MDEC UNDERGOES TRANSFORMATION TO LEAD NATIONAL DIGITAL AGENDA

KUALA LUMPUR, June 16  -- The Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) has undergone a four-phase transformation for the past one year in its mission to ensure its relevance in today’s social and economic landscape, as it led the nation’s digital transformation and Malaysia 5.0 agenda.

Chairman Datuk Wira Dr Rais Hussin Mohamed Ariff said MDEC’s digital mandate has been brought into focus as a result of the global pandemic, requiring a paradigm shift in the digital economy and organisation-wide changes to support it.

Phase one, he said, started in June 2020, with an objective to understand the existing practices, culture and sentiments of MDEC as well as identifying the stumbling blocks that prevented it from realising its full potential in implementing its mandate, besides identifying factors that should be raised well above the industry’s standard. 

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“Stakeholder engagement was another agenda under phase one where I reached out to MDEC’s team members and external parties such as government officials, foreign ambassadors and strategic groups within the targeted industries; gaining invaluable insights on how to truly place Malaysia as the Heart of Digital ASEAN,” he said.

Rais said this in his article titled “A Year On, a Reinvented MDEC”, published in the 'Thought' column on www.bernama.com today.

As for the second phase, he explained that the aim was to set the foundation for MDEC’s transformation from three main aspects -- the people, process and structure.

“The second major initiative was to conduct a holistic governance review, aided by relevant professional entities familiar with governance transformation in ensuring that the impact and outcome of every initiative are clear and that public funds are properly accounted for with greater responsibility and transparency,” he said.

He said restructuring exercise was conducted with the establishment of five distinct pillars, two new dedicated board committees overseeing governance and technology-related.

A Management Operation Council was also set up to streamline approvals and reporting process while providing visibility on key financial and operational matters.

Rais said phase two also saw the introduction of the Malaysia 5.0 agenda, curated based on Japan’s Society 5.0 model to transform Malaysia into a nation that is deeply integrated with technology, governed by inclusive and equitable eco-environmental principles and practices.

With the gaps identified and the roadmap towards improvement determined, he said MDEC moved into phase three from January to March 2021.

“One of the key achievements was the signing of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Corruption-Free Pledge by all MDEC employees, demonstrating the organisation’s strong commitment towards a transparent and honest regime,” he said. 

 Rais said the ongoing phase four focuses on executing mandates to meet the objectives under MyDIGITAL, ensuring the digital economy benefits the people.

“Further to our positioning of ‘Malaysia, Heart of Digital ASEAN’, we have announced the Digital Investment Office with the Malaysian Investment Development Authority (MIDA) to further streamline and land quality investments. 

“We are beginning to see promising developments of this in our pilot project in the field of agrotech via our eLadang programme. Farmers involved are already reaping an up to 20 per cent increase in yield quality and quantity as well as income,” he added.

The full article can be accessed at https://www.bernama.com/en/thoughts/news.php?id=1972358

-- BERNAMA