my.IT|Vol 1|No 1|2018|Gobind Singh

VOICE OF THE MALAYSIAN ICT INDUSTRY

my VOL. 1 • NO. 1 • 2018 RM10

INTERNET FOR ALL

Access to Internet is Part of Human Rights Gobind Singh Deo, Minister of Communications and Multimedia Malaysia

E-commerce A Must for Business Attracting More Investment for Start Ups and Scale Ups

E N T E R P R I S E R E S O U R C E P L A N N I N G

P R O D U C T L I F E C Y C L E M A N A G E M E N T

M O B I L I T Y

M A N U F A C T U R I N G O P E R A T I O N M A N A G E M E N T

C L O U D

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C O N S U L T A N C Y

R E G I O N A L I M P L E M E N TAT I O N , L O C A L S U P P O R T #HSS1Team1Inspiration

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From the Chairman’s Desk

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It is my pleasure to introduce you to this first issue of MY.IT.; Voice of the IT Industry, a publication by PIKOM. Why start a publication such as this, you may ask? PIKOM is no stranger to publications. Our research reports are produced yearly and have long been authoritative papers recognised by the industry. MY.IT is a natural extension in our tradition of publishing. However, this publication aims to do more. Unlike research reports which are circulated within our membership and the industry, this publication will also be available to the public through sale at news stands. MY.IT aims to be a bridge between the consumers and the industry. It will be a place for thought leadership, sharing of industry views, while at the same time allowing the public to know more about PIKOM and the activities of our various chapters.

MY.IT will also serve as a new communication channel for PIKOM. It will strengthen our position as the voice of the ICT industry. PIKOM members are estimated to contribute more than 80% of the revenue to the Malaysian ICT industry, which in turn contributes 19.9% to the GDP. As such, PIKOM is the de-facto association to advise the Government on what is needed for the IT industry and the Digital Economy.

We are very happy that the Minister of Communications and Multimedia, YB Gobind Singh Deo, graciously consented to be interviewed for the cover of MY.IT despite his very hectic schedule. The fact that he made time for our publication shows that the Ministry and the Government acknowledges PIKOM’s important role as the voice of the ICT industry.

PIKOM has organised various events such as the recently concluded #MYCYBERSALE 2018 which directly benefits our members and the general public. In this issue we highlight what our five Chapters have been doing. As you go through the pages of this publication, you will see that these Chapters are at the forefront of their respective sectors with innovative and exciting activities. These activities should attract you to join PIKOM if you are not already a member.

One of my objectives is to increase value to PIKOM members. I see the various PIKOM Chapters as driving the value to our members through programs that are dedicated to provide thought leadership and improve the business of our members. With the growth of the internet, online platforms such as Facebook and WhatsApp have created a tremendous amount of value over the last

decade or so. Associations such as PIKOM are actually the pioneer platforms that have over the years created a tremendous amount of value for their members on a non-commercial basis. PIKOM expects the value that Associations can provide to further continue to grow with the online to offline transition. Purely online platforms cannot provide to the industry players what platforms like PIKOM can do in bringing together industry players and helping them become a collective voice to all stakeholders including the government and the general public.

An association offers its members experiences such as interaction with other members, networking as well as avenues to contribute back through CSR activities.

The experience gained by joining an association and being an active member is tremendous. Associations also provides its member with a place to voice concerns or give suggestions to stakeholders on how to improve the the industry.

I hope all of you enjoy reading this publication and finding out more about PIKOM, the IT industry and the Digital Economy!

“FOR THE INDUSTRY, BY THE INDUSTRY”

Ganesh Kumar Bangah, Chairman, PIKOM.

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my CONTENTS

Vol 1 No. 1 3

Chairman’s Message COVER STORY Internet for All Access to Internet is part of Human Rights, says Gobind Singh Deo, Minister of Communications and Multimedia Malaysia.

Cover Gobind Singh Deo, Minister of Communications and Multimedia Malaysia Photography Song@PictureThis Studio

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E-commerce, A Must for Business

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#MYCYBERSALE Returns Bigger and Better!

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Attracting More Investment for Start Ups and Scale Ups

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SEA Tech Ventures Corporation: Taking ASEAN Tech Companies Global

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Keeping Data Safe

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Making Malaysia a Global Hub for Outsourcing

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PIKOM CIO Chapter

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Pikom Set to Fete Members at Glitzy Dinner

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Malaysian Retail Embraces the Digital Economy

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•••••

COVER STORY

INTERNET FOR ALL!

Gobind Singh Deo, Minister of Communications and Multimedia Malaysia, firmly believes that the Internet is part of basic human rights and is pivotal to survival in today’s world. That’s why he wants telcos to increase the speed of broadband and reduce the price so that it’s accessible to everyone. In an exclusive interview, he also talks about the changes his ministry intends to make to RTM and Pos Malaysia so that they continue to be relevant to Malaysians.

• By Sharmila Valli Narayanan • Photos By Song@PictureThis Studio

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t has been more than three months since Gobind Singh Deo took office as a minister under the Pakatan Harapan Government which won the historic 14th Malaysian General Elections. It is a huge change for him from being in the Opposition to being in the ruling Government. “Being in the Opposition was different — we need to know how to ask questions.

Now that we are the Government, we need to know how to answer the questions!” he quips.

He continues: “I needed to find out the actual extent of the Communications and Multimedia Ministry (CMM), understand the various agencies that come under the purview of the ministry, study the issues that those agencies have to deal with and figure out the direction these agencies need to take. I split the goals of the ministry under short term, midterm and throughout the five year tenure of the Government.”

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BETTER BROADBAND SERVICES One of the targets close to his heart is to lower broadband prices with higher speed and improved service.

By the end of 2018, fixed broadband prices are expected to be lower by at least 25 per cent. Malaysia has a lot of catching up to do even among other countries when it comes to broadband connection. According to the World Bank Malaysia Economic Monitor June 2018 report, the level of digital adoption by businesses in Malaysia “is average for a lower middle-income economy”. It states that only “62 per cent of businesses are connected to the Internet, 46 per cent have access to fixed broadband services, and 18 percent have some form of web presence”.

The report says that high-speed broadband access rates are much higher in Malaysia. It ranks Malaysia 74 out of 167 countries for fixed broadband services, and 64 out of 118 for fibre broadband services,

•••••

COVER STORY

behind neighbouring Vietnam and countries with similar levels of economic development, such as Mexico and Turkey.

Gobind is passionate about making high-speed broadband accessible to everyone in Malaysia because he strongly believes that “Internet access is a basic human right and pivotal for survival today”.

His ministry is in the process of making amendments to the law to have the Internet classified as one of the essential utilities such as water and electricity. “There will come a time in the near future when access to Internet is as vital as access to water and electricity. In the future when developers build houses, they’ll have to ensure there’s access to the Internet,” he states.

