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Prospering with IT: The Malaysian Example (Part I) Prospering with IT: The Malaysian Example (Part II) By Jimson Olufuye, fncs, PhD
he recently concluded 16th World Congress on Information Technology (WCIT) with the theme The Global Impact of Information and Communications Technologies: Enabled Businesses, Empowered Societies, Enriched Economies held at the prestigious Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre (KLCC), Malaysia from the 18-22 May, 2008 has shown without any doubt that national prosperity in the 21st Century can only be enabled by Information Technology and the depth of its penetration in the nation’s economic, education, social, financial, and political life determines how that nation lives, studies, works and plays in this Century.
WCIT is organized by the World Information Technology and Services Alliance (WITSA), the body charged by the UN to organize the event also called the Olympics of IT. The event holds biennially in cities around the World. This year’s edition is by far the biggest with more than i) 90 countries in attendance, ii) 100 speakers, iii) 3,300 delegates, iii) 50,000 participants. The 2010 edition comes up in Amsterdam, the Netherlands from May 24 to 28, 2010.
Playing host to WCIT2008, Malaysia show cased how IT has dramatically enabled her businesses, empowered her society and enriched her economy; turning it around and launching it into one of the newly industrialized nations in the world.
The statistic is impressive, number three in the world as most attractive location for Shared Services and Outsourcing (SSO) after India and China according to global management consultants at A. T. Kearney based on availability of skilled manpower, business environment as well as strong financial structures.
How did Malaysia make it? What did they do to arrive at this enviable position judging by the fact that Nigeria and Malaysia were at par at Nigeria’s independence in 1960. What really made the difference? The singular reason is good leadership! Malaysia under the visionary leadership of former Prime Minister Anwal Ibrahim witnessed the transformation of Malaysia from an agrarian economy to an industrial economy powered by IT and now to a knowledge economy (k-economy) under the leadership of the current Prime Minister Dato’ Seri Abdullah Hj. Ahmad Badawi. Malaysia’s new vision 2020 is to be the major IT hub for the entire South-East Asia. This is no rhetoric because the government launched its national broadband initiative for every home to have broadband access by the year 2010 at the Congress.
While transiting from an agrarian to industrial economy, the leadership of Malaysia ensured that the nation’s agricultural potentials were not neglected. For example, despite the discovery of oil on its offshore territory, Malaysia continued to improve on its cultivation of palm trees and rubber which seeds the nation obtained from Nigeria in 1970. As a result of policy consistency, Malaysia is now number one producer of palm oil and rubber. It has even gone ahead to refine palm oil to petrol to boost its domestic supply.
With a strategic thinker as a leader, Malaysia set forth in 1995 to use IT creatively for development and as such announced plans to establish the Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC) in a new and intelligent city called Cyberjaya (Jaya meaning success). So, in 1996 the nation launched MSC Malaysia with Multimedia Development Corporation (MDeC) setup to oversee its implementation. In the same year, the Cabinet directed the implementation of key infrastructural requirements of MSC Malaysia, including the backbone network, the telecommunications network, cyberlaws, the bill of Guarantees, and the hiring of knowledge workers. It also established the framework through the Ministry of Education for the establishment of the Multimedia University. International Advisory Panel (IAP) for MSC Malaysia was established. By 1997, MSC Malaysia had signed crucial investment agreements with leading IT czars and companies in US and Japan. The Digital Signature Act 1997, Copyright Act 1987 (Amendments, 1997), Computer Crimes Act 1997 and Telemedicine Act were passed into law by Parliament. MDeC did not stop there; it launched the Concept Request For Proposals (CRFPs) for flagship applications, namely Electronic Government, Multi-Purpose Card, Smart Schools and Telemedicine all in wide use today in Malaysia. It also launched its Research and Development Grant Scheme.
Malaysia officially launched its first intelligent city called Cyberjaya in 1999. By the year 2000, MDeC had launched several e-citizen services (viz utilities, National Digital library and the World 1st Multipurpose Smart Card - MyKad) delivering online real-time services to its 26million citizens. While focusing on expanding the establishment of similar Corridors around the country, a massive nationwide programme to educate the masses was launched in 2004 and it culminated in the conferment of MSC Malaysia Cybercity status on the state of Penang, (one of the 13 states in the country). Having recorded robust development in all ramifications and due to increased demand for workforce, MDeC organized MSC Malaysia ICT Recruitment Fair in 2005 at its new cluster government complex called Putrajaya. More than 11,000 job seekers attended, and more than 7,000 on-the-spot interviews were conducted to fill the about 3,500 jobs offered by 70 MSC Malaysia Status (MMS) companies. (MMS companies are companies certified to operate in the cyber cities having shown proof of concept for innovation, research and development.)
