THE ROLE OF ICT IN
NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
The Information Communication Technology Service (ICTS) segment is
poised to reach the mark of RM67.99 billion in 2014, registering an
annual growth rate of 12.4%. In tandem, the share of ICTS in the national
Gross Domestic Product is expected to increase from 3.3% to 6.4%,
almost double over the period 2000-2014.
W
ith the advent of Internet technology,
Malaysia like many other countries in
the world made its explicit entry into the
information age beginning with its Jaring Internet
services in 1992 (Azzman, 2000, Ramachandran,
2008). Since then, it has been more than two
decades that Malaysia has formulated and
implemented a number of policies, strategies and
programmes to harness the opportunities for ICT
development in the country. However, it must be
noted that development of ICT has been an age
old initiative in Malaysia. It all started in the mid1960s when
manually managed information
systems were computerized using old mainframe
systems (Alhabshi, 2002). Subsequently, the
introduction of the Free Trade Zone (FTZ) Act of
1971 encouraged foreign direct investment (FDI),
paving the way for the ICT manufacturing sector to
gain a foothold in Malaysia (Rasiah, 2009; PIKOM,
2009). In essence, the country has not only been
an avid user of ICT, but has also been a strong
producer of ICT products and services over the
past four decades.
Strategically, as shown in Figure 1, the First
Outline Perspective Plan (OPP1: 1971- 1990) being the first long term plan - provided the requisite
impetus for developing an agro-industry based
economy from a laissez-faire economy that was
dominant after the nation gained its independence.
This was followed by OPP2:1991-2000, which
provided direction for an industry-based economy.
Figure 1
Subsequently, with the dawn of the new century, the
OPP3:2001-2010 has set the pace for Knowledge
Based Economy (KBE). During OPP 1 and OPP 2,
the Microelectronics Sector played a crucial role in
industrializing the economy. However, during OPP3,
the tide changed to contemporary ICT or Internet
technology. This provided online and real time
connectivity and interactivity in conjunction with
the convergence of technology, content, people,
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FEATURE
By R Ramachandran, Head of Research
PIKOM, The National ICT Association of Malaysia