There have been some criticisms from telcos who complain that lower broadband prices will cut into their profits. Share prices of most telcos went down when the Government announced its intention of doubling the broadband speed while reducing the cost by half. Gobind doesn’t buy this argument. “If the price of broadband is reduced and a better service package is offered, the company will increase its subscriber base as more people can now afford broadband. This in turn will increase the company’s profitability. The reduction of price does not impact the profits.”

PROTECTING DATA Cybersecurity is also an issue of critical importance to the ministry especially since last year Malaysia suffered the biggest data breach where over 42 million users personal information was compromised.

Gobind hopes to get the final report on the incident by the end of the year before deciding what measures can be put into place to ensure that such incidents do not happen again.

Recently, the CMM took over

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CyberSecurity Malaysia, an agency which was previously under the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MOSTI). “This is an agency which we can use to develop mechanisms by which we can enhance security measures to ensure that data is always protected,” says Gobind.

Since data breaches are becoming more common and the perpetuators are generally from another country, during a meeting in Singapore where ministers discussed data breaches, Gobind raised the need for countries in the region to consider having cross border legislation to help one another during a cyber attack.

He hopes to discuss this further with other regional ministers the next time they meet. “But before the regional cooperation can materialise, it’s important to put in place regulations and enforcement agencies that are equipped and able to deal with threats fast and effectively and take it to a different level where we can engage with countries around the region first and then beyond. In years to come there will be more cyber threats that will be from across borders,” he says.

A MAKEOVER FOR RTM Next on his agenda is the revival of RTM. This venerable broadcasting institution is more than 70 years old.

At one time, almost every household in the country was tuned to its radio and television stations. But over the last two decades, it lost its hold on the Malaysian radio and TV audience. “RTM has somewhat been left behind with the advent of pay TV service providers and private radio stations,” acknowledges Gobind. In an effort to revive it to become one of the premier broadcasting stations in the region, Gobind and his team have held many discussions and met many people to get their views and feedback.

One of the ministry’s objectives is to try to increase the viewership and generate interest in the station’s television and radio divisions. The decision to telecast many of the matches live on RTM television during the recent World Cup that was held in Russia was a huge success as it increased the viewership tremendously. RTM was able to reach a much wider audience, especially in the rural areas.

“Not everyone has access or can afford Astro. RTM is free and it has a reach no one has. We need to build on this momentum created by the World Cup to capture more viewers,” he adds. Some of the changes the ministry has instituted are giving the newsroom a facelift and bringing changes to its content.

He has urged RTM to project a new, more aggressive image to increase its viewership figures within six months.

He has also pushed ahead with the Malaysia First Policy which focuses on local content, particularly among the Chinese and Indian communities. For example, he launched ISAI.MY on RTM Minnal FM, the Tamil radio station. This programme is the new avatar of the very popular Kalapadam, a talent show, which first started broadcasting in 1957. Programmes such as these are part of the Government’s push to grow the local music scene.

Another of RTM’s jewels that has been revived is the RTM Orchestra.

“I was very impressed when I heard them play. I received a lot of positive feedback from the public for reviving it. Many of our best musicians had their start here. It is the oldest orchestra in the country,” says Gobind with pride. In order to showcase its talent and to get as many Malaysians to see them perform live, the RTM Orchestra will perform on a monthly basis in different states with the support of the ministry.

MAKING POS MALAYSIA RELEVANT Pos Malaysia has also caught the attention of his ministry. Once an indispensable part of Malaysian life, these days it has become less important as people prefer to pay their bills online and send emails instead of cards and letters. However, the rise of e-commerce has revised the fortunes of Pos Malaysia; it has become the choice of many e-commerce companies to deliver their goods to their customers.

Today, Pos Malaysia has one of the largest courier services in the country.

And with a presence all over the country, even in the most rural and isolated areas, it has a reach that cannot be matched by other courier companies.

The ministry is working with Pos Malaysia on how to leverage its nationwide presence. Among the ideas that are being considered is to change these post offices into a onestop centre that provides various services at less cost and with a very wide reach. There are also other suggestions that are being looked at, such as turning these post offices into WiFi hot spots, thereby bringing Internet to the furthest corner of Malaysia.

LIFE AS A MINISTER On another note, he shares some insight on his role as a minister.

“Being a minister is not easy as the hours are long and the days are packed. No one day is alike.

Sometimes I start off the day outside the office by attending events. Some days I spend most of the time visiting various agencies within the ministry and when Parliament is in session you’re expected to attend the session either to answer questions or you might be required to vote. This usually takes up the whole day.”

The evenings, he says, are mostly spent meeting various people.

“Sometimes I have to watch movies,

documentaries made by our local filmmakers who invite me to attend the premiers, etc, or attend shows like classical dance performances or performances by an orchestra. I can’t attend all but I do try to attend to show the ministry’s support for these events. Weekends, of course, are when you attend to the needs of the people in your constituency.

“Then, there’s travel. Since becoming a minister I’ve been travelling a lot overseas to international conferences where I am invited or expected to speak. In the next two months I’ll be going to Japan, Korea, Dubai, Cannes and Bali.

“In short, it has been very hectic and tough. But we have to get the job done and I am pleased we have achieved some of our targets,” adds Gobind.

“

INTERNET ACCESS IS A BASIC HUMAN RIGHT AND PIVOTAL FOR SURVIVAL TODAY. IN THE FUTURE WHEN DEVELOPERS BUILD HOUSES, THEY’LL HAVE TO ENSURE THERE’S ACCESS TO THE INTERNET.

”

•••••

PICOM CHAPTERS FEATURE / E-COMMERCE

E-COMMERCE, A MUST FOR BUSINESS It is the platform for them to grow their market as retail growth has stagnated while online growth is getting bigger.

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-commerce is the future and there is no escaping it. “All new growth in retail is coming from online sales. Online sales are getting bigger and bigger,” explains Ganesh Kumar Bangah, PIKOM Chairman and the Chair of the E-commerce Malaysia Chapter. He says that in the developed countries about 20% of the retail sales is via e-commerce whereas in Malaysia it is at 5% and growing. “If you have a physical store, you need to go online,” he advises.

Does this mean that in the future e-commerce will ‘kill off’ physical stores? Ganesh does not think so.

“The online and off line (physical stores) shopping are different experiences. There will always be people who like to walk into a store,

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touch and feel the merchandise and have face-to-face interaction with sales people. Physical stores or offline shopping is an experience that involves the emotions of the buyer. Shopping malls will have to change their concept and adapt to become more of an experimental and emotional experience for the shoppers. And anyway, even in physical stores, e-commerce makes its presence felt as the transaction will be done using mobile wallet and various other cloud services will be used to keep track of sales item, stocks, etc,” explains Ganesh.

When compared to developed countries, the e-commerce penetration in Malaysia is still small, but Ganesh sees the Malaysian market as ripe for growth. However,

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FIVE YEARS AGO THE E-COMMERCE PENETRATION IN MALAYSIA WAS ONLY 2%; TODAY IT IS 5%. WHAT IS MORE IMPORTANT IS THE UPWARD TREND. MORE MALAYSIANS ARE BUYING ONLINE.

