SINGAPORE and Thailand have it. So do Indonesia, India, South Korea and many others. I’m talking about an Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Ministry, which has become a core part of the administrative machinery in the respective countries to help hasten the move into the digital economy.

Malaysia seems to be the odd one out here, as it does not have a dedicated ministry for ICT. And it looks to remain that way based on the new Cabinet lineup announced last Tuesday.

Will an ICT Ministry make a significant difference?

Yes, according to the Association of the Computer and Multimedia Industry Malaysia (Pikom), whose 803 member companies command about 80 per cent of the total ICT industry in Malaysia.

Pikom, which had proposed a new ICT Ministry prior to the new Cabinet announcement, reckoned that the move will go a long way in accelerating Malaysia’s technology industry growth and export potential.

Its chairman David Wong Nan Fay had said the inclusion of the proposed ICT Ministry was in lieu of the local ICT industry’s growing prominence as a major economic driver.

He went on to say that the convergence of many technologies over the past eight years had resulted in local ICT companies having to interface more frequently with several Government agencies. As such, the establishment of the proposed ICT Ministry could help unify many important bureaucratic processes and procedures under one umbrella.

These are certainly valid points.

Under the current setup, ICT comes under the purview of two Ministries: Energy, Water and Communications, and Science, Technology and Innovation. While two heads are better than one, this certainly is not the case here.

As far as policies and guidelines are concerned, things do not seem to be moving as fast as it should as the relevant Ministries have a lot of things to look into, and ICT is just one of them. This is a bit of a concern, as development of constructive policies and guidelines are crucial to deal with global ICT deregulation and market liberalisation.

A dedicated ICT Ministry certainly will be good for the industry and country as a whole. There will be more focus and urgency, so to speak.
Since this will not happen, let’s hope the Ministries in charge would do more to spearhead the industry and take it to greater heights, and put Malaysia on par with the world’s digital economies.