Malaysia Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution (Malaysia Centre4IR) Celebrates One Year of Turning Possibilities to Reality - MyDIGITAL
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Malaysia Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution (Malaysia Centre4IR) Celebrates One Year of Turning Possibilities to Reality

Malaysia Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution (Malaysia Centre4IR) Celebrates One Year of Turning Possibilities to Reality

Malaysia Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution (Malaysia Centre4IR) Celebrates One Year of Turning Possibilities to Reality.

KUALA LUMPUR, 20 June 2024 – Today, the Malaysia Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution (Malaysia Centre4IR) marks a significant milestone as it celebrates its first anniversary. Since its inception on 15 May 2023, Malaysia Centre4IR, has made notable progress in the promotion of 4IR technologies.

“The Malaysia Centre4IR, although newly established, plays an important role in driving partnerships to accelerate Malaysia’s ambitions in digital transformation and energy transition, at a national, regional and global level” highlighted YB Gobind Singh Deo, Minister of Digital. He continued to highlight the four critical priorities of the centre.

Firstly, by championing policy development and accelerating technology adoption, Malaysia Centre4IR is setting the stage for Malaysia to emerge as a global leader in emerging technologies. Through the Centre, Malaysia is part of World Economic Forum’s Global AI Governance Alliance, contributing to global thought leadership on AI Governance.

Secondly, the Centre plays a vital role in promoting digital literacy and  inclusivity among the Rakyat of Malaysia.  The success of the Centre’s ‘AI Untuk Rakyat’ programme that surpassed 1 million participants in less than 6 months, has demonstrated that citizens are eager to stay informed about  the latest technological advancements. More AI related modules, as well as other relevant topics such as cyber security and cloud, will be introduced in the near future.

Thirdly, collaboration remains key to fostering a thriving ecosystem of innovation and entrepreneurship. By forging partnerships with governments, industry, academia, and civil society, both at the global and local levels, continuous innovation and knowledge-sharing can be nurtured, and enabling the country to leverage international expertise, keeping Malaysia at the forefront of technological advancements and solidifying its role in the global network of technological innovation.

Last but not least, the Malaysia Centre4IR champions thought leadership in Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) technologies. Through the Centre, global practices that are beneficial to Malaysia can be harnessed, while concurrently amplifying Malaysia’s best practices through development of use cases, research and various engagements at regional and global levels.

Jeremy Jurgens, Managing Director & Head of the Forum’s Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution, remarked, “This celebration not only marks a significant milestone but also underscored our united dedication to harnessing the power of frontier technologies for the advancement of Malaysia and the broader Southeast Asian region”.

Over a year ago, the Malaysia Centre4IR was established through a collaborative partnership between the Government of Malaysia and the World Economic Forum, hosted by MyDIGITAL Corporation, an agency under the Ministry of Digital.

“Our mission was ambitious yet clear, to forge an vibrant ecosystem where policy makers, business leaders, academics and experts can collaborate on policies and pilot projects to utilise emerging technologies to address the nation’s critical societal, economic and environmental challenges.  The Malaysia Centre4IR has been pivotal in spearheading Malaysia’s digital and energy transformation agendas. Guided by the principle of people, process and technology, the centre has excelled as a connector, coordinator and activator in the innovation landscape, ” added Jeremy.

“Today’s theme, ‘The Future Faster: From Possibility to Reality’ aptly reflects our journey for the last 1 year. The Malaysia Centre4IR was the first Centre in Southeast Asia to join the World Economic Forum’s global C4IR network. A community of 19 other centres globally, where new and innovative approaches to technology governance, adoption, and scaling are being developed and implemented as we speak,” remarked Fabian Bigar, Head of Malaysia Centre4IR and CEO of MyDIGITAL Corporation.

He added, “In our pursuit of fulfilling our mission to accelerate Malaysia’s ambitions in digital transformation and energy transition, nationally and globally, we have forged impactful public-private partnerships across various sectors, paving the way for innovation and efficiency in industries once bound by tradition. Together, we have spearheaded initiatives that have left an indelible mark on our nation’s digital landscape.”

The Malaysia Centre4IR early partners were Microsoft and Access Partnerships where they  jointly published the report on the impact of generative AI to the Malaysian economy. The report titled “The Economic Impact of Generative AI: The Future of Work in Malaysia” provides early insights and awareness of the economic opportunities that generative AI can create, and what it means for local industries and workforce readiness.  Generative AI has the potential to unlock USD113.4 billion in productive capacity in the Malaysian economy, equivalent to one-quarter of GDP in 2022. It will change the way we work and will reprioritize the types of tasks undertaken, and skills needed in the workforce to  unleash creativity, accelerate discovery, and enhance efficiency.

Following that, it launched “AI for Rakyat”, an online self-learning portal and mass education platform for citizens from all walks of life to build awareness about AI and its applications. The platform was launched by the Prime Minister on 16 January 2024. To ensure accessibility and inclusivity, the programme is made available in 4 languages (Bahasa Malaysia, English, Mandarin and Tamil), with braille, text-to-speech and dyslexia-friendly features.  Developed in partnership with Intel Corporation, the programme achieved unprecedented results when over 1 million Malaysians completed the programme within less than 6 months, surpassing our 1 year target set by YAB Prime Minister at the launch of the programme.

Besides that, it also hosted a roundtable session at the ASEAN Green Hydrogen Conference 2024 titled “Navigating the Energy Transition for Industrial Clusters”. The session brought together key hydrogen players, together with the World Economic Forum Industrial Cluster team to share ideas and collaborations on advancing the decarbonization agenda within the ASEAN region and beyond towards achieving the Net Zero Goals by 2050 as laid out in the National Energy Transition Roadmap (NETR).

