PIKOM DIGITAL SUMMIT 2021: After the Storm What’s Next

PIKOM DIGITAL SUMMIT 2021:

AFTER THE STORM WHAT’S NEXT

Focused on engaging the tech industry through thought leadership, trends and insights, the summit proved to be a platform to spur innovation, and feature new technologies in the market, as well as new business models, as ICT continues to grow in Malaysia.

The National Technology Association of Malaysia, PIKOM, launched its Digital Summit this year, featuring the tech industry, government agencies as well as small and medium enterprises (SMEs). The Summit comprises four series namely, the PIKOM Leadership Summit, the Future of Cybersecurity Summit, the GBS Summit and the Special Session With MDEC.

The four-part series addresses topics in artificial intelligence (AI), big data, cybersecurity, innovation in global business services (GBS) and a special session with the Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC). The event comprised a fourpart series addressing topics on AI, Big Data, Cybersecurity, innovation in global business services (GBS) and a special session with MDEC.

PIKOM Chairman Danny Lee said, “The tech industry has been waiting for the return of the Digital Summit and after a one-year hiatus due to the unprecedented situation beyond our control, today, we are proud to bring to you the PIKOM Digital Summit on a virtual platform.”

“I would also say having this summit in May is a blessing in disguise. The past few months saw more tech players signing up as our partners and increased in registration to the summit. It goes to show the landscape has changed and the acceptance of virtual events is on the rise.”

Dato’ Seri Ivan Teh, the Organising Chair of the PIKOM Digital Summit 2021 highlighted that this is also testament to the changing times. “Digital is now part and parcel of any business strategy. As companies embark on the transformation of their business, a pivot to a digital mindset is paramount. It is important not only that we know how to prepare in the recovery phase but seek to capitalise on new opportunities,” he added.

SERIES 1:

Pikom Leadership Summit

This series encompassed a technology leadership summit with leaders from leading tech organisations sharing their thoughts on the dynamics of digitalisation.

LEADING THE WAY WITH AI & CLOUD BY TAN KUAN THYE

Head of HUAWEI CLOUD Malaysia

Tan explained that AI is a new general-purpose technology that has been rapidly progressing the market. He adds that AI can be applied in various industries and has been entering core production systems of enterprises, offering greater value-creating. Tan shares that Huawei predicts that by 2025, all companies will use cloud, while 97 percent of large enterprises will use AI, and 77 percent of cloud applications will use AI. He highlights that AI is rapidly reshaping industries. Huawei and TM One are creating digital impact to empower industry partners with more industrial-based solutions on AI and cloud services. Huawei’s ModelArts helps build an AI platform with ultra-high computing power. ModelArts ExeML is a customised code-free model development tool that helps users start AI application development from scratch with high flexibility.

CREATING THE AI WORLD OF TOMORROW BY JACOB ISAAC

Managing Director, Fusionex

Jacob said that AI and robotics is often used in homes in the form of smart-home and smart-building technology. He shared about the Hopper App which connects to various data sources to help

travellers to book hotels and flights, and enjoy savings. Jacob mentioned GapSquare which bridges the gap using AI to achieve equality such as wages. He explained that Fusionex focuses on the core of every business which is to grow revenue or to decrease operational inefficiencies or expenses. The objectives are to increase revenue, or safeguard and lower your bottom-line using AI through various data sources with predictions. Fusionex augments business functionalities with intelligence, with AI-Pricing, AI-Selling, AI-Sketches, AI-Advisory, AI-Concierge, and AIRewards. Jacob highlights that the pillars of digitalisation encompass digital transformation to engage customers, increase collaboration, optimise operations and change the way we sell. In driving digitalisation, Fusionex provides BDA & AI Hub, Training Programmes, Fusionex Academy, and R&D Labs.

PANEL DISCUSSION:

ON CLOUD NINE – WEATHERING THE DIGITAL WORLD

The session, facilitated by Dr Dzahar Mansor of PIKOM, explored how cloud computing impacts digital transformation.

TAN KUAN THYE

Huawei

On services that are most popular with cloud adoption, Tan explained that most customers look for new ways in conducting their daily business. He opines that in undergoing digital transformation, it is important to drive a different and exceptional experience. Tan adds that cloud is important because it provides the innovation and differentiation element in business.

