Faizal Ali is the CEO and founder of Vectolabs Technologies.
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (July 2): The unveiling of the National Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) Policy yesterday drew varied comments from local digital industry actors. The majority of market players agree with the measures mentioned, yet they do not properly address the market’s existing shortcomings.
According to Faizal Ali, CEO and creator of Vectolabs Technologies, the policy appears to be focused on supply, such as upskilling and developing digital talent. Local technology development, on the other hand, necessitates technology consumption, or demand, in practice, but current national policies appear to be impeding this.
“Many business reasons for artificial intelligence (AI) and automation are removed by the relative ease of recruiting foreign labor at low wages,” he says.
“Large government and GLC project-purchasing systems also do not favor locally produced technologies, preferring lower-risk technology that has been tested and deployed elsewhere, with little regard for local technology content.” It is significantly more convenient for businesses to import technologies in bulk rather than create them domestically.”
The National 4IR Policy encourages more engagement in higher-value-added activities, such as intellectual property generation, in the electrical and electronics (E&E) industry. Faizal, on the other hand, claims that it fails to generate long-term demand for locally produced 4IR technology.
He believes that when industries relocate to lower-cost countries, the E&E sector would begin to contract. Demand for technology professionals would fall if Malaysia continues to import technology in bulk. With the exception of software engineers, he cites the flat engineering pay over the last few decades as evidence.
The National 4IR policy, according to Everpeaks CEO Joachim Sebastian, is putting the wagon before the horse since there are unsolved fundamental concerns that can derail or damage the national 4IR goal, such as a lack of English language ability.
Joachim Sebastian, CEO of Everpeaks
“When we joined in a government initiative to assist businesses, particularly those in rural areas, in exporting their products, the firms couldn’t even read the Amazon agreement forms because they didn’t speak English.” “Our country’s linguistic proficiency is simply not at the level required to carry out these programs successfully,” Sebastian explains.
“Secondly, our educational system does not sufficiently emphasize and foster critical thinking and problem solving to provide a solid framework for the implementation [of these policies].” How do you expect us to execute strategies that demand cutting-edge processes and agile techniques when our education system is memory-based?”
Sebastian thinks the policy document is impressive and covers a lot of area based on his first thoughts. However, the commercialization of these innovations, which has not been fully handled, is the main driver of these policy aims. He is concerned that businesses will ostensibly follow the policies while implementing 4IR technology in a shallow, non-holistic manner.
“If there isn’t yet a demand for 4IR in Malaysia, there needs to be a focus on the policy itself — to create demand,” Sebastian argues.
“We need to make 4IR implementation a no-brainer for any organization, because the alternative will not be practical in terms of human costs, market uptake, and industry expectations.”
ScaleUp Malaysia general partner Aaron Sarma
The National 4IR Policy, according to Aaron Sarma, general partner at ScaleUp Malaysia, is a fantastic complement to the Malaysia Digital Economy Blueprint (MYDIGITAL), which only mentions 4IR technology briefly.
He is concerned, however, about the policies’ implementation because the text does not adequately identify the people responsible for the policies’ implementation.
“We shouldn’t be introducing new policy frameworks every quarter without focusing on implementation,” says the author. Rather than just making an announcement, I’d like to see an execution document that outlines what will happen in the next 18 months,” he says.
“I wish there were more specifics, like which government entities are in charge of which effort.” That’s one area where we don’t have much visibility. We need to know who is responsible at the end of the day for a ten-year policy paper.”
Sarma is also concerned that, rather than focusing on two or three major sectors, the policy statement attempts to cover every technological potential. He thinks that without a “shining star” business, the country will be a jack of all trades but a master of none.
He cites the success of several developing companies in the drone ecosystem, such as Aerodyne, and suggests that the government focus on two to three major industries and technology instead.
Ex-chief strategy officer of Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation, Datuk Fadzli Shah Anuar (MDEC)
Despite the fact that there are numerous policy documents on the subject, Datuk Fadzli Shah Anuar believes that such policies are still necessary. Fadzli is the former chief strategy officer of the Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC), which was one of the parties consulted during the development of the National 4IR Policy.
“To return to MYDIGITAL, the digital economy and 4IR are connected but not same. According to Fadzli, “digital technologies are inputs into a subset of 4IR technologies, but the digital economy is an output of multiple technologies, including 4IR tech.”
“Instead of addressing overall economic activity, this current policy statement focuses on the supply side — what technologies Malaysia should be embracing in specific industries.”
For example, the needs of Japan, which has an aging population, differ from those of Germany, which has a manufacturing-based economy, and from those of Malaysia. Because we have a diverse range of core industries and natural resources, our adoption of 4IR technologies will differ from that of other countries.”
Fadzli further points out that the Industry4WD policy announced in 2018 is not the same as the National 4IR Policy. The former is aimed at the manufacturing industry, with the paper going far further in terms of prescriptive advice, whilst the latter is applicable to industries other than manufacturing.
While recognizing the importance of such measures, Fadzli also sees a few flaws in their implementation. Many policies, he says, are overly reliant on the civil service’s competence, and are hampered by the slow pace with which the public sector often operates.
“I would say that this is not the civil service’s fault because it takes time to develop these skills.” “I believe there must be a large degree of dependency pushed towards the private sector, especially on the originators or firms producing these technologies,” he adds.
“Whether it’s drone technology, the Internet of Things (IoT), or blockchains, the unifying denominator will be the core producers of those things.” As a result, much knowledge transfer from international enterprises and the private sector to the Malaysian civil service is required.”
The National 4IR Policy, which went into effect on July 1, provides ministries and agencies with guiding principles and strategic direction in developing policies and action plans relating to new technologies.
The policy focuses on four main goals: equipping Malaysians with 4IR knowledge and skills, boosting digital infrastructure, future-proofing laws to make them more adaptable, and speeding up 4IR technology innovation and adoption.
By integrating 4IR technologies, the strategy intends to improve citizens’ quality of life, strengthen local capacities, and safeguard the nation’s ecological integrity.
Artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things, blockchain, cloud computing, and big data analytics, as well as innovative materials and technologies, have been highlighted as core technologies for the national 4IR agenda./n
