January-2007
We are pleased to present a select collection of ICT4D projects in Malaysia. Readers who are aware of other projects making significant contributions may please share the details with the i4d readership.
e-Bario
• Location- Bario, Sarawak, Launched- May 1999
• Agencies involved: UNIMAS, STIC, Telekom Malaysia, IDRC, STIC
• e-Bario project is aimed at bringing ICT access to remote communities in Bario. This project has received the 2004 e-Asia award (by AFACT) in the digital divide category.
• Promoted by: Dr. Khairuddin Abdul Hamid, UNIMAS –Khair@fit.unimas. my
• Website: www.unimas.my/ebario/Main_index.htm
e-Homemakers
• Location- Kuala Lumpur (project management base), Launched- December 2001
• Agencies involved: DC one technology Sdn Bhd
• It is aimed at bringing ICT access to women and encouraging them to start home-based businesses. It was selected the runner up project in the Gender ICT awards in the 2005 AWID forum.
• Promoted by: Chong Sheau Ching, Corpcom Services Sdn Bhd.
• Website: www.ehomemakers.net/en/index.php
e-Pek@k
• Location- Klang Valley (Kuala Lumpur and Selangor), Launched- November 2000
• Agencies involved: Ministry of Edu-cation, Ministry of Health, Ministry of National Unity and social development.
• It is aimed at providing a visual medium for deaf people to access information, job services and peer support. It received a special award (2001) from the Malaysian chapter of the United Nations (PBB Malaysia) in recognition of their work in helping this special needs group.
• Promoted by Encik Mohammad Sazali Shaari, Malaysian Federation of deaf.
• Website: www.epekak.net.my/
e-Warga
• Location- Kuala Lumpur (project management base), Launched- June 2003
• Agencies involved: Bioenergy Sdn Bhd, DBKL
• This project is aimed at improving the socio-economic conditions of Malaysia's urban poor by providing them ICT access in local resource centers.
• Website: www.medic.usm.my/e-warga/
e-Farmasi
• Location- Selangor, Launched- 2001
• Agencies involved: Universiti Kebang-saan, Ministry of health, Malaysian Pharmaceutical society
• This project aimed at providing online information on medicines and a self-care guide about minor ailments.
• Promoted by Ganeshan Shamugam, GS Vision Sdn Bhd
• Website: www.efarmasi.com.my/
AkisNet
• Location- Pokok Sena, Pelet, Penaga, Lahar Bubu, Launched- 2001
• Agencies involved: Ministry of agriculture, LFAs, Marditech Corpo-ration Sdn Bhd, Industrial and Financial Systems AB
• It is aimed at creating an e-Marketplace to assist local farming projects for developing cost-efficient solutions.
• Promoted by TMM Biotech Sdn Bhd
• Website: www.akisnet.com.my/
CikguNet
• Location- Kuala Lumpur, Launched- 2000
• Agencies involved: MIMOS Bhd, NUTP, USM, New Strait times etc.
• It is Malaysia's first education portal aimed at promoting e-Learning by making teaching resources, services, assistance available online.
• Website: www.cikgu.net.my/malay/
e-Learning in Islamic schools
• Location- Kuala Lumpur, Gombak, Launched- 2001
• Agencies involved: AAEN Sdn Bhd, Pusat Pendidikan Al-Amin
• It aimed at designing web-based courseware for Islamic subjects and developing ICT literacy training for students, parents and teachers.
• Promoted by Prof. Salwani Mohd Daud salwani@utmkl.utm.my
• Website: www.al-amin.edu.my/
TaniNet
• Location-Selangor, Launched- 1999
• Agencies involved: Bioenergy Sdn Bhd, LFA, Universiti Malaya, FOA
• It is aimed at creating a communication tool for farmers and their families and to share information on agriculture and biotechnology.
• Promoted by Dato' Dr Salleh Mohd Noor
• Website: www.taninet.com.my
Majuikan FAMA online
• Location- Kuala Lumpur, Launched- 2000
• Agencies involved: LKIM, FAMA
• It is aimed at facilitating online auctioning for fish, vegetables, poultry etc to shorten the delivery chain. The target was local farmers and fishermen.
• Promoted by Dr Nik Rushdi Nik Hassan, Psarborong Online Sdn Bhd
• Website: agrolink.moa.my/moa/
MyBiz
• Location- Kuala Lumpur, Launched- 90s
• Agencies involved: SMIDEC, BCB bank, MIMOS, Citibank, AT Kearney, Microsoft, Ariba
• It is aimed at helping small and medium organizations to migrate their business online to form an e-Community.
• Promoted by Mr Cheong Yuk Wai, MyBiz international Ltd.
• Website: www.mybiz.net/index.htm
SM@SY
• Location- Kuala Selangor, Launched- 1999
• Agencies involved: Aincom computer centre, KEMAS
• It is aimed at bringing ICT to a remote village- Kampung Raja Musa, interactive touch screen kiosks were provided.
• Promoted by Dr Lin Mui Kiang, Worldview foundation Malaysia
• Website: www.wview.com.my/smasy
e-Pondok
• Location- Kelantan, Launched- N/A
• Agencies involved: PPPB
• It aimed at promoting ICT awareness to the members of Pondok community (informal centres of Islamic learning).
• Promoted by Serambi Saujana Sdn Bhd
• Website: www.epondok.com.my/epondok
e-Kuantan.net
• Location- Pahang, Launched- 2002
• Agencies involved: MIMOS Bhd, The Media Shoppe
• It aimed at addressing low literacy levels and promote ICT awareness and e-Commerce.
• Promoted by SMK Tanah Putih, Pahang , contact Cikgu See Koon Suan seeks@pd.jaring.my
• Website- Not available (Under construction)
Nutriweb Malaysia
• Location- Kuala Lumpur, Launched- 1999
• Agencies involved: MIMCED Sdn Bhd, Versacomm Sdn Bhd
• It aimed to establish an e-community for people with a shared interest in nutrition, and to encourage healthy eating habits.
• Promoted by Nutrition society of Malaysia
• Website: www.nutriweb.org.my
Highland Business Community Station (Hibiscus)
• Location- Sabah, Launched- 2002
• Agency- IDS, Sabah
• It is aimed as a pilot project to assist farming communities in Sabah through use of ICT, by developing an e-Platform for business.
• Website: www.newsabahtimes.com.my/June2003/18.6/local4.htm
Community Communications Development Programme (CCDP)
• Location- Sarawak, Sabah, Kedah, Perak, Perlis, Pahang, Malacca, Launched-2002
• Agency- MCMC, Maxis communications, Time dotcom, state EPUs
• It aimed at introducing and encouraging growth in the usage of communications and multimedia based services to remote communities.
• Website: www.mcmc.gov.my/mcmc/newsdesk/press/ViewPressRelease. asp?cc=7768757&prrid=971111
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
I4D: ICT Policy - Perspectives and challenges
The first phase of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) held in Geneva in December 2003 made a commitment to ‘build a people-centred, inclusive and development-oriented information society, where everyone can create, access, utilise and share information and knowledge’. For making this a reality, a transparent and non-discriminatory ICT policy is necessary.
During the last 20 years, Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) have provided a wealth of new technological opportunities, with the rapid deployment of both the Internet and cellular telephony leading the way. These technologies have invaded every country that is willing to accept them. The most important differentiating factor now is policy. Policy makes the fundamental difference regarding how countries are able to take advantage of the technological opportunities available to them and exploit them for good. Countries that have progressive policies are seeing these technologies spread quickly. Conversely, countries that have not been able to formulate an integrated ICT policy yet have been plagued by slow growth of technology and the consequent lessening of support for economic and social development.
ICTs are now also an important enabling tools to support the process of development. The full potential of ICT can be realised, and it can be used to maximise the social, economic and environmental benefits of the society only if the ICT policies are effective. The policies should contain a particular approach as to how ICT for development will be achieved and ensure the collaboration of stakeholders in government, the private sector, civil society and international organisations. ICT policies and regulations are also needed to foster an environment, conducive to build an ICT infrastructure as well as leveraging ICTs for knowledge creation and dissemination.
Actors in ICT policy
Government
The government plays the most important role in the formulation of ICT policy, and thus, it only decides how countries are able to take advantage of the technical opportunities available to them and exploit them for good. In the Republic of Korea, for example, the government took the lead in promoting development of the Internet. In Egypt, the dynamic Ministry of Communications and Information Technology played a strong role in catalysing telecommunications development in the country.
Most of the high income countries have one integrated ICT master plan, where telecommunications and IT policies form part of one development plan. The old sectoral framework for policy-making based on broadcasting, telecommunications and information technology has now been shifted to a new layered framework where all the tools of ICT work cohesively, focusing on social and economic development. A central body may be needed to coordinate and oversee all policy issues driving competitiveness centrally to ensure policy coherence across different policy domains and to make sure that efforts in some fields are not held up by bottlenecks in other areas.
For this reason, several countries have established high-level task forces entrusted with monitoring and overseeing the implementation of integrated policies for ICTs, such as the ICT taskforce in Australia and the National Information Technology Council in Malaysia. These task forces are often build on principles of public-private partnership and collaboration between government and the private sector, to ensure that policy making can respond quickly to firms’ needs and concerns.
Private sectors
Although policies are formally put in place by governments, different stakeholders and in particular, the private sector make inputs into the policy process and affect its outcomes. In the context of globalised markets, large and rich corporations are often more powerful than developing countries’ governments, allowing them to shape the policy-making process. When Mexico was considering adopting free software in its education system, Microsoft offered fund and free licences to the government, which eventually dropped GNU/Linux and embraced Windows completely.
International organisations
International organisations also influence the policies of the countries. The five organisations that dominate mainstream dialogue on global ICT policy issues are:
* The International Telecommunications Union because of its mandate for telecommunications within the United Nations system;
* The World Intellectual Property Organisation because it is responsible for setting the rules that govern ownership of content on the Internet;
* The World Trade Organisation because it sets the rules for international trade;
* The World Bank because of the financial and technical resources it brings to bear on development;
* The World Economic Forum because of its ability to convene the world’s rich and powerful.