KEITH SNG

Senior Manager Systems Engineering, Veeam Software

Keith said many customers are going tapeless and moving into object storage within the public cloud. Customers are also signing up with managed service providers. He highlights that cloud accelerates innovation with public and private cloud infrastructure. Keith shares that diving into cloud requires planning in order to achieve economies of scale.

LEE CHEE SENG

Azure Business Group Lead, Microsoft

Chee Seng explained that businesses needed a new way to engage customers especially during the pandemic situation. He adds that this needs to be up and running in a very short time-frame – this is where public cloud can provide companies with the agility needed within a short time. Chee Seng highlights that cloud is a modernisation tool for organisations with on-demand capabilities.

TONG CHEE LEONG

Business Transformation – Security & Cloud, Time dotcom Berhad

Chee Leong shared that Timedotcom provides customers with five pillars of service such as connectivity, security, data centre, cloud and voice services. The company also owns multiple submarine cables connecting Asia, Europe and America. He adds that cloud adoption has been accelerated since the start of the pandemic. Chee Leong highlighted that digital transformation involves various components that include tools, applications, and data, among others. He adds that cloud delivers agility, scalability and assurance in terms of disaster recovery and business continuity.

THE MERAKI PLATFORM: EMPOWERING ENTERPRISES OF TOMORROW BY DERRICK LOW

Cisco Meraki Product Specialist

Derrick explained the vision and strategy of Cisco to secure connectivity to cloud to remain agile and synchronise all business components under a single roof. He added that businesses today are concerned about how to simplify their IT architecture to make it more agile, adaptable and flexible. Derrick explained that for businesses to successfully digitalise, they need simple, secure and intelligent IT tools for remote working arrangements, securing the business, and verifying as well as authenticating users. He added that

Cisco’s Meraki is a cloud-managed networking platform that integrates all IT solutions on a single platform for simple and secure management. Networks of the future require simple, secure and intelligent IT networks. He shared that a total of 42 percent of surveyed organisations saved 50-70 percent or more time deploying, maintaining, and troubleshooting IT since they started using Meraki.

PANEL SESSION:

NAVIGATING THROUGH THE NEW NORMAL WITH AI & BIG DATA

The session was moderated by Stan Singh of PIKOM and featured four panellists who expounded on AI and big data in the new normal.

YEO WEI HONG

Head of IT Services, RICOH

Yeo explained that data capturing may be slow or time consuming if done manually. He added that that AI tools are able to identify, tag and organise data without manual review. API integration and business intelligence tools are able to ensure efficient data organisation and extraction.

ALLEN CHIN

Senior Manager, VMware

Allen shared that VMware’s solutions are able to ride on top of other applications thus making it versatile for consumers in a single large bubble with cost efficiency. Today, VMware encourages customers to leverage on existing resources while training new capabilities with new knowledge.

FREDDY LOO

Director of Analytics, People & Culture, Fusionex

highlighted that with AI, businesses adopt an outcome. He added that whatever app that is delivered needs to ensure that value supercedes costs.

PEIRU TEO

CEO, KeyReply

Peiru explained that KeyReply offers customers engagement and knowledge management platform. She added that KeyReply envisions that every hospital and financial services firms would require virtual assistance. The company helps clients to solve the shortage of skilled customer support staff, and the retention of knowledge experts.

SERIES 2

Future of Cybersecurity Summit

In his welcome address, Alex Loh, PIKOM Cybersecurity Chairman said that priorities in organisations today include cybersecurity especially when the business is moving towards digitalisation. He added that every organisation must be well-versed in protecting their data and business ecosystem through cybersecurity audit, adopting a zero-trust approach with reliable AI-powered backup and recovery system in place.

JONAS WALKER

Security Strategist, Fortinet

Speaking about securing the perimeter of businesses, Jonas shared that there is an increase in the trend of cybercrime, which calls for urgent mitigation. He added that cybercriminals often blackmail their victims and hold data at ransom. Jonas explained that criminals usually research their victims and spend months inside the victims’ networks to study the network and plan attacks. With ransomware being the number one threat these days, he reminded that organisations need good cyberhygiene to fight cybercrime.

