The collaboration between Malaysia Digital Economy
Corporation (MDEC) and Axiata Group Berhad (Axiata) was made
official by a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) which aims to boost the
nation’s cybersecurity industry by strengthening talent development as well as
futureproofing innovation.
According to the report released by MDEC, the public-private partnership was established due to the
fast-growing opportunities for Malaysians that arise from the growing digital
economy. The partnership will benefit institutes of higher learnings (IHLs),
startup communities and government agencies.
MDEC Chief Operating Officer Dato’ Ng Wan
Peng explained that strengthening the cybersecurity industry is crucial for
futureproofing Malaysia’s Digital Economy. Malaysia is one of the top 3 ASEAN
countries that are expected to contribute or make up 75% of cybersecurity
services market share by the year 2025.
She added that there is a huge opportunity
to capture a significant portion of the export market across ASEAN which is
expected to be worth RM 10 billion by the year 2021. And so, it is essential to
drive partnerships with one of the leading telecommunications groups in Asia, which
is Axiata. The 350 million customers that it has will make a good testbed to
futureproof cybersecurity innovation.
Axiata President & Group Chief
Executive Officer Tan Sri Jamaludin Ibrahim explained that there has always
been a longstanding partnership and mutual cooperation with MDEC. The MoU
signifies Axiata’s commitment to work with MDEC in order to drive the
transformation of Malaysia into a world leader in cybersecurity and digital
resiliency.
Axiata will leverage on its pool of
experts, technologists and innovators to impact national policies, build
capacity, develop local talents, share solutions, exchange information and
build on experiences to make a meaningful difference in the markets.
He furthered about Axiata’s commitment to
talent development and will support MDEC’s initiatives in creating future
cybersecurity talents through industrial and upskilling internships. Axiata
will also be providing mentorships in developing cybersecurity solutions.
Under the MoU, MDEC identified four
cybersecurity areas that Axiata will need to focus on: Development of
Cybersecurity Capacity; Mentoring Program for Cybersecurity Innovation; Local
Solution – Piloting Adoption; and Community Experience Exchange.
Development of Cybersecurity Capacity will
be supported by Axiata through cybersecurity student internship mentoring
programmes at MDEC Premier Digital Tech Institutes of Higher Learning. This
will produce industry-ready talents, which will raise the nation’s
cybersecurity preparedness.
Axiata will support Mentoring Program for
Cybersecurity Innovation by providing professional mentorship to entrepreneurs
in developing cybersecurity solutions. Axiata will be sharing domain knowledge in
the telecommunication sector and will be providing guidance to potential
startups and entrepreneurs.
As for Local Solution – Piloting Adoption, Axiata
will be supporting the pilot of solutions to futureproof cybersecurity
solutions. The goal is to ultimately help in the adoption of local solutions
and possibility to penetrate export market across ASEAN.
The Community Experience Exchange will be
done through roundtable discussions involving CISOs and CIOs of industry to
help MDEC gauge and understand cybersecurity issues and challenges. The
interaction platform will encourage the engagement of the cybersecurity
community with Axiata representing the telecommunication industry.