PETALING JAYA: The Malaysia Digital Economy Blueprint (MyDigital) aimed to implement a National Digital Identity (NDI) and digital signatures, marking the country’s foray into the digital identification industry.
Malaysia Digital Economy Corp (MDEC) said the NDI will serve as a trusted digital certification and verification for individuals, ensuring flexible and secure online transactions while reducing administrative costs with the goal of increasing the scope and quality of online services as well as a better user experience.
The initiative will build on Malaysia’s pioneering effort in the digital ID industry which had introduced the world’s first electronic passport in 1998.
According to a forecast by Adroit Market Research, digital ID solutions will grow at a 16% CAGR from 2020 to 2025 to reach US$33 billion (RM138 billion), with the integration of biometric tech in smartphones and numerous industries as a driving factor.
MDEC CEO Mahadhir Aziz said the solution has grown in prominence in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, as the public and private sector are forced to embrace new practices for work and businesses, especially with remote work and eCommerce.
“This necessitates new security measures, including easier authentication processes with new digital ID solutions,” he said in a statement.
“The proliferation of fintech also makes the digital ID market ripe for the picking – and Malaysia has local champions well-equipped to start plucking.”
One such local champion is Innov8tif Technologies, an ISO 27001:2013 certified artificial intelligence (AI) company helping businesses to widen sales funnel, speed up processes without paper and prevent frauds.
Founded in 2011, the company has since expanded from its base in Kuala Lumpur to cover the entire Southeast Asia specialising in digital ID assurance, digital low-code process automation, and mobile biometric authentication across various sectors from telcos, banking, manufacturing and the public sector.
CALMS Technologies is another local stalwart, which provides smart ID solutions. It has provided a range of integrated solutions to more than 1,000 organisations from various industries and sectors in Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore and Thailand.
In addition, it recently introduced the CALMS Temperature and Anti-Pandemic Monitoring Solution, a package of products and services to help businesses re-open during the pandemic.
The agency stated both digital ID players will be taking their products and services further internationally as they will be part of MDEC’s delegation to Expo 2020 Dubai, participating at the Malaysia Digital Economy Week at the Malaysia Pavilion of the global expo.
Mahadhir believes Malaysia has innovative digital ID solutions and providers that could serve the needs of many global tech companies.
It stated the focus on emerging and innovative technologies like digital ID forms part of MDEC’s Digital Investments Future5 (DIF5) strategy, a five-year plan in line with the 12th Malaysia Plan (12MP) aimed at attracting investments and advancing Malaysia’s digital economy.
The five-year plan has set a target of RM50 billion investments in the digital economy as well as attracting 50 Fortune500 tech companies to land and expand in Malaysia by 2025.
In addition it also aims to establish five unicorns and the create 50,000 high-value jobs in the Multimedia Super Corridor.
“Expo 2020 Dubai will also allow MDEC to highlight the digital economy ecosystem present in Malaysia which fosters innovation and nurture innovators such as Innov8tif and CALMS Technologies. With this, we will be able to showcase Malaysia as the digital hub of Asean that can further advance the digital ID industry,” said the CEO.
