M'sia needs STI masterplan to achieve sustainable economic growth: Madius

KOTA KINABALU: Malaysia needs to develop the science, technology and innovation (STI) masterplan to enable it to achieve sustainable economic growth by fully utilising the fast growing information and communication technology.
Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Datuk Seri Wilfred Madius Tangau said an STI masterplan was needed as it would serve as an overarching strategic plan for STI in the country over a long term beyond 2020.
"We need to realise the prosperity of a nation in the 21st century is decided by its capacity to innovate. Innovation will have a larger impact on the people and nation’s economy at an unprecedented pace and scale.
"Along with many other countries, Malaysia has long acknowledged that science, technology and innovation is the most important driver of sustainable growth, including improving the living standards," he said when addressing the International Conference on Computational Science and Engineering here today.
The two-day conference beginning today, is attended by about 200 participants including those from abroad, and organised by Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS).
According to Madius, the economic growth of most of the developed countries such as Japan, the United States of America and South Korea was powered through STI, and STI was the driver of the new economy spurring the creation of new businesses, new jobs and drives productivity growth.
In Malaysia's case, he said the answer was the formulation of a national STI masterplan to support the implementation of all policies related to STI, which was decided at the inaugural National Science Council meeting.
He said the master plan would be essential because it would articulate the vision, targets, policy measures, mechanisms and synergistic action plans across all ministries and sectors to advance STI in Malaysia.
"Having an STI Masterplan is like having a blueprint to develop a well-planned, integrated smart city comprising smart homes, state-of-the-art transportation network, commercial enterprises, facilities such as schools, hospitals, sustainable water supply, digital infrastructure and others.
"Therefore, it is timely to consider developing a national STI masterplan to chart Malaysia’s competitiveness in the future through STI," added Madius.
He said the Malaysian Government had established a centralised body known as Research Management Agency (RMA) to manage the country's Research and Development (R&D) fund under the ministry.
Madius said RMA would not only be able to streamline the management of R&D funding in Malaysia but would also be able coordinate the entire R&D value chain and measure the deliverables, in accordance with the national STI agenda. — Bernama