Elements and aspirations associated
The formulation and implementation of national ICT strategies that deal effectively with the preceding challenges must be particularly sensitive to two elements:
* The need for mechanisms to monitor and assess ICT readiness, usage and impact;
*
The need to link ICT policies to other development policies such as education, trade and health, to allow broad-based diffusion of ICT.
Uneven diffusion of technology and inequality in access to technologies are the major stumble blocks of development. A major challenge for policy-makers at the national and international level, therefore, lies in addressing the issue of the digital divide between rich and poor countries, rural and urban areas, men and women, skilled and unskilled citizens, and large and small enterprises. The policy should also help people and organisations to adapt to new circumstances and technology.
Thus, an ideal ICT policy should try to meet the following aspirations:
* Providing individuals and organisations with a minimum level of ICT knowledge and the ability to keep it up to date;
* Providing information and communication facilities, services and management at a reasonable or reduced cost;
* Improving the quality of services and products;
* Encouraging use of technology and innovations in technology use;
* Promoting information sharing, transparency and accountability;
* Identifying priority areas for ICT development;
* Developing new legislations and policies according to the need of the development.
Policies affecting the society
An ICT policy framework that corresponds to international best practices and standards provide the springboard for ICT applications to be used in many sectors to stimulate economic growth and improve the quality of life. The policies that affect the following sectors of society are:
* Students: Policies that address the curriculum reforms and budgetary issues associated with the deployment and maintenance of computer systems in educational institutes will influence the education of the students.
* Underserved community: Policies that address interconnection between land and cellular phone lines, and free market competition often result in an expansion of cellular phone service at affordable prices. Those traditionally underserved (rural areas, the poor, women, or the elderly) have increased access to telephone service for personal, health, political, or business needs when cellular service is cheaper and accessible in rural and hard-to-reach areas. Policies that address the allocation of the radio spectrum to include community radio stations can mean an increased number and range of locally run, locally owned radio, a prime method of communication with rural, largely illiterate communities.
* Civil society: Policies that allow Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to multiply on the market can result in a decrease in the cost of Internet access, making e-mail accounts affordable to local NGOs and other community groups. This increases the efficiency and networking ability of these groups helping their work to reach their target populations.
* Industries: Clear regulations concerning copyright, intellectual property rights and cyber crime help local ICT industries compete with the international companies.
Obstacles ahead
The problems that are associated with the adequate implementation of ICT policies specially in developing countries are as follows:
* The government identifies IT as tool for development but most of the policies lead to sectoral development of IT in software rather than focusing on social induced development;
* Many countries do not have definitive National ICT Development Master Plan;
* There is lack of availability and also unbalanced distribution of information and telecommunication infrastructures in most of the countries;
* Various studies have reported that people’s awareness and knowledge of the benefits of ICT is considerably low and needs to be enhanced;
* A major reason of difficulty for the developing countries is their inability to keep pace with the continuous and rapid speed of ICT innovation and development.
Need of the hour
ICT policies need to recognise the above caveats and offer ways to overcome the constraints. Governments, regional organisations, and international organisations responsible for the formulation and adoption of ICT policies are urged to develop and adhere to adequately resourced action plans that designate responsible actors, timelines, and priorities as appropriate for the particular circumstances. Political will is also an important stimulator of policy decision and it is stimulated by stakeholder groups voicing their needs. These stakeholders include not only the government, but also the business sector and civil society groups. An active participation of civil society and the private sector ensure a strong partnership to sustain a policy process. If we want to promote social justice, then ICT policy will be a key factor in this battle, and we cannot afford to remain outside the ICT policy-making process.
Sejuti Sarkar De
During the last 20 years, Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) have provided a wealth of new technological opportunities, with the rapid deployment of both the Internet and cellular telephony leading the way. These technologies have invaded every country that is willing to accept them. The most important differentiating factor now is policy. Policy makes the fundamental difference regarding how countries are able to take advantage of the technological opportunities available to them and exploit them for good. Countries that have progressive policies are seeing these technologies spread quickly. Conversely, countries that have not been able to formulate an integrated ICT policy yet have been plagued by slow growth of technology and the consequent lessening of support for economic and social development.
ICTs are now also an important enabling tools to support the process of development. The full potential of ICT can be realised, and it can be used to maximise the social, economic and environmental benefits of the society only if the ICT policies are effective. The policies should contain a particular approach as to how ICT for development will be achieved and ensure the collaboration of stakeholders in government, the private sector, civil society and international organisations. ICT policies and regulations are also needed to foster an environment, conducive to build an ICT infrastructure as well as leveraging ICTs for knowledge creation and dissemination.
Actors in ICT policy
Government
The government plays the most important role in the formulation of ICT policy, and thus, it only decides how countries are able to take advantage of the technical opportunities available to them and exploit them for good. In the Republic of Korea, for example, the government took the lead in promoting development of the Internet. In Egypt, the dynamic Ministry of Communications and Information Technology played a strong role in catalysing telecommunications development in the country.
Most of the high income countries have one integrated ICT master plan, where telecommunications and IT policies form part of one development plan. The old sectoral framework for policy-making based on broadcasting, telecommunications and information technology has now been shifted to a new layered framework where all the tools of ICT work cohesively, focusing on social and economic development. A central body may be needed to coordinate and oversee all policy issues driving competitiveness centrally to ensure policy coherence across different policy domains and to make sure that efforts in some fields are not held up by bottlenecks in other areas.
For this reason, several countries have established high-level task forces entrusted with monitoring and overseeing the implementation of integrated policies for ICTs, such as the ICT taskforce in Australia and the National Information Technology Council in Malaysia. These task forces are often build on principles of public-private partnership and collaboration between government and the private sector, to ensure that policy making can respond quickly to firms’ needs and concerns.
Private sectors
Although policies are formally put in place by governments, different stakeholders and in particular, the private sector make inputs into the policy process and affect its outcomes. In the context of globalised markets, large and rich corporations are often more powerful than developing countries’ governments, allowing them to shape the policy-making process. When Mexico was considering adopting free software in its education system, Microsoft offered fund and free licences to the government, which eventually dropped GNU/Linux and embraced Windows completely.
International organisations
International organisations also influence the policies of the countries. The five organisations that dominate mainstream dialogue on global ICT policy issues are:
* The International Telecommunications Union because of its mandate for telecommunications within the United Nations system;
* The World Intellectual Property Organisation because it is responsible for setting the rules that govern ownership of content on the Internet;
* The World Trade Organisation because it sets the rules for international trade;
* The World Bank because of the financial and technical resources it brings to bear on development;
* The World Economic Forum because of its ability to convene the world’s rich and powerful.
Elements and aspirations associated
The formulation and implementation of national ICT strategies that deal effectively with the preceding challenges must be particularly sensitive to two elements:
* The need for mechanisms to monitor and assess ICT readiness, usage and impact;
*
The need to link ICT policies to other development policies such as education, trade and health, to allow broad-based diffusion of ICT.
Uneven diffusion of technology and inequality in access to technologies are the major stumble blocks of development. A major challenge for policy-makers at the national and international level, therefore, lies in addressing the issue of the digital divide between rich and poor countries, rural and urban areas, men and women, skilled and unskilled citizens, and large and small enterprises. The policy should also help people and organisations to adapt to new circumstances and technology.
Thus, an ideal ICT policy should try to meet the following aspirations:
* Providing individuals and organisations with a minimum level of ICT knowledge and the ability to keep it up to date;
* Providing information and communication facilities, services and management at a reasonable or reduced cost;
* Improving the quality of services and products;
* Encouraging use of technology and innovations in technology use;
* Promoting information sharing, transparency and accountability;
* Identifying priority areas for ICT development;
* Developing new legislations and policies according to the need of the development.
Policies affecting the society
An ICT policy framework that corresponds to international best practices and standards provide the springboard for ICT applications to be used in many sectors to stimulate economic growth and improve the quality of life. The policies that affect the following sectors of society are:
* Students: Policies that address the curriculum reforms and budgetary issues associated with the deployment and maintenance of computer systems in educational institutes will influence the education of the students.
* Underserved community: Policies that address interconnection between land and cellular phone lines, and free market competition often result in an expansion of cellular phone service at affordable prices. Those traditionally underserved (rural areas, the poor, women, or the elderly) have increased access to telephone service for personal, health, political, or business needs when cellular service is cheaper and accessible in rural and hard-to-reach areas. Policies that address the allocation of the radio spectrum to include community radio stations can mean an increased number and range of locally run, locally owned radio, a prime method of communication with rural, largely illiterate communities.
* Civil society: Policies that allow Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to multiply on the market can result in a decrease in the cost of Internet access, making e-mail accounts affordable to local NGOs and other community groups. This increases the efficiency and networking ability of these groups helping their work to reach their target populations.
* Industries: Clear regulations concerning copyright, intellectual property rights and cyber crime help local ICT industries compete with the international companies.
Obstacles ahead
The problems that are associated with the adequate implementation of ICT policies specially in developing countries are as follows:
* The government identifies IT as tool for development but most of the policies lead to sectoral development of IT in software rather than focusing on social induced development;
* Many countries do not have definitive National ICT Development Master Plan;
* There is lack of availability and also unbalanced distribution of information and telecommunication infrastructures in most of the countries;
* Various studies have reported that people’s awareness and knowledge of the benefits of ICT is considerably low and needs to be enhanced;
* A major reason of difficulty for the developing countries is their inability to keep pace with the continuous and rapid speed of ICT innovation and development.
Need of the hour
ICT policies need to recognise the above caveats and offer ways to overcome the constraints. Governments, regional organisations, and international organisations responsible for the formulation and adoption of ICT policies are urged to develop and adhere to adequately resourced action plans that designate responsible actors, timelines, and priorities as appropriate for the particular circumstances. Political will is also an important stimulator of policy decision and it is stimulated by stakeholder groups voicing their needs. These stakeholders include not only the government, but also the business sector and civil society groups. An active participation of civil society and the private sector ensure a strong partnership to sustain a policy process. If we want to promote social justice, then ICT policy will be a key factor in this battle, and we cannot afford to remain outside the ICT policy-making process.