ONG TING YU

Powerware Systems

Ong questioned how important is Data Centre Resiliency Assessment (DCRA) to an organisation’s IT operations, and how well do organisations know their data centres’ set-up. He added that data centre outages result in significant financial impact. Ong explained that it is possible to prevent or reduce data centre outages. He highlighted that data centre resiliency relies on

its design, constructed facility and operational sustenance. Ong said that Powerware is able to conduct DCRA to ascertain their data centre’s effectiveness and capabilities. He pointed out that DCRA objectives are to determine resilience levels of the data centre, identify potential weaknesses or vulnerabilities, and make recommendations to close gaps. The DCRA’s scope involves architectural design, electrical services, mechanical services, security & monitoring, and telecommunications infrastructure. Powerware provides customers with a comprehensive report on the data centre setup, immediate risks or shortfalls, equipment health checks, documentations, and maintenance policy.

PANEL SESSION:

CYBERSECURITY IN THE DIGITAL ERA

Alex Liew of PIKOM moderated the session comprising four industry experts who shared their thoughts and insights on cybersecurity in the digital era.

MATEEN ANIS PADELA

Cyber Security Architect, Keysight Technologies

Mateen says that Keysight has solutions that cater to the industry to help organisations achieve visibility and to identify whether security is compromised. He added that the company helps clients to test firewalls, anti-malware solutions, and other security gaps in existing systems.

TENGKU SHAHRIZAM

Cybersecurity Architect, Cisco

An active security practitioner, Tengku Shahrizam shared that Cisco holds more than 23,000 technology patents and spends more than USD6 billion on R&D alone. The company helps its customers to connect, secure and automate for agile digitalisation. He added that Cisco addresses the evolving parameter of cyber-protection.

PAUL TSANG

Certified Information Systems Security Professional, McAfee

Paul shared that McAfee is an antivirus company that transformed into a device-to-cloud cybersecurity company. He added that McAfee has solutions to help clients understand the threat to the device.

STEVE LEDZIAN

Vice President & Chief Technology Officer, APAC, FireEye

Steve explained that FireEye is a global intelligence-led cybersecurity company with a local presence in Malaysia. The company responds to major security breaches and uses intelligence to help protect their clients. He added that when data is stolen it is not only lost but has the potential of being published on public networks thus damaging reputation and causing financial losses.

PANEL SESSION:

KEEPING THE FINE BALANCE IN CYBERSECURITY

Rani Nathwani of PIKOM moderated the session, comprising four distinguished speakers who provided insights into the challenges faced in the cyberspace.

VICTOR CHU

Head, Systems Engineering, Kaspersky

Victor expressed that in choosing the right solutions, there are various capabilities and functions that need to be considered. He added that the most valuable digital asset to operate the organisation is the first element to consider. He also pointed out that establishing visibility of the digital assets and understanding the organisation’s security maturity is also very important.

ERIC FOO

Vice President, Hitachi Sunway

Eric explained that cloud services have built-in security features which is more secure. He added that cloud managed by professionals is the way to go in the future. Eric pointed out that cyberattacks affect the overall business productivity of an organisation and its performance.

CALVIN NG

Regional Manager, Blancco Technology Group

Calvin advised that there are two ways of data recovery – the software level and the forensics level of

recovery. On the subject of data erasure, he added that in the longterm a good data erasure solution is more sustainable as it enables recycling or reuse of devices or assets, instead of destroying devices.

LENARDO HUTABARAT

Manager Enterprise Sales Engineering (APAC), LogRhythm

Lenardo explained that it is important to enhance monitoring and detection capabilities while expanding security parameters. User activities are also important. Both devices and applications must be considered. He advised the use of AI to focus on incidents.

SERIES 3:

Global Business Services (GBS) SUMMIT

GBS summit is an exclusive event delivered by Outsourcing Malaysia (OM), a chapter of PIKOM that explores an abundance of issues and opportunities in the global business services industry, ranging from strategies to tactics, across regions, industries and technologies.

DANNY LEE

Chairman PIKOM

In his welcome address, Danny Lee, PIKOM Chairman said, “The economic slowdown caused by the COVID-19 pandemic has caused an unprecedented impact to the industry. Therefore, we must find ways to adapt, live with the situation and work around the challenges for us to move forward.” Danny added that according to global data, GBS market in Malaysia accounts for 20 percent in terms of business performance, adding to 50 percent in investments, 66 percent in exports, and 61 percent in new job opportunities.

