SUNNYLANDS: Tech-savvy U.S. President Barack Obama had a nice gesture for Asean leaders huddled at a summit he hosted at a California desert resort today.
He arranged for a “knowledge-sharing” session with three CEOs of tech giants for the leaders at the start of the US-Asean summit being held for the first time on American soil.
One strong message from the bosses of IBM, Microsoft and Cisco was that Asean has a chance to leapfrog not only at the digital economy level but beyond that - towards the use of in cognitive artificial intelligence (AI).
“The use of the AI technology can help resolve many delivery issues by lowering the cost and being more efficient,” Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak said.
“These could include for sectors such as healthcare, traffic management, natural disasters,” he told the Malaysian media after the end of the first day of the two-day summit.
“Towards this, they said we have to develop the necessary skill sets,” he said.
“As such, the STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) education is necessary to prepare for the next generation to fill data-powered jobs.”
Najib said Malaysia needs to step up its digital economy and increase the level of commitments.
He said STEM education needs to be given a fresh impetus.
“We are not achieving the 60:40 ratio in our schools. We have a lot of challenges because the structural change taking place in the global economy has a huge ramification and we have to prepare for that,” he said.
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, who took part in discussions on entrepreneurship with Asean leaders, said Western companies should help foster technical innovation in small-and medium-sized companies in developing countries.
He believes the success of those home-grown companies can spur economic diversification.
"I think the core promise of this generation is not just in consumption of technology...but to create world-class technology, to be accessible to entrepreneurs in those countries," Nadella said.
"They can go on to create great digital services and products, and of course those digital services and products, as these economies diversify, are going to find new markets, new growth for those countries."
All countries were represented by their heads of state or government, except Myanmar, who sent Vice President Nyan Tun. Le Luong Minh, the ASEAN Secretary-General, was also present.
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