Time to give innovation its due

INNOVATION seems to be a favourite word of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak these days.

To him, Malaysia has come a long way, but the time has come to take the country to the next level.

The paradigm shift will ensure Malaysia takes the quantum leap to the ranks of developed nations.

After concluding the 12th International Advisory Panel meeting this week, he said countries that are technologically advanced have triumphed and will continue to triumph while those that fail to make innovation a cornerstone of the economy will fall behind.

He wants Malaysia to take the innovation path and is set to introduce a new economic model by year-end with emphasis on innovation, creativity and high value-add activities.

This is about leveraging on the talent that we have in the country and if properly done, we can be a powerhouse of innovation and creativity.

The prime minister is even thinking of setting up a “finishing school” to help information and communications technology graduates.

Those in the creative industry ought to be pleased as for years they have been hoping that someone will listen and do more for the creative industry. There are many people in the creative industry who are not able to sell their ideas or do not have funding.

Here is a plan to give the entire industry a big push.

In time, we can have a bigger pool of our own talents who can create softwares, games, creative content and popular Internet social networking services.

Innovation is not limited to just the entertainment sector, but innovation according to the PM will transcend all sectors, societies and communities; it will create jobs and new businesses such as nanotechnology.

This is a plan to uplift the society, bearing in mind that nations that have taken the innovation path are doing much better than those who are still using the old economic model. But to do all that, an effective and widespread broadband service is key.

The World Bank has said that a 10% rise in broadband penetration correlates to a 1.3% increase in gross domestic product.

The much talked about high speed broadband network and 4G WiMAX networks should be able to pave the way if the delivery promises are kept by the service providers.

Malaysia’s connection speed is at 0.8 megabit per second, according to a report by Akamai, a web company that has 48,000 servers positioned around the world and handles up to 20% of all Internet traffic.

In contrast, South Korea (11.3Mbps), Japan (7.3 Mbps) and Hong Kong (6.9Mbps) have the world’s top three highest average Internet connection speeds. Singapore’s speed is at 3.1Mbps, Australia 2.6Mbps, Thailand 2.0Mbps, Philippines and India at 0.89Mbps each and China at 0.81Mbps. Consistency in connecting speed and bigger cables that can carry huge video files across the world is necessary. Hopefully, the promises of 10Mbps and120Mbps speeds, as well as two-minute video downloads, are kept.

But as seen in the past, there have been many disappointments and some operators have not kept their promises many times. Malaysia cannot allow a repeat of bad connecting speeds and broken promises if it wants to move ahead and become a developed nation.

● B.K. SIDHU is deputy news editor and hopes that more colleges and universities offer creative courses such as animation and help build up the country’s level of innovation.

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