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- Ganesh Kumar Bangah, PIKOM Chairman and the Chair of the E-commerce Malaysia Chapter

do not expect Malaysia to turn into an e-commerce hub overnight. “It will take some time,” he cautions.

“Five years ago the e-commerce penetration in Malaysia was only 2%; today it is 5%. What is more important is the upward trend. More Malaysians are buying online.” He cites some figures to support his claim: The e-commerce industry in Malaysia is expected to grow by 12.1%, from RM74.6 billion in 2016 to an estimated RM83.6 billion in 2017.

One of the most important online sales events, which has been held every year for the past four years, is the #MYCYBERSALE. This year was the fifth #MYCYBERSALE which was held from 3rd to 7th September 2018. This year also marks the second time that PIKOM is organising the online sale event with MDEC (Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation). The huge success of the #MYCYBERSALE last year was the biggest achievement of the E-commerce Chapter, says Ganesh.

One of the biggest challenges faced by e-sellers in Malaysia is ‘demand generation’. #MYCYBERSALE created that demand and one of the effects of this was that even after the sale ended, consumers who bought from the e-sellers, kept going back to them. #MYCYBERSALE was started by MDEC who, over the years, helped to grow the business generated by the event. In 2014, the business generated was RM67 million Gross Merchandise Volume (GMV). In 2015 it was RM117.7 million and in 2016 it reached RM211 million GMV. When MDEC announced it wanted a private sector as a partner promoter, PIKOM took up the offer.

Ganesh explains the reason why PIKOM wanted to be the driver behind #MYCYBERSALE. “One of the reasons we got involved was because we are vendor neutral. The event has to be organised by someone for everybody — in other words, it should

be handled by an organisation that represents the industry and, of course, who better than us?”

PIKOM also promised MDEC that it would increase the number of merchants participating in the cybersale and organise the event at half the cost. Both the promises were kept. Figures from the #MYCYBERSALE 2017 showed the number of merchants had increased from 600 in 2016 to 1,007 with sales reaching RM311 million GMV. This was a 50% increase over the year before.

Of this, RM39 million was from export derived from shoppers in 26 countries. Forty per cent of the event was funded by the private sector.

Target for #MYCYBERSALE 2018 is RM370 million, with RM50 million as export revenue and targeting 1,200 merchants. This year’s theme is ‘Driving growth through omni channel commerce’. #MYCYBERSALE 2018 aims to encourage micro-enterprises to adopt an omni channel commerce for their businesses to reduce dependency on social media private messaging sales.

The e-commerce penetration among SMEs in Malaysia is slower than the consumer penetration, discloses Ganesh. He feels that one way the SMEs can increase their

sales online is by investing more in online. Just having their products on Facebook and Instagram is not enough, he warns. “How do you grow your business online? There is a methodology in increasing one’s online business. This is not the same as digital marketing, and there are many in this country. We need more growth marketers who specialise in getting new consumers.”

Another thing which Malaysian e-commerce needs more of is local enablers such as logistic providers and payment gateways. “Most of the marketplaces are controlled by foreign players such as Lazada and Shopee. We need parts of the ecosystem that we own and control,” says Ganesh.

One way to solve these problems would be for the Government to step in to help with capacity building in e-commerce by providing more education and training in this sector. This will enable businesses, especially the SMEs, to increase their depth of knowledge in e-commerce, suggests Ganesh.

“E-commerce to retail is Industry 4.0 to manufacturing. You cannot run away from it. We must be prepared for the day when almost everything involves e-commerce,” says Ganesh.

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FEATURE / #MYCYBERSALE

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#MYCYBERSALE RETURNS BIGGER AND BETTER! The fifth #MYCYBERSALE was held from 3rd to 7th September 2018 and was a smashing success.

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ver since PIKOM took over the #MYCYBERSALE from 2017, it has become bigger and better. This year’s sale, which is Malaysia’s biggest ever online sale, was held from 3rd to 7th September 2018 and saw merchants offer a variety of products and services from over 20 categories to consumers hungry for a bargain.

Organised by PIKOM and supported by MDEC, this year’s sale is expected to reach over 13 million shoppers who will generate sales north of RM370 million in GMV (total revenue generated during the five-day sale period before making an allowance for discounts). This year’s export revenue is expected to reach RM50 million, easily surpassing last year’s figure of RM39 million. The number of exporters too has increased to 600 from 497 last year who are expected to ship to 30 countries such as China and United States as well as those in Southeast Asia, Europe and the Middle East.

This year’s theme is ‘Driving Growth Through Omni Channel Commerce’. #MYCYBERSALE is held to encourage and help SMEs and micro-enterprises to be a part of the thriving e-commerce segment in Malaysia and in the process, help turn Malaysia into a regional e-commerce powerhouse.

This year’s theme also encourages these businesses to reduce their sales dependency on social media (such as Facebook and Instagram) and messaging services such as WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger and switch to an omni channel approach to boost sales.

Malaysia has become one of the fastest growing emerging e-commerce markets in the region. Events such as PIKOM’s #MYCYBERSALE will further enhance and consolidate Malaysia’s position as an e-commerce hub for this region.

The Press Conference held on August 28th in Kuala Lumpur for #MYCYBERSALE 2018 was attended by special guests such as Ministry of Communications and Multimedia deputy secretary in the Information Technology Division Ahmad Norhad Zahari, MDEC Board of Directors member Datuk Mathialakan Chelliah, PIKOM Chairman Ganesh Kumar Bangah and PIKOM Deputy Chairman Danny Lee. #MYCYBERSALE 2018 also drew strong support from more than 100 leading corporate and retail brands in the private sector which included Pinnacle Partners Commerce.Asia, Fusionex, Mastercard and Lazada; Premier Partners Mobiversa, SAP Malaysia, Shippop, Shopback, CapFIX and y5zone Malaysia; Gold Partners iPay88 and Malaysian Productivity Corporation (MPC) and Silver Partners

SF Express, eGHL, GDex, LWE, World First and City-Link Express.

During the event, Ganesh announced that from this year onwards the #MYCYBERSALE event will be held annually between the National Day and Malaysia Day. This is to allow consumers to take advantage of the attractive deals

and rock-bottom prices offered by the merchants during this period. He also said that he is confident that #MYCYBERSALE is on the road to become a fully self-sustainable event as more than 62 per cent of the event this year was funded by the private sector compared with 40 per cent last year.

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FROM THIS YEAR ONWARDS THE #MYCYBERSALE EVENT WILL BE HELD ANNUALLY BETWEEN THE NATIONAL DAY AND MALAYSIA DAY. - Ganesh Kumar Bangah, PIKOM Chairman and the Chair of the E-commerce Malaysia Chapter

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FEATURE / VENTURE INVESTMENT

ATTRACTING MORE INVESTMENT FOR START UPs AND SCALE UPs PIKOM Venture Investment Chapter was started earlier this year to attract more foreign investment know-how into Malaysia’s ICT industry by targeting new ICT companies in order to help them achieve high growth.

