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Malaysia has stepped forward with its visionary plans to establish its National Cloud Policy and AI regulatory framework. On October 1st 2024 Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim announced the introduction of regulations to encourage the ethical use of artificial intelligence.
Anwar Ibrahim said the digital economy is key to elevating Malaysia's industrial economy. By strengthening its digital infrastructure, Malaysia aims to position itself as the generative AI hub regionally and globally.
The government plans to set up a national AI office, which will be responsible for overseeing initiatives related to AI. It also plans to create a five-year technology action plan. This plan includes a regulatory framework to increase the adoption of ethical and sustainable AI technology within one year. Through this initiative, Malaysia aims to establish itself as a leading AI-driven nation.
The Prime Minister said that Malaysia now, by leveraging Partnerships with other countries, wishes to strengthen collaboration among all stakeholders, the announcement was accompanied by a ground-breaking ceremony for Google’s new $2 billion data centre and cloud region in Malaysia. Google has announced a multi-year partnership with a local tech firm to provide sovereign cloud services in the country. The partnership is expected to generate 26,500 jobs and contribute over $3 billion to Malaysia’s economy by 2030.
Malaysia’s National Cloud Policy is a strategic initiative that drives national development and economic growth. This Policy will focus on four core areas: enhancing public service innovation, boosting economic competitiveness, strengthening data security, and promoting digital inclusivity for citizens.
The Madani government, by utilising cloud technology wishes to boost public service innovation and efficiency and thereby aims to modernise operations.
The Prime minister said, “To drive Malaysia towards AI leadership, the government has set the AI Talent Roadmap for Malaysia and the Malaysian Artificial Intelligence Consortium as a concrete pathway towards AI advancement", the main objective is to advance AI excellence, so that it will facilitate knowledge exchange.
This policy focuses on businesses, small and medium enterprises (SMEs), and startups, to leverage cloud technology for growth. The reason is to create a favourable environment for innovation and entrepreneurship and promote economic competitiveness and growth helping businesses to scale and compete globally.
Ensuring strong data protection measures is a foundational principle of this policy. To meet the global data protection standards, the government plans to establish robust security frameworks and protocols that will promote the best data governance to protect sensitive data and critical infrastructure in public and private cloud environments strengthening user trust and data security.
Digital literacy and access to cloud technology for all citizens is a crucial objective of this policy. By utilising cloud technology they aim to improve the accessibility and efficiency of digital-first public services, the approach will be citizen-centric and inclusive. This would bridge the digital divide and ensure that everyone, regardless of their background, can benefit from the opportunities presented by cloud technology.
As you know with the continuous advancement in any technology the need for regulations increases, therefore the Ministry of Science, Technology, and Innovation (MOSTI) released the National Artificial Intelligence Governance and Ethics Guidelines (AIGE) on September 20, 2024, to ensure responsible AI.
The objectives of AIGE are:
The guidelines are planned for three main stakeholder groups which include, end users of AI, policymakers in government agencies, and technology developers, providers, and suppliers. AIGE's objective is to ensure safe, trustworthy, and ethical AI development and deployment in Malaysia.
Malaysia’s strategic move in developing its National Cloud Policy and AI regulatory framework will undoubtedly secure its digital future, marking its place ahead of many countries globally. Malaysia’s digital transformation will help overall economic growth, by becoming a regional and global hub of generative AI.