CHEAH KOK HOONG

OM Chairman, PIKOM Chapter

“As an NGO we have been continuously making our utmost best effort to serve our members better by improving various business avenues and growth channels, while continuing to remain relevant to our members,” said Cheah. He added that it was time for business owners to adopt best practices, knowledge and technical capabilities to remain relevant, resilient and recover from the effects of this pandemic. “Learn, relearn and unlearn from the best that we have today,” he urged PIKOM delegates.

RAYMOND DEVADAS

GBS Summit Organising Chairman

Raymond said that the organising committee selected the theme “Road to Resilience” in view of the pandemic. He added that courage, strength and wisdom, are key elements required for resilience in tough times. “Resilience is not an elusive quality that some organisations have and other don’t, it is a practice that we can build by simply refusing to give up despite the rejection and criticism encountered,” he advised. Raymond said the focus for this summit is ‘resilience for recovery’.

REIMAGINING BUSINESS SERVICES SAURABH MATHUR

Deloitte India

Saurabh Mathur shared his thoughts on how business services will revolve in the next year or more. He explained the concept of ‘Purple People’, which refers to technofunction experts who have a mix of tech and business skills. Saurabh added that technology platforms are playing a key role in driving successful transitions, especially during challenges presented by COVID-19. Successful innovators drive innovation as a systemic competence around four key areas that include Approach, Organisation, Resources and Incentives. Saurabh highlighted the emergence of transformation-based contracts enable end-to-end effectiveness and efficiency.

PANEL DISCUSSION:

DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION

The panel session, moderated by Kerry Hallard of GSA, UK, featured four panel speakers who shared their thoughts and insights on digital transformation.

• RAYMOND SIVA

Chief Marketing Officer, MDEC

Raymond said that MDEC viewed digital transformation as human transformation, because it affects every aspect of life. According to Raymond, the five key technologies that are poised to accelerate businesses are IoT, IR4.0, data analytics, cloud computing, and cyber security. He highlights five key sectors that are being focused on namely, agri-tech, manufacturing, Islamic digital economy, and cleantech, while block-chain technology is seen as an emerging technology that cuts across industries, alongside deep-learning and robotics.

• DANG TIN WAI

Head of Business Development, Cyngus Technologies Sdn Bhd

Dang shared that since the pandemic began, organisations and customers alike are more accepting and willing to get onboard a transformation journey. He added that it is now an experience economy and engaging customers today is a lot more interesting as there are more channels for engagement.

• SUPRAJA PRASAD

Regional Head, Malaysia & Hong Kong, Freshworks

Supraja shared that many C-level executives now consider this a good time to digitally transform. “A hybrid model of transformation is required. We are now always wondering whether something like this will come up again, and how should I prepare for it,” she said, referring to the pandemic. She added that technology acceptance among employees can be improved by raising awareness in order to drive greater acceptance and confidence in technology.

• SUNDARRAJ

Automotive Anywhere

Sundarraj explained that as the world comes out of the pandemic, the question remains about the right strategies for business leaders to take in remaining resilient. “It is important now for the leaders to tap into the opportunities and transform challenges into opportunities amidst a fluid market situation,” he said. Sundarraj highlighted that businesses can either opt to return to doing business in the same way as preCOVID-19 or learn from the pandemic and change.

THE ROAD TO RECOVERY – COUNTRY ROAD TAKE ME HOME

Sudev Bangah of IDC ASEAN, said that business or digital resilience is now a key focus for organisations. As economies across the region begin to open up, sights were set on being a future enterprise. With economies moving into Q3 of 2021, Sudev added that this is the period of the unknown factor especially in Southeast Asia and Malaysia. He has observed that many organisations have found this to be the best time to invest in technology, take stock and reinvent business models and the way they work with customers. “2021 opens new chapters for organisations on their way to the future enterprise, with the appearance of two interconnected DX cornerstone themes – digital acceleration and digital resiliency,” Sudev added.