Sejuti Sarkar De
European & Malaysia Set To Expand Cooperation In ICT Field
( 17/6/2008 )
KUALA LUMPUR, June 16 (Bernama) -- The European Union and Malaysia are set to deepen their cooperation in the field of information communication technology with the official visit of its Commissioner for Information Society and Media, Vivian Reding, to Kuala Lumpur here this week.
Reding is scheduled to meet the Minister of Energy, Water and Communications Datuk Shaziman Abu Mansor, Director of the Malaysian Communication and Multimedia Commission Datuk Dr Halim Shafie and Multimedia Development Corporation (MDec) chairman Tan Sri Abdul Halim Shafie, a statement issued by the European Commission said here Monday.
Reding is responsible for the negotiation and enforcement of the EU's ICT policy and in her meeting with the Malaysian officials, she is expected to discuss various issues including the liberalisation of telecommunication services, ICT research cooperation, information society policies and regulations, 3G and mobile TV.
-- BERNAMA
KUALA LUMPUR, June 16 (Bernama) -- The European Union and Malaysia are set to deepen their cooperation in the field of information communication technology with the official visit of its Commissioner for Information Society and Media, Vivian Reding, to Kuala Lumpur here this week.
Reding is scheduled to meet the Minister of Energy, Water and Communications Datuk Shaziman Abu Mansor, Director of the Malaysian Communication and Multimedia Commission Datuk Dr Halim Shafie and Multimedia Development Corporation (MDec) chairman Tan Sri Abdul Halim Shafie, a statement issued by the European Commission said here Monday.
Reding is responsible for the negotiation and enforcement of the EU's ICT policy and in her meeting with the Malaysian officials, she is expected to discuss various issues including the liberalisation of telecommunication services, ICT research cooperation, information society policies and regulations, 3G and mobile TV.
-- BERNAMA
Asian Forum on Information and Communication Technology Policies and e-Strategies
Asian Forum on ICT Policies and e-Strategies
20-22 October 2003
Keynote Address
by
H.E. Datuk Amar Leo Moggie
Minister of Energy, Communications and Multimedia Malaysia
Your Excellencies, Distinguished Delegates, Ladies and gentlemen
Let me begin by extending a very warm welcome to Your Excellencies and all our distinguished foreign delegates to Malaysia. I would like to thank the UNDP for hosting this Forum here in Kuala Lumpur with the full support of the Ministry of Energy, Communications and Multimedia Malaysia.
I am told that this Forum is aimed at fostering collaboration and information sharing on ICT policies and e-strategies among countries in the Asian region with participation from the highest levels of national governments as well as the private sector, civil society and international organizations.
I am happy to note that the outcome of this Forum will be the “Kuala Lumpur Declaration on ICT Policies and e-strategies” which will serve as an input to the World Summit on Information Society scheduled for December 2003 in Geneva.
Your Excellencies, Distinguished Delegates, Ladies and Gentlemen.
Where ICT policy and strategies are concerned, it has been observed that countries generally adopt two broad national strategic frameworks. The first is ICT as a Production Sector and the second is ICT as an Enabler of Development. In pursuing ICT as a Production Sector the primary focus is on industry development for regional and global competitiveness.
In the context of ICT as an Enabler of Development the focus shifts towards socio- economic concerns. Here the concern is primarily to ensure wider application and usage of ICT. While the two categories are unique in terms of the policy and strategy approaches, they are also mutually dependent in terms of contributing to the overall development of the nation.
The rapid growth and development of the ICT industry will mean very little if vast numbers of people continue to be marginalized in terms of access to and use of ICT. On the same note a high level of economic development cannot result in a knowledge and information based society if the ICT infra and info structure remains relatively underdeveloped. It is therefore important for ICT policy and strategic frameworks at the national level to reflect a balance between economic and social concerns.
In Malaysia our ICT policy and strategy framework has sought to find a balance between sectoral growth and the application of ICT for achieving socio-economic goals. Our ICT policy is guided by the Vision 2020, which aims to transform and propel Malaysia into a fully developed nation, with ICT being one of the key enablers. The ultimate goal of our ICT policy is to create a truly knowledge-based society in Malaysia. A key initiative for achieving this goal is the Multimedia Super Corridor.
I am sure that the MSC needs no introduction to most of you here. It is an initiative to encourage national and international investment in ICT to spur growth in the ICT sector with spill-over effects to the rest of the economy. This will be achieved through the provision of an attractive set of financial and non-financial incentives, and the creation of an enabling environment conducive for investment and growth.
The MSC is at the end of its planned First Phase this year and I am pleased to inform that it is well on track and on time. We now have more than 900 MSC Status companies, which is two times more than our initial target. Of these close to 60 are “World Class Multinationals” with familiar names such as DHL, Shell, HSBC, Fujitsu, Ericsson, all of which have sites located within the MSC region. The Fourth MSC Impact Survey concluded recently revealed that developments within the MSC have resulted in tangible economic benefits in the form of revenue, employment created and innovation.
Based on the information provided by more than 600 active MSC companies in the survey, the projected revenue for 2003 is RM 6 billion or US$1.5 billion. Of this RM 1 billion or US$ 250 million is export revenue. About 60% of these companies are expected to be profitable – this is quite an achievement considering the high failure rate among industries in this sector.
Besides revenue and profit, developments within the MSC have resulted in the creation of 21,000 jobs. Although we have allowed free movement for foreign knowledge workers, most of these jobs have been filled by Malaysians reflecting the availability of skilled ICT workforce in the country.
With the success of the First Phase, the MSC is now poised to enter its Second Phase next year, which will see a more wider nationwide rollout with the involvement of State Governments. Several State Governments have already initiated their own ICT Programs such as the establishment of incubators which can act as the nuclei for the rollout of the MSC and future ICT development in the States.
As part of the initiative to drive the MSC, seven innovative flagship applications were developed by a consortia of local and foreign companies working closely with government agencies. These Flagship Applications are e-government; multipurpose card; smart schools; telehealth; R&D clusters; technopreneur development; and e-Business clusters. These Flagship applications have significant implications for broadening the scope for ICT usage in various sectors of the economy.
Our ICT policy has also given due consideration to the socio-economic concerns of ICT development in the country in particular those concerning the digital divide. Here the key focus has been to provide connectivity to overcome the ICT infrastructure deficit, particularly in rural and underserved areas and secondly to promote ICT skills among the people through e-learning and digital literacy programs.
To ensure that all Malaysians can have access to basic communications facilities the Universal Services Program (USP) has been put in place. Under this program a USP Fund has been created into which all licensees except the content applications services providers will contribute a fixed amount on an annual basis. The regulation managing this fund allows any licensee to bid and construct new or additional infrastructure in underserved areas and get paid from this fund. The priority will be to provide access to basic telephone service and the Internet in all parts of the country; where there are resource constraints, community access will have priority over individual access.
To further complement the initiatives under the USP Fund, the Government has also allocated a total of US$250 billion under the current five-year development plan for the provision of communications infrastructure to key facilities such as schools, clinics and community centres in rural and underserved areas.
Development of digital literacy is being accorded the highest priority by the Government in our efforts to move towards a knowledge-based society. In line with this the Government has adopted a high IT- focus education system with emphasis on English, IT, Mathematics, science and technology. The Smart-Schools Flagship developed under the MSC will enable the wider application of ICT not only in teaching but also in the management of schools. Plans are now underway to connect all schools with broadband connection under the SchoolNet Project.
Other initiatives to promote digital literacy include re-training of workers in ICT skills as well as basic computer skills development through the Rural Internet Centres.
Your Excellencies, Distinguished Delegates, Ladies and Gentlemen.
I am aware that many countries represented here today are now in the process of restructuring their policy and regulatory frameworks to better facilitate the development of their ICT industry. I would like to take this opportunity to share with you Malaysia’s own experiences in this matter and offer some thoughts on key concerns and issues.
As you are aware, in 1998 the Government of Malaysia passed the Communications and Multimedia Act, which put in place a new regulatory framework for a converged communications and multimedia sector. The new Act which is technology-neutral and service-neutral, did away with vertical markets, such as markets for television services, radio broadcast services, mobile network services, fixed network services, data services and so on. We used to have dozens of these vertical markets, some with just two or three players. The new Act did away with all of them and organized the converged communications and networked multimedia sector into just four horizontal markets, i.e. a market for network facilities, a market for network services, a market for applications services, and a market for content applications services. In the absence of general competition law in Malaysia, the Act also contains provisions on competition in the communications and networked multimedia sector, empowering the regulator to act as the competent authority for the sector.
The new Act has also introduced the concept of self-regulation that allows key stakeholders such as industry players, consumers, and special-interest groups to form industry forums for the purpose of developing voluntary industry codes. Although compliance with a registered voluntary industry code is not mandatory, there is an incentive to do so because those complying with it may use it as a defence against any prosecution, action or proceeding of any nature, whether in a court or otherwise. Codes have been drafted or are being drafted in relation to consumer protection, content standards, access, and technical standards.
Our approach to the converging sector of communications and networked multimedia has contributed to clearer thinking on the introduction of new services. For example, when VoIP came along, there were no debates about its technological pedigree; it just fitted in under the applications services market. The introduction of 3G services does not require additional licensing; it only requires the allocation of 3G spectrum through competitive bidding.
Looking back over the last five years, I think our new regulatory framework has proven to be robust, flexible and effective. It has facilitated the introduction of new services and technologies. Instead of trying to figure out how a new service or a new technology fits in, the regulator only has to know what market or markets they serve and how they would impact those markets.
Our experience has also brought some important lessons. The first lesson is that fundamental changes in an industry regulatory framework are not just an industry event. In a sector as big as communications and networked multimedia, the changes and their implications must be clearly communicated to other stakeholders, for example, industry analysts, the financial institutions and the media. For instance, financial institutions knew how to deal with telcos and ISPs but have problems when application services providers or network services providers approach them.
