Postal firm to spend RM50m on ICT upgrade, rebranding

Since the mailing trend has been slowing down over the years, it has been looking for other income streams that offer higher margin services.

In July, Pos Malaysia teamed up with Malayan Banking Bhd (Maybank) and RHB Bank Bhd to offer the banks' financial services at post offices.

This follows the trend among postal companies around the world, where financial services are one of the largest contributors to their profit.

Group managing director and chief executive officer Datuk Syed Faisal Albar hopes the group will be able to begin offering the financial services by the first quarter of next year.
"Our pilot project with RHB Bank at selected post offices started in May this year. At Pos Malaysia, we offer financial services like consumer loans, money transfers, withdrawal and cash deposits," he said in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.

It was earlier reported that he expects financial services to generate more than half of Pos Malaysia's revenue in the future.

Currently, financial services are handled by Pos Malaysia's retail arm, Posniaga which contributes about 30 per cent to Pos Malaysia's total revenue, while financial services generate 17 per cent of Posniaga's revenue.

Pos Malaysia saw its net profit dip 31 per cent to RM38.5 million in the first half of this year as revenue fell particularly from its postal and related services. The group was also faced wit higher operating costs.

By  Zurinna Raja Adam

http://www.btimes.com.my/Current_News/BTIMES/articles/posis/Article/

MALAYSIA’S GCIO SHARES NEW GOVT ICT MASTERPLAN

In 2020, Malaysia will become a ‘high-income nation’ that is both ‘inclusive and sustainable’, according to the vision laid out by the government.

Dato’ Dr Nor Aliah bt Mohd Zahri, the country’s Government Chief Information Officer, says that the new government ICT plan, which is currently being finalised, will play an indispensable role in achieving this vision.

Malaysia’s first public sector ICT plan, launched in 2003, was completed in 2010. Dr Nor Aliah is also the Deputy Director General (ICT) of Malaysia Administrative modernisation and management planning unit, a special agency affiliated to the Prime Minister’s Department.

Four strategic thrusts have been identified in order for the government to realise its vision for 2020. That includes: “1Malaysia, People First, Performance Now”; Government Transformation Programme (GTP); Economic Transformation Programme (ETP) and the 10th Malaysia Plan.

Various programmes are developed to address the ICT requirements for the government in the above-mentioned areas over the next five years.

The focus of GTP, reveals Dr Nor Aliah, is ‘deliver big results fast’. Three phases of implementation have been laid out: the first phase, started last year, will last until 2012; the second phase will last between 2012 and 2015, and the third one predicted to end in 2020. The programme focuses on six areas: reducing crime, fighting corruption, improving student outcome, raising living standards for low-income households, improving rural basic infrastructure and improving public transport. In the 10th Malaysia plan, budgets are allocated for government to implement the strategies that have been identified.

Looking at global trends, Dr Nor Aliah says that the challenges in Malaysia are also about sharing of information and services in order to achieve greater efficiency and improve citizen service delivery – goals specified in the 1Malaysia vision.

The public sector ICT blueprint, under which all agencies and departments will work towards the common goal, incorporates four key concepts: Information strategy which “enhances information sharing”, “ICT Governance”, “Managing Knowledge Effectively”, as well as “Strengthening the infrastructure architecture”.

For information architecture blueprint aims to achieve a whole-of-government by providing connected service delivery. The government will identify the business architecture components and map it into the information architecture components. The goal is to enhance public facing delivery channels, provide a common architecture standard for information sharing as well as enhance collaboration by identifying common, shareable and reusable information.

The phases will include building the foundation, achieving connected service delivery and finally seamless sharing of information by 2015.

In the area of governance, Dr Nor Aliah says of strengthening the governance structure is to “support and align with the national strategic priorities and initiatives by creating a more responsive governance environement to improve speed of decision-making and delivery”.

The strategy to build an informed knowledge environment includes the building of a Knowledge foundation programme, knowledge practitioner development programme as well as rewards & recognition programme. In addition to inculcating the culture of knowledge management, the government will also strengthen knowledge management initiative in the public sector through development of high impact knowledge management projects and intelligence hub programme. The objective is for an “Existence of a Centralized Knowledge Management Hub for the public sector” in five years’ time.