The latest key collaboration is with Bursa Malaysia where they brought together Malaysian Public Listed Companies (PLCs) from various sectors to address the urgent need for technology-driven ESG solutions to be integrated into their operations. This led to the development of MYCentre4IR Innovation Challenge where local and global innovators will be invited to provide possible solutions to work with the PLCs on a pilot project.

Event Highlights & Announcements

During the anniversary celebration, Malaysia Centre4IR announced several significant new initiatives:

  1. Launch of Malaysia Centre4IR Website
    The anniversary celebration also marks the launch of the Malaysia Centre4IR website. The website was jointly developed with World Economic Forum’s Forum Spaces, which serves as a premier showcase for groundbreaking initiatives and content, including comprehensive reports, actionable use cases, and invaluable insights from both Malaysia Centre4IR and the World Economic Forum. The website also has a dedicated member space to enable curated discussions and partnerships in the digital space. The website is accessible at https://www.centre4ir.my/home.

  2. MYCentre4IR Innovation Challenge
    Malaysia Centre4IR announced its collaboration with Bursa Malaysia for an  Innovation Challenge to accelerate the adoption of 4IR technologies among corporates. By engaging with global participants through the World Economic Forum’s UpLink platform, Proof of Concepts (PoCs) will advance the adoption of 4IR technology, focusing on net-zero and process automation, and will be showcased during the World Economic Forum ASEAN Summit, where Malaysia will chair next year. Winning Proof of Concepts (PoCs) will advance the adoption of 4IR technology, focusing on net-zero and process automation, and will be showcased during the World Economic Forum ASEAN Summit, where Malaysia will chair next year. Startups will have the opportunity to work on Proof of Concepts projects with the participating corporations namely CJ Logistics, Globetronics, Maybank, RedTone and Sunway Group.

  3. Energy Literacy Programme – A Collaboration with OpenLearning
    Guided by the National Energy Transition Roadmap (NETR), which targets net-zero emissions by 2050, and the WEF’s Energy Transition Index, ranking Malaysia as the best in ASEAN, we are concentrating our efforts on three key pillars: Energy Literacy Programme, Sustainable Gas Hub, and Just Energy Transition 2050. The Energy Literacy Programme is designed to enhance public awareness and understanding about energy transition and setting the way forward for Net Zero. Developed in collaboration with OpenLearning, this platform offers courses such as “Understanding Energy Transition” from the Malaysian Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution, and “Setting Your Path to Net Zero” by Western Sydney University (WSU) as well as “Sumber tenaga dan peralihan untuk kelestarian dan Peluang Kerjaya dalam tenaga lestari” in collaboration with UNITEN with more targeted Energy related courseworks in the pipelines. These courses provide citizens with the knowledge to contribute to the energy transition and explore sustainability in-depth. Participants can earn certifications from these top-ranked institutions, opening new career opportunities in sustainability and supporting Malaysia’s journey towards achieving net-zero emissions. The partnership with OpenLearning, formalised with an MoU on 13 June 2024, utilises their advanced AI-powered platform to enable educators to create and disseminate innovative educational content for the Energy Literacy Programme. This collaboration with Western Sydney University, ranked #1 for sustainability courses according to Times Higher Education’s (THE) 2023 World University Rankings and UNITEN, Malaysia’s national university focused on energy and sustainability studies. The courses are accessible to the public on the MYCentre4IR’s OpenLearning portal.

  4. Introduction to the “What Gig Workers Really Want” White Paper
    In collaboration with Global Market Research and Public Opinion Specialist (IPSOS) and World Economic Forum, a white paper titled “What Gig Workers Really Want: Understanding Gig Workers’ Work and Welfare Preferences in Malaysia” presents a comprehensive analysis of the gig economy in Malaysia.  It explores the demographics, motivations, earnings, and experiences of 1,500 gig workers across the nation.

    The key Insights revealed:

    • Gig workers value Flexibility, Accessibility & Supplementary Income that Gig Economy provides: Individuals are drawn to all types of gig work, whether platform or non-platform based, due to the flexible and accessible additional income opportunities they offer,
    • Experienced and Educated Workforce: Almost 80% of gig workers are above age 25, with a substantial segment falling within the 25-34 age group. Furthermore, 60% possess diplomas or higher qualifications.
    • Part-time Gig Work as Income Supplement: Interestingly, 70% of gig workers engage in part-time work, contributing an average of 37% to their total income, indicating it serves as a supplemental source of income rather than a primary one

This white paper provides invaluable insights and guidance for policymakers and platform providers to optimise opportunities within the gig economy while addressing its challenges. To access the full report, click here.

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About MyDIGITAL Corporation

MyDIGITAL Corporation is a Strategic Change Management Office under the Ministry of Digital, incorporated in 2021 to lead national level change management through driving the execution of the initiatives under the Malaysia Digital Economy Blueprint and the National 4IR Policy. It serves as the secretariat to the National Digital Economy and 4IR Council (MED4IRN), chaired by the Prime Minister, that is responsible for leadership and policy direction of the digital economy and 4IR-related policies.

About Malaysia Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution (Malaysia Centre4IR)

Hosted by MyDIGITAL Corporation, the Malaysia Centre4IR is part of the World Economic Forum (the Forum) global network of Centre 4IR. It is the 1st centre in Southeast Asia and 19th in World Economic Forum’s global network of Centre for Fourth Industrial Revolution. It is a dynamic and forward-thinking platform designed to ignite innovation, facilitate policy development, and drive collaboration on a global scale. The partnership with the Forum provides access and connection to a vast pool of knowledge, best practices, and global insights from a network of like-minded organizations and countries, enabling learning and collaboration on cutting-edge projects.