In 2015, the National IoT Strategic Roadmap was rolled out by the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (Mosti), with national applied R&D centre Mimos Bhd as the implementation secretariat.
The road map aimed to make Malaysia the premier regional hub for Internet of Things (IoT) development and to leverage the industrialisation of IoT as a new source of growth for the economy. According to the road map, the new industry was expected to contribute RM9.5 billion to the gross national income and create more than 14,000 highly skilled employment opportunities by 2020.
Has this been achieved? According to some industry players, it is difficult to ascertain whether those numbers have been recorded for several reasons, including the fact that IoT is a very broad area and they are unsure who is monitoring the achievements and implementation.
Regardless, they say the road map has achieved its goal of increasing the awareness of IoT in Malaysia. Whether it has achieved the other goals is less clear.
Digital Edge reached out to Mosti on the topic, and it directed us to the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (Miti). The IoT road map was put under Miti in 2018 (when Mimos was transferred to Miti).
“At the time, IoT was still quite new. We wanted to focus on three areas, one of which was to create a conducive industry ecosystem, strengthen local technopreneur capabilities in developing applications for IoT and turn Malaysia into a hub where people can outsource their IoT development,” says Favoriot Sdn Bhd CEO Dr Mazlan Abbas, who was involved in setting up the road map when he worked at Mimos.
Full article can be read - HERE.
This article first appeared in Digital Edge, The Edge Malaysia Weekly, on February 8, 2021 - February 14, 2021.
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