Dr Nor Aliah highlights the concern that currently “public sector ICT infrastructures are currently not fully optimised due to redundancies and inefficiencies resulting from disparate ICT infrastructure”. To increase the productivity, the government plans to consolidate public sector network, data centres & disaster recovery centres, establish public sector cloud computing infrastructure, standardise end user computing infrastructure, develop common security infrastructure, deploy mobile computing solutions and increase the usage of open source applications.

The public sector ICT framework has been developed, which include ICT governance and change management components.

“In many areas, the government services are available but the usage rate is very low,” says Dr Nor Aliah, who adds that one of the objectives is to make sure more people use government services. Seven strategic objectives have been identified as part of the business strategy plan; these include streamlining ICT architecture; consolidating ICToperations; intensifying inter-agency collaboration; rationalising ICT governance structures; attracting, developing and retaining top talent in the public service; strengthening the performance culture and fostering knowledge culture.

Numerous KPIs have been set in the areas including online services, paperless government, sharing of information and shared services. “All these contribute to the framework of our public sector ICT plan,” says Dr Nor Aliah.

By Jianggan Li 

http://www.futuregov.asia

MALAYSIA: ICT EDUCATION FOR A “CREATIVE SOCIETY”

Malaysia Higher Education Ministry is studying how to develop a creative and innovative Malaysian society through human capital development.

The ministry is planning to work with Microsoft in unearthing creative and innovative students of tertiary institutions in the area of ICT and with Shell Malaysia in energy saving.

Its minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin said the study to produce creative, innovative human capital was started last year by the Malaysian Invention and Design Society (MINDS), Universiti Teknologi Mara and Malaysian Design Council. This study will be looking at programmes by government agencies that could contribute to the creation of “innovative human capital”.

“We hope when the study is completed, expected this year, we will be able to draw up a national blueprint in this context,” he said. “Malaysia wants to move away from a resource-based economy to one generated by innovations with the existence of an innovative society, which will indicate that the country has reached developed-nation status,” he said.

Nordin said creativity and innovations were vital for a country and studies had shown that technological innovations contributed to higher productivity, Gross Domestic Product, economic growth and improved standard of living.

By Alice Kok

Malaysia highlights its strength in healthcare, ICT and Green Technologies among other service clusters

At specialised seminar held on the sidelines of the three-day Malaysia Services Exhibition (MSE-2010) at the Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre (DICEC), Malaysian officials and experts highlighted the increasing strengths of key economic sectors: including healthcare, ICT and Green Technology services, and the role these will be playing on a global level in the future.

Malaysian medical specialists, Dr. Yap Lok Huei and Dr. Fouziah Hasan, said Malaysia has strengthen its position as one of the world's top five healthcare destinations by taking up several initiatives, including the establishment of Malaysia Healthcare Travel Council (MHTC), enhanced tax incentive for healthcare service providers who offer services to foreign medical tourists and tax exemption equivalent to 100% of qualifying capital expenditure incurred for a period of five years for the construction of new hospitals or for expansion, modernisation, refurbishment of existing hospitals from January this year until December 2014.

Organised by Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation (MATRADE), with the support of Dubai Chamber and Dubai Export Development Corporation (EDC), the MSE-2010 is showcasing strengths of Malaysian expertise in eight service clusters - Professional Services, oil and gas, construction, information and communication technology (ICT), healthcare, franchising, education and specialised training and financial services. 

They said MHTC, established in July last year, has been working towards positioning Malaysia as the preferred destination for world-class healthcare services and promoting global awareness of Malaysian healthcare facilities and services and facilitating the development of the Malaysian healthcare industry to penetrate the global market. 

MHTC is also be a focal point or a 'one-stop centre' for all matters related to healthcare travel, to facilitate enquiries on policies and programmes on healthcare travel development and promotion, and serve as a one-stop centre for solutions on matters related to healthcare travel. 

Compared to many countries, developed and developing, our healthcare costs are very competitive. An angioplasty which costs around $57,000 in the US and $13,000 in Thailand, is only about $11,000 in Malaysia. A knee replacement procedure which costs around $40,000 in the US and $13,000 in Singapore, is only $8,000 in Malaysia. Nuwire Investors, an online news source, has ranked Malaysia amongst the world's top five medical tourism destinations in terms of quality, affordability as well as receptiveness to foreign investment. 