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n line with this, it has successfully kicked off the SEA Dragon Venture Platform which aims to connect scale up companies in Malaysia and Southeast Asia with global venture capitalists, corporate investors and high net-worth individuals.

In Malaysia, it is fairly easy for a good start up company to get funding as there are many Government agencies that offer grants and funds. The problem starts when these companies, after a few years of operation, need extra funds to invest in their product or services to make them commercially viable. These companies, now known as scale ups, face problems in getting funds as there is no funding ecosystem in place for them to get the financial help.

This is where PIKOM Venture Investment Chapter (VIC) comes in. It was set up with the express purpose of bringing in foreign investments in the form of venture capitalists, high net-worth individuals and corporate investors to help start up and scale up companies get the financial help that they need, to mentor these entrepreneurs and to help them with global market expansion.

Although the PIKOM VIC is only a few months old, it made a roaring start as its inaugural programme, SEA Dragon Venture Platform, was a huge success and garnered lots of media coverage. SEA Dragon, organised in collaboration with Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC), will be

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an annual sustainable Venture Pitch Platform for Southeast Asian scaleups for investments, growth and global market expansion. The amount of funding to be raised will depend on the companies and can range from US$1 million to US$25 million (RM97.48 million).

PIKOM VIC Chair C.S. Chin was very pleased with the response to the inaugural SEA Dragon; it attracted more than 170 companies from Malaysia and Southeast Asia. This number was whittled down to 32 companies in the final list where they were given the opportunity to pitch their ideas to the investors.

Chin was very proud that 60% of the companies that made the final list were from Malaysia. “I was very happy to see so many Malaysian companies coming up with good ideas. I noticed that their biggest

drawback was they did not know how to pitch their ideas effectively.

One of the biggest takeaways for them from this programme was how to get across their business ideas effectively and quickly. Just a few days with us and you could see the huge improvement in them. Our young people are willing to learn and have good ideas.”

Pitching a company’s idea to venture capitalists is a “science”.

These companies have only three to five minutes to get the attention of these venture capitalists in order to get them interested in investing in their scale ups. If they mess up this opportunity, they might not get a chance again as it is very difficult to get these people again.

Realising the importance of the pitching session, the organisers of the SEA Dragon brought in three coaches

from the Silicon Valley in the United States to train the participants for four days on how to pitch their ideas to a gathering of over 30 venture capitalists and high value individuals from the United States and China.

The start up companies have not been forgotten either. “PIKOM SEA Dragon Venture Platform is the first in a series of events that will take place this year. We will also be announcing an event exclusively for start ups to be held at the end of the year,” said Chin.

Sean Seah, Deputy Chair of PIKOM VIC, explained the emphasis on scale ups for the SEA Dragon.

“Scale up companies are the future of the country. If we don’t take care of them, they will go to other countries like Singapore. That’s what happened to Malaysian companies like Grab. It is now forever linked to Singapore although they started in Malaysia.”

He also explained why SEA Dragon placed a lot of emphasis on venture capitalists from North Asia, particularly China. “China has a funding ecosystem and is attracting investors from Silicon Valley, who at one time only invested in start ups and scale ups from Silicon Valley.

There are also many high value asset individuals in China who are investing not only in their own country, but also looking to invest elsewhere too.”

With much attention focussed on China, Southeast Asia, regarded as the hottest and fastest region in the world in terms of e-commerce, is being left out. “That’s why we mooted the idea of SEA Dragon. We want to show the world that we, not only Malaysia but the whole region, have what it takes to be an ICT powerhouse. We want Malaysia to be the gateway for scale up ICT companies in Southeast Asia. In this way, we can attract the attention of venture capitalists, most of whom are present in Singapore and looking for companies to invest there while Malaysia is often overlooked.”

I was very happy to see so many Malaysian companies coming up with good ideas. I noticed that their biggest drawback was they did not know how to pitch their ideas effectively.

– C.S. Chin, Chair of PIKOM VIC.

Scale up companies are the future of the country. If we don’t take care of them, they will go to other countries like Singapore.

– Sean Seah, Deputy Chair of PIKOM VIC.

While scale ups face challenges in Malaysia as far as start ups are concerned, Malaysia is still a good country for them to start their business, said Seah and Chin.

“Malaysia is a good environment and test base for start ups,” said Chin. “Some of the things working in our favour are our good Internet connection, which is among the top 50 in the world, and our proficiency in the English language.

“However, one of our major setbacks is the lack of a good funding ecosystem and a support system for such companies. In Korea and Taiwan for instance, there are programmes to mentor and groom young start up entrepreneurs, rental free factories for them to operate from until they start earning revenue, etc. There’s nothing like that here. Maybe it’s something that the Government needs to look into.”

Seah concurred with Chin.

“Malaysia is still one of the best places in Asia in terms of starting a company. That’s why, after working in China and Hong Kong, I decided to come back to Malaysia to start a company. But I noticed that in the last 18 months there has been some slowdown. Government funds for start ups are dwindling. Malaysia used to be a haven for startups, especially when Tun Mahathir was the Prime Minister and he was selling the idea of the Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC) to the world in the 1990s. You could try out new ideas, start a company with just RM2, etc.

“However, after Tun Mahathir retired in 2003, the developments were not in line with the vision of MSC that he had. We are in danger of losing the advantages that Malaysia had to other countries in Southeast Asia. Now that Tun Mahathir is back in the driver’s seat, we hope we will once again become the hub not only for startups but also for ICT in the region.”

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•••••

FEATURE / VENTURE CAPITAL

TAKING ASEAN TECH COMPANIES GLOBAL SeaTech Ventures Corporation aims to become ASEAN’s biggest Corporate Venture Capital (CVC) by helping tech companies and startups in the region grow exponentially by providing them skills and capital so that they can shine on the global stage.

I

Chin Chee Seong (C.S. Chin) and Sean Seah.

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n the early 20th century the mass adoption of technology such as electricity, telephone, radio, television, modern transportation such as cars, aeroplane, etc, completely changed people’s lives forever. Just when people thought if it could get any better, it did! Internet and the World Wide Web ushered in the era of the Information Age and the world has never been the same since.

The Information Age has changed people’s lives from all over the globe dramatically. The smart phone and the Internet have changed people even in the most rural areas. Google, Facebook, WhatsApp, Twitter and Instagram have changed how people communicate, acquire knowledge and do business. In Asia, especially companies like Alibaba, Lazada and Grab have had tremendous impact on people’s life.

Which company will bring a new technology or business idea that will take the world by storm? So far, many of the game changing technology companies have come from the Silicon Valley in the United States.

But studies show that the future of the Internet is in Asia, especially in the ASEAN region. ASEAN has 600 million people of whom 60% are of ages 15-34. By 2030 it will become the fourth largest economy. By the end of 2019, SEA will become

“

SEATECH VENTURES IS ASEAN’S FIRST VENTURE CAPITAL CORPORATION WHICH PROVIDES A UNIQUE PLATFORM THAT POOLS TOGETHER TALENTS THAT ARE EQUIPPED WITH TECHNICAL, MARKET DEVELOPMENT AND FINANCIAL EXPERTISE.

a bigger Internet market than the United States with 460 million Internet users.