The second lesson is that mindsets take time to change, making it difficult for some to adjust to the new regulatory framework. A lot of time is therefore spent on getting our language and orientations right so that we know we are talking about the same things and that we share the same mental pictures when we talk.
My third point is that developing countries in particular have to think very carefully about introducing vertically integrated facilities-based competition as they can impose unnecessary drain on limited resources. Creating horizontal markets would allow different degrees of regulatory oversight in the different markets e.g. regulate more strictly in the upstream investment-intensive facilities market and be more open in the downstream retail market.
With the creation of horizontal markets, however, there could be facilities consolidation without affecting competition in retail. We have been pushing for facilities sharing, e.g. the sharing of towers, and there is now a company dedicated to facilities development and operation. Besides contributing to lower costs, facilities sharing minimises civil works and reduces visual pollution. Incidentally, our 3G rollout also focuses on upstream facilities sharing and downstream competition.
Finally, under the mantra of market liberalisation, competition and efficiency, we sometimes forget that purely market mechanisms do not address social equity. There is a need to balance efficiency with equity. With a national fixed line penetration of 20%, a mobile phone penetration of 40% and a PC penetration of 15%, Malaysia is still well behind the ICT penetration levels of developed economies. It is therefore very important to have a good universal service provision programme in place, which must be attractive enough to get licensees to play rather than just pay.
Your Excellencies, Distinguished Delegates, Ladies and Gentlemen
Before I conclude my address, I would like to share one final thought with all of you. Perhaps the most important factor for a successful ICT policy and strategy framework is the need for political will and commitment at the very highest level. ICT development is a new phenomena which requires us to look at new ways of doing things. The choice to pursue ICT development involves a shift in strategy, which calls for national commitment to examine existing institutions policies and legislations to align them to the new direction. This is not always easy. Hence political commitment from the highest level is essential in ensuring that call for change is contagious at all levels of society.
With this, I would like to conclude with the hope that you will have a fruitful discussion at this Forum and an enjoyable stay here in Malaysia.
20-22 October 2003
Keynote Address
by
H.E. Datuk Amar Leo Moggie
Minister of Energy, Communications and Multimedia Malaysia
Your Excellencies, Distinguished Delegates, Ladies and gentlemen
Let me begin by extending a very warm welcome to Your Excellencies and all our distinguished foreign delegates to Malaysia. I would like to thank the UNDP for hosting this Forum here in Kuala Lumpur with the full support of the Ministry of Energy, Communications and Multimedia Malaysia.
I am told that this Forum is aimed at fostering collaboration and information sharing on ICT policies and e-strategies among countries in the Asian region with participation from the highest levels of national governments as well as the private sector, civil society and international organizations.
I am happy to note that the outcome of this Forum will be the “Kuala Lumpur Declaration on ICT Policies and e-strategies” which will serve as an input to the World Summit on Information Society scheduled for December 2003 in Geneva.
Your Excellencies, Distinguished Delegates, Ladies and Gentlemen.
Where ICT policy and strategies are concerned, it has been observed that countries generally adopt two broad national strategic frameworks. The first is ICT as a Production Sector and the second is ICT as an Enabler of Development. In pursuing ICT as a Production Sector the primary focus is on industry development for regional and global competitiveness.
In the context of ICT as an Enabler of Development the focus shifts towards socio- economic concerns. Here the concern is primarily to ensure wider application and usage of ICT. While the two categories are unique in terms of the policy and strategy approaches, they are also mutually dependent in terms of contributing to the overall development of the nation.
The rapid growth and development of the ICT industry will mean very little if vast numbers of people continue to be marginalized in terms of access to and use of ICT. On the same note a high level of economic development cannot result in a knowledge and information based society if the ICT infra and info structure remains relatively underdeveloped. It is therefore important for ICT policy and strategic frameworks at the national level to reflect a balance between economic and social concerns.
In Malaysia our ICT policy and strategy framework has sought to find a balance between sectoral growth and the application of ICT for achieving socio-economic goals. Our ICT policy is guided by the Vision 2020, which aims to transform and propel Malaysia into a fully developed nation, with ICT being one of the key enablers. The ultimate goal of our ICT policy is to create a truly knowledge-based society in Malaysia. A key initiative for achieving this goal is the Multimedia Super Corridor.
I am sure that the MSC needs no introduction to most of you here. It is an initiative to encourage national and international investment in ICT to spur growth in the ICT sector with spill-over effects to the rest of the economy. This will be achieved through the provision of an attractive set of financial and non-financial incentives, and the creation of an enabling environment conducive for investment and growth.
The MSC is at the end of its planned First Phase this year and I am pleased to inform that it is well on track and on time. We now have more than 900 MSC Status companies, which is two times more than our initial target. Of these close to 60 are “World Class Multinationals” with familiar names such as DHL, Shell, HSBC, Fujitsu, Ericsson, all of which have sites located within the MSC region. The Fourth MSC Impact Survey concluded recently revealed that developments within the MSC have resulted in tangible economic benefits in the form of revenue, employment created and innovation.
Based on the information provided by more than 600 active MSC companies in the survey, the projected revenue for 2003 is RM 6 billion or US$1.5 billion. Of this RM 1 billion or US$ 250 million is export revenue. About 60% of these companies are expected to be profitable – this is quite an achievement considering the high failure rate among industries in this sector.
Besides revenue and profit, developments within the MSC have resulted in the creation of 21,000 jobs. Although we have allowed free movement for foreign knowledge workers, most of these jobs have been filled by Malaysians reflecting the availability of skilled ICT workforce in the country.
With the success of the First Phase, the MSC is now poised to enter its Second Phase next year, which will see a more wider nationwide rollout with the involvement of State Governments. Several State Governments have already initiated their own ICT Programs such as the establishment of incubators which can act as the nuclei for the rollout of the MSC and future ICT development in the States.
As part of the initiative to drive the MSC, seven innovative flagship applications were developed by a consortia of local and foreign companies working closely with government agencies. These Flagship Applications are e-government; multipurpose card; smart schools; telehealth; R&D clusters; technopreneur development; and e-Business clusters. These Flagship applications have significant implications for broadening the scope for ICT usage in various sectors of the economy.
Our ICT policy has also given due consideration to the socio-economic concerns of ICT development in the country in particular those concerning the digital divide. Here the key focus has been to provide connectivity to overcome the ICT infrastructure deficit, particularly in rural and underserved areas and secondly to promote ICT skills among the people through e-learning and digital literacy programs.
To ensure that all Malaysians can have access to basic communications facilities the Universal Services Program (USP) has been put in place. Under this program a USP Fund has been created into which all licensees except the content applications services providers will contribute a fixed amount on an annual basis. The regulation managing this fund allows any licensee to bid and construct new or additional infrastructure in underserved areas and get paid from this fund. The priority will be to provide access to basic telephone service and the Internet in all parts of the country; where there are resource constraints, community access will have priority over individual access.
To further complement the initiatives under the USP Fund, the Government has also allocated a total of US$250 billion under the current five-year development plan for the provision of communications infrastructure to key facilities such as schools, clinics and community centres in rural and underserved areas.
Development of digital literacy is being accorded the highest priority by the Government in our efforts to move towards a knowledge-based society. In line with this the Government has adopted a high IT- focus education system with emphasis on English, IT, Mathematics, science and technology. The Smart-Schools Flagship developed under the MSC will enable the wider application of ICT not only in teaching but also in the management of schools. Plans are now underway to connect all schools with broadband connection under the SchoolNet Project.
Other initiatives to promote digital literacy include re-training of workers in ICT skills as well as basic computer skills development through the Rural Internet Centres.
Your Excellencies, Distinguished Delegates, Ladies and Gentlemen.
I am aware that many countries represented here today are now in the process of restructuring their policy and regulatory frameworks to better facilitate the development of their ICT industry. I would like to take this opportunity to share with you Malaysia’s own experiences in this matter and offer some thoughts on key concerns and issues.
As you are aware, in 1998 the Government of Malaysia passed the Communications and Multimedia Act, which put in place a new regulatory framework for a converged communications and multimedia sector. The new Act which is technology-neutral and service-neutral, did away with vertical markets, such as markets for television services, radio broadcast services, mobile network services, fixed network services, data services and so on. We used to have dozens of these vertical markets, some with just two or three players. The new Act did away with all of them and organized the converged communications and networked multimedia sector into just four horizontal markets, i.e. a market for network facilities, a market for network services, a market for applications services, and a market for content applications services. In the absence of general competition law in Malaysia, the Act also contains provisions on competition in the communications and networked multimedia sector, empowering the regulator to act as the competent authority for the sector.
The new Act has also introduced the concept of self-regulation that allows key stakeholders such as industry players, consumers, and special-interest groups to form industry forums for the purpose of developing voluntary industry codes. Although compliance with a registered voluntary industry code is not mandatory, there is an incentive to do so because those complying with it may use it as a defence against any prosecution, action or proceeding of any nature, whether in a court or otherwise. Codes have been drafted or are being drafted in relation to consumer protection, content standards, access, and technical standards.
Our approach to the converging sector of communications and networked multimedia has contributed to clearer thinking on the introduction of new services. For example, when VoIP came along, there were no debates about its technological pedigree; it just fitted in under the applications services market. The introduction of 3G services does not require additional licensing; it only requires the allocation of 3G spectrum through competitive bidding.
Looking back over the last five years, I think our new regulatory framework has proven to be robust, flexible and effective. It has facilitated the introduction of new services and technologies. Instead of trying to figure out how a new service or a new technology fits in, the regulator only has to know what market or markets they serve and how they would impact those markets.
Our experience has also brought some important lessons. The first lesson is that fundamental changes in an industry regulatory framework are not just an industry event. In a sector as big as communications and networked multimedia, the changes and their implications must be clearly communicated to other stakeholders, for example, industry analysts, the financial institutions and the media. For instance, financial institutions knew how to deal with telcos and ISPs but have problems when application services providers or network services providers approach them.