MITIGATING RISK: ENSURING BUSINESS CONTINUITY AND DATA PROTECTION

Jaco Benadie, Executive Director,

KPMG Malaysia said that the pandemic has driven the acceleration of digitalisation. At the same time, this pandemic has contributed to a few grim realities such as increased digital scams, false news, and penalties during movement restriction periods, among others. Jaco stressed that about USD350 million has been lost to ransomware. “There are even now cases of triple extortion, where a hospital’s data was breached and held at ransom. Patients’ case notes were held ransom,” explained Jaco. Other exploitations included breaching VPN, disruptions to conference platforms, e-commerce scams, and fake loans or financial schemes, among others. In view of that, he added that an integrated approach is needed to address these threats which calls for companies to be proactive and be ready to respond.

HYPERAUTOMATION: IMPETUS FOR BUILDING A DIGITAL-FIRST CULTURE

In talking about a Digital-First culture, Aditya Chavan from Puresoftware, first reminisced on the war and pandemic in the 1940s. Learning from history, Aditya noted the many efforts were out postWWII and the pandemic. He added that today’s framework to recover sees the entry of hyperautomation as a concept – a combination of components that include robotics process automation (RPA), and task automation along with intelligence being built into artificial intelligence and machine learning; and backed by data science which includes data analytics and business analytics.

PIKOM AND HUAWEI EXTEND AID TO VACCINATION CENTRES

In an effort to support the battle against COVID-19, Huawei (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd donated laptops to PIKOM for use at vaccination centres (PPVs). A total of 15 laptops were distributed to address the shortage of tech devices at PPVs. PIKOM will loan the laptops to the PPVs until the vaccination programme has been completed.

Danny Lee expressed, “We are very thankful that Huawei has come forward to be part of this CSR project. This is one of the contributions by the industry association to help ease and support the registration process at the PPVs. To this end, we hope more tech industry representatives will come forward to help in any way possible. It goes without saying that combating COVID-19 is a shared responsibility and together, we will be able to emerge from this pandemic stronger.”

Pn. Rita Irina Abd. Wahab, Vice President of Public Affairs and Communications, Huawei Malaysia, said that Huawei, as a technology leader, was honoured to exercise its moral obligation to support Malaysia’s vaccination programme and assist the country in its battle against the pandemic.

“While we acknowledge that vaccination is the only way out of this pandemic, it is so important for the PPVs to be able to collect data systematically to facilitate the smooth rollout and completion of the vaccination programme. At Huawei, we believe that technology improves lives in all aspects. Therefore, it is our privilege to be able to lend our technology to support Malaysia’s fight against COVID-19 by helping to ensure that as many people as possible are fully vaccinated,” she said.

Huawei Malaysia also donated laptops to the National Cancer Society Malaysia (NCSM) to support the latter’s COVID-19 vaccination programme through its PPVs and house-to-house vaccination for severely ill, bed-bound patients and specially-abled people, including those with cancer and other chronic diseases. Additionally, the company also donated four technology solutions to the Ministry of Health to enable healthcare experts and frontline medical professionals to carry out remote online consultations with patients and enhance the effectiveness of diagnosis and treatment.

SERIES 4:

Special Session with MDEC

The fourth series of the Summit was a collaboration between PIKOM and MDEC on how Malaysia can present its local ecosystem in the global scene.

The session focused on digital technologies such as cloud and mobile enabling executives to reimagine business in the digital age. In his welcome address, Ong Kian Yew, Chief Executive Officer of PIKOM, thanked the partners of the event for their support in making the event a success.

DANNY LEE

“This session in collaboration with MDEC encompasses digitalisation and technology adoption. Building a 21st century business requires executives to embrace digital technology to support delightful customer experiences, create new and modified business processes, fend off new challenges and to adopt new digital technology.”

RYAN CHAN

Head of Global Business Development, Global Growth Acceleration, MDEC

Ryan shared about MDEC’s aspirations to make Malaysia the heart of digital ASEAN and to position Malaysia as the preferred hub to launch digital initiatives and start-ups in the region. He added that the Malaysian government had launched the digital economy blueprint several months ago with a key aspiration to grow the contributions of the digital economy to 22.6 percent of the country’s GDP from 19.1 percent in 2019. In doing so, the government is working with local start-ups, scale-ups and innovation companies. The government is also investing up to RM70 billion into digitalisation, attracting 2 local unicorns (homegrown or foreign), providing cashless payment options in all government ministries and agencies and creating 500,000 new jobs by 2025. MDEC’s strategic thrusts include upskilling all Malaysians with digital skills to contribute towards the digital economy; providing clear endto-end support for business and growing start-ups, digitalising SMEs and globalising scale-ups; and, enhancing foreign direct digital investments by driving the country’s global recognition for animation, game development, esports, data centres, and global test beds for ICT and digital.

