Title: Malaysia to set up 4,000 wifi villages by 2012
Author: Clarice Africa
Source: FutureGov
Date (published): 23/11/2011
Date (accessed): 04/11/2011
Type of information: article
Language: English
On-line access: yes (HTML)
Abstract:
"By the end of 2012, about 4000 WiFi villages will be set up nationwide as part of the Government’s initiative to bring the benefits of broadband to the citizens.

According to Information, Communications and Culture Minister, Datuk Seri Dr. Rais Yatim, at present there are only about 1,400 WiFi villages in the country and are mostly found in Perlis, Sabah, and Sarawak.

“We are in the process of building electronic towers in Sabah and Sarawak, therefore our big enrolment drive to create Malaysia as an internet community is there now,” he said.

The average cost of the project for each village is about RM25,000 (USD 7,800) to RM 32,000 (USD 10,000). The villages would be provided with the normal computerising system with broadband facility which will be free of charge for the first three months, while a minimum of RM10 (USD 3) per month would be charged subsequently."

Title: Information and Communication Technologies for Cultural Transmission among Indigenous Peoples
Authors: Charlotte A Harris, Roger W Harris
Pages: 19 pp.
ISSN: 1681-4835
Source: Electronic Journal of Information Systems in Developing Countries (2011) 45, 2, 1-19
Publisher: www.ejisdc.org
Date (published): 20/12/2010
Date (accessed): 22/04/2011
Type of information: research paper
Language: English
On-line access: yes (HTML/pdf)
Abstract:
"The global digital divide threatens to exclude millions of people from the potential benefits of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), especially computers and the Internet. Many of these people live in rural, isolated and remote places of developing countries and are unlikely to be able to afford the cost of owning their own computers. However, NGOs, international aid agencies and governments are becoming increasingly aware of the potential that ICTs offer for rural development and poverty reduction and are creating more opportunities for providing wider access to them. This paper looks at how ICTs have contributed to the social development of a rural indigenous ethnic community. It focuses on the benefits of ICTs in recording and passing on their unique culture and traditions, something that is of considerable importance to the community. The research builds an understanding of the nature of cultural transmission within an indigenous community in East Malaysia and demonstrates how ICTs can bridge the digital divide by accentuating the importance of family, friends and other social interactions within a community in strengthening the processes of cultural transmission. Based on the findings, suggestions are offered for reinforcing social processes of cultural transmission with ICTs, in the form of a virtual museum and a community radio station."

Title: Malaysia's New Govt ICT Masterplan
Author: Jianggan Li
Source: FutureGov
Date (published): 24/03/2011
Date (accessed): 24/03/2011
Type of information: article
Language: English
On-line access: yes (HTML)
Abstract:

"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 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 ICT operations; 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."

Title: Cambodia, Malaysia, Pakistan and the Philippines: Cross-country Study on Violence against Women and Information Communication Technologies
Author: Sonia Randhawa
Pages: 7 pp.
Publisher: genderIT.org
Date (published): 22/02/2010
Date (accessed): 24/02/2010
Type of information: research article
Language: English
On-line access: yes (pdf)
Abstract:
This article presents and compares the findings of four national reports from Cambodia, Malaysia, Pakistan and the Philippines undertaken by the Association for Progressive Communications Women’s Networking Support Programme (APC WNSP) as part of the project “Strengthening women’s strategic use of ICTs to combat violence against women and girls”. Asia has been at the forefront of embracing new information and communications technologies (ICTs), and in using them to promote democracy and human rights. From using SMSes to coordinate public protests in the Philippines, to circumventing the firewalls of Burma and China, Asians have shown ingenuity in mobilising ICTs for innovative rights-based purposes. However, ICTs in the region have also been used to violate rights, through increased opportunities for censorship and surveillance; whether surveillance by the state, or by perpetrators of violence against women (VAW). This article looks at the intersection between ICTs and violence against women, an area often overlooked in the discourse on ICTs and human rights, which tends to focus primarily on issues of access and freedom of expression.

Title: Impact of ICT on Indigenous Cultures: Rejuvenation or Colonization?
Author: Aparna Ray
Source: Global Voices Online
Date (published): 17/11/2009
Date (accessed): 17/11/2009
Type of information: blog post
Language: English
On-line access: yes (HTML)
Abstract:
But can ICT truly preserve and protect distinct identities and culture? Does ICT by its very intervention introduce an element of westernization amidst the indigenous culture that it purports to preserve and protect? What is the optimum balance between preserving traditional knowledge and embracing remix culture? The cultural debate surrounding deployment of ICT in the field of indigenous/ knowledge and culture simply refuses to die down.

Title: Whose ICT Investment Matters to Economic Growth – Private or Public? The Malaysian Perspective
Authors: Mudiarasan Kuppusamy, Murali Raman, Geoffrey Lee
Pages: 19 pp.
ISBN: 1681-4835
Source: EJISDC (2009) 37, 7, 1-19
Publisher: The Electronic Journal of Information Systems in Developing Countries (EJISDC)
Date published: 2009
Date accessed: 21/06/2009
Type of information: research paper
Language: English
On-line access: yes (pdf)
Abstract:
Theoretical and empirical research on the economic benefits of ICT is represented in academic and policy-related publications worldwide. Most of these studies assess the impact of ICT in countries as a cohort and most conclude that ICT is indeed a key driver for economic growth. Nevertheless, we are of the opinion that there is room for more research on this issue, especially pertaining to developing countries such as Malaysia, in light of the extensive ICT-based investments undertaken by the country in recent years. Consequently, we examined the effect of ICT investment carried out by both the private and public sector on Malaysia’s economic growth over the period 1992 – 2006 using the ARDL econometrics approach. The empirical results suggest that ICT has had a significant impact on Malaysia’s economic growth during this period of time, suggesting good payoffs from the investment. Specifically, ICT investments made by the private sector seem to have contributed significantly to the country’s growth compared to investments made by the government. This implies that the private sector has adapted well to the various ICT-based policies implemented in the country over the years. This also shows that Malaysia’s economy is being driven by the private sector, especially by the manufacturing and wholesale industries. We are however of the opinion that in order to sustain economic growth leveraged against ICT, more concerted efforts need to be made in order to escalate ICT diffusion in the country. Such initiatives will ensure that the value potential of ICT investments in the economy is maximized, due to greater ICT-enabled community that will translate to escalated economic growth.