The second lesson is that mindsets take time to change, making it difficult for some to adjust to the new regulatory framework. A lot of time is therefore spent on getting our language and orientations right so that we know we are talking about the same things and that we share the same mental pictures when we talk.
My third point is that developing countries in particular have to think very carefully about introducing vertically integrated facilities-based competition as they can impose unnecessary drain on limited resources. Creating horizontal markets would allow different degrees of regulatory oversight in the different markets e.g. regulate more strictly in the upstream investment-intensive facilities market and be more open in the downstream retail market.
With the creation of horizontal markets, however, there could be facilities consolidation without affecting competition in retail. We have been pushing for facilities sharing, e.g. the sharing of towers, and there is now a company dedicated to facilities development and operation. Besides contributing to lower costs, facilities sharing minimises civil works and reduces visual pollution. Incidentally, our 3G rollout also focuses on upstream facilities sharing and downstream competition.
Finally, under the mantra of market liberalisation, competition and efficiency, we sometimes forget that purely market mechanisms do not address social equity. There is a need to balance efficiency with equity. With a national fixed line penetration of 20%, a mobile phone penetration of 40% and a PC penetration of 15%, Malaysia is still well behind the ICT penetration levels of developed economies. It is therefore very important to have a good universal service provision programme in place, which must be attractive enough to get licensees to play rather than just pay.
Your Excellencies, Distinguished Delegates, Ladies and Gentlemen
Before I conclude my address, I would like to share one final thought with all of you. Perhaps the most important factor for a successful ICT policy and strategy framework is the need for political will and commitment at the very highest level. ICT development is a new phenomena which requires us to look at new ways of doing things. The choice to pursue ICT development involves a shift in strategy, which calls for national commitment to examine existing institutions policies and legislations to align them to the new direction. This is not always easy. Hence political commitment from the highest level is essential in ensuring that call for change is contagious at all levels of society.
With this, I would like to conclude with the hope that you will have a fruitful discussion at this Forum and an enjoyable stay here in Malaysia.
Reinvention of Future Governance through E-Government
By: Sonny Zulhuda*
Introduction
This paper is aimed at assessing the perspectives and experiences of Malaysia on the concept and application of electronic government (e-government), more on policy context. Attempts are made to observe preparatory initiatives taken by the government of Malaysia in three distinctive but interconnected aspects: administrative measures, regulatory frameworks, and public participation. Some update applications of e-government in Malaysia will also be touched at the later part. This paper will be ended by underlining the lessons that can be learned by Indonesia in seeking the best format for e-government application, especially in tabling policies and regulatory framework.
E-Government Defined
Electronic Government (E-Government) is variably defined, but basically refers to “the use by government agencies of information technologies (such as Wide Area Networks, the Internet, and mobile computing) that have the ability to transform relations with citizens, businesses, and other arms of government.”[1] Nevertheless in this context, this general meaning of the Information Technology (IT) has been so much associated to the use of the Internet. Thus e-government would generally mean the development and utilization of Internet-based solutions in government services and works. Exactly like e-commerce, which is a utilization of Internet-based solutions in business activities.
This form of solutions are seen to serve a variety of different ends: better delivery of government services to citizens, improved interactions with business and industry, citizen empowerment through access to information, or more efficient government management.
Stages of E-Government
Analogous to the concept of E-Commerce, E-Government can be seen to evolve through four stages:
- Publishing
- Interactivity
- Completing transactions
- Delivery
Publishing stage includes mainly making as much as possible the information on government services publicly available for access by citizens through the Net. This would include the making of portals and websites for government agencies, also the updating of government programs and information to be widely informed to the citizens.
Interactivity stage is realized when such Internet-based service can invite and accommodate responses from public through the Net. That is for instance making a mechanism where citizen can forward their questions, complaints, or suggestions so as to make the Internet-based relation interactive and going two ways.
Completing transaction stage happens when the ongoing two-way relationship through the Net can be brought to result in a complete transaction between two parties (e.g. between the government agency and citizen). For example, when there is a facility on the Net for citizen to pay their electric or water bills to a government body without having to come physically to the agency’s office. This is also exemplified when a business sector wants to get tender for a government project through the Net. The other instance is when a private individual can sign up for getting license required for certain business.
Delivery stage is an advance level of e-government service. This is achieved when a government provides the delivery of its service through the Internet mechanism.
Malaysia’s Experience on E-Government
Malaysia is a federation of thirteen states and a federal territory, adopts a system of constitutional monarchy, that is, a monarch that subjects to a constitution. King is the head of state/country while Prime Minister is the head of government. Malaysia’s population is currently about 23.8 million people and mainly comprise of three major ethnics: Malay, Chinese, Indian, and the rest is from other native races in both Malay Peninsula and Borneo parts.[2]
Since independence in 1957 and throughout the past four decades, Malaysia has changed quite tremendously from a country that leaned so much on agricultural sector of development to the highly industrial sector and labor exploitation. Ahead to the end of 90’s, Malaysia is preparing towards another shift from industrial society to a knowledge-based society where information and knowledge are deemed to be the engine of growth of the country.
In 1991, Malaysia’s Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad launched for the first time in public his long-term planning for Malaysia to become a fully developed country in the year 2020. This planning is now widely known as Vision 2020, and was adopted in the Seventh Malaysia Plan of 1996-2000. With this new vision, Malaysia is expected to shift the paradigm of development from the old industrial perspective to the new informational one. It is asserted by Malaysia’s Prime Minister that the manufacturing sector has become the mainstay for Malaysia’s sustained economic growth of between 7 and 8 percent over the last two decades.[3] But this growth would not last long unless there is a succeeding second engine of growth if Malaysia is to achieve Vision 2020. And according to him, one consistent pounding beat was digital technology. Thus, Malaysia decided to make the Information and Communication Technology the engine of growth within all economic sectors.
Pursuant to this perspective, Malaysia is therefore aiming at a ‘reinvention of future life’ through the IT power. Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC) project is planned and executed as a test-bed with some strategic flagship applications. It tries to reinvent the future education through smart school flagship. It seeks to reinvent the future health care through the telemedicine flagship. It seeks to reinvent the future interaction through telecommunication enhancement. It seeks to reinvent the future business activities through e-commerce. And above all, it seeks to reinvent the future governance through the application of e-government.
E-government is seen as the ‘umbrella’ concept of all those new flagships in the series of MSC project. That is because the very function of government itself is to ensure all aspects of public life going smoothly to the happiness of every body. Consequently, Malaysia takes quick and speedy initiatives in preparing and implementing the concept of e-government.
Malaysia perceives that Electronic Government will improve both how the government operates internally as well as how it delivers services to the people of Malaysia.[4] It seeks to improve the convenience, accessibility and quality of interactions with citizens and businesses; simultaneously, it will improve information flows and processes within government to improve the speed and quality of policy development, coordination and enforcement. In addition, Electronic Government will play an essential role in catalyzing the development of the MSC, as well as furthering political and economic development goals in Vision 2020.
Pre-requisite Administrative Measures
Among the initiatives taken by the Malaysian government to support the implementation of E-government concept are:
Malaysia Inc. Concept
This concept envisages the most important perspective subscribed by the government of Malaysia. It basically says that the whole nation of Malaysia should participate in the development of new society. The government and private sectors would have to cooperate hand by hand and to work side by side to achieve the common goal. This concept is to create the feeling of togetherness of the nation to uphold such a big task of transforming the society to the aim of Vision 2020.
Restructuring the Government
Towards the era where information flows freely through the advance technology, Malaysian government is concerned about the effectiveness and efficiency of its management. Thus they try to slim down the structure by holding only the strategic public portfolios within the government machinery such as defense, justice and finance, and to privatize much of the rest. In this respect, public good and services functions such as telecommunications, power and railway transportation, traditionally under the aegis of the government, have now been privatized.[5]
Putrajaya Administrative City
For the whole great Vision 2020 to be achieved, Malaysia moves ahead by moving and concentrating all headquarters of government agencies and ministries from capital city Kuala Lumpur to the newly constructed administrative capital city of Putrajaya Federal Administrative Centre, about 25 kilometers south down Kuala Lumpur in 1998. The move is not merely a physical one, but symbolic of the paradigm shift of the government from the old legacies of paper administration towards online and interconnected administration; from the old industry-based society to a new information-based one. This move is also mainly to ease the congestion in Kuala Lumpur, to centralize previously scattered Federal government offices, and to increase KL’s competitiveness as the biggest commercial center in the country.
Cyberjaya Intelligent City
This is the first model cybercity built for MSC companies and its knowledge workers. As an intelligent city, Cyberjaya will be equipped with advanced IT and telecommunications infrastructure to meet business, residential and recreational needs of the residents within the development. Served by state-of-the-art telecommunications network with a capacity of 2.5-10 gigabits per second, Cyberjaya is expected to be accommodating around 500 IT and multimedia companies by the year 2020.
The Administration of Internet Policies
Another important measure taken to anticipate the e-government application is to hand over all administrative measures on Internet development under one roof. It is the Ministry of Energy, Telecommunication and Multimedia that is responsible for the policies and development of the Internet and related matters including the legislation of Cyber Laws and their enforcement.
In-House Training for Government Agencies
In the wake of emerging Internet technology and the way it influences the policies and regulations, the Malaysian government seeks to educate its officials and public servants to be IT literate. In-house trainings have been organized focusing on the use of Internet for their daily official activities as well as familiarizing the regulations and laws pertaining to the Internet. On this project, the Ministry of Energy, Communication and Multimedia joined private sectors and academicians to organize seminars and training
Massive Allocation on ICT Budget 2002
The national ICT agenda aims to create a knowledgeable, informed and ICT–savvy society. The Government has allocated an amount of RM. 112.7 million to implement the E-Government Flagship Project, Rm. 72.3 million for Smart Schools, Rm. 20 million for Telemedicine, Rm. 86.3 million for Smart Card and Rm. 9.5 million for Integrated Application. Apart from this, an amount of RM. 487.67 million is allocated to increase the computerization programme in ministries and departments and Rm. 205.5 million for computerization of schools.[6]
Legal and Regulatory Framework
As touched earlier, the backbone concept and working of E-Government is mainly the Internet-based solutions and service. Therefore, legal certainty in the Internet is a substantial and initial if Malaysia were to achieve its new digital technology perspective. Aware of this, the Government of Malaysia formally pledges its commitment to become a regional leader in Intellectual Property (IP) protection and Cyber laws.
