KUALA LUMPUR: The full benefits of Malaysia's digital economy can be realised if individuals, businesses and institutions have trust in the system, said former Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.
This, he said, is to facilitate its execution, policies, legislations and regulations must be in place to protect the public interest, build trust and keep pace with innovations and digitalisation trends.
"Now with this in mind, the digital committee (established my term in office) that was tasked to devise the legislative framework, took into consideration the past developments in Malaysia, strengths in the cost challenges faced, lessons learned from other nations and the views and needs of the private sector.
"For the legislative framework to be effective, it means to foster innovation, be cooperative, be simple and clear, and have a good degree of agility to facilitate change and improvement where necessary," he said in his speech at the International Digital Economy Forum 2024.
Muhyiddin said that there are five main 'digital movers' that were identified to guide future processes.
He said these include public sector data sharing, improved private sector digital adoption, enhanced connectivity and infrastructure, the facilitation of cashless payments, and the introduction of digital IDs.
He also acknowledged the importance of data in the current economy and as such said that cloud services need to be scalable, reliable and cost-effective with proper safeguards towards sensitive data.
"More and more facets of business in society are being measured, evaluated and cross connected with different degrees of complexities.
"We can no longer ignore the importance of data collection, data security and storage.
"The cloud-first strategy, unveiled during my term, was intended to help reduce government costs in information technology management," he said.
He added that in the long run, all these cloud services will allow big data, artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things (IoT), and other applications to be utilised to enhance and strengthen government services.
He also said a digital transformation for any economy, is not just about technology and innovation, but requires the government to be the catalyst towards its inclusivity.
"This requires the whole of the government approach, not siloed plans confined to individual ministries or agencies.
"Well-coordinated digital plans with execution, timeline and constant monitoring of developers will ensure that we don't lose track of the digital mission.
"There is no one-size-fits-all solution when it comes to enabling and regulating the digital economy," he said, adding that the objective must be to work on a judicial plan that fits Malaysia, one that is beneficial to most Malaysians and executable even or resources, infrastructure requirements, economic needs and future potential.