The upcoming 2017 Budget will put more emphasis on enhancing the country`s digital economy, said Treasury Secretary-General, Tan Sri Irwan Serigar Abdullah on October 6.

The digital economy, he said, has a huge impact on the ecosystem and Malaysia is focused on transforming its economy based on an innovation-led growth.

Irwan said a thriving, digital economy has the ability to contribute some 20 per cent to the gross domestic product (GDP) of Malaysia by 2020.

"This is the reason why it would be the focus of the 2017 Budget," he said in his speech during the Government Digital Transformation: Innovative Government 4.0 event here today.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak had in early August shared that digital economy contributes to 16.3 per cent of the GDP.

Irwan said Malaysia aspires to have a digital economy that contributes 20 per cent to the GDP by 2020.

He said that trade is also being increasingly conducted in digital form.

"Products and services are transmitted digitally across borders. Moreover, data is the lifeblood of the 21st century enterprise across all sectors, including retail, media, manufacturing, finance, logistics and healthcare."

Malaysia, Irwan said, has to take advantage of the growth opportunities presented by the Digital Transformation to the fullest of its potential, which is powered by new ways of collaborative networking where productivity and competitiveness are enhanced.

"This is where smart public - private partnership becomes more essential to further spur innovation, productivity, value creation and competitiveness."

Irwan revealed that there are some 675 million smartphones in service in Asia today, and by 2017 there will be some 2.2 billion in Asia.

In Asia, he said 50 per cent of enterprise applications are on cloud versus 24 per cent in Europe and 34 per cent in North America.

"The proliferation of new device types, along with the connectivity of the cloud, is making us more mobile and chaging the way we work, learn and play.

"As technology becomes more immersive, we also expect it to help us develop more personal and social connections with colleagues and constituents."

The Finance Ministry today received the coveted Innovation Excellence Award 2016 from Microsoft Malaysia for implementing innovative technologies to enhance public service delivery and provide role based training for civil servants.

The award was presented to Irwan by Toni Townes-Whitley, corporate vice president, Worldwide Public Sector at Microsoft Corp.

The award is in line with Microsoft`s efforts to highlight digital transformation amongst customers who have adopted cloud solutions.

Irwan said Malaysia`s partnership with Microsoft played a pivotal role in helping government and business align itself to the country`s strategic ICT thrust.

"We look forward to carrying on this journey with Microsoft leveraging their technologies and expertise to further the digital transformation goals of the country."

Meanwhile, Townes-Whitley reiterated the company`s commitment to transform the public sector.

"In Malaysia, we have worked hard on the last 25 years to become a trusted advisor to the government, and have provided over RM17million in grants and skill training.

"We recognise that leaders across the public sector must pair technology-enabled programmes with policies that benefit and enable all people, and we recognise Finance Ministry`s exemplary efforts in leveraging technology that improve the lives of citizens and transform the nation."

By New Straits Times

http://www.nst.com.my/news/2016/10/178375/digital-economy-be-given-emphasis-2017-budget

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