NURTURING ASEAN TECH COMPANIES Experts predict that the most transformative tech companies in the future will come from Asia and especially ASEAN. Unfortunately, most of the tech companies and startups in ASEAN have difficulties in not knowing how to get more funding or lack business know how on how to expand their business within the region and globally.

Good news for such companies because now there’s SEATech Ventures, (also known as Southeast Asia Technology Ventures), ASEAN’s first venture capital corporation that serves as a unique platform that pools together talents that are equipped with technical, market development and financial expertise.

SEATech helps tech entrepreneurs, emerging growth companies and startups in the ASEAN region monetise, capitalise and securitise their value on a global scale. The company will “incubate, nurture, accelerate, support, grow and expand” these companies so that they will spearhead the technology development in the ASEAN region, resulting in an eco-system where they become more structured and

”

matured to unlock the potential of this region and turn this into one of the world’s top tech super hubs. SEATech aims to become one of the most influential venture capital companies in transforming, securitising and internationalising ASEAN technology companies at a local level and abroad.

VISION AND MISSION Among the objectives of the company is to spearhead, promote and encourage the development of resources, professional skills and programs in technology companies within the Southeast Asia community. It will also serve as a platform for technology industry players and users to meet, network, learn and share ideas so that the industry can be brought to the next level. The company will also foster high standards of conduct, service and performance throughout the ASEAN technology industry.

MEMBER BENEFITS Companies that join the SEATech platform by investing in the company via membership subscriptions enjoy many benefits such as mentorship through its corporate leadership programmes and its abundance of resources.

Other benefits include invitations to social and networking events that

bring together thought leaders of entrepreneurship around the world; opportunity to attend seminars, workshops, promotional events that showcase industry expertise during key cross countries SEA Tech events and receive discounted corporate services for company structure set up and IPO listing fee. Members are also introduced to matchmaking opportunities with the region’s most innovative startups.

SEATech is planning to list on Nasdaq in the near future in order to maximise its shareholder values. SEATech offers an excellent opportunity for tech companies in the region to have a presence in Nasdaq via its platform.

SEATech is led by Chin Chee Seong, Chief Executive Officer, Sean Seah, Chief Investment Officer and Tan Hock Chye, Chief Financial Officer. The team has a very strong ICT background and are also members of PIKOM, where they hold important positions in the committees. PIKOM is a member of ASOCIO (Asian-Oceanian Computing Industry Organisation) and also a member of the World Information Technology and Service Alliance (WITSA), a consortium of 73 ICT industry associations from economies around the world.

WITSA members represent over 90% of the world IT market.

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•••••

PIKOM CHAPTERS

KEEPING DATA SAFE PIKOM Cybersecurity Chapter was launched in October 2017 in the wake of unprecedented cyber attacks around the world.

T

he years 2016 and 2017 were notable for the many headline grabbing cyber security breaches such as the hacking of Yahoo’s nearly 3 billion accounts, the Democratic National Convention and the US Department of Justice. Hackers also stole the data of 57 million Uber users and the company had to pay the hackers US$100, 00 to cover up the story and to prevent the hackers from leaking the data to others.

“Cyber attacks nearly doubled in these two years, making 2017 the worst year ever for cyber attacks and data breaches,” says Alex Liew, the Chair for the Cybersecurity Chapter.

“PIKOM felt that cyber security is an important subject that needs to be addressed. Therefore, the Cybersecurity Chapter was formed and launched in Oct 2017.”

The committee members of this Chapter are from various areas of cyber security with a good mix from technology vendors, distribution, consulting, systems integration, cybersecurity services, Telco and

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managed security services. “Our advisors are from Cybersecurity Malaysia, MDEC and advisors from PIKOM,” adds Liew.

Although this Chapter is not yet a year-old, it already has a few programmes up and running. One of them is the collaboration with PIKOM CIO Chapter on Malaysia Threat Intelligence Exchange (MATRIX) platform, says Liew. “MATRIX is a multi industry collaborative security intelligence platform. Our

collaboration partners are ISC2 and ISACA. The Chapter is also working on content to launch the Directors-Cyber Awareness Program (D-CAP). D-CAP is a cyber awareness programme targeting board of directors with the objective to instil more awareness to them.”

When advanced countries like the United States fall prey to cyber criminals and hackers, how does Malaysia fare when it comes to cybersecurity? Malaysia fares quite

well actually, says Liew. “Malaysia is ranked third among 193 countries in terms of its commitment to cybersecurity, according to the Global Cybersecurity Index (GCI) 2017 behind Singapore and United States. One of the excellent commitments towards ensuring safe cyberspace was Malaysia’s creation of Information Security Certification Body (ISCB). So, the Malaysian Government is aware of the importance of cybersecurity.”

The Malaysian Government has taken steps to protect itself from cybersecurity breach and to combat hacker and other cybercriminals.

It has created the National Cyber Security Policy (NCSP) and has established Cyber Security Malaysia to implement NCSP. The NCSP has several objectives such as: 1) To address the risk to Critical National Information Infrastructure (CNII) 2) To ensure that the CNII is protected to a level that commensurate with the risks to it 3) To develop a comprehensive programme and a series of frameworks to in the event of a cyber attack.

The CNII sectors and eight key NCSP Thrusts have also been identified.

The bigger question is not whether Malaysia is aware of cybersecurity, but whether ordinary Malaysians are taking the appropriate steps to address the importance of cybersecurity, says Liew. “Many companies are investing in cybersecurity technologies.

However, it is not just about technology. It is also people and processes. Many companies have a lackadaisical attitude when it comes to cybersecurity. They think they have done enough by investing in cybersecurity technologies, but cybersecurity is also about people and processes. Many of the chance configurations and patch

on technology invested were not updated, therefore making them vulnerable to attack.”

A cyber attack in the country can be very costly. Liew points out that a recent Microsoft and Frost & Sullivan study revealed that if Malaysia is hit by a major cyber attack, the economic loss would amount to a staggering USD 12.2 billion!

“Recent cyber attacks are highly motivated by financial gains through data leakage. Data leakage can be caused from internal or external breaches. In most cases, people are the weakest link. Lots of personal information is being shared over social media. Cyber criminals use social engineering techniques to gain this information and use them to commit offences such as fraud and impersonation. Cyber criminals are also coming in from the back door where passwords management and identity management are weak. In today’s world, password should not be taken lightly. Unfortunately, this is not the case with many people.

Some have never changed their passwords even after 10 years!

In some companies, the IT administration is not very efficient.

So, when an employee leaves an organisation, his or her email access is not cut off immediately. They still have access to sensitive company information. These are a few examples of loopholes that need to be fixed,” says Liew.

