Delegates challenged to come up with ways to use ‘Big Data’
KUCHING: Delegates of the International Digital Economy Conference Sarawak ( Idecs) 2018 are challenged to come up with innovative ways to make use of the ‘Big Data’ and benefit from its predictive insight and analysis.
According to Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg, Big Data refers to the collection and processing of sets of data with the three Vs: volume, variety and velocity.
He said the data volume is so large that traditional data processing tools are unable to handle them, citing payment transactions in a country or movements of every vehicle in a city as examples.
Besides, he added, there should be variety – that is, the data structure, data format, data source and the complexity level have to show great diversity.
On velocity, he said it merely means that the collection and processing of the dataset has to be quick.
“That, ladies and gentlemen I will leave for you to discuss and work out during this conference,” the Chief Minister said at the opening ceremony of Idecs 2018 at the Borneo Convention Centre Kuching ( BCCK) yesterday.
“I have been talking about accelerating economic growth and improving and protecting the quality of life in Sarawak. The contention of this conference is that data can be used to play an important part in my mission for Sarawak,” he added.
He revealed that the main concern of the state government is how the industry players in Sarawak will be able to govern, manage and use the data; hence the theme for this year’s Idecs – ‘ Data to fuel economic growth and the quality of life’.
According to him, everyone has access to the various types of data almost every moment by using applications such as WhatsApp, WeChat, Skype and other systems.
“Similarly in the digital economy, we can perceive that various entities such as business entities, government bodies, associations, financial institutions in our communities, cities, states, nations or the whole world all consume humongous amount of data to govern and manage their entities, products and services,” said Abang Johari.
He pointed to the usage of big
The contention of this conference is that data can be used to play an important part in my mission for Sarawak.
data in the agriculture industry which allows administration of precise quantity of fertilisers and water as well as setting of optimum temperature, humidity and light to the best possible breed of cultivated plants to produce the highest quality of agriculture products within the shortest time possible.
“Similarly, in the manufacturing sector, big data can be applied to improve production quality, minimise process error and product defects, enhance efficiency which will lead to shorter production time and cost savings,” he added.
He added that data is crucial to digital economy and an improvement to a quality modern life, pointing out that it would be a mistake to overlook the need for robust data security and set the right policies to preserve data sovereignty.
“We have seen many instances and consequences of social media data breaches. Companies and even governments could be brought down due to leakages of critical data,” he said.
Besides touching on Big Data, Abang Johari presented a progress report of the state’s digital economy initiatives and topics such as Talent Development, Start-ups, Digital Village and Innovation Hubs, the importance of encouraging private investments, agriculture and food security, the future of agriculture in the digital age, manufacturing, Light Rail Transit ( LRT) and Kuching Competitive City, digitally enhanced tourism, digital health and the strategic assets of Sarawak.
Meanwhile, State Secretary Tan Sri Datuk Amar Morshidi Abdul Ghani said Idecs 2018 is participated by 2,379 delegates – an increase over 1,703 delegates last year.
“This certainly reflects where our state’s digital economy initiative is,” said Morshidi.
He noted that among the participants of Idecs 2018 are several keynote speakers from all over the world with valuable global views related to the theme.
He added that 19 experts in the digital related industries would share their knowledge and experience in various areas such as Big Data, Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Data Science, Internet of Things, Smart City, Start-ups and Digital Government.
Among the 12 countries participating in Idecs 2018 are Canada, Australia, Austria, Estonia, Hong Kong and Zimbabwe. A total of 13 exhibitors from the various sectors of the state’s digital economy have set up their booth at BCCK to showcase their products or services.
Also present at the opening ceremony were deputy chief ministers Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas, Tan Sri Datuk Amar Dr James Jemut Masing and Datuk Amar Awang Tengah Ali Hasan as well as other state cabinet ministers and assistant ministers.
Meanwhile, a welcoming dinner for sponsors and speakers at the conference was held at the Riverside Majestic Hotel, Astana Wing on Sunday.
Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg, Chief Minister