need more than just ebook readers in our schools. Our teachers need a way to effectively manage their schedules, be aware of students who may be having family problems, learn how to help students overcome new challenges such as addictive cybergames, learn how to help students develop new social skills like overcoming cyber bullies, etc.

There is such a saturation of information in the New Media that students (as well as the rest of us) need to learn to critically analyze these information to discern truth from lies, which will help us make better life decisions. How can ICT tools help us?

On innovating for business growth
Dr Ya-Qin Zhang, the corporate VP of Microsoft Corporation, mentioned that we will need IQ and IP to spur innovation in Malaysia. My thought: Speaking of IQ, there is undeniably a "brain drain" in Malaysia. Many of our top scholars who have been sent to prestigious universities around the world have decided to migrate there upon graduation. What are we doing to discourage the migration of our scholars and encourage them to grow in Malaysia?

Dr John Gage, a partner in Kleiner, Perkins Caufield & Byers, which is a venture capital firm, talked about how human beings are social beings and that New Media businesses need to help people socialize and be happy. When you add value to others, when you make people happy, they will add value to your business.

Christopher Forbes, the vice chairman of Forbes, shared that a bigger percentage of Forbes' revenue is from online advertising rather than offline and this is only possible because Forbes has kept up with the quickly changing media landscape. Forbes will need to continually invest in innovating and keeping up with the constantly changing landscape. 

Final thought: I noticed that none of the advisers on the International Advisory Panel are local Malaysians who own businesses that are frequently innovating. I believe these people will have plenty of ground-level insights to offer MDEC and the IAP board. Why not open the door for some of them?

Sekian, terima kasih.

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