As we Malaysians unite our hearts and minds to celebrate our 64th Hari Merdeka (National Day) on 31st August, as a rakyat (citizen) of our beloved country, I often reflect on the rich diversity of our people, our culture and creativity, and how our collective strengths would continue to light the way to a bright future for our children, and our children’s children.
Although the past year and a half was a particularly challenging period due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we Malaysians must continue to believe in ourselves that, as a country, we will emerge even stronger, more resilient and progressive in the ‘new norm’.
And what is the ‘new norm’ besides awareness of social distancing, face masks and the likely emergence of remote work cultures for various organisations?
For me, it would be the continued ascent of the Digital Economy which is, as stated by the World Bank, a ‘new driver of development for Malaysia’. The MyDIGITAL vision, which comes under the National Digital Economy Blueprint, is the strategic initiative to further grow Malaysia’s digital economy. The aim is for the digital economy to contribute 22.6% of Malaysia’s gross domestic product (GDP) by 2025 while creating 500,000 new jobs.
What’s more, the blueprint complements other national development plans such as the 12th Malaysia Plan and the Shared Prosperity Vision 2030. As stated: “It encompasses ideas and plans to increase digital literacy, creating high-income jobs, improving banking and finances, gaining better digital access to education and medical services in rural towns.”
Indeed, by leveraging the internet, smartphones, Big Data, artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, advanced analytics and other digital technologies, Malaysia can increase productivity, spur innovation, and improve livelihoods.
Digital technologies also promote inclusion by enabling existing organisations to serve markets that are currently underserved. What’s more, they can lower costs and increase efficiencies, resulting in greater efficiencies for Malaysia, our government, businesses and the rakyat, while promoting a ‘culture of innovation’.
At SAP Malaysia, we are constantly striving to elevate Malaysia’s competitiveness, while also being actively involved in various aspects of nation-building. For example, when the pandemic hit earlier last year, SAP opened free access to various technology solutions that differentiated and supported businesses and individuals who were navigating disrupted supply chains while exploring new ways of working.
And rest assured, SAP would continue to be supportive of technology’s role for Malaysia to realise sustainable growth in the years ahead. Our focus predominantly centres around upskilling and youth employment, together with small-medium enterprises (SMEs) readiness for Industrial Revolution 4.0 (4IR) along with the transition to intelligent technologies on the cloud.
On upskilling and employment, SAP continues to collaborate with Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) on the MyUniAlliance programme which provides training for some three thousand students per year. Eighteen higher learning institutes, including two foreign universities, have thus far participated in the programme.
And in collaboration with the ASEAN Foundation, SAP also hosts the ASEAN Data Science Explorers (ASEAN DSE) initiative at both national and regional levels. The objective, here, is to encourage youths to embrace analytics skills to see through various projects to benefit communities and countries.
And our country does have the talent to compete with the best! Last year (2020), the Malaysian team of Oscar Fang Jack Ling and Quah Chun Meng from Universiti Teknologi Malaysia flew the Malaysian flag high at the regional finals by emerging as the second runners-up of the ASEAN DSE competition! The Malaysian duo's project was focused on Digital Integration within the spheres of quality education, decent work and economic growth, together with sustainable cities and communities.
"ASEAN DSE was, without a doubt, an enriching learning experience from start to finish. We both got to learn and immerse ourselves in ASEAN's development, issues and values," said Ling.
"Besides picking up important 21st-century digital skills, we also learnt about the importance of soft skills such as communication, pitching, critical thinking, and perseverance from our participation in the competition," added Quah.
Encouragement for SME readiness for Industry 4.0
Meanwhile, encouragement for SME readiness for 4IR is also an important priority for businesses to embrace cutting-edge digital technologies to realise productivity and efficiency gains. The SME landscape is especially crucial as many still lag in technology adoption within their business operations.
Hence, the growing importance of SMEs to utilise technology directly into key business processes if they are to survive and thrive against global competitors. Local businesses need to make the transition to becoming ‘intelligent enterprises’. By doing so, businesses can do more with less, deliver a best-in-class customer experience, build resilient supply chains, while inventing new business models and revenue streams.
Two recent examples come to mind as I write. Firstly, there is Aspen Glove Sdn Bhd (Aspen Glove), a new player in the industry who turned to SAP’s ERP (enterprise resource planning) technologies to punch above its weight in today’s competitive glove market.
Aspen Glove’s focus on automation is in line with Malaysia’s Industry4WRD policy, which aims to attract stakeholders to shift towards Industry 4.0 applications and technologies, creating a holistic ecosystem to support the adoption of Industry 4.0 by industries, and enable the holistic transformation of the manufacturing sector to increase and strengthen productivity and cost-efficiency.
As eloquently expressed by Aspen Glove managing director Iskandar Basha Abdul Kadir: “We are now living in an era where technology drives everything else. We have to be at the forefront of embracing technology.” He added that SAP and our partner ecosystem had demonstrated strong manufacturing best practices and glove industry knowledge, thus enabling Aspen Glove to be able to focus on business objectives, rather than maintaining the ERP system, as well as shortening the sales cycle and helping in the company’s decision-making process.
Then, there is world-renowned spice manufacturer Baba Products (M) Sdn Bhd (BABA’S) which has successfully accelerated its digital transformation programme to further drive efficiencies with optimal outcomes. It is certainly a case of ‘old favourites’ embracing the ‘brave new world’ ahead: The BABA’S Group’s stance is to always maintain the highest standards with ‘freshest on the shelf’ policy with the finest ingredients to ensure purity and quality, and the employment of innovative state-of-the-art production and hygienic packaging techniques.
The group’s digital transformation initiative resulted in a transition from previous all-manual, paper-based processes to the SAP S/4 HANA digital business platform. As stated by its group finance head Ilaventhan Vijaya: “After close examination, we chose SAP due to its innovative capabilities which would propel our business’ development to the next level.”
All said, SAP stands for a purpose, with our mission to help Malaysian companies run better and improve Malaysians lives, with sustainability at the core. As we look back at the sustainability journey that SAP has been on for close to three decades, we reinforce our pledge to use our extensive resources to make a truly positive global impact for Malaysia.
In the meantime, Selamat Hari Merdeka 2021 Malaysia come 31st August!
Note: The above commentary was contributed by Hong Kok Cheong, Managing Director of SAP Malaysia
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