Muhyiddin wants digital divide narrowed

KUALA LUMPUR: It is imperative for the digital inclusion efforts to be implemented for rural communities, vulnerable populations and marginalised group, says Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.
Muhyiddin said that if the digital divide between the rural and the urban areas was not addressed accordingly, these people alongside those who have yet to be connected would be further left behind.
In this respect, he added that Malaysia had embarked on a transformation initiative several years ago to propel the nation into a high-income economy by focusing on several sectors, mainly communications, content and infrastructure.
"What is crucial is the paradigm shift that will have to take place to move from providing infrastructure and access, to providing applications and content to create a knowledge-based economy that, in turn, will accelerate economic expansion and lead to generation of income," he said when opening the KL Converge 2014 at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre here today.
Muhyiddin, who is also education minister, said the broadband and information, communications and technology (ICT) services have added new dimensions to education, where online learning and e-libraries were almost the norm today.
"I remember the huge encyclopaedias that we used to refer to when we did research before but now the sources of knowledge stem from the internet," he added.
The three-day KL Converge is organised by Communications and Multimedia Ministry, Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission and the National Film Development Corporation (Finas) at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre.
It focuses on the notions of "see", "touch", "feel", "hear", "show" and "speak", translated across various thought-provoking sessions.