KUALA LUMPUR: Umno members and leaders must harness the powers of hyperconnectivity and the social media to better engage and serve the people, said party deputy president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.
Muhyiddin, who is also deputy prime minister said hyperconnectivity, or the use of multiple means of communication, played an increasingly prevalent role in the way politicians connected with people.
“Hyperconnectivity has not spared our own field of politics. Political campaigns are increasingly being run on the digital platform, and politicians are reaching out to voters using social media.
“All this seems possible digitally -- fundraising, advertising and personalisation (of their approach), and it has worked,” he said when closing the 5th Umno International Forum at Putra World Trade Centre here today.
United States President Barack Obama, for instance, had successfully utilised the powers of social media in 2008 when the latter changed the face of campaign marketing by raising over half a billion US dollars online.” said Muhyiddin.
The two-day forum, which carried the theme “A Hyperconnected World: Challenges in Nation Building”, saw the participation of some 400 international delegates from over 200 countries.
Muhyiddin added that governments worldwide needed to work closely with universities and the private sector to meet the rising demands of today’s information and communication technologies industry.
“Governments, universities, and the private sector must work together to create education and skills development programmes that will supply the market with qualified graduates and professionals, while being fluid enough to evolve with the increasing demands of technology developments and business needs.”
He said the future of any economy depended on its ability to become a leading knowledge economy and an innovation society.
“It depends on the capabilities of its workforce to be innovative and to work efficiently using new technologies,” Muhyiddin, who is also education minister, said.