Liew emphasized that to be effective in protecting a company from cyber attacks, three things need to be in place: people, process and technology. “Today, there are many best practices that we can obtain, great technologies that we can subscribe to. However, it is people, who are the most important element in battling cyber attacks. And it is this, unfortunately, that Malaysia lacks.

We do not have enough talent in cybersecurity.”

In order to rectify this shortage of

Tips To Strengthen The Security Of Private Devices In this age of hackers and cyber criminals, even our personal devices such as laptops and smart phones are not safe from being hacked. Here are a few tips from Liew on how to secure our private devices: • Do not share too much personal information over social media or publicly.

• Beware of suspicious emails, web links and phone calls • Make sure software and apps are regularly updated. Use only original software and not pirated.

• Do a background check on an application that is downloaded to your device to make sure that the app is not a vulnerable app to viruses, etc.

• Practice good password management.

• Install anti-virus and do updates often.

• Use public Wi-Fi wisely. Do not perform sensitive transactions like banking, credit card payment, etc on public Wi-Fi as it can be easily hacked by a third party.

talent, the Chapter has been actively speaking to academic institutions about the shortage of cyber talents and encourages them to offer cyber security courses. “We are also very active in advisory roles in some academic institutions for creation of cybersecurity courses and syllabus structure,” adds Liew.

The Chapter, under the aegis of PIKOM, is working with the Malaysian Government to strengthen the cyber framework of the nation. “We are on the board of advisors and a panel of various information security initiatives set up by the Government.

Our key objective is to share the voice of cybersecurity from the industry standpoint.”

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•••••

FEATURE / OUTSOURCING MALAYSIA

MAKING MALAYSIA A GLOBAL HUB FOR OUTSOURCING Outsourcing Malaysia plays an important role in developing the nation’s outsourcing and business services industry.

O

utsourcing Malaysia (OM) was the first chapter of PIKOM and was formed in 2006 with the aim to promote and develop Malaysia’s outsourcing services industry as a global hub for high-value outsourcing.

“OM plays a pivotal role in shaping and developing the country’s outsourcing and business services industry,” says the Chairman for OM, Cheah Kok Hoong. “Our vision to make Malaysia as the global business services hub,” he adds. The founding of the Chapter was supported by the founding partner, Malaysia Digital Economic Corporation (MDEC) and spearheaded by a group of prominent industry leaders from the global services industry.

The Chapter has also formed strategic partnerships with i2M Ventures Sdn Bhd, CCAM and other agencies to further strengthen this industry. The focus of OM is on enabling both buyers and providers to work together on addressing service needs within the aegis of global best practices and competencies.

Cheah Kok Hoong

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The Chapter has 130 members and its role as the voice of the country’s outsourcing services industry is recognised by the Government.

When outsourcing first made its debut in Malaysia, it was mainly concentrated in the low-value outsourcing industry such transaction processing, payroll processing, supply chain management and customer contact centre. Over the years the industry has evolved from lowvalue to mid-value and high-value outsourcing industries like Banking, Finance, Services and Insurance (BFSI), market research, legal services and engineering R&D and product design. “We are encouraging our members to move up the value chain to high-value outsourcing industries because that’s what will push us to become a developed country with high income,” explains Cheah.

He cited the Government’s efforts to promote itself as a regional aerospace hub as an example of attracting high-value outsourcing industries in Malaysia. “The aerospace industry would involves a

lot of work in engineering and R&D, which means we will need more engineers and PhD post grads to do research.” Even at the technical level, the industry would require highly skilled technicians for maintenance and repair work. At present, there are more than 500 Global Business Services (GBS) companies in Malaysia, including those from MNCs and local players, informs Justin.

OM remains the most active Chapter in PIKOM. And it is always looking at ways to increase its membership. It pays to be a member of OM. One of the benefits is that it provides market access to its members. OM is the single point of contact for global buyers to reach out to Malaysian outsourcing providers. For outsourcing providers, especially local players, OM gives them global visibility and exposure and adoption of global best practices and how to enhance their competitiveness. “We work closely with the Government and MDEC which is promoting Malaysia as a GBS hub. We bring members to

meet buyers overseas and arrange a business to business (B2B) session for them,” explains Cheah.

OM also produces invaluable reports that serve its members.

So far OM has produced four research reports which provide invaluable knowledge and insights into the local outsourcing industry for members. The earlier reports focussed on the status of the vendor (sellers). The latest report, Global Business Services Outlook The Buyer’s Perspective May 2015 is different as it focuses on what the buyers are looking for. The comprehensive report took nearly a year to complete, highlights the opportunities available to Malaysian service providers in the industry.

According to this report, Banking, Financial Services and Insurance (BFSI) continues to be the biggest contributor to the GBS market.

This is followed by manufacturing, telecom and retail. The next growth phase in GBS will be in sectors such as government, healthcare, tourism and hospitality. OM’s research also indicates that mobility, cloud computing, big data analytics and convergence will be the four key trends that drive market demand and push the service providers to innovate and create competitive differentiation. It is hoped that this report will enable local players to formulate strategies that will enable overall growth of their market.

“We hope to see local outsourcing

players who will be able to compete globally. When you think of a Malaysian success story, the one that comes to mind is Scicom, which is a legend among local outsourcing companies. It is listed on the main board of Bursa Malaysia and some of its customers are Fortune 500 companies,” says Cheah.

Having the right talent is one of the most important aspects to grow the local outsourcing industry. OM is also involved in talent development initiatives. In line with this, OM, in partnership with Talent Corp and MDEC, trained and placed 267 final year undergraduates. The students were put through an intensive 12 day training programme. There were then placed on a six month internship with some of the member companies. “What we did was to reskill them to prepare them for the GBS industry,” says Cheah. “Some of them have already been offered employment.”

OM also offers forums and conferences or what it terms as “Thought Leadership”. A major event OM holds annually is the Smart Sourcing Summit which will be held in October this year. This is the eighth year that this conference is being held. It is a full day event with the conference during the day and the dinner and awards ceremony held at night to recognise industry players. Besides this, OM also works with many public and private sectors to collaborate with other initiatives.

Global Business Services Outlook reports that the GBS market in 2014 was USD670 billion. Asia Pacific got the lion’s share of the business with USD240 billion or 36% of the business. Out of this figure Malaysia’s share was only USD4 billion or 1.7%, which is less than Singapore’s USD8 billion (3.3%) and Thailand’s USD7 billion (2.9%). The report states that, “India, South Korea, Malaysia and Singapore are expected to be the fastest growing markets in the next five years, with ‘Business Services’ demand growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 10-15%.”

In A.T. Kearney’s 2011 Global Services Location Index, Malaysia was ranked third after India and China in terms of attractiveness for shared services and outsourcing, with Asian countries dominating the top 10 positions on the index.

All this is good news for the future of the outsourcing industry in the country. But Cheah says more must be done to ensure that Malaysia remains attractive to foreign and local investors. “We must continue to harness our talent pool, improve our infrastructure, especially in ensuring we have faster and cheaper broadband and have a friendly FDI and most importantly domestic direct investment (DDI) policy. Right now there are not enough incentives for DDIs to enable them to become big players in the market. I hope the new Government looks into this.”