Through the Ministry of Energy, Communication and Multimedia and the parliament, Malaysia has enacted and passed a number of pioneer cyber laws since 1997. Among its pivotal aim is to provide a comprehensive framework of societal and commerce-enabling laws, which encompass aspects concerning security of information and network integrity and reliability.[7] These cyber laws have been designed to create the right environment for the development of the communications and multimedia industry and to position Malaysia as a major hub for the communications and multimedia information and content services.
In the context of e-government application, these laws are also important to enable the smooth running of the governance. Since the government itself would also be subject to the laws, their existence will ensure the process well managed and regulated.
Several cyber laws that have been passed in Malaysia are:
1. Communications and Multimedia Act 1998
Being the most significant legislation that was brought into force on the 1st April 1999, this legislation provides the policy and regulatory framework for convergence of the telecommunications, broadcasting and computer industries. The Act is based on the basic principles of transparency and clarity; more competition and less regulations; bias towards generic rules; regulatory forbearances; emphasis on process rather than content; administrative and sector transparency; and industry self-regulation.
2. Digital Signature Act 1997
This Act regulates the legal recognition and authentication of the originator of an electronic document. It also enumerates several legal effects of digital signature in matters relating to evidence and transaction.
3. Computer Crimes Act 1997
The Act makes offences, among other things, an unauthorized access to computer material, unauthorized modification of the contents of any computer, and wrongful communication. It imposes criminal penalties on fraudulent or dishonest acts even when committed outside of the country.
4. The Copyright (Amendment) Act 1997
Provides copyright protection on-line, including the protection of a computer-related works from being infringed. This is an amendment to the existing Copyright Act. Thus it only gives more powers to be more effective in the wake of digital changes.
5. The Telemedicine Act 1997
Regulates the application of telemedicine in Malaysia as to who may practice it, and how, and also related rights of the patient therefore.
6. Personal Data Protection Bill 2000
This Bill is still in the process of socialization and is not yet tabled and passed by the parliament. The aim of this law is to regulate the collection, possession, processing and use of personal data by any person/organization or even the government so as to provide protection to an individual’s personal data and safeguard the privacy of an individual. It also seeks to establish a set of common rules and guidelines on handling and treatment of personal data by any person / organization
Some Policy Initiatives and Public Awareness
There are basically two players in the implementation of e-government: government themselves and the citizen or the public at large. Thus the application of e-government without active participation of public is meaningless. Public participation is a necessity, and public awareness and familiarity to computers and Internet technology is seen as pre-requisite to the success of e-government. Recent statistics show an increase in the number of computer ownership as well as the number of Internet hosts and Internet subscribers in Malaysia. There are currently about 30 Internet hosts available in Malaysia for every thousand people.[8] And in 1998 at least, the Internet subscribers in Malaysia had reached 450,000 people.[9] All these increase is partly achieved due to government efforts in campaigning the IT and creating an IT literate generation.
To achieve the aimed level of public awareness, various efforts have been done by the Malaysian government. [10]
They have organized seminars, talks, national IT week with a host of activities such as writing competition, quizzes, etc. and used the media such as television, radio and newspapers to promote an IT culture and IT awareness.
Besides, the government has emphasized IT-related education and training and the setting up as well as upgrading of vocational and technical schools to increase the IT literacy rate.
The government restructures the education system to include basic computer literacy for all, and has moved forward on promoting learning with computers.
Local universities have embarked on distance learning program using the Internet and the videoconferencing. The establishment of UNITAR, the virtual university, and Multimedia University has introduced a new educational dimension in IT era and would provide Malaysian citizens more options to upgrade their knowledge and skills.
However, it is highlighted that most of these projects are notably top-down pilot projects started by restricted pilot institutions. It is observed that in many cases these projects remain restricted in the pilot schools and institutions and yet become of nationwide effect. This is the common consequence when a pilot project is not led to a greater impact and abandoned more public participation.
E-Government in Practice
There are mainly five pilot applications for electronic government that have been prioritized.[11] While there are different levels of achievements that have been reached by each of these pilot projects, it is however certain that progresses are underway. Those pilot applications are:
1. Project Monitoring System (PMS)
This assists inert-government collaboration through three phases of Operational Functions, Managerial Functions and best practices knowledge and report generation for decision makers.
- Progress Reporting
- Change Control
- Execution information
- Decision support
2. Human Resource Management Information System (HRIMS)
It addresses the present and future needs of Human Resource Management in the civil service. Developing applications include automating operational processes and information decimation.
- Online job postings / application
- Manpower forecasts
3. Generic Office Environment (GOE)
Provides a fully integrated, distributed and scalable paperless working environment for the Prime Minister’s Office. Staff will have easy and up-to-date access of accurate information.
- Information management, e.g. scanning, Data repository
- Communication, e.g. Video conference, Meeting management
- Collaboration, e.g. Decision Tracking, Groupware
4. Electronic Procurement (EP)
Automates the process for procurement of goods and service between buyers and public sectors via Internet communication.
- Central Contracts
- Direct purchases
- Quotation
- Tender
5. Electronic Delivery Services (E-Services++)
This is an alternate method for transactions and interactions between the public and the government via electronic delivery channels of Wireless Application Protocol (WAP), Interactive Voice response (IVR), Web TV, Kiosks and Personal Computers.
- Driver’s license
- Electricity bills
- Telephone bills
- Health Information
Apart from these pilot applications of e-government that has been laid up systematically and gradually, there is another flagship application under the main flagships on the Multimedia Super Corridor project, which is very much related and supportive to the creation and implementation of e-government. That application is called Multi-Purpose Card or MPC.
This application seeks to develop a single and common platform for a card with a chip or microprocessor that has the capability to perform a wide range of functions, including data processing, storage and file management.
Eight applications have been selected for inclusion in the initial MPC roll out, including the National ID, driving license, immigration to complement passports, health card, electronic cash, debit, ATM and credit card.[12]
What Indonesia can Learn from Here
In this final part, It is submitted that Malaysia has taken very proactive and brave measures towards the realization of e-government, which should end in maintaining prosperity of its people with lesser cost of governance through the advancement of the Information Technology. The planning was long and visionary thus reducing the potential cultural shock.
Nevertheless, there are still loopholes to be corrected, and weaknesses to be cured. The most important thing to have is the willingness to try. There are many ways that Indonesia can share and learn from Malaysian experiences. The most notables are the following:
Long-term Planning with Strategic Vision
E-government is a big concept dealing with complicated matters of overall aspects of our life. It is imperative for the Indonesian government to lay down well-planned strategies, short term and long term, with sufficient budget allocation to allow the realization of systematic e-government. Malaysia has started it as early as the beginning of 90’s and projected the planning within at least 30 years towards the Vision 2020.
Decentralization of the Process
The government should bear in mind that the process to an e-government is not solely their own business. It is for all people. Thus efforts need to be combined also from privates sectors, academician, and other communities of society so as to create the sense of belonging for the e-government to be created. Besides, the potentials from different parts of the country need also be considered and joined in the policy making. This is inline with the emerging spirit of autonomy across the country’s regions.
Preparing Skilled Manpower
Manpower is the key of the success that also means quite great amount of investment. The government should prepare the local skilled manpower thus it will reduce burden of hiring costly foreign workers while at the same time enhancing the quality of local workers.
Educational Curriculum
Very much related to the previous point, our educators should rethink the best way to introduce computer and the Internet to the school children. The idea is, the earlier the child being familiar to the IT, the easier the process will be towards e-government in Indonesia.
Cyber Legislation
Regulatory framework should be tabled comprehensively to anticipate all possible problems that might be created due to the Internet transaction. This is important to create an environment supportive to the e-government process and IT-driven civil society. The current attempts of drafting the cyber laws need to be boosted to meet the speedy change brought by the Internet.
Internet Policies under One Roof
The Indonesian government should take measures to enable all Internet-related matters, from the administration to the implementation, be concentrated by one single ministry or agency, instead of scattering them in many different ministries like what we have now.
Maintaining Regional Cooperation
Last but not least, the Indonesian Government should maintain regional cooperation and improve it to the highest possible productivity degree. That is because still many things on e-government projects that can be shared and learned from neighboring countries like Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand.
* This paper was presented in National Conference on Electronic Government 2002, Institute of Technology, Bandung, Indonesia.
END NOTES:
[1] The World Bank Group, E*Government Definition, available at http://www1.worldbank.org/publicsector/egov/definition.htm
[2] Based on Current Statistic from the Statistics Department, available at http://www.statistics.gov.my
[3] Mahathir Mohamad, Multimedia Super Corridor, Pelanduk Publications, Kuala Lumpur, 1998, p. 8
[4] Electronic Government Flagship Applications of MSC, available at http://www.msc.com.my/mdc/flagships/eg.asp
[5] Mahathir Mohamad, Regional Cooperation and the Digital Economy, Pelanduk Publication, Kuala Lumpur, 2000, p. 64
[6] Mahathir Mohamad, Malaysian Budget 2002 Speech, available at http://www.channelnewsasia.com/malaysianbudget/fulltext.htm
[8] The Economist, World in Figures, 2002
[9] Economic Planning Unit Malaysia, Malaysian Quality of Life, 1999, p. 43
[10] Lee Sai-Leong, “National IT Policy and Information Equity: Equalizing the Imbalance,” in Roger W. Harris (ed.), Conference on Information Technology in Asia: Information Equality for the Next Millennium, IFIP, Kuching, 1999, pp. 346-366, at p. 363; also read Siowck-Lee Gan, “An Overview of Information Technology and Education in Malaysia,” in Felix B. Tan (ed.), Information Technology Diffusion in the Asia Pacific: Perspectives on Policy, Electronic Commerce and Education, Idea Group, Hershey, USA, 1999, pp. 208-220
[12] Mahathir Mohamad, supra n.3, p. 59
[11] Government Flagship Applications of MSC, available at http://www.msc.com.my/mdc/flagships/eg.asp
Rural Information and Communication Technology Policy Advocacy, Knowledge Sharing, and Capacity Building
| Regional | RETA: REG 41093-01 |
Project Name
Rural Information and Communication Technology Policy Advocacy, Knowledge Sharing, and Capacity Building
Executing Agency
Asian Development Bank
Contact : Hyunjung Lee Tel. No. : +63(2) 632-5835
TA Amount (US$ '000)
500.00
Activity Type
Others
Date of First Listing
10 December 2008
- Project Impact
- The TA aims to contribute to improving policy, legal, and regulatory environments to make them more conducive to the rapid deployment of ICT infrastructure and services for rural development.
