AT the counter of a local coffee store, local consumer Al Mohd Rudzie Zamaluddin finds himself paying for his morning coffee without even reaching for his wallet.

Using Sarawak Pay on his mobile phone, he taps away and settles his bill easily without much fuss – making his life easier on the go.

“It saves me from having to go to the ATM so often to withdraw cash and I can easily keep track of my finances through my phone,” he tells The Borneo Post.

“I also benefit from the many promotions and discounts available on the app.”

Al Mohd Rudzie is just one of many Sarawakians benefitting from the state’s digital growth.

Since taking office, Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg has made significant progress in pushing Sarawak forward on its digital journey.

Now, at the halfway mark of the Sarawak Digital Economy Strategy (2018-2022) which was first announced in 2017, the Sarawak government under Abang Johari’s leadership has successfully fulfilled a number of key points under this initiative via the launch of various value-added projects and programmes.

To date, there have been a total of 140 digital initiatives in Sarawak with 54 projects implemented in 2018 and others still ongoing today.

“I believe, with our strategies in hand and with the support from the whole community, Sarawak can be on the same level with developed countries in its digital journey.

“We can no longer be left behind in terms of digital technology adoption and digital economic growth that can very well benefit our people. Either we push ahead in new research areas or we will be always be a follower without being able to bring much progress to our people and country,” he said in his opening address during the launch of the International Digital Economy Conference Sarawak (Idecs) 2019.

“There are so many other benefits from digital economy which almost every country in this world is forgoing into. For Sarawak, we have begun that journey since I took over as Chief Minister and we have charted our strategies and action plans which are now in the early stage of implementation,” he added.

In 2019, Sarawak’s digital economy saw an upgrade in a handful of its established digital projects while more research and development initiatives are being implemented with international partners to better steer the state’s digital journey.

International Digital Economy Conference Sarawak (Idecs)Back for its third year running,

Idecs has grown to become a globally known platform for Sarawak to showcase its interest and initiatives in growing its digital economy to top international tech players.

Since its inception, Idecs has led to eight main initiatives towards a digital economy for Sarawak with the establishment of the Development Bank of Sarawak (DBoS), Sarawak Multimedia Authority (SMA) and Sarawak Digital Economy Corporation (SDEC).

This year, Idecs saw the establishment of Sarawak’s partnership with top international digital technology players, including 10 Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) exchanges between SMA and various international partners relating to Sarawak’s Digital Economy.

Sarawak Multimedia Authority (SMA)Sarawak Multimedia

Abang Johari (centre) stops at a booth during a tour of Idecs 2019. On his left is SMA general manager Dr Zaidi Razak.

Guests at an event are pictured trying out Sarawak Pay.

Abang Johari (third right) is seen at an exhibition held in conjunction with the Sarawak Beyond Paradigm Summit 2019.

Piecing together Sarawak’s digital

roadmap

E5THEBORNEOPOST Monday, January 13, 2020

Steering Sarawak toExcellence

Authority has provided grants to 26 researchers in five universities and 22 student researchers doing their Master’s and PhDs, including 10 publications. It has established a digital academy at the Centre of Technical Excellence Sarawak (Centexs) to train the state’s youth in high-level digital skills needed by the telecommunications and Fourth Industrial Revolution (IR4.0) sectors.

SMA has also organised training and awareness programmes on Manufacturing Industrial Revolution (IR) 4.0 to explain to our local industrial players on the reasons for the need to change the mindsets and embark on IR4.0.

Open Lab Sarawak will be partnering

with top international digital technology players to develop an Open Lab to explore and research new digital initiatives to support its digital economy.

SMA has established 10 MoUs

with international partners who will assist in exploring and researching new digital initiatives via Open Lab.

Open Lab brings together experienced design professionals, academics, graduates, and students into multi-disciplinary teams that will solve problems and create design solutions.

Digital Innovation HubsThe Tabung Ekonomi Gagasan

Anak Bumiputera Sarawak (Tegas) Digital Innovation Hub in Kuching was launched on Aug 28, 2017. The Sarikei Innovation Centre, launched on Sept 17 the same year, will be one of the main facilities to propel Sarikei towards becoming the food basket of Sarawak which, when combined with Bukit Sadok Agropolitan – being undertaken in Betong and Tanjung Manis Halal hub – would turn Sarawak into a regional food exporter.

A new digital innovation centre opened recently in Bintulu, making it the third such

centre after the ones in Kuching and Sarikei.

The SMA-Tegas Digital Innovation Hub was launched to serve as an inclusive platform to nurture talents, support entrepreneurs, and create innovators for Sarawak.

Sarawak PayPerhaps the move with

the biggest digital impact on Sarawakians to date, e-payment platform Sarawak Pay is set to be rebranded to ‘S Pay’ in a move to propel this e-payment system onto the global stage since its launch in November 2017.

Sarawak Pay has partnered with China’s UnionPay, a payment technology that is fast becoming a leader in global payment.

The Sarawak government implemented Sarawak Pay as part of its efforts to grow its digital economy, to allow cashless payments in the state via its mobile payment app.

As of June 2019, the number of user sign-ups was 91,640, with

total transactions and top-ups amounting to RM35 million. The target was to reach 150,000 users by the end of 2019.

The government has also set up e-commerce platform to promote Sarawakian products, including those of women entrepreneurs.

As part of its digital inclusivity initiative, rural communities in Sarawak are also not left out in the state’s digital economy drive with the launch of Sarawak Pay-BSN Fintech – a collaboration between Sarawak Pay and Bank Simpanan Nasional (BSN).

The collaboration between Sarawak Pay and BSN is expected to help provide easier access to financial services in rural areas.

Sarawak IDThe Sarawak government

has implemented an online identification and authentication system known as ‘Sarawak ID’ to enable the public to access and use the various online services or application systems of the

Sarawak government.As of July 1, 2019, the number

of Sarawak ID registered users was 208,644. Twenty government services are also now online and registered Sarawak ID users benefit from the flexibility as well as ease of access to these services.

In the near future, a series of more innovative, engaging, more personalised and seamless services will also be introduced.

Digital infrastructureThe Sarawak government

is planning to construct 300 telecommunication towers, mostly in rural areas, under the Sarawak Digital Economy Strategy 2018-2022. The project, called SMA3000, has been allocated a sum of RM795 million.

Apart from Cloud technology, the state is also in the midst of laying fibre optic cables on land across the breadth of Sarawak while working together with international companies to provide gateway linkage to the global network.

Smart City InitiativeUnder the Smart City

Initiative, the Old Kuching Smart Heritage (OKSHE) was launched in March 2019 to establish smart infrastructure through the use of IT and cutting-edge technology.

It is aimed to help to create a smart community whereby everyone in the community can be involved in the usage of technology.

The Smart City Initiative will also help boost the socio-economy of the local community as can now be seen as the success of OKSHE.

Smart Farming/AgricultureThe Sarawak government has

also implemented smart farming in Kuching Division using Internet of Things (IoT) devices to monitor its agriculture land and to boost crop productivity.

The government is also setting up cloud services to cater for the expected surge in IoT data, particularly in storage as a service (SAAS).

The cloud services are expected to cater to the requirements of other verticals such as the manufacturing, fintech, transportation and logistics and other sectors.