KUALA LUMPUR: The Digital Ministry has launched a new policy to speed up the Digital Automation and Technological Advancement (DATA) adoption in the public sector as part of Putrajaya’s efforts to foster a data-driven government, says Gobind Singh Deo.
According to the Digital Minister, the policy will serve as the foundation for long-term digital transformation, as artificial intelligence and innovation cannot be developed without strong data governance.
“This is long-term work. Digital transformation is not something we can plan for two or three months.
“AI is based on data, and data must be digital if we want to make better decisions as a government.
“When decisions are made based on data, we can make them faster, reduce wastage, target better without wasting money and improve how we work,” said Gobind to reporters after officiating the event in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday (Feb 10).
Gobind said the Public Sector Data Digitalisation policy (PPDSA) is an important policy by Putrajaya to digitise data in the government, as non-digital records and fragmented data systems remained as legacy issues in the public service.
“Data in the public sector is not in the digital form at present,” he said.
Gobind also said it is important to determine the storage methods and security of data that is created from the newly launched PPDSA.
“That is why we have the Malaysian Government Central Data Exchange (MyGDX) platform, which will enable data sharing,” he added.
Gobind also said the PPDSA was drafted in line with Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s vision of strengthening governance and reducing wastage.
“This policy is also the foundation to data sharing to foster an administration that is more efficient, transparent and responsive.
“It is also a brave step forward in the government’s efforts to strengthen the transformation of the delivery of digital services so that it is faster, more accurate and fairer for all,” said Gobind.
MyGDX, spearheaded by the National Digital Department (JDN), has involved 81 agencies, comprising 51 data providers and 23 data consumers.
These agencies are connected through 49 integrated systems which already processed over 23 million Application Programming Interface (API) transactions.
Gobind also said the National AI Office (NAOI), through the Data Commission, is currently having discussions with industry to determine priority areas to focus on.
“We are deciding what are the priority areas so we can facilitate that,” added Gobind.
JDN director-general Nik Zalbiha Nik Mat said the policy will lay out a framework to ensure that government agencies are working together while enabling cooperation with the public sector at the same time.
“It is important that the policy is practical, relevant and fulfills the requirements of public agencies on the ground,” said Nik Zalbiha.
According to her, the policy was developed on four main objectives - driving the digitalisation of public sector data; increasing the sharing of digital data; strengthening public sector governance and fostering a data-driven culture.
She also said the policy addresses key structural elements such as data digitalisation management, security, infrastructure and digital data literacy within the civil service.
Nik Zalbiha said the MyGDX platform adopts a whole-of-government approach in data sharing and integration.
“With over 23 million API transactions recorded, this showed that the platform has successfully safely facilitated the sharing of critical data safely,” she said.
“The expansion of MyGDX 2.0 phase 1 begins this year and we are targeting operations in 150 agencies with 300 new field datas,” she added.
Nik Zalbiha also said the expansion of MyGDX is in line with targets of the 13th Malaysian Plan (13MP), the Public Sector Digitalisation plan (RPSA 2026-2030.
“We must realise that efforts to strengthen the digitalisation of government services will not bear results without the leadership, commitment and readiness of the civil service to change,” she added.
