KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (July 1): According to Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Economy), Malaysia’s National Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) Policy is predicted to boost productivity by 30% across all sectors by 2030, compared to 2020 levels. Furthermore, with the execution of the National 4IR Policy, Malaysia aims to be among the top 20 countries in the Global Innovation Index by 2030.
According to Mustapa, the policy would strengthen the country’s capacity and capability to embrace the 4IR in order to boost competitiveness and long-term growth.
“The National 4IR Policy was developed with a human-centered approach in mind, allowing the rakyat to benefit from technology while protecting their humanity, social, and cultural heritage values. This is in accordance with the Shared Prosperity Vision 2030’s goal of achieving the rakyat’s well-being through inclusive, balanced, and sustainable economic growth.
He remarked today at the unveiling of the National 4IR Policy, “The policy is also to promote socio-economic gains and ensure that the hazards associated with the 4IR can be reduced.”
The Economic Planning Unit (EPU) of the Prime Minister’s Department, in collaboration with the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MOSTI), launched the National 4IR Policy this morning, with the goal of driving concerted efforts in transforming the country’s socio-economic development through the use of advanced 4IR technology.
4IR refers to the application of emerging technology to disrupt industries. Emerging technology is defined as new technology that fuses the physical, digital, and biological worlds, affecting all disciplines, industries, and the economy.
In his address, Mustapa stated that the National 4IR Policy will complement the Prime Minister’s Malaysia Digital Economy Blueprint (MyDIGITAL), which was released in February 2021.
He explained that the policy has four main thrusts for society, business, and government: equipping people with 4IR-related knowledge and skillsets, building a nation of connectivity through the development of digital infrastructure, developing regulations that are appropriate for future needs to adapt to technological changes, and speeding up innovation and adoption of 4IR.
“These four policy thrusts will assist ministries and agencies in developing 4IR-related programs, and they will be executed using 16 strategies, 32 national initiatives, and 60 sectoral initiatives,” Mustapa stated.
Meanwhile, Khairy Jamaluddin, Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation, said the government has identified five core technologies to build local capabilities, including artificial intelligence (AI), the Internet of Things (IoT), blockchain and distributed ledger technology (DLT), cloud computing, and big data analytics (BDA).
“All five of these basic technologies have had an impact on our daily lives and the way we do things, as we can see today. All of these technologies have aided individuals in terms of planning, implementation, and decision-making, whether through big data analytics, AI, cloud computing, blockchain, or IoT.
“As a result, everyone, including the business community, government sectors, and the Rakyat, must play a role in ensuring that Malaysia remains competitive and able to profit from the development of 4IR technologies,” Khairy said during his address./n