There has been a significant increase in the number of health tourists from the Middle East, especially the UAE, coming to Malaysia in the recent years. 

The top 35 private hospitals of Malaysian healthcare industry have been able to collectively see their revenue grow from RM58.9m with around 103,000 medical tourists in 2003 to RM299.1m in 2008 with around 375,000 medical tourists. In terms of growth, medical tourists grew at an average of 30% per annum while revenue grew at an average of 35% per annum during that period. The global healthcare travel market is projected to grow to between $40-60bn in 2010, with some even projecting up to $260bn in 2020. 

Mr. Saifol Bahri Shamlan, Vice President Industry Development, Multimedia Development Corporation (MDeC), said, "the facility was estimated to provide 50,000 total jobs and RM5.5bn investments by 2015. He said cloud-based computing services are set to become the next engine of growth and that Malaysia was well placed to be a reference model for solutions engineered for the world. MDeC has taken on the challenge to develop an entire IT industry for Malaysia by re-shaping the corporation's industry development functions into an organisation that performs end-to-end aid in development, growth and commercialisation of numerous players in Malaysia's IT industry." 

Mr. Shaifubahrim bin Mohammed Saleh, Advisor to the National ICT Association of Malaysia (PIKOM), said, "the association, formed in 1986, has 1300 members, representing the whole spectrum of ICT products and services. He said the National Green Technology Policy (NGTP) was launched in August 2009 which refers to the development and application of products, tools or systems that can preserve environment and natural resources, as well as minimizing or reducing negative effects on human activities. PIKOM initiated an E-Waste Recycling Program together with Malaysia Department of Environment in August 2009, raising awareness on the importance of recycling. He said Energy Star 4.0 compliant PCs to reach 90% efficiency by end 2010 while Energy Star 4.0 compliant Servers to reach 92% efficiency by end 2010." 

Mr. Ahmad Asri Abdul Hamid, President of Professional Services Development Corporation (PSDC), said, "Malaysia has placed great emphasis on development of Green Technology services. Malaysian consultancy firms have the experience and expertise in developing green projects, both locally and internationally. They are able to offer their services at competitive cost. He said PSDC was positioned to identify and facilitate involvement of Malaysian consultancy firms in the global market."

He added, "114 construction related professional services firms from Malaysia export to 63 countries and were involved in 517 completed and ongoing projects. Construction-related firms have the most presence in ASEAN, closely followed by the Middle East and South Asia. The UAE is among the Top 10 countries of export for construction-related professional services firms.

"Malaysian experienced and highly capable professional services' firms' offers high quality services at competitive cost. Malaysia has strong Private-Public relationship and Malaysian professional services firms placed strong emphasis on sustainability, environment friendly and new technology." 

PSDC said about 42% of Malaysian construction-related projects are located in the Middle East. The total cost of 525 projects is worth US$13518 million. Out of this, Saudi Arabia accounts for $3453m followed by the UAE with $3180m and Qatar with $2045m. Bahrain accounts for $795m. 

Honourable YB Dato Mustapa Mohammed, Malaysia's Minister of International Trade and Industry, said in 2009, the services sector contributes about 57.4% to Malaysia's Gross Domestic Product, and was targeted to reach 70% by 2020. In 2008, the total trade in services amounted to $57.7bn, an increase of 1.3% from $56.9bn in 2007. 

In 2009, a total of 2,720 projects with investments of RM36.3bn ($10.4bn) were approved in the services sector. 

Out of this, domestic investments accounted for 90.6%, while foreign investments contributed 9.4%. These projects are expected to provide over 37,000 employment opportunities. 

Recognising the potential for growth in services, both trade and investment, Malaysia has taken measures to liberalise the services sector covering among others computer and related services, health and social services , tourism services, transport services , sporting and recreation services and business services . 

He said Malaysia Services Exhibition projects the capabilities and expertise of the cross section of Malaysian services sector. It also reinforces our commitment to continue partnering and working with companies in the region in pursuing new business ventures.

MSE-2010 is expected to be attended by over 5000 visitors, including trade buyers from the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Oman among other places.