- Project Outcome
- At the completion of the TA, it is envisaged that the TA will enhance the participating countries' capacity in planning, implementing, and monitoring their policies, and legal and regulatory frameworks for rural ICT development with better implementation mechanisms and tools and through knowledge sharing activities.
- Project Outputs
- The TA has 3 Outputs: (i) case studies and toolkit development, (ii) policy analysis and improvement, and (iii) knowledge sharing and capacity building. Component A: Case Studies and Toolkit Development. Building upon the relevant publications and studies undertaken by the World Bank, ITU, WTO and other development partners and researches from the academy, firstly this component will review the theoretic literatures, internationally governing or recommended frameworks (including WTO), and empirical researches on the different policy and regulation schemes and practices (both government-driven and market-based approaches) used to encourage rural ICT development and to implement universal service program, and based on such review, will develop the frameworks of the case studies and the outcomes of policy toolkits respectively. Following the developed frameworks and outlines, secondly the component will conduct case studies on the above identified six countries, particularly focused on their impact performance in rural ICT development and universal service provision and related success and failure factors. The methodologies to be used include the interviews, focus group discussions, surveys, and/or workshops with local stakeholders including telecommunication/ICT network and service providers and internet-based business companies, NGOs, reserach institutes, local governments and authorities, municipalities, and other concerned stakeholders. Thirdly, based on the literature review as well as the findings from case studies, policy toolkits will be developed for ICT policymakers and regulators to support their rural ICT development and universe service program. This will consist of (a) policy design principles and general guidelines and (b) toolkit for ICT policymakers and regulators to develop necessary and appropriate policies and regulations for rural ICT development and universal service provision. Particular attention will be given to the rural broadband expansion. Component B: Polciy Analysis and Recommendations in Cambodia and Mongolia. This component will analyze relevant policies, strategies, and legal and regulatory frameworks related to rural ICT development and universal service program in Cambodia and Mongolia. Based on this analysis and using the benchmark cases and toolkits to be developed under the above component, this component will develop recommendations for necessary reform strategies and schemes to reinforce the key success elements and lessen, if not eliminate, factors that lead to failure, as well as to encourage the provision of appropriate rural ICT infrastruture and universal services. Based on the assumption that enabling policy and regulatory environment for universal access and fair competition can promote and accelerate rural ICT development, it is important to involve all relevant stakeholders including the telecom industry and public sector in order to determine and take into consideration their needs, opinions, and requirements when recommending the appropriate policies, legislations, and regulations aimed at rural ICT development. Therefore this component will, as part of its scope, conduct public hearings and various activities, e.g., interviews, surveys, focus,group discussions, workshops, etc., to gather inputs from concerned stakeholders. Component C: Knowledge Sharing and Capacity Building. This component will provide various platforms for knowledge sharing on the findings, practices, case studies, and other knowledge products among the ICT policymakers, ICT regulators, ICT operators and ICT policy researchers in the Asia and Pacitic region, using the latest knowledge management techniques and networking technologies, including online communities of practice and websites. In collaboration with national research institutes or universities specialized in ICT policy and regulation research, the developed toolktis and case studies will be transformed into training programs that focus on training-the-trainer. The training program will be offered to the selected policymakers in Cambodia and Mongolia.
- Consulting Services
- Individual Consultants One International Consultant (ICT Specialist, 6 person months); 6 national consultants (National ICT Specialists, 3 person months each) based individually in India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, PRC, and Republic of Korea; and 2 national consultants (National ICT Specialists, 6 person months each) based individually in Cambodia and Mongolia
- Project Processing Stage
-
Approved by the Bank : 18 December 2008 - Recruitment of Consultants
- Recruitment of Consultants expected to take place in February 2009.
- Project Officer
- Hyunjung Lee (632-5835)
- Sustainable Infrastructure Division, RSDD
ITU Asia-Pacific Centres of Excellence Training Workshop on Effective Use of Telecommunications/ICT in Response to Disasters: Saving Lives
Sintok, Kedah, Malaysia
24-28 November 2008
International Telecommunication Union (ITU), with financial support from the Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy (DBCDE), Australian Government, and jointly with the ITU ASP Centre of Excellence (CoE) Network UUM Node in Malaysia, and the Ministry of Energy, Water and Communications (MEWC), Government of Malaysia, organised a five-day “ITU Asia-Pacific Centres of Excellences Training Workshop on Effective Use of Telecommunications/ICT in Response to Disasters: Saving Lives". The Training Workshop provided hands-on training on deployment and use of various telecommunication/ICT equipment and facilities such as satellite terminals, amateur radio, ad-hoc wireless networks, and VSAT.
Over 100 participants including country delegates, speakers, and local participants attended the Training Workshop. Of the total number, 31 international participants were from 22 countries while 62 local participants were from Malaysia.
The Training Workshop focused on concepts and hands-on training on various technologies and applications such as satellite communications, radiocommunication, Internet-base applications and etc. which are applicable and suitable for deployment aiming at facilitating rescue and relief operations in emergencies and especially in the aftermath of disasters. The Training Workshop aimed at:
* Making awareness and demonstrate telecommunication technology options, facilities and services applicable for use in response to disasters or emergencies especially in disaster relief operations;
* Providing practical experience to participants in using the telecommunication/ICT facilities and services for disaster relief operations;
* Strengthening partnerships in disaster relief among international agencies/organizations, NGOs, Industry, and governments as well as encourage roles of public sector or NGOs e.g. radio amateurs, volunteers, etc.; and,
* Identifying issues, gaps in countries in order to find ways for improvements or overcoming the issues or challenges.
Country delegates were invited to present country papers in which the Training Workshop received 12 papers and presentations.
During the hands-on training, system demonstrations were made to the participants who were also given opportunities to try out voice and data communications over the satellite and radiocommunication as well as through the Internet. In addition, a group of amateur radio voluntarily coming from different places of Malaysia helped demonstrate set up of various types of radio equipment such as HF, VHF, UHF and applications over the radio links.
Other demonstrations and hands-on training included sets up and uses of satellite broadband terminals/phones, VSAT, public wireless networking systems, radio in the box, web-based applications, and etc.
24-28 November 2008
International Telecommunication Union (ITU), with financial support from the Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy (DBCDE), Australian Government, and jointly with the ITU ASP Centre of Excellence (CoE) Network UUM Node in Malaysia, and the Ministry of Energy, Water and Communications (MEWC), Government of Malaysia, organised a five-day “ITU Asia-Pacific Centres of Excellences Training Workshop on Effective Use of Telecommunications/ICT in Response to Disasters: Saving Lives". The Training Workshop provided hands-on training on deployment and use of various telecommunication/ICT equipment and facilities such as satellite terminals, amateur radio, ad-hoc wireless networks, and VSAT.
Over 100 participants including country delegates, speakers, and local participants attended the Training Workshop. Of the total number, 31 international participants were from 22 countries while 62 local participants were from Malaysia.
The Training Workshop focused on concepts and hands-on training on various technologies and applications such as satellite communications, radiocommunication, Internet-base applications and etc. which are applicable and suitable for deployment aiming at facilitating rescue and relief operations in emergencies and especially in the aftermath of disasters. The Training Workshop aimed at:
* Making awareness and demonstrate telecommunication technology options, facilities and services applicable for use in response to disasters or emergencies especially in disaster relief operations;
* Providing practical experience to participants in using the telecommunication/ICT facilities and services for disaster relief operations;
* Strengthening partnerships in disaster relief among international agencies/organizations, NGOs, Industry, and governments as well as encourage roles of public sector or NGOs e.g. radio amateurs, volunteers, etc.; and,
* Identifying issues, gaps in countries in order to find ways for improvements or overcoming the issues or challenges.
Country delegates were invited to present country papers in which the Training Workshop received 12 papers and presentations.
During the hands-on training, system demonstrations were made to the participants who were also given opportunities to try out voice and data communications over the satellite and radiocommunication as well as through the Internet. In addition, a group of amateur radio voluntarily coming from different places of Malaysia helped demonstrate set up of various types of radio equipment such as HF, VHF, UHF and applications over the radio links.
Other demonstrations and hands-on training included sets up and uses of satellite broadband terminals/phones, VSAT, public wireless networking systems, radio in the box, web-based applications, and etc.
Malaysia’s broadband plan – stimulating the private sector
Introduction
Through the Malaysia National Broadband Plan (NBP), the government of Malaysia is promoting the establishment of universal access and service (UAS) to broadband Internet. As opposed to costly government intervention in building and managing a national broadband network, the strategy is for government to invest in broadband network connectivity and services for key regional organizations in order to stimulate critical demand for broadband services. Infrastructure and service provision is to be carried out by industry, supported through enabling regulations and incentives that establish an open market in which industry operators can creatively meet the growing demand for broadband connectivity in a variety of ways that include fixed, wireless and satellite approaches.