TAN KUAN THYE

Head of HUAWEI CLOUD Malaysia

Tan said that as a research and development-driven (R&D) digital technology organisation, Huawei aspires to bridge the digital gap to achieve a fully connected and intelligent world. “Inclusivity is always on Huawei’s mind,” said Tan.

He added that Huawei aims to position Malaysia as a digital hub from three perspectives, namely ICT infrastructure, talent development and an inclusive ecosystem. Pivotal in building Malaysia’s digital economy, HUAWEI CLOUD is partnering with TM to establish the only Malaysian-owned end-to-end Cloud and AI infrastructure, to serve as Malaysia’s Sovereignty Cloud and ASEAN’s digital hub. Huawei is also working towards enabling Malaysia’s digital talent development and

technological knowledge sharing, to spur ideas to commercialisation. To ensure sufficient market readiness, Huawei is striving together with MDEC towards educating the market through awareness training, educational training and professional training. Huawei is developing an inclusive digital platform with a comprehensive ecosystem, enabling SMEs to digitally transform their businesses. Huawei also has a Go China Go Global With Huawei programme that delivers experience sharing and helps Malaysian companies to bridge international markets. The Huawei Spark programme was introduced to develop and groom Malaysian companies via sell-to, sell-with and sell-through Huawei methodology to achieve more sustainable success.

INNOVATIVE SOLUTIONS PROVIDERS SESSION

This session featured representatives from five Malaysian companies who shared about digital solutions provided by their respective companies, to drive business growth and digitalisation.

SHARMA LACHU

Founder and CEO, Accendo Technologies

Sharma explains that by 2030, the demand for skilled workers will outstrip supply, resulting in a global talent shortage of more than 85.2 million people resulting in USD8.452 trillion in unrealised annual revenue. As business become more competitive, integrating data-driven insights to make critical decisions for optimum business performance is important. Sharma explains that Accendo’s talent intelligence platform, TalentPlus, is able to help organisations leverage on data to obtain various individual and business gains.

JAN LAMBRECHTS

Founder and CEO, Epitome

Jan said that Epitome Global unlocks the potential of the future workforce. The company is a talent technology company that builds solutions to enhance successful career journeys. Epitome recognises the various challenges faced in the workforce and offers the best solutions which are driven by the adoption of digital technologies, collaborative ecosystems, enhanced vocational pathways, and new mindsets and incentives. Its key products include the Catalyst Profiling & Self-Discovery tool, the Coach Upskilling & Reskilling micro-learning app, and the Advance Job & Skill Matching platform.

GEORGE LEE

CEO, Innova8tif Solutions

George highlighted that with all businesses going digital, there needs to be a digital strategy. Innov8tif helps its clients strategically identify suitable customers. The company’s solutions offer 24x7 instant customer onboarding, speeds up sales without branches while complying to regulatory requirements. Innov8tif’s solution also helps avoid financial loss and prevent identity fraud. Customers using its solutions now experience 35.8 percent less fraud compared to eKYC without document authentication.

ROBIN FOO

CEO, OrangeFIN Asia

Robin shared that OrangeFIN Asia is a robotic workforce process automation organisation, that creates robots that can assist in daily work. The company’s AIpowered software robots work 24x7, 365 days and offer fixed resource costs with no extra HR overheads. The robots can be managed by the owners from anywhere in the world, and work across multiple platforms, interdepartment and functionalities, alongside any existing systems without enhancements.

WO SWEE TECK

vP Regional Sales, Securemetric Technology

Wo explained that Securemetric offers SigningCloud – an advanced digital signature platform that allows users to upload any document and sign in at any time and anywhere to replace the traditional paper based handwritten signature. This reduces cost, increasing efficiency and productivity. The solution supports any file type of document signing, provides traceable signing operations, generates interactive reports, as well as supports signatures, stamps and digital watermarks.