Discuss about the IT in different industries of Malaysia.
Information Technology (IT) is one of the major reformative technology in existence and have changed the operational methods of most of the industries. The prominence offered by the technology in discussion is very vital and understanding the vitality of the subject every industry is adopting it. The technology associated industries such as the Broadcasting, manufacturing, banking, manufacturing, education and others are the one who are leveraging the subject to its full potential (Goldin & Katz, 2018). It has even inspired the governments to start different programs that assist in leveraging different technologies that could be of assistance to the industries of respective countries (Sabherwal & Jeyaraj, 2015). The installation of first computer in 1966 started the age of IT in Malaysia (Ismail, Affandy & Hamzah, 2018). Since, then different measures have been adopted by both the public and private governing authorities to flourish the IT in their respective industries. One of such initiatives was initiated by the government that is named as Transformasi Nasional 2050 which translates into national transformation 2050 and is abbreviated as TN50 (Kln.gov.my, 2018). The project aims at transforming Malaysia in the time domain of 2020 to 2050. The discussed project offers a well-defined goals and structure for the discussed time domain and will focus on education, technology, youth, environment, governance, public administration, economy and citizen well-being. The data for the planning is supposed to be collected from the youths and hence, it can be quoted that the project will be driven by the technology (MacDonell & Prinz, 2017).
Hence, the paper in development will discuss the status, enablers and constraints of IT in three different industries. The industries taken in account are the education, manufacturing and SMEs (Small and Medium Enterprises). The paper will also attempt to analyse the impact that IT will have on the industries in discussion and are these impacts in context with the Malaysian governments TN50. Finally, the discussion will be summarised to concluded the paper with appropriate referencing.
Education is one of the key reformative factor for any state and it can be justified by the fact that it has been included as part of the TN50. Another notable fact about the sector in discussion is that it can witness major upgradation post adequate adoption of IT. So, it is of great prominence that role f IT in the education is analysed. Taking basis of the above stated fact the status, enabler and constraints of the IT in the Malaysian education sector has been discussed in the following sub-sections.
Education has also witnessed major changes in context to IT and to make those changes positive in nature the government formulated three policies. The first policy states that ICT (Information communication Technology) is the right of every student and is and should be used as an enabling factor to mitigate the digital gap. The second policy quotes that the ICT should be used as learning and teaching tool(s), as a subject(s) and as part of subject(s). Finally, the third policy states that the technology in discussion should be used to enhance the management processes of the educational entities (universities, colleges, schools and others) and in the process offer enhanced efficiency, effectiveness and productivity.
The use of term ICT in the policies is used by the government to cite that along with the IT the disruptive communicational means and technologies should also be considered by the educational entities. The above discussed statement is also in context with the meaning of ICT which defines an umbrella that consists of IT along with the communicational means such as the mobiles, telephony, wireless networks, middleware and other necessary communication associated tools and technologies.
The government have initiated different projects to support and enhance the use of It in education which includes Malaysian Smart School (July, 1997), MySchoolNet (website), establishment of institutes to train teachers in IT, computerisation programme (June, 2002), Electronic Book Project (2001), Penang E-Learning Community Project (1997) and many other (Saadati, 2014). The initiative has also been supported by the non-government agencies and some of the programs initiated by them are Chinese Smart Schools, Private Smart Schools of Klang Valley and others (Shamsudin & Majid, 2017).
Hence, from the discussion above it can be stated that the status of IT in Malaysian Education is at its peak and is highly supported by the Government and the private firms as well. It can also be quoted that it will improve overtime and with the introduction of TN50, it will get a buff and the impact will get further boosted.
The above discussion has cited that IT is being massively adopted in the Education however, the country in discussion still has to match up with the IT based Education system of developed countries. The reason for the above stated statement are the barriers which has been discussed as follows:
Lack of Technology: Malaysia is ranked 63rd of 176 countries in 2017 in the ICT development index which cites the fact that the accessibility and use of technology is limited in the country which also limits its impact in Education (Itu.int, 2017).
Internet Connectivity: The average internet speed of Malaysia is 4.9 Mbps according to Akamai rankings 2015 which also restricts the impact of IT in education (Belson, 2015).
Other barriers are also associated that may block the IT in education however the above discussed are the most prominent in nature. Additionally, the discussed barriers are also limiting the chances of attaining TN50 goals and hence is of great prominence to mitigate them.
A latest release by World Bank suggests that Malaysia has improved its ranking in the global business climate ranking which states the ease of doing business in that respective country (World Bank, 2017). It will attract more businesses which will incite incoming of new technology and cash. The educational institutes can take assistance from the businesses as part of their CSR (corporate Social Responsibility) to train the teachers and students in disruptive IT tools and technology (Sengupta, 2017). The discussed investment will also attract foreign population to the country which will be a vital chance for the government to attract foreign academic scholars that will enhance the education level of the country. Additionally, it will increase the economy of the country which the country can use to enhance its IT programs. The TN50 program will also be supported by the IT in education as it will support two crucial objectives of the program. The education will get an upgrade while exposing students and teachers more explicitly to IT will help in research and development on the subject that will enhance the Technology which are the part of TN50 objectives.
IT has reformed the manufacturing industry from automation to the introduction of the machine controlling software and other prominent IT tools and techniques, all of them have enhanced the capability of the manufacturing. The discussed section will discuss the status, challenges and future direction of the IT in the manufacturing industry of Malaysia.
