PIKOM Members Meet 2021

PIKOM held its first online members’ meet for 2021, organised to engage members of the association, to update on activities and developments over the last one year, as well as future developments within the association and to welcome new members.

In welcoming members to the first members’ meet for 2021, Danny Lee, Chairman of PIKOM said that with the lack of physical meet-ups over the last one year, this was a great opportunity to catch up on the latest developments. Danny introduced PIKOM’s new office bearers, advisors, council members, and members of the secretariat. Representing PIKOM, Danny has been involved in various advisory councils of government agencies to advocate the overall direction of the digital technology industry. He was appointed as part of the Communication and Multimedia Consultative Council, a platform for the government to get involved in discussions with industry and stakeholders on policies and issues related to the communications and multimedia sector.

PIKOM’S GOVERNMENT ENGAGEMENT EFFORTS

Danny highlighted that PIKOM is also involved with MDEC in terms of engagement, with PIKOM having the opportunity to meet the new chairman of MDEC, Datuk Wira Dr Hj Rais Hussin Mohamed Ariff, to discuss the e-commerce ecosystem for local players. “This where we are looking at how to develop local organisations in the e-commerce space which is very important in terms of building local talents as well as the industry,” said Danny.

Danny is also on the board of the Digital Productivity Nexus (DPN) of Malaysia Productivity Corporation (MPC) which plays the role of being a technology supplier while also addressing tech talent as well as consumer issues. “As far as DPN is concerned, they are also looking into digitalisation of SMEs with grants from the government,” explained Danny.

Every year, PIKOM also works with the Ministry of Finance Malaysia (MOF) conducting various discussions that include budget planning for the tech industry. “In last year’s budget discussion, we talked about tax exemption for IT devices. We are also talking about bigger budgets for training and development of tech talents, and also to address digital tech issues, and so forth,” he said.

Danny is also involved in the National Science Council Advisory panel which plays an integral advisory role for science, technology, innovation and re-engineering. “We are also closely working with Akademi Sains Malaysia on the development of talent,” he added.

Aside from that, Danny explained that PIKOM also works with the retail industry to support and promote local retailers.

PIKOM has also engaged with Dr Fadhlullah Suhaimi Abdul Malek, the new Chairman of the Multimedia and Communications Commission (MCMC) and raised industry concerns on data centre licensing issues.

The tech association has also kept in constant contact with the Malaysian Customs Department to address taxation issues faced by the tech industry.

Besides data centre licensing issues, PIKOM has also submitted proposal papers to the government on other matters such as to maintain IT as essential services, e-commerce policies by Future Digital Committee led by industry and academic leaders, review of the cabotage exemption policy for foreign vessels as well as exemption of SST and DST for the tech sector. Danny updated that after raising awareness among government agencies and ministries, IT has now been named an essential service sector.

PIKOM’S JOURNEY IN 2020 AND 2021

In sharing PIKOM’s efforts in 2020 and 2021, Danny explained that due to the pandemic situation, Malaysia was unable to host WCIT 2020 last year, and has postponed the event to 2022. He explained that PIKOM hosted a 3-day digital festival in Penang last year called Tech Fest, held virtually with viewers from over 80 countries across the world. The conference focused on several key topics including 5G transformation, smart city development, cybersecurity, enterprise growth for startups, plus eSports. Some 250 panellists and speakers including start-up founders, policy makers and academicians came together virtually to discuss these topics over 180 live sessions.

PIKOM also hosted the annual GBS Asia Awards 2020 virtually in 2020, aimed at recognising excellence in the field of global business services (GBS), and the outstanding achievements of top organisations as well as individuals including VBOs and shared services with a focus on digital adoption. Last year’s winner of the ‘Contact Centre Operational Excellence’ and ‘Best Practices Business Process Transformation’ categories was Daythree Business Services Sdn Bhd, while HSBC Data Centre won the Best Practices in Infrastructure

Management Services category, among other notable award winners. Nominations for 2021 are currently open and PIKOM welcomes submissions.

In 2021, the MSC Malaysia Asia Pacific ICT Awards (MSC Malaysia APICTA) was also hosted by PIKOM, in which 27 winners and merit recipients were recognised for outstanding achievements. Nominations for 2022 are currently open for submission. The PIKOM Business Summit (PBS), which was supposed to be held last year, was instead hosted this year by the tech association on a virtual basis. The event themed “After the Storm – What’s Next”, attracted 800 registrations. During the Series 1 of the PBS, we held the PIKOM Leadership Summit, which saw 374 participants. The Summit comprised a panel of speakers who addressed AI and data analytics. Series 2 of PBS saw 240 participants and the session was focused on cybersecurity, while the GBS was focused on global business services and saw 126 participants. The final Series, attended by 65 participants, was a special session with MDEC.

The PIKOM Tech Fair is part of the association’s engagement platform which is technically supported and funded by Fusionex. This initiative received endorsement by Fusionex to work with PIKOM in terms of the development of a virtual engagement platform, which basically involves shifting a physical environment onto a virtual platform whereby online sales, virtual exhibitions, presentations, online B2B meetings and appointments can be conducted.

“The idea of the virtual engagement platform is to enable people to actually conduct business as they used to via a virtual platform, and to continue business activities,” explains Danny.

The tech fair offers more than 20,000 products and enables online shopping via the virtual engagement platform, whereby customers can also enjoy discounts provided by sellers. “We are looking to have a second tech fair this coming year-end,” he added.

