Empowering Society

Of late, I have received comments that indicate the Government is slowing down in awarding information and communications technology (ICT) projects to companies. My guess is the current Eighth MalaysiaPlan (2001 – 2005) is entering its final stage, thus the focus now towards compiling industry feedback on the development needs of the next plan (2006 - 2010). Judging from the sizeable amount of RM5.2 billion for ICT-related programmes during the Eighth Malaysia Plan (EMP), MDV expects public sector spending on ICT to remain healthy for the next plan. The budget from the existing plan went to government computerisation, flagship ICT applications and projects to narrow the digital divide.

My thoughts led me to the 2005 e-readiness rankings recently published by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) and written in co-operation with The IBM Institute for Business Value. The participating countries were assessed on their ability to promote and support digital business and ICT services. Out of the 65 countries surveyed, Malaysia was placed at number 35 with a score of 5.43 out of 10. In 2004, Malaysia was number 33 with a score of 5.61. Across Asia, Malaysia is trailing behind Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea, Japan and Taiwan. This is satisfactory considering that we are behind developed Asian economies but ahead of less developed counterparts.

hshsjaas

Hello world!

This is the first post!