Taken from http://www.ameinfo.com

NSN Malaysia calls on ICT industry to set carbon emissions goals by end 2011

Nokia Siemens Networks Malaysia calls on ICT industry to set carbon emissions goals by end 2011.

Details after the jump.

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – November 4, 2010-Nokia Siemens Networks today called upon the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) industry in Malaysia to set carbon emissions business goals by the end of next year.

To help achieve these goals, Nokia Siemens Networks highlighted three clear recommendations for the ICT industry, and in particular the telecommunications industry, to lower carbon emissions.

1.Improve energy efficiency
Energy consumption is identified as having the biggest environmental impact in a telecommunications network, which traditionally accounts for around 86 percent of the total energy consumed by communications service providers (CSPs) and up to 30 percent of overall operational costs in developing markets (up to 10% in mature markets)**.

Nokia Siemens Networks highlighted that CSPs that invest in energy efficient technologies are not only able to reduce their carbon footprint but, with lowered operational expenditure, they can also expect to see a positive impact on the bottom line.

2.Invest in renewable sources of energy
In March 2010, Nokia Siemens Networks called upon the Government to stipulate that all new off-grid base stations deployed in Malaysia from 2011 need to be based on renewable energy sources versus fossil fuel. The company reiterated this today.

Nokia Siemens Networks also highlighted its aims for sourcing renewable energy such as solar power and wind to be the first choice for all of its remote base station sites by 2011. If diesel generation-sets need to be used, biodiesel should be the preferred choice. Aiming sustainability in case of the use of diesel generation-sets, biodiesel should be the preferred choice.

3.Use of recycled or recyclable materials to reduce ICT waste
Nokia Siemens Networks calls upon the telecommunications industry to consequently adopt more widespread use of recycled or recyclable materials not only in the network infrastructure and mobile devices but also within their business environment. The company commended handset manufacturer, Nokia, for its successful recycling programme. With dedicated plants in Penang and Malacca, Nokia is able to process unwanted mobile devices and reuse 80 percent of the materials, used in some form or another, e.g. batteries.

Nokia Siemens Networks’ own commitment to reducing ICT waste is underscored by the company’s use of recyclable base stations for CSP mobile networks.

Speaking at the European Union Malaysian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (EUMCCI) Green ICT roundtable event, Tan Sri Rainer Althoff, Chairman Nokia Siemens Networks Malaysia, highlighted that the ICT industry, although responsible for only 2 percent of the world’s carbon emissions, is well placed as an innovation leader to pave the way in reducing carbon emissions for various carbon-intensive industries such as power and transportation, responsible for 47 percent of the world’s carbon emissions. He also urged Malaysia to look at examples of best practices in sustainability from European counterparts who have developed low-carbon solutions and industries over the past 30 years.

“Reducing carbon emissions is key to the success of the ICT industry and the greater good of the nation to reduce pollution and to stop the growth of global warming.  All EU economies recognise this need, and are taking active measures to reduce carbon emissions. For example, Germany has set the target of becoming a carbon-neutral economy by 2050, leading to the creation of a booming ‘green industry’ in its own right,” said Tan Sri Rainer.  “We hope the Malaysian ICT industry will follow the EU’s lead in working towards a zero carbon footprint and creating growth from carbon neutral practices.”

As well as the environmental benefits, Nokia Siemens Networks highlighted that the adoption of green technology and sustainable practices within Malaysia’s burgeoning ICT sector would likely attract greater investment from EU countries which have made carbon neutrality a priority. The carbon footprint of investment locations will become a key criteria. It was also noted that all the technology already exists to achieve carbon neutrality but there is still much to be done to raise awareness of the importance of reducing carbon emissions and to a greater extent, global warming. To this end, Tan Sri Rainer urges the Government to educate businesses to think long term when it comes to investing in sustainable business practices. Malaysia’s education system needs to develop proper awareness about the negative impact of carbon emissions.

Hosted by EUMCCI, the Green ICT Roundtable at Double Tree Hotel, Kuala Lumpur, brought together distinguished speakers to discuss green ICT policies with case examples and best practices cited from Europe which could be incorporated into local policies in keeping with the National Action Plan.  The session aimed to stimulate ideas and come up with a set of guidelines for corporate entities to better work with ICT solution providers to help implement smart and environmentally sound ICT practices.

Taken from  http://www.malaysianwireless.com