PIKOM also signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Asia e-University for the training of digital talents and graduates in the IT field. The association also had a Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) project with Huawei, loaning laptops to new vaccination centres. PIKOM also has a collaboration with TPM to produce an entrusted services provider (ESP) directory for the reference of endusers that lists micro-enterprises. “We are also working with Huawei and SME Association in terms of collaboration to grow the SME sector in the IT industry,” Danny said.

The Malaysia Tech Month organised by PIKOM is dedicated to discuss about WCIT 2022, featuring various industry experts and leaders on topics on awareness and expectations for the event next year.

PIKOM also worked closely with HRDF on the Penjana HRDF’s Place and Train Programme. “We have sent out information and raised awareness among our members on this programme that will allow their new hires, under certain criteria, to be trained free of charge, funded by HRDF,” Danny shared.

To-date, there are 10 training programmes offered under PIKOM’s academy on a monthly basis in relation to Penjana HRDF training, which include project management, enterprise architecture, data analytics, cybersecurity, and e-commerce, among others. The programmes are scheduled to run until end-October 2021. However PIKOM is working with HRDF to possibly extend the availability of the courses until the year end.

WEBINAR SERIES

Since last year, PIKOM’s seminars and events have gone online due to the pandemic situation. To-date the association has run more than 50 webinars over the last one and a half years. “We are not stopping here as there are a lot more topics that we want to talk about and share with our members as well as the industry,” Danny shared.

MEDIA COVERAGE

Danny highlighted that PIKOM has been very visible in the news and has enjoyed ample media coverage over the last one year. Among other salient topics, the association also drove the message of making IT an essential services sector through media partners. Since the first MCO in 2020, PIKOM has released a total of 111 media releases with the support of media partners, to drive key messages and awareness as well as the importance of the tech industry for the nation and overall market.

BENEFITS AND VALUE OF BEING A PIKOM MEMBER

Danny highlighted the benefits and value of being a PIKOM member which include a platform to advocate the interests of IT players, affiliations with local and global markets as well as associations, car fleet programme, passes to flagship events, training programmes, airline corporate rates, free publication of jobs in the IT market, business and economic strategic outlook, telco corporate package, and usage of PIKOM logo at events supported by PIKOM, among others.

In concluding his keynote address, Danny expressed that PIKOM is doing its best to ensure that members and the industry will benefit from its initiatives, while remaining a very important voice on behalf of the tech industry.

ACTIVITIES FOR THE SECOND HALF OF 2021

In talking about the activities planned for the second half of 2021, Ong Kian Yew said, “There will be a combination of virtual and physical events.”

PIKOM together with the CIO chapter will lend a helping hand to those in need of aid during these trying times. “Thus far, we have raised more than RM20,000 and as the funds are received by the association, we will disburse them as fast as possible. To-date, PIKOM has disbursed RM20,000 to the needy, and we continue to welcome contributions and donations,” said Ong.

Ong said the GBS Awards is open for nominations for this year with categories available for both companies and individuals. The second awards programme that PIKOM is working in collaboration with MDEC is the MSC Malaysia APICTA Awards which has been around for the last 22 years and has more than 20 categories. PIKOM has been managing these awards for the last 5 years.

PIKOM is also working on the Digital Economy and Job Market Report scheduled to be released in September 2021 – the most sought-after section being the job and salary report whereby PIKOM undertakes benchmarking. The report will be distributed to members free of charge. Another report that PIKOM has undertaken in collaboration with Nottingham University Malaysia is the GBS Talent Report scheduled to be released in the next few weeks, which includes talent requirements for the GBS industry.

Danny also pointed out that the PIKOM’s MyIT magazine featured APICTA Award-winner NextMind AI and NEC Corporation of Malaysia. He urged members to look out for the next issue of the magazine which is scheduled to be released in September 2021. Ong encouraged members who are interested to be featured in the magazine to reach out for more details and a special package.

PIKOM is also scheduled to launch the Women in Tech Chapter, which is limited to women operating in the tech industry. The Chapter EXCO will be sharing some of the programmes lined up. The Digital Infrastructure Committee, formed this year is set to hold various interesting events, including a guest speaker series in October 2021.

PIKOM Academy has a series of programmes lined up to train new hires on areas such as AI, cybersecurity, project management, UIUX marketing, IoT or outsourcing related courses, as well as enterprise architecture. Most of the programmes are free-of-charge.

The virtual engagement platform provided by WITSA through PIKOM will be launched in September 2021, and will be free-of-charge for members until next year, after which fees will be charged.

PIKOM Tech Market Place is available throughout the year 24x7, and is a marketplace in which members can enjoy the latest IT-related products, gadgets, and devices, with special promotions certain times of the year. For instance, special offers and discounts are available during the Merdeka promotion from 20 August 2021 to 20 September 2021.

PIKOM Tech Fair will be happening in November 2021, and members are encouraged to utilise this event to promote their products and services.

Webinars will continue to be held to promote learning and development among members.

Members are reminded to take note of the PIKOM Unicorn Night which is scheduled for 5 November 2021. This event is a grand-scale event whereby awards are presented and when members of the industry gather to celebrate the successes of the year.

PIKOM Leadership Summit is also in the pipeline whereby both technology providers and users of technology such as C-suite executives make this as a gathering point for the industry each year. Event details will be announced soon. The Future of Cybersecurity Summit (FOCS) is also poised to take place in November this year, themed “Cybersecurity in the Next Normal”.

In December 2021, the international APICTA will take place on a virtual basis, hosted by Malaysia. Winners from around the Asia-Pacific region will participate in this international event.

More information will be sent to members of PIKOM via email on the latest developments and events.