With a long term plan commencing in 2002 to host the 16th World Congress on Information Technology, Malaysia under focused leadership and incorporating all the stakeholders in both public and particularly the private sector is thrusting ahead for number one spot in SSO Index. The election of a Malaysian Dan E. Khoo (CEO of WCIT2008) as the new Chairman of the World Information Technology and Services Alliance (WITSA) at the end of the Congress is a measure of the new status of Malaysia and the confidence reposed on her by the World IT Community.
What lessons can Nigeria garner from the foregoing? What were the highlights of the WCIT2008?
Prospering with IT: The Malaysian Example (Part II) By Jimson Olufuye, fncs, PhD
t appears the vast majority of our leaders in government since independence do not understand what governance is all about or the job of government. Simply put, the job of any government is to do everything possible to improve the living standard of the people. In order words, the job of government is to create a paradise on earth for the citizens. But what do we see, vast majority of those in government are interested first in improving their living standard to the detriment of the citizens and that is why a handful of citizens are richer than the nation itself. Many do not understand that when they seek the welfare of others first, they are actually seeking their own welfare with peace of mind, good name, honour and all round prosperity.
It is already proven that oil alone does not guarantee improved living standard for citizens rather individual citizens’ empowerment with every citizen having capacities to contribute his/her own quota to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) while earning good living is the way to go. Our Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is a paltry US$191.4b (2007 est.) and per capital [as a measure of Purchasing Power Parity (PPP)] a mere US$1,364 compared to Malaysia with GDP US$313.8b (2007 est.) and per capital US$14,400 (2007 est). It is interesting to note that when Malaysia launched in 1990 its vision 2020 to be a developed country by the year 2020; its GDP was US$61.6b and it was projected that by 2020 it should be US$300b. But as we can see that projection was surpassed in 2007, 13 years before target!
From the expositions at the 16th WCIT2008, it became clearer that Malaysia harnessed all the resources at its disposal to catapult itself to enviable position in all development indices. Compared to Nigeria’s 160th position in (UN) Human Development Index 2007, Malaysia is number 60. In e-readiness, Nigeria is number 60 while Malaysia is number 37. Just as we have all the conditions to be the number one destination for outsourcing (good time zone, English as official language and well spoken, large human capital etc) we’re not on the SSO radar while Malaysia on the other hand with unfavourable time zone +8GMT and less human capital endowment is number three destination for Shared Services and Outsourcing (SSO).
So, what lessons do we have to learn to accelerate national development in this sector? 1. It is important to note that the number one critical success factor is good leadership at the highest level. Throughout the Congress, the Malaysian Prime Minister Ahmad Badawi and the Minister of Science & Technology responsible for IT Datuk Dr Maximus Ongkili were conspicuously present, learning, contributing, debating, charting and providing requisite insights and direction. That this is still our number one problem in Nigeria is evident in the absence of top level government attendance at the Congress. The problem will continue to slow down national development in this sector even though a number of states are taking the initiatives to launch IT & Science Parks in their states. The implication of this is that there would be haphazard and unfocused national IT development. Halfhearted approach to IT Development MUST change! In retrospect, ITAN (then CoVAN) held the first national workshop on IT Policy in 1999 and submitted a draft IT Policy to the then Minister of Science and Technology, Chief Ebitimi Banigo. A national IT Policy was approved by the Federal Executive Council in 2001 to take Nigeria to high IT heights by 2005. Not only that the ground did not shift by the end of 2005, new policy to update the obsolete edition is still in the works three years after. A supposed breath of accomplishment was breathed in May last year when the NITDA Act was passed into law six years after the process began in 2001. What a total ignorance of the dynamics of IT (anchored by Moore’s Law which stipulates the doubling of computing innovation, every two years). While we were still struggling to pass one IT Bill in six years other IT conscious nations have tripled their IT throughput. There is currently no URGENCY in the top leadership to use IT for citizens’ prosperity. Leadership attitude MUST change right at the Federal level. Even if the president is not so keen about IT (or ICT) (judging by his seven point agenda and his recent media chat) at least with due respect His Excellency should have sound IT Adviser/s that would drive the system. There is nothing wrong if the President develops other priority list (apart from the seven point agenda) in which a statement like Achieving IT driven economy is number 1. Simply put, an IT awakening in the leadership is a necessity for our nation to gallop forward. 