Malaysia is one of the leading economies in the region with a GDP of approximately USD 357 billion that has transformed from mainly a raw materials export economy into high technology sectors. With a population of 27 million, Malaysia’s increasingly affluent and skilled workforce have readily adopted the use of ICTs in business and personal activities. Mobile phone use is substantial with penetration rates of around 75 per cent of the population and demand for Internet, especially broadband, is growing. Despite this, only about 14 per cent of national households have broadband. Exacerbating this is limited market demand in the less lucrative rural and peri-urban markets.
The government of Malaysia recognized the barriers and challenges to broadband access would require more than simply broadband infrastructure but also flexible approaches to infrastructure development and service delivery that would serve to lower broadband costs in marginal areas. Increased regional awareness of broadband potential is also needed in important community activities and services to generate a critical level of use of broadband that would stimulate the increased subscriptions to broadband services and encourage private industry to deploy needed networks
The NBP Programme
To address the issues the NBP was launched in 2004 through the efforts of the Ministry of Energy, Water and Communication and the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission. An autonomous steering committee was established to manage the plan and task forces set up for fact finding in areas of policy and regulation, technical applications and industry. Broadband Stakeholder Groups (BSGs) were also organized with industry, community and government representatives at regional levels to assist in identifying key institutions and areas for broadband connectivity investment and critical feedback in crystallizing local demand for broadband services. Based on findings, targets were set to increase the number of broadband subscribers to 1.3 million or 5 per cent of the population in order to develop a critical mass of demand in underserved markets that would provide incentives for industry to establish necessary infrastructure and services.
A central component of programme focus is in connecting key institutions to broadband services and stimulating increased usage through investing in broadband network capacities. Planned approaches include investing in connecting government offices, schools and community organizations to broadband Internet and promoting e-government services accessible to local residents. Examples of targets for network and broadband connectivity for institutions include:
* Broadband service subscriptions for organizations paid by government;
* Connection of approximately 900 Federal, state and local government departments;
* Networking around 10 000 primary schools through the Schoolnet programme;
* 74 000 connections for public universities and research institutions;
* 4 000 hospitals and clinics networked and connected to internet resources; and
* 1 700 libraries and a multitude of community centres with a focus on educational, entertainment and e-commerce applications.
The NBP includes development of telecommunications policies and regulations that serve to build capacities introduce financial incentives and encourage infrastructure building in underserved regional areas. Examples include measures to unbundle and co-locate services, opening Malaysia’s Universal Services Programme for broadband initiatives, and allowing for broadband service delivery through multiple technologies including wireless solutions.
Industry response
In response to regulatory and financial incentives, telecommunications industries have initiated a number of solutions to increase penetration of broadband services. In September 2006 leading mobile operator, Maxis Communications Berhad, launched Maxis Wireless Broadband, a 3.5G (HSDPA) mobile service providing households and business customers with wireless broadband connection for both information and telephony services via a single wireless modem terminal. The service has proven popular with year end subscriptions in 2007 expected to total nearly 100 000 subscribers.
Enabling strategies
Nonetheless, challenges of stimulating demand in underserved areas have required that the NBP involve regionally specific measures and flexible policy and regulatory approaches. Enabling policies have been established to increase the number of SME businesses providing broadband services. Some policy examples include provision of suitable taxation regimes, financing mechanisms and government contracts as incentives for SME businesses. Example of regulations identified to support the competitiveness of regional markets include introducing flexibility in both the pricing of services and the types services that can be bundled in underserved areas.
Further, NBP task force and BSGs input provide assistance in feasibility analysis through carrying out regional supply and demand surveys and openly sharing results with stakeholders and industry. As an innovative approach to assessing local service viability, the NBP secretariat set up a geographic database where local businesses and households register their need for broadband services and geographic location; information crucial for identifying local market demand for broadband services and investment decisions in broadband infrastructure.
Since its inception in 2004, Malaysia’s NBP has spurred greater integration of broadband services in key organizations of regional and underserved markets. New forms of broadband services delivery such as wireless HSPA have helped connect underserved areas. Although targeted levels of broadband connectivity originally outlined in the NBP are not yet fully realized, crucial experience and lessons learned are improving the implementation and approach of plan activities. An updated version of the NBP is set to be officially released in early 2008. Some of the expected changes include the establishment of minimum standards in network speeds for main client categories that include public, government and industry.
Sources: Ministry of Energy, Water and Communications & Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission, 2006 2nd Ed., National Broadband Plan: Enabling Highspeed Broadband Under MyICMS 886
GSM Association, 2007, Case Study Series – Maxis HSDPA: Shaking up the Broadband Market. http://hspa.gsmworld.com/upload/papers/documents/22062007172122.pdf
Business Times, National Broadband Plan Details to Be Released, January 2008 Internet: http://www.btimes.com.my/Current_News/BTIMES/Saturday/Nation/ky25.xml/Article/
Through the Malaysia National Broadband Plan (NBP), the government of Malaysia is promoting the establishment of universal access and service (UAS) to broadband Internet. As opposed to costly government intervention in building and managing a national broadband network, the strategy is for government to invest in broadband network connectivity and services for key regional organizations in order to stimulate critical demand for broadband services. Infrastructure and service provision is to be carried out by industry, supported through enabling regulations and incentives that establish an open market in which industry operators can creatively meet the growing demand for broadband connectivity in a variety of ways that include fixed, wireless and satellite approaches.
Malaysia is one of the leading economies in the region with a GDP of approximately USD 357 billion that has transformed from mainly a raw materials export economy into high technology sectors. With a population of 27 million, Malaysia’s increasingly affluent and skilled workforce have readily adopted the use of ICTs in business and personal activities. Mobile phone use is substantial with penetration rates of around 75 per cent of the population and demand for Internet, especially broadband, is growing. Despite this, only about 14 per cent of national households have broadband. Exacerbating this is limited market demand in the less lucrative rural and peri-urban markets.
The government of Malaysia recognized the barriers and challenges to broadband access would require more than simply broadband infrastructure but also flexible approaches to infrastructure development and service delivery that would serve to lower broadband costs in marginal areas. Increased regional awareness of broadband potential is also needed in important community activities and services to generate a critical level of use of broadband that would stimulate the increased subscriptions to broadband services and encourage private industry to deploy needed networks
The NBP Programme
To address the issues the NBP was launched in 2004 through the efforts of the Ministry of Energy, Water and Communication and the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission. An autonomous steering committee was established to manage the plan and task forces set up for fact finding in areas of policy and regulation, technical applications and industry. Broadband Stakeholder Groups (BSGs) were also organized with industry, community and government representatives at regional levels to assist in identifying key institutions and areas for broadband connectivity investment and critical feedback in crystallizing local demand for broadband services. Based on findings, targets were set to increase the number of broadband subscribers to 1.3 million or 5 per cent of the population in order to develop a critical mass of demand in underserved markets that would provide incentives for industry to establish necessary infrastructure and services.
A central component of programme focus is in connecting key institutions to broadband services and stimulating increased usage through investing in broadband network capacities. Planned approaches include investing in connecting government offices, schools and community organizations to broadband Internet and promoting e-government services accessible to local residents. Examples of targets for network and broadband connectivity for institutions include:
* Broadband service subscriptions for organizations paid by government;
* Connection of approximately 900 Federal, state and local government departments;
* Networking around 10 000 primary schools through the Schoolnet programme;
* 74 000 connections for public universities and research institutions;
* 4 000 hospitals and clinics networked and connected to internet resources; and
* 1 700 libraries and a multitude of community centres with a focus on educational, entertainment and e-commerce applications.
The NBP includes development of telecommunications policies and regulations that serve to build capacities introduce financial incentives and encourage infrastructure building in underserved regional areas. Examples include measures to unbundle and co-locate services, opening Malaysia’s Universal Services Programme for broadband initiatives, and allowing for broadband service delivery through multiple technologies including wireless solutions.
Industry response
In response to regulatory and financial incentives, telecommunications industries have initiated a number of solutions to increase penetration of broadband services. In September 2006 leading mobile operator, Maxis Communications Berhad, launched Maxis Wireless Broadband, a 3.5G (HSDPA) mobile service providing households and business customers with wireless broadband connection for both information and telephony services via a single wireless modem terminal. The service has proven popular with year end subscriptions in 2007 expected to total nearly 100 000 subscribers.
Enabling strategies
Nonetheless, challenges of stimulating demand in underserved areas have required that the NBP involve regionally specific measures and flexible policy and regulatory approaches. Enabling policies have been established to increase the number of SME businesses providing broadband services. Some policy examples include provision of suitable taxation regimes, financing mechanisms and government contracts as incentives for SME businesses. Example of regulations identified to support the competitiveness of regional markets include introducing flexibility in both the pricing of services and the types services that can be bundled in underserved areas.
Further, NBP task force and BSGs input provide assistance in feasibility analysis through carrying out regional supply and demand surveys and openly sharing results with stakeholders and industry. As an innovative approach to assessing local service viability, the NBP secretariat set up a geographic database where local businesses and households register their need for broadband services and geographic location; information crucial for identifying local market demand for broadband services and investment decisions in broadband infrastructure.
Since its inception in 2004, Malaysia’s NBP has spurred greater integration of broadband services in key organizations of regional and underserved markets. New forms of broadband services delivery such as wireless HSPA have helped connect underserved areas. Although targeted levels of broadband connectivity originally outlined in the NBP are not yet fully realized, crucial experience and lessons learned are improving the implementation and approach of plan activities. An updated version of the NBP is set to be officially released in early 2008. Some of the expected changes include the establishment of minimum standards in network speeds for main client categories that include public, government and industry.
Sources: Ministry of Energy, Water and Communications & Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission, 2006 2nd Ed., National Broadband Plan: Enabling Highspeed Broadband Under MyICMS 886
GSM Association, 2007, Case Study Series – Maxis HSDPA: Shaking up the Broadband Market. http://hspa.gsmworld.com/upload/papers/documents/22062007172122.pdf
Business Times, National Broadband Plan Details to Be Released, January 2008 Internet: http://www.btimes.com.my/Current_News/BTIMES/Saturday/Nation/ky25.xml/Article/
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
