Firstly, I wish to thank the National Information Technology Council, and in particular the Permanent Secretary of NITC, YM Tengku Datuk Dr. Azzman Shariffadeen, for inviting me to this Press Conference.
It must come as quite a surprise to all concerned that I am appearing at this Press Conference.
But it should not be so. We are all Malaysians and we want the best for our country and people, and undoubtedly, it is to our national interest that Malaysians should realise the critical importance of Information Technology (IT) in enhancing both our competitive advantages in the global marketplace as well as the quality of life of Malaysians.
I am particularly attracted by the theme of the second NITC Conference, “Towards A Knowledge Society - Creating the Environment For Change”, as seven months ago, during the debate in Parliament on the Seventh Malaysia Plan, I had proposed that Malaysia should respond to the challenge of Information Technology by proclaiming the Knowledge Society as a national vision and strategic objective.
Both the goal of a Knowledge Society and the strategic importance of Information Technology are conspicuously absent in the nine strategic objectives for the achievement of Vision 2020 for Malaysia to become a fully developed nation - which is understandable as they were announced by the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Dr. Mahathir Mohamed in February 1991 when Internet, Information Highway and IT have not entered into the public realm of discussion or policy.
It may therefore be worth considering adding a tenth strategic objective to Vision 2020 to aim for a Knowledge Society which will provide the environment for lifelong learning in which all Malaysians will have access to the widest possible variety of learning opportunities and tools in order to succeed in the new global economy of the 21st century.
All over the world, there is not only a globalisation but an explosion of information activities, and it is important that there must be a national awareness among Malaysians about IT developments elsewhere, if we are not to be left behind. However, we have still a long way to go to reach this level of national awareness, as there is not only no general awareness among Malaysians at large of the significance of the information highway, there is also little public awareness about IT developments in Malaysia itself.
If Malaysians are generally aware of IT developments at home and in other countries, then we would be aware of our own shortcomings and weaknesses and there would be a greater sense of urgency to ensure that we are not left behind in the IT race.
For instance, in the United States, there is the National Information Infrastructure Virtual Library Home Page, with three purposes: to serve as the US entry point for the G7 Global Inventory Project; to help the public understand the benefits of the National Information Infrastructure (NII), demonstrating what is possible today, how it works and how it is evolving; and to collect and disseminate information about product development, research efforts and partnerships for NII-related developers. In June 1995, the US Government set up a freephone number to answer citizens’ questions about the NII initiative, which is part of a public education campaign to urge Americans to “Get Connected to the Information Age”.
In the United Kingdom, there is a daily Internet report of the new government online services which have been made available, which is a daily chart of the development of the electronic government in UK. Furthermore, by the end of the decade, almost three-quarters of the schools in UK would have been cabled free of charge to the Internet by the cable companies.
In Japan, the Government is committed to the vision of broadband cable covering 20 per cent of the country by the year 2000 and 100 per cent by 2010.
In Singapore, with its ITVision of An Intelligent Island since 1992, all primary school students will undergo basic computer training from next year; by the year 2000, there will be a computer user in every home; and by the year 2006, every working Singaporean will know how to use computers.
An audit done in Singapore 1988 showed that its Civil Service Computerisation Programme had reduced or avoided the need for some 5,000 posts in the government. In addition, the government obtained a return of $2.71 for every dollar spent on IT in the Civil Service Computerisation Programme.
In Canada, since the 1994 Speech from the Throne led to the establishment of the Information Highway Advisory Council in March 1994, a broad range of issues dealing with the economic, social and cultural impacts of advanced communications and information technologies had been addressed through extensive public consultations and reports.
In Australia, the government has come out with a Vision on Online Government 2000 to provide “better government through grasping the opportunities presented by new technologies and more effective, less costly government through improved information management policies and practices.”
The legislatures in many of these countries, like the United Kingdom, Australia and the United States play a leading role in formulating and crystalling National IT issues and policies, having not only Parliamentary IT Standing Committees but coming out with regular reports on different aspects of the IT challenge.
In comparison, there are no comparable developments, statistics or data in Malaysia.
This is why Malaysia urgently needs a National Information Technology Policy and a National IT Action Plan whose first task must be to launch a national campaign to make Malaysians generally aware of the importance of the information highway - which is one important safeguard against creating a two-tier society of the “information-rich” and “information-poor”.
Finally, the Information Highway is not just about technology, nor are its considerations solely commercial. It is about how to improve the quality of life of Malaysians.
A national IT policy must be able to touch and improve the lives of every Malaysian, whether in the rural areas, the elderly or the disabled, and this must mean ensuring universal access to the the Information Highway at reasonable cost, to the extent that it should be as commonly available as the telephone and television.
I hope that the NITC Conference next week would lead to the preparation and finalisation not only of the National Information Technology Policy, but also an “Info-Society Malaysia 2000 Plan” as a medium plan for the next three years, with the government presenting annual IT policy statements to Parliament outlining the IT policy action plan for the forthcoming year and reporting on progress of the IT policy action plan of the previous year, and which would be debated in Parliament to promote an IT-literate Malaysian citizenry.
In my view, the important thrusts of the National IT Policy should include the following:
(12/12/96)