By V. Sivaji
Keeping abreast with the latest digital economy advances, the first Digital Economy Partnership was signed between Digital Penang, Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) and Beyond4 Sdn Bhd earlier today at the E & O Hotel , Penang.
Representing MDEC was its chief executive officer, Mahadhir Aziz, Digital Penang by its CEO, Tony Yeoh and Beyond4 Sdn Bhd by S T Rubaneswaran founder / CEO.
Yeoh in his remarks highlighted the occasion as a significant day for Digital Penang which as a young state agency to move with speed to make up for lost time and the disruption from the pandemic.
“The bright side is that the pandemic has made going digital more urgent towards Vision Penang 2030.
“Over 50 years, Penang has built a strong manufacturing ecosystem, however it is our strong belief that we need to complement this hardware engineering strength with digital software,” added Yeoh.
In the meantime, Mahadhir said that MDEC has taken the lead for the past 25 years to develop the digital economy for Malaysia.
“Our goal at MDEC is to catalyze Malaysia’s tech ecosystem with high impact initiatives that will enable tech companies to become global champions.
“The further adoption of AI, IOT, Blockchain and Robotics & Automation Systems will provide new means for startups to develop new business solutions for the market.
“The collaboration between MDEC, Digital Penang and Beyond4 signals another step forward in uplifting the Penang startups to ecosystem through federal, state and private collaboration.
“To-date we have successfully onboard 21 co-working spaces such as Malaysia Digital Hubs with Forward School in Penang being one of them,” added Mahadhir.
Beyond4 fulfills its role as an enabler of the digital ecosystem specializing in accelerator platforms on multiple industry verticals for the post digital era.
The partnership will strive to make Malaysia a global powerhouse for innovations.
“Today everywhere we look, the technology industry is undergoing a digital platform paradigm shift that impacts businesses of every sorts.
“Beyond4 was incorporated with a very clear mission in mind as a change agent to face the very world we are in today.
“No two problems are the same and therefore no solution can be the same,” said S T Rubaneswaran in his address at the MOU signing ceremony.
He also shared that Beyond4 ecosystem is made up of five digitally integrated multi-tier accelerators such as Education, Skills and Upskilling, Career and Innovation.
“As such Beyond4@WCOE in Penang is where tomorrow’s manufacturing excellence is born. Beyond4 will invest RM5 million in the next 36 months with a plan to execute our ambitious project nationwide to create 5,000 tech specialized Malaysians and create 50 start-ups,” added Rubanneswaran.
In the pipeline, Beyond4 also plans to collaborate in the digital economy sector with other states like Malacca, Perak and Pahang soon.
