The Star:
WITH the imminent implementation of the Asean Economic Community (AEC) by the end of the year, this year’s Asian-Oceanian Computing Industry Organisation (Asocio) Pikom ICT Leadership Summit 2015 will be addressing the challenges faced by the ICT sector in playing a more active role in transforming Asean into a single production and market base.
The Asocio Pikom ICT Leadership Summit 2015, hosted by Pikom (National ICT Association of Malaysia), will be held on Oct 6 to 7 at the Sunway Pyramid Convention Centre.
Asean’s ICT industry currently employs some 11.7 million people, contributing over US$32bil (RM138bil) or over 3% of the region’s GDP. This number is poised to grow significantly after the AEC policy and programme implementation formally takes shape by Dec 31.
This will give rise to new opportunities in digital business trends which will drive ICT adoption in the region.
Pikom chairman Cheah Kok Hoong said under the Asean ICT Master Plan 2015, ICT would continue to be a major driver in all aspects of AEC for the next few decades.
“The digital divide and socio-economic gaps between Asean member countries in key areas, such as broadband penetration, ICT infrastructure, disposal income and market sophistication and so on, are good areas to start looking for opportunities.
“Malaysian companies can either venture into underdeveloped markets to provide basic products, services and infrastructure; or penetrate into more developed economies with sophisticated solutions. The market is huge, so companies should look to establish a niche area in which they can excel,” he said.
The Asean ICT Masterplan includes six strategic thrusts – economic transformation, engagement and empowerment, innovation, infrastructure development, human capital development and bridging the digital divide.
The summit will delve into details the specific opportunities and challenges of the masterplan and explore the theme of the conference, which is “Reinventing Leadership in the Digital Age”.
The event will see a gathering of more than 500 C-Level executives and government officials from 24 Asian and Oceanian economies to look into leadership trends and insights to spur innovation and adoption of new technologies and business models to drive ICT growth in the region.
Also on the agenda are discussions on the impact of taxation on the ICT industry, e-business, standardisation of systems and processes as well as mutual recognition agreements across the region.
A recently published report by Pikom on the ICT Job Market has also shown gaps in human capital development, as salary arbitrage in the region and globally may affect Asean as a hub of ICT innovation. Outsourcing Malaysia, a Pikom chapter, also released a study on the rising demand for ICT and global business services (GBS) in the region, as well as areas in which Asean countries may be lagging behind.
“The data indicates that while the region is poised for strong growth in ICT, challenges abound that may stymie the momentum. Asean, and by extension, Asocio, as a region will need to seriously look into this,” said Cheah.
Key speakers confirmed for the event include Tan Sri Dr Lin See Yan (former Bank Negara deputy governor), Tan Sri Munir Majid (Asean Business Advisory Council – Malaysia chairman), Goh Peng Ooi (founder of Silverlake), Ivan Teh (founder of Fusionex) and Fredrik Haren, author of the Ideas Book.
Cheah noted that other areas expected to see strong ICT infrastructure spending include the banking, manufacturing and telecommunication sectors.
He also expected a further increase in talent mobility as ICT talents embrace the free movement of human capital to seek greener pastures across the region. This is potentially a double-edged sword for Malaysia, given the prevailing issues of talent shortage and brain-drain locally.
In going forward, Pikom will propose to Asocio to form a taskforce to address these areas of concern, as well as solicit input from member countries and formulate papers for submission to ICANN, OECD, Asean and their respective governments on policy initiatives to spur growth.
Currently, Asocio represents more than 10,000 ICT companies which generate a total revenue of over US$350bil.
The summit will be held in conjunction with several other keynote events, notably the MSC Malaysia Apicta Awards ceremony and gala night.
On a separate note, Pikom, during the press conference, also recognised its first batch of partners and sponsors for the Asocio Pikom ICT Leadership Summit Asocio.
They are: MDeC (Strategic Partner); Fusionex (Platinum Sponsor); Silverlake (Gold Sponsor); NTT Data (Silver Sponsor); HT Consulting, Epson, Genovasi, Glocomp, Galasys, Hitachi Sunway, Juniper, Logon, Powerware, Symantec (Bronze Sponsors); Amazon Web Services, e-Lock, K2 (Industry Partners),supported by MyCEB and Malay Mail and in association with Outsourcing Malaysia.
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http://www.thestar.com.my/Metro/SMEBiz/News/2015/09/16/ICT-summit-to-address-AEC...