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•••••

FEATURE / CIO

PIKOM CIO CHAPTER What started out as a chapter with just eight members has now grown to more than 100 CIOs who represent the major corporations. PCC has big plans afoot to grow even bigger.

P

IKOM started out as a vendors’ association, explains PCC Chair Chia Nam Liang, who is the CIO of Hap Seng Consolidated Bhd. “It was Andy Tan, the first Chair of PCC, who took the initiative to get a group of us CIOs to form the pro tem committee of what would eventually become the PIKOM CIO Chapter. PIKOM and we realised that we needed a Chapter that would cater to the corporate end users of the ICT products because we are the biggest buyers of the vendors’ products.

“We wanted a platform where CIOs can come together to exchange ideas, share knowledge, be the voice for IT users and organise educational forums and tours. When the chapter was first formed in 2009, there were just eight of us. I am proud to say that today we number more than 100!”

Chia pays tribute to past PCC Chairs and exco members who have done an excellent job in growing the Chapter and in making it one of the most active Chapters in PIKOM. “Today PCC is not only recognised by PIKOM vendors, but also non-PIKOM vendors and they want to actively engage with us,” he says.

To become a member of PCC, the

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CIO has to come from a company that fits certain criteria. One of it is that the annual budget for IT in the company should be a minimum of RM10 million annually.

This figure will mean that many SMEs which normally spend minimal amounts of money on IT, will never be able to join PCC. If Malaysia is to become a developed nation, it is imperative that its SMEs embrace the IT revolution. If not, they will become obsolete once Industry 4.0 arrives in full force.

Realising this, the present committee of the PCC is readying itself for the day when it will admit SMEs IT managers as its members.

Chia explains the rationale behind this move. “Now that we are of a certain size and are a vibrant and growing Chapter, we feel it’s time to include the SMEs.” But this is not going to happen

overnight as the Chapter is still fine tuning the details on the types of SMEs that it will accept as members.

“We can’t open the membership to all SMEs immediately — it’ll be like opening a flood gate. We first want to encourage the top tier SMEs to join us. Eventually we will slowly extend the membership to others,” says Chia. “We’re fine tuning the details and taking steps towards this new goal. It’s a work in progress and it’ll take time.”

PCC organises many events for its members throughout the year. Two of its most popular events are the PCC Annual Education Trip and its oneday Closed Door seminar for CIOs only. The PCC Annual Education trip is one of the major events of the year which involves taking a delegation of about 25 CIOs to a country with highly developed ICT and showing them the latest technologies

“

TODAY PCC IS NOT ONLY RECOGNISED BY PIKOM VENDORS, BUT ALSO NONPIKOM VENDORS AND THEY WANT TO ACTIVELY ENGAGE WITH US.

”

available in that country. This year the visit was to Ireland. Past visits have included countries such as China, Japan, the United States and other European countries.

The Closed Door seminar for the CIOs is another event that members looked forward to. “This event is strictly for CIOs only, with no vendors. A topic will be picked and the fellow CIO(s) who is selected will talk freely and share openly the positive and negative aspect of a certain product or system. This is a wonderful avenue for members to ask questions, share experiences and exchange ideas,” says Chia.

This concept of sharing information is one of the many wonderful things about being a member in this chapter, says Chia. And best of all, members are very open to sharing. He gives an example. “We have a CIO-only chat room. Whenever anyone poses a question regarding a problem or wants advice, etc, there is always someone willing to share his/her experience. I received many tips, advice and recommendation on products or ideas. I am happy that our members are willing to share their experiences so openly.”

Chia hopes to see PCC grow and become an important platform that

will connect the corporate consumers (buyers) to the vendors (suppliers).

“If anyone wants to see the industry improve, they should think of PCC and engage with us because we are the ones who know what corporate businesses need in terms of ICT. I look forward to the day when even the Government will engage with PCC directly if they need feedback about the needs of the ICT industry from the corporate companies’ perspective.”

Among the things that corporate businesses need right now is high speed broadband that is affordable.

The internet, says Chia, has become an essential utility, like water and electricity. “The cost of high speed broadband for businesses in Malaysia is more expensive than other countries in the region. If we have high speed broadband that is affordable, the corporate companies and consumers can do a lot of things! Businesses can thrive; innovations and creativity in IT will increase. I am happy our new Minister of Communications and Multimedia, Gobind Singh Deo, is aiming to reduce the price

for high speed broadband for the consumers. I hope he also reduces it for businesses as well.”

The other item on the wish list of the ICT industry is a revamp of the higher education system so that universities churn out IT graduates with the right skill sets. “There are many jobs available in the ICT industry but the problem we face is in finding the right people,” says Chia. “For example, we need good programmers in various areas that are in demand now. It’s difficult to find such skills. If Malaysia is serious about becoming an ICT hub, it must improve the quality of its tertiary education.”

As the language of ICT is primarily English, proficiency in it is a must in this industry as many of the technical innovations in the ICT come from English-speaking countries.

Malaysian graduates are sadly lacking in this as well.

Finally, Chia hopes the Government will provide incentives to corporate companies, so that these companies can invest more in IT that will in turn benefit the ICT industry as a whole.

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•••••

FEATURE / ICT AWARD NIGHT

PIKOM SET TO FETE MEMBERS AT GLITZY DINNER The PIKOM ICT Awards Night and Gala Dinner celebrates its outstanding members.

T

he much-anticipated PIKOM ICT Awards Night and Gala Dinner returns on 21 September 2018 at The Majestic Hotel KL. PIKOM expects to host more than 1,000 of its members and guests in its black tie event, an annual tradition that dates back to 1987 when the association was formed.

As the sun sets, guests can look forward to good food, awardwinning entertainment and attractive lucky draw prizes. “The PIKOM ICT Awards Night and Gala Dinner is the largest event for PIKOM. You could also say it is the largest event for the ICT industry in the country.

It is the highlight of the year in the PIKOM calendar. Every year there is

24 MY•IT

a different theme to the dinner and this year the theme is ‘We Sing, We Dance and We Celebrate’. We have added some new programmes which I hope everyone will enjoy,” says Sean Seah, the organising chairman for the dinner. “It’s not just a gathering of who’s who of the ICT industry. It is an event which recognises the best of the best from the ICT industry.”

Ganesh Kumar Bangah, who was elected as PIKOM Chairman last November, will give his welcome address followed by a speech from the night’s guests of honour.

The highlight of the gala dinner is the presentation of the PIKOM Leadership Awards and the MSC APICTA (The Asia Pacific ICT Alliance) Awards to the deserving recipients.

The awards recognise the work and special contributions to the industry, locally and internationally.

The award categories for the PIKOM ICT Leadership Awards are CIO Excellence Award, Member Excellence Award, ICT Organisation Excellence Award, Technopreneur Excellence Award and ICT Personality of the Year.