Export.gov is the official website of the Malaysian government that is developed to assist U.S (United States) based companies to strategies, develop and execute strategies relevant to sales to succeed in the international market. The website in discussion states that the contribution of ICT in the Malaysian GDP is over 10.8% and is estimated to rise upto 13% by 2020 (Export.gov, 2018). The reason associated with discussing the website is associated with the fact that the primary source of export for any country is its manufacturing and the case is similar with Malaysia (80% of GDP is contributed by manufacturing) (Miti.gov.my, 2018). The primary focus of the article in discussion is over Industry 4.0 policy that is abbreviated as 4IR which was introduced to reduce manual labour reliance and for the purpose of increasing yield (Export.gov, 2018).
The reason for introducing the 4IR policy is associated with the plan of Malaysia to get in the elite club of developed countries by 2025 (Miti.gov.my, 2018). The Ministry of International Trade and Industry defines 4IR as “Industry 4.0 is referred to as production or manufacturing based industries digitalisation transformation, driven by connected technologies” (Miti.gov.my, 2018). The aim of the 4IR is to make the manufacturing industry of the country a smart manufacturing industry and hence the main pillars of the discussed policy are sub-branches of IT. An image has been attached below that reflects the main pillars of the 4IR and are technology drivers.
Figure: Screenshot of Main pillars of Industry 4.0
(Source: Miti.gov.my, 2018)
Hence, it would be adequate to state that the government has adopted major initiative to revolutionise the manufacturing industry with assistance of IT. So, the status of IT in manufacturing can be stated as in its development phase because according to the government data, most of the Malaysian industries are still in the industry 2.0 or industry 3.0 phase which are not technology driven (Miti.gov.my, 2018). Hence, it would be justified that the IT driven manufacturing industry of Malaysia is still an objective that needs to be met. However, the manufacturing industries are proceeding with it and will attain the objective in near future.
The website of ministry of international trade and industry has also discussed the constraints that are limiting the impact of IT in manufacturing industry and they have been listed as follows:
Other challenges are also there that needs to be tackled, however, the most prominent ones have been discussed.
It is evident from the discussion above that IT will cite prominent benefits to the manufacturing industry and hence is receiving so much exposure. Additionally, the support from the government will assist the manufacturing industry to gain a more impactful IT adoption. The processes like 3D printers are enabling the manufacturing industry to save resources while offering an efficient and effective quality offering within a shorter time frame and with little effort then the traditional methods. The employment of the 3D printers will be of great efficiency in the Malaysian manufacturing industry because of the low raw material prices (compared to its Asian counterparts India, China, Japan and others) in the country (Forbes.com, 2017). The combination of low raw material prices and the technology of 3D printing, if utilised adequately could make Malaysia global leader in manufacturing and hence export.
The future direction for the manufacturing industry are not limited to the 3D printing only but IoT (Internet of Things), automation, BCI and other IT tools and technologies are also available to offer their services. With the economic growth of Malaysia, the country can adopt disruptive technologies to proceed with the goal of industry 4.0 and become a global leader in manufacturing.
SMEs (Small and Medium Enterprises are major contributors to a nation’s economy and sustainability and hence, it is vital to cite them with adequate attention (Kazlauskait? et al., 2015). Understanding the vitality of the above stated statement the Malaysian SMEs are highly supported by the Public and Private entities. While the private entities are investing in SMEs, the government are introducing plans to make the SMEs IT enabled so that they can earn competitive advantage and emerge as a sustainable global leader in the future. SMEs have a limited resource to expand on technology however, they can use it adequately in technologies such as IoT, Cloud, PoS (Point of Sales), VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocols) and other technologies to enhance their processes and ultimately sustain their future (Johnson & Schaltegger, 2016).
The aim that Malaysia is proceeding with is to turn themselves from Commodity-based economy to a global leader in goods and services offering country. Hence, the focus is also cited on the SME’s because it contributes over 40% to the GDP of the country Hence, different programmes have been initiated by the governance to make them smart and more productive through means of IT (Thestar.com, 2017). Though the rate of IT enabled SMEs are limited. However, the facts are changing and the SMEs are changing their approach and are developing a flexible nature towards IT and in the process becoming smart. The e-commerce, e-trade, mycybersale programmes are motivating the SMEs to adopt in IT and their participation has increased overtime which cites their developing interests. However, there are some barriers and they have been discussed in the following section.
The barriers or constraints that are associated with the IT impact on the SMEs has been listed below (Kurnia et al., 2015):
The government initiatives have made the SMEs aware of the benefits that IT is capable of citing in their general operations. These initiatives have cited the benefits of maintaining cloud based infrastructure to save physical space and maintenance costs on systems, IoT to monitor and control processes and many others. Additionally, several training programmes have been initiated by different organisations (both public and private) that educate employees in IT. Taking all of that in consideration along with the Digital Malaysia plan, it would be justified to state that Malaysia is ready to become a dominant force riding on the IT capability based SMEs and have a sustainable future.
Conclusion
The report could be emphasised to state that Malaysia is becoming aware of the IT perks that they may enjoy on association with the subject. However, some constraints such as IT infrastructure or insufficient skills and similar others are restraining the IT development of the country. However, the scenario may change in the near future as the government has focused on making the country smart based on technology. To attain the goal different smart programs have been initiated and the subjects are entertaining it to have a sustainable future. Additionally, it can also be summarised from the paper that IT en3abled industries of Malaysia will also act as a boosting catalyst for the program of TN50. Because one of the primary focus of the Government in the TN50 program is the enhancement of the Technology and sectors like, industries, education and others. The discussion has proved that IT will offer enhancement in the discussed sector which in the process will help in attaining TN50 goals. Hence. In conclusion it would be justified to state that IT has impacted Malaysia in a small amount due to certain restraints. However, to globalisation, increasing interests towards IT and the initiative from the government, Malaysia is on its way to become a global dominant force riding over IT.
References
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