Soldiering on – a year later
Published on: Sunday, August 21, 2016
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ALMOST a month ago, 29th of July marked my one-year overseeing the nation’s science, technology and innovation (STI) agenda.
It has been a fulfilling journey as I familiarise myself with every nook and cranny of the ministry’s governance.
The Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (Mosti) governs a very wide spectrum of subjects, from molecules to space. The new economy as I see it, also based on the emerging technologies of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, would be driven by the digital economy.
The new industrial revolution would evolve at an exponential rate instead of a linear one; it would result in breakthroughs at an unprecedented speed. It would blur the lines between the physical, digital and biological spheres.
Technology has and would displace many jobs – cars that do not require a driver, artificial intelligence that could solve problems and a robot to show you around when you enter retail stores.
Mosti in the past year has looked into several initiatives, including fostering innovation in the digital world.
Just last Thursday I officiated MyIoT Week 2016, a forum that brings experts together to discuss the Internet of Things (IoT).
It basically means billions of things or devices talking to each other in an intelligent way, generating gigantic chunks of data and crunching them for purposeful use.
Mimos Bhd, the National R&D Centre in ICT under the purview of Mosti, has offered IoT-based solutions to several government agencies. They collaborated with the Royal Malaysia Police to develop Smart Lock-Up and Smart Policing to improve operational efficiency in the police force.
We also see the application of IoT in agriculture, namely Smart Pollination to effectively monitor the pollination cycle and Mi-Trace, a food traceability solution that I launched last month, boosting consumers’ confidence in our exports and enabling Malaysia to enter the premium market. In the near future I foresee more solutions and services being delivered through IoT by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
During an Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development(OECD) ministerial-level conference on the Digital Economy in Mexico last July that I attended, the issue of trust in the digital world was heavily debated.
A Microsoft study noted that Malaysia is among the top countries with the most malware threats detected.
CyberSecurity Malaysia is constantly reviewing this vulnerability. I congratulate them for receiving the Cyber Security Best Innovation Award 2015 from FireEye Inc., a world-leading organization on international cyber security technology research, for the development of CyberDEF. It serves to overcome issues related to digital forensics and malware attacks.
Biotechnology is another emerging technology breakthrough that would dominiate the new economy.
This year we witnessed the rebranding of the Malaysian Biotechnology Corporation to the Malaysian Bioeconomy Development Corporation.
Through this rebranding, we demonstrated our commitment towards pursuing the bioeconomy agenda.
The Bioeconomy Corporation will be the economic development agency for the bio-based domain and to oversee the industry and technologies in implementing the bioeconomy agenda for Malaysia.
Leveraging on our rich natural resoures, I very much look forward to the successful implementation of Bioeconomy Community Development Programme (BCDP). At the grassroot level, BCDP advocates the development of rural farmers and communities, spearheading job creation initiatives that will alleviate unemployment among households of the lowest 40 per cent income group.
As of last year, 23 BCDP projects have been identified, expected to create additional income of RM 4 300 per farmer and impacting 1400 lives. To date, the BCDP has directly impacted 747 farmers and indirectly impacted 3 586 lives.
But we are also looking beyond a commodity-based economy. I have always stressed to “do more with less”.
The government has adopted National Blue Ocean Strategy (NBOS) where we apply principles of high impact, low cost and rapid execution to execute national development.
Most is actively looking into innovative ways where technology can be applied to improve community service.
A successful example of NBOS is the development of “idengue system”, a mobile app that informs the community of dengue hotspots in real-time, by Malaysian Remote Sensing Agency (ARSM), an agency of Mosti, together with the Ministry of Health.
The system, which won the Public Sector Innovation Award in 2013, would encourage a more proactive community behavior to help reduce dengue cases by accurately monitoring their neighbourhoods.
In my first year in office, the National Science Council too was established.
Chaired by the Prime Minister and of which Mosti is the secretariat, the council is part of a bigger agenda to strengthen the country’s STI governance.
It ensures that the STI agenda is monitored by an “umbrella” council and prevents duplication in ministerial roles.
I applaud our Prime Minister’s vision to develop a National STI Masterplan, and Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Action Plan through this council.
According to a U.S. Department of Labor report, 65 per cent of today’s schoolchildren would in the future, be employed in jobs that are yet to exist. Thus not only we want to improve the ratio of students pursuing science to the targeted 60:40, we need to ensure that students are equipped with new skills to thrive in the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
I have proposed for Sabah to have its very own State Science Centre. Construction is set to begin in Tuaran soon.
With modern digital technology such as virtual reality simulation, children become engrossed in discovery science.
More so, if such science centres were equipped with food courts like the National Science and Technology Centre in Beijing, they would be popular for family outings, making the community integral partners in science enculturation.
Science enculturation must lead to innovation enculturation in the global knowledge based economy for wealth and employment creation. This has been the transformation in the developed world since the turn of the millennium.
We want to nurture and enhance the inquisitive and innovative instinct of children through inquiry based science education (IBSE) or STEM education by performing simple experiments with their hands, leading to technological innovation.
In France, it is known as La Main a la pate or “kneading dough with your hands to make bread”. In UK, it is simply known as STEM Learning.
I believe that Innovation Enculturation must begin with passionate STEM teachers. I was very impressed by the UK National STEM Learning Centre that I visited in York in May this year.
It is one of the few national lifelong professional development centres for STEM teachers in the world.
It is supported by the government, academia, industry and society in the UK. The total commitment of the community is the acid proof of success in science and innovation enculturation. I envision a Malaysian STEM Learning Centre to be an integral part of the Sabah Science Centre in Tuaran.
Recollecting my childhood, as a kampung boy, I trekked through rocky paths, slithered down the hill paddy of Kampung Lokos, hopped across flowing chilled streams, travelling for tens of hours from home just to attend school.
I would build a shelter near my school and stay there for the week. On the weekends I would again brave the trudge and scorching hot weather to return home.
Today, our lives have been transformed drastically by science and technology. We have a far more efficient way of doing everything. Distance learning is possible through the World Wide Web.
Massive open online courses even allow us to participate in a borderless classroom and interact with thousands of international students without physically attending the lessons.
This was how the Third Industrial Revolution affected our lives using electronics, information system and automation.
Over the year I have observed how surreal but certain the next revolution would arrive at our shores.
And finally when I was handed over this ministry I quickly realized the many good initiatives done by the ministry.
My writings here are one of the many ways I communicate with the public.
In view of the importance of connecting with the people via social media, I launched my own app that integrates all my social media accounts and allows people to reach out to me via their mobile device in a systematic and effective way.
Consequently I hope that as I continue my journey in Mosti, the ministry and the public would continue to support each other to drive the new economy.
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