The MSC Malaysia APICTA Awards has gone Digital this year with a new Judging Systems which replaces the 16 years old judging system. The new Judging Systems encompass newer technologies such as Artificial Intelligence, IOT, Big Data and so on to give every ICT organisation a chance to participate in the respective categories and

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•••••

FEATURE / ICT AWARD NIGHT

also to showcase the technology deployed. Meanwhile, also extending the opportunity to include the efforts from a wider scope to harness ICT in schools as well with the Best of Primary Student Project, Best of Secondary, Student Project and Best of Tertiary Project.

As far as opportunities to win and with the new judging framework being in place, every organisation has a chance to win at least 3 awards if they qualify and meet the respective criteria. This is important because all 17 Economies this year will adopt the new judging system moving forward to align.

Just as in the previous years, winners of the MSC Malaysia APICTA Awards stand a chance to compete

in the prestigious annual Asia-Pacific ICT Alliance Awards, dubbed the “Oscars of the Global ICT industry”, which will be held in Guangzhou, China, from 9-13 October 2018 (see page 26). “The winners will be prepped by PIKOM so that they can be at their best when they represent Malaysia at the world stage,” adds Sean.

Entry for the international APICTA Awards is open to winners of their member-economy’s award programs.

Entrants are nominated to the awards program by their economy coordinator.

The APICTA Awards has a set of selection criteria. These criteria are provided as a guide to help potential nominees prepare their presentation,

APICTA Awards Celebrates The Best In The Region The annual event dubbed the “Oscars of the global ICT industry” attracts the best talents in technology development from each of the representative APICTA member economies. This year, the 18th APICTA awards will be held from October 9-13 in Guangzhou, China.

Stan Singh-Jit. The Asia Pacific ICT Alliance (APICTA) Awards is an international awards program organised by APICTA to honour outstanding products, software solutions, information technology and start-ups of APICTA members.

The awards program is open to the winners of similar awards programs in each member economy.

The APICTA member-economies include Australia, Bangladesh, Brunei, China, Chinese Taipei, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Macao, Malaysia, Myanmar, Pakistan, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Vietnam.

Companies are nominated by their economy and travel to the awards where they present their solution to a panel of judges. Judges come from every member economy. This ensures a fair and equitable judging process.

Last year the award ceremony was held in Dhaka, Bangladesh, where 15 economies competed. Hong Kong emerged as the biggest winner, capturing four Champion and five Merit awards. Sri Lanka won three

26 MY•IT

highlighting the inspirational and innovative as aspects of their nomination. The judges will take the selection criteria into account when reviewing nominations.

The APICTA Awards are judged over a two to three day period. At the end of the judging a gala dinner is held where the winners and merit recipients of the APICTA Awards are announced.

It goes without saying that both the PIKOM ICT Leadership Awards and MSC Malaysia APICTA Awards shape the careers of tomorrow’s ICT leaders and create future stars of the industry. As such the ICT fraternity looks forward to the PIKOM annual dinner as they celebrate the achievements of their peers, catch up, network and have fun.

Champion and six Merit awards. Thailand and China bagged two Champion awards respectively. Malaysia, Australia, Chinese Taipei, Singapore, Pakistan and Bangladesh won one Champion award respectively.

Malaysia emerged Champion in the Industry Application category for a project called NavWiz by DF Automation and Robotics Sdn Bhd. Perhaps the best part of the program is APICTAN, or Asia Pacific ICT Alliance Network. Champion winners as well as merit awards recipients of the APICTA Awards Program together with the current and past executive committee, organisers, judges and participants automatically become members of APICTAN. Through this network a mutual and ongoing cooperation can be established in the region and among respective economies.

Meanwhile, in March this year, PIKOM announced that Malaysia will helm the APICTA following the appointment of its councillor Stan Singh-Jit as its new chairman. He takes over from Sri Lanka’s Dr Dileepa De Silva, who served as APICTA chairman from 2014. Stan was his deputy chairman.

PIKOM chairman Ganesh Kumar Bangah said he felt proud and honoured that Malaysia is the new head of APICTA. “I would like to congratulate PIKOM councillor Stan on his appointment as the new APICTA chairman. I am very happy to see that PIKOM continues to play an active role in international affairs. Stan’s new position follows a string of Malaysian ICT leaders who have played pivotal roles on the global ICT platforms such as Asocio and Witsa,” said Ganesh.

FEATURE / E-COMMERCE

•••••

MALAYSIAN RETAIL EMBRACES THE DIGITAL ECONOMY Malaysian Retail Chain Association (MRCA) President Datuk Seri Garry Chua, sees a promising future in the digitalisation of the retail and franchise industry.

M

alaysia Retail Chain Association (MRCA), founded in 1992, is an association for chain store retailers and franchisors determined to enhance the retail and franchise environment in Malaysia and abroad. Today the MRCA has grown to become an influential entity comprising more than 450 leading retail chain stores and franchisors, including established brands such as Poh Kong, Secret Recipe, Focus Point, Rotol Food Chain Group, Senheng, 7-Eleven, OSIM, Bonia, Naza Motor, Mydin, Bentley Music Group and many more.

President of MRCA, Datuk Seri Garry Chua says that the members of MRCA know the importance of the digital economy and of having an online presence. “We have worked closely with MDEC on the digitisation of retail. But that was under the previous Government. We will reconnect with MDEC again under this new Government to find out which direction it intends to go with e-commerce and how we in the retail sector can best take advantage of it.”

He is pleased to note that there are already members of MRCA who have entered into e-commerce in full force and are reaping the benefits.

He cites Padini as a good example.

“Padini has recorded good sales ever since it began its online store. Focus Point and Bagman are examples

of other brands whose sales have improved ever since their made their online debut,” informs Datuk Seri Garry.

MRCA also actively engages major e-commerce and technological players like Lazada, Alibaba, WeChat, Fusionex and invites them to give talks to their members about the latest development in the digitalisation of retail. “In November, we’re having a major retail conference that focuses on digital marketing and the future of retail in a digital world. We had a similar conference last year and it was a huge success. We expect this year’s conference to be very well attended as well,” says Datuk Seri Garry.

Many of the members of MRCA have physical stores in the shopping malls. With the rise of e-commerce, will shopping malls be relevant at all in the future? Datuk Seri Garry believes that in the future, malls will adapt to the changes brought on by the digitisation of businesses. “Our members are aware that the direction of the future malls will be very different from the present. To attract people to come out to the malls, the malls will have to be interactive with lots of dynamics happening in the malls. They will have different concepts to attract people and must market themselves to a niche audience: whether it’s family, for young people, for the working

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IN THE FUTURE, MALLS WILL ADAPT TO THE CHANGES BROUGHT ON BY THE DIGITIZATION OF BUSINESSES.

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professionals, etc. Malls will have to create lots of activities to get people to come out to the malls, spend time there and most importantly, shop there as well,” he says.

Whatever changes e-commerce and digitalisation will bring to retail in future, MRCA is confident it will be able to face up to the challenge and changes.

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