Think IoT to stay ahead, says Mustapa

KUALALUMPUR: DatukMustapa Mohamed,Ministerof International Trade and Industry yesterday called on local companies and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to consider the Internet of Things, or IoT solution as a tool to drive growth.

“I encourage more local companies, SMEs and start-up technopreneurs to explore the adoption and implementation of IoT as a means to addvalueintheirproductsandservicesaswellastoincreaseproductivity and efficiency towards scaling up their businesses,” said the minister of at the seminar on IoT Malaysia 2017 co-organised by the Malaysian Investment Development Authority (MIDA) and Intel at MITI.

The holding of this seminar is timely and relevant as the world has come to an era which calls for a digital transformation. IoT, which is a component of Industry 4.0 is no longer just a futuristic concept but is actually happening now and is already transforming every aspect of people’s lives.

Realising that IoT holds tremendous potentials that cut across all industries in the world, the minister urged industry players to seize the growing opportunities. “Industry players need to change the way they dobusiness,toaligntoemergingIoTs and Industry 4.0 applications.”

This call is in line with the government’s direction to make Malaysia the leading industrial hub for high technology products and activities in the Asean region.

“Malaysia is privileged to have goodengineeringcapabilities,skilled workforce and a strong manufacturing base. These create an enabling structuretowardsmaterialisingthis important agenda.

“Global companies and MNCs are welcome to make Malaysia as their regional development hub for high technology products and activities in the region.

“Atthesametime,welookforward to more high quality investments, both from domestic and foreign sources, particularly in related catalytic sectors such as electrical & electronics (E&E) and machinery & equipment (M&E),” said the minister.

Recognising the challenges that companies go through in the execution of Industry 4.0, particularly in filling the gaps in the country’s IoT ecosystem,theministerseestheneed toformstrongpartnershipsbetween thegovernment,theindustryplayers and all the other stakeholders.

The Minister also reiterated that “Many SMEs are capable of developing the supporting technologies such as chip packaging technology, Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS) and high technology electronic components, but they just have not had access to the right IoT platform.

“This is where MNCs can play a strong role to support local companies and SMEs to grow.

“If MNCs can give SMEs a helping hand, just like what Intel is doing today, local companies and SMEs can leverage on the established IoT platformsof theseMNCs,”headded. — Bernama