Byline High Res

FEATURE I
Challenges of implementation can include lack of buy-in
and knowledge from the top down, the skills gap of your
current employees, data security concerns, and scalability
and reliability. How can this be solved?
First, the management needs to be educated on the need to
transform into 4IR. Secondly, the staff are also not equipped
to go through this transformation process. The government
needs to educate the management on the potential benefits
and opportunities in transforming into 4IR, share success
case studies and show the future technology trends and
potential consequences if they do not transform.
The current level of employees’ skill sets should be
analyzed and thereafter identify the skill sets required after
transforming into 4IR. The concerns with data security can
be tackled by applying fraud detection systems to avoid
fake data generation. The usage of big data analytics can
also help improve network protection by identifying the
actual attacks as opposed to the false positives.
Cloud computing and web services can improve scalability
and the usage of sensors in robots with an integration of
efficient analysis of collected data can increase the reliability.
Cloud computing allows users to store vast amount of
data and access it remotely, why aren’t more companies
adopting it and allowing workers to work remotely?
I think the office space is definitely transforming, either
due to cloud computing or the introduction of co-working
spaces but human element cannot be replaced, and this is
what 4IR is all about.
Cloud computing is a trend that continues to grow and
brings a lot of benefits. However, companies are not
adopting it due to a number of concerns including security
issues. In addition, cost management and containment
are concerns as to why cloud computing adoption is not
popular. Migration to cloud computing is also an issue as
many cloud challenges can arise.
Traditional offices will change from each person having their
individual space to an open space in the office where you
can work in any space. Co-working spaces also have a lot of
dangers in terms of confidentiality.
A staple of 4th Industrial Revolution is the establishment
of 5G networks to facilitate fast and intensive data
transfer. Knowing that current 5G requires a fury of nodes
to operate, how will the government choose the areas or
districts to implement the system?
Nine industries have been identified as the focus areas
of Malaysia’s 5G technology and they are agriculture,
education, entertainment, healthcare, manufacturing, oil
and gas, smart city, smart transportation and tourism. 5G
is important as the investment in broadband is directly
correlated to the country’s economic growth. In my opinion,
the government should prioritise city centres and districts
with industrial parks. These are the places where more
commercial and industrial activities are being carried out.
Then once we have covered these areas, it can be expanded
to the rural areas and improve the network connections.
In fact, MCMC has started the 5G Malaysia Demonstration
Projects with 8 companies committed to an investment of
RM116 million. The 5G demonstration projects will focus
on facilitating and cultivating the development of a holistic
and inclusive 5G ecosystem in the country, in pursuit of
stimulating the demand as well as adoption of 5G technology
for both businesses and consumers.
Is the Malaysian workforce ready for mass automation and
complex network systems? Will the automation process
leave many low to medium skilled laborers unemployed
and will the complexity of the system result in a labor
shortage?
The nature of work in the future will evolve. Despite the fact
that traditional jobs that involve calculations, clerical and
data processing might be hit the hardest by software and
computers, the same technological progress that caused the
disruption will also lead to the creation of new professional
fields and job roles.
In the future, workers are more likely to have many jobs over
the course of their careers, largely due to the rise of the gig
economy, instead of holding down a position with the same
employer for decades, according to the World Bank.
Malaysia itself still does not have the capability to fully
implement 4th Industrial Revolution with only local
technology. Should the government partner with other first
world countries to help achieve 4IR? If so how?
Yes, the government definitely has to partner with other
countries such as Japan. Germany, China and Taiwan, to
name a few. 4IR requires a lot of new technology which we
currently do not have. MITI has called on Japanese investors
to leverage on Malaysia’s push for digital transformation
including setting up operations in the country and obtaining
the MSC status. There is also the robust Malaysian start-up
MABC BYLINE 7