KUALA LUMPUR: Digital Minister Gobind Singh Deo says the government must build an ecosystem that enables technology, such as artificial intelligence (AI), to be used and developed in Malaysia.
Speaking at the launch of the "From Oversight to Advantage: How Boards Can Accelerate AI Adoption in Malaysia's Financial Institutions" report published by FIDE Forum and Accenture, he says the ministry is focusing on three key aspects in preparing the country for a digitalised future: awareness, access, and adoption.
On awareness, he stresses the importance of creating opportunities for people to learn about what emerging technologies do, what they will achieve in the future, and the impact they will have on them.
"This (is) in the hope that it will generate this feeling of alarm in them, so that they too will start taking positive steps towards finding out for themselves how technology applies to their individual sectors, be it the financial sector or otherwise," he says, adding that people are interested in understanding what comes next.
When it comes to access, the priority is around the ability to actually use the technology they learn about at a reasonable cost.
"There must be an ecosystem which allows each and every one of you here to have access to technology at a cost that befits. I mean, it must be reasonable.
"You can't have an ecosystem which says that 'technology does this', 'it does that', 'it empowers', 'you must adopt technology', but ultimately it's too expensive.
"Or you do not have connectivity, as a result of which you're not able to access it. So we have to start thinking of how we can build ecosystems that deliver technology to you," he says.
Once there is both awareness and access, he says, adoption should be the next step. He warned that if preparedness is lacking and adoption is delayed, countries and industries risk being left behind, adding that the National AI Office (NAIO) was established to drive this agenda and will continue to do so once it is institutionalised on July 28.
Gobind further notes that the adoption of AI technologies may affect certain jobs. He says that the government is proactively looking into upskilling and reskilling efforts.
This includes initiatives with the Human Resources Ministry (Kesuma) in identifying those who may be impacted, along with the affected sectors. He stresses that the government does not want a situation where those affected are left without choices.