2. There must be proper co-ordination of IT development efforts: All over our landscape, we see lots and lots of IT projects at the bottom of the tree. It appears we are using the bottom up approach without a rudder as against a top-down approach for accelerated result. Malaysia and most nations have used top-down approach to develop their IT capabilities. The government at all levels including the National and state assemblies must take the lead to effectively stimulate private enterprises which is the crux of real development. At this point, I don’t know any assembly (Federal or State) with any IT Committee to supervise IT budgeting and program supervision!? NITDA was setup by law to stimulate this but there is no commensurate NASS committee to back it up and besides there are too many gaps that keep one wondering what is happening even in the agency. A reshufflement in NITDA for better result is now IMPERATIVE! Moreover, the decision of the government to establish the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology is a good idea (ITAN and NCS have canvassed this position all along) to address effectively the importance of IT in national development and for better and streamlined implementation and use of resources in all ramifications. I would like to add that round peg in round hole principle must reign in the staffing because a good tree can only bring forth good fruits… Multimedia Development Corporation (MDeC) of Malaysia with highly qualified and experienced personnel are at the driving seat of the IT revolution and Knowledge Society in Malaysia and the results are there as proofs. 3. There must be a strategic masterplan and clear roadmap for IT development: It is a well known fact that the absence of a plan is automatic failure. A strategic masterplan with timeline is the way to go. Malaysia in 1996 set a target for IT to drive its economy by 2006 and by 2006 that vision was attained. While that was to expire in 2006, a new strategic IT masterplan was ready and launched for Malaysia to be a developed nation driven by knowledge by 2010. There are other masterplans galvanizing the economy namely Knowledge-based economy masterplan, nanotechnology masterplan, financial sector masterplan etc. 4. The necessary political will to implement must be there. When a plan is conceived and articulated on a paper, it then must be implemented. Without implementation and proper implementation for that matter; there would be no performance. The absence of the political will and resolve to implement and implement plans well is our Achilles heel. The strong political will in Malaysia to implement, implement and implement is a lesson most desirable.
5.
Acute funding of the sector must change: Its written that
whatever you sow you will reap,… if you sow sparingly, you will reap
sparingly as well. By comparative analysis, our total IT spending is
infinitesimal (less than .01%; at least 5% spending on IT is a place to
start for Nigeria to be taken seriously with an additional 20% yearly
increase) compared to the heights we desire to attain. Nations spend big to
earn big. Clearly, one of the difficulties of NITDA is not unconnected to
this fact. Though the provision of 1% of pre-tax earnings of companies with
income in excess of 6. The energy problem must be solved: Not for a microsecond did electricity supply blink throughout the Congress. Therefore, solving the energy shame, already in the 7point agenda of the present administration is an absolute necessity for any catch-up plan to work. A constant and stable electricity supply would accelerate productivity and catapult our poor GDP overnight by more than 50%. 7. The slow pace of IT in Education at all levels deserves serious attention. The solution to low standard of education is the infusion of IT in education for learning, studying, creating and innovating etc. As I said earlier, Malaysia launched at the WCIT2008 its broadband initiative for homes, schools, businesses etc to have broadband access by the year 2010. On-line, real time quality education for all powered by IT for the next generation workforce is a major thrust of this initiative. It is important to note that it is the Malaysian government that took the lead in tandem with the private sector. I hereby call on the Federal Ministry of Education (FME) to act fast to streamline all education intervention initiatives for optimal impact. In Malaysia, it’s even the private sector that is playing the catch-up. The government is actually blazing the trail. A non-performing Director or Permanent Secretary or Minister for that matter should be replaced without much ado. This business of development demands unprecedented URGENCY! The era of reactivity should be over; the time has come for supposed stakedrivers to be unyieldingly proactive in all sphere of the polity. 8. Consistent Policy somersault should stop. Instead of consistent policy somersault why can’t policies instead be refined and streamlined for continuity? In 1990 when Malaysia came out with the Vision 2020 to be a developed nation, they didn’t know that they would attain the status before 2010. The secret was consistent policy enhancement for accelerated growth and development. The culture of jettisoning whatever the predecessor was doing is inimical to development. It is a primitive ideology that only shows lack of patriotism, strategy and vision. 9. There should be a high degree of openness. The difficulty in getting the Freedom of Information (FoI) Bill passed is a confirmation of our rejection of openness and transparency at the highest level. No wonder we see lackluster approach to IT development. Without openness there cannot be ownership! Take for example, the issue of adequate electricity generation and sabotage. Public briefing on that sector should be more than a presidential media chat. Public ownership demands that opportunity should be made available for the public to be a part of the solution and sustainability processes. 10. The Federal Character principle needs refinement. It’s important also that whatever would promote unity in diversity should be employed but competence should not be sacrificed on the altar of Federal Character. Marrying unity in diversity with competence is one of Malaysia’s measures of development and they have largely achieved that. Incompetence is synonymous with backwardness! Therefore, engagement of proven competencies is a sine qua non for desired accelerated development.
Conclusion There are still so many lessons to be learnt that it is only a book that can do justice to it. Nevertheless, it suffices to stop at this point hoping the few lines above would be digested and reflected upon by stakedrivers for change for real development. Our pace must triple as Prof. Chukwuma Soludo CBN Governor said for Vision 2020 to be a reality. I also would add that without IT there will be no pace at all! |
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