INGENIEUR
The strategic objectives and initiatives for digital
innovation are outlined in Figure 4.
Support the adoption of technology by micro,
small and medium enterprise(MSMEs).
While the number of Internet users has grown at
a brisk 16% annually from 2008 to 2013, a large
proportion of businesses in ASEAN still lag in
terms of technology readiness and usage. There
are opportunities for enabling MSMEs to fully
adopt digital technologies through addressing
key barriers that prevent them to do so, such
as awareness of potential benefits, technology
capability, ease of adoption, access to finance, and
availability of different solutions and platforms.
MSMEs’ adoption of digital technologies will allow
them to achieve significant uplift in productivity,
efficiency, and market expansion within the region.
Support financial access through digital
technologies.
A large share of the ASEAN population remains
unbanked. The opportunity exists to significantly
increase financial access by leveraging digital
technologies. However, capturing this opportunity
may require creating an enabling policy and
regulatory environment that allows digital financial
inclusion to flourish, which include developing
new banking requirements, addressing several
barriers that may affect the uptake of mobile
banking services (for instance, data infrastructure,
regulations requiring customers to visit a branch
to open accounts), as well as risks consideration.
Improve open data use in ASEAN Member
States.
Open data—machine readable information, which
may include Government and private sector data,
that is made publicly available to others—has
generated a great deal of excitement around the
world for its potential to empower peoples, change
how Government works, and improve the delivery
of public services. At a global level, open data
can help unlock US$3 trillion to US$5 trillion in
economic value annually across seven sectors.
ASEAN Member States are at different levels of
maturity in terms of data production as well as
open data development, which suggests a large
potential for further growth. The focus of MPAC
2025 is on Government-level open data.
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Support enhanced data management in ASEAN
Member States.
Data management (predominantly company and
individual level data), including issues relating to
data privacy, data analysis and interpretation,
data storage, and cross-border data transfers,
has a significant implication on the development
of businesses in ASEAN. Progress varies
considerably among ASEAN Member States in
this area and there is a significant opportunity
to improve transparency and accountability on
requirements and identify areas to enhance
performance.
Initiative 4: Enhance the MSME Technology
Platform.
This initiative will support the plan of the ASEAN Co-
ordinating Committee on MSMEs (ACCMSME) to
promote key technology usage and its application
to business by detailing the steps required to
achieve the strategic objective. Additionally, MPAC
2025 will enhance co-ordination among different
stakeholders to achieve this initiative, including:
ACCMSME, ASEAN Telecommunications Senior
Officials Meeting (TELSOM), business associations
and councils, and others.
To ensure that MSMEs in ASEAN leverage
digital technologies and encourage their adoption
among MSMEs, a first step will be to address the
current lack of understanding on barriers to digital
adoption for MSME in the region. A survey will be
conducted among MSMEs in each ASEAN Member
State to gain a deeper understanding of the
current situation in relation to digital adoption, as
well as the key barriers preventing adoption. This
survey will also examine the current approaches
being used in each ASEAN Member State to
support digital adoption by MSMEs. A forum will be
established for Government officials in the MSME
and ICT space to understand the current barriers
and share lessons on successful interventions
currently being used in ASEAN.
A key component for addressing digital
adoption will be to strengthen the existing
ASEAN SME service portal by responding to
the insights from the MSME survey, as well as
developing a digital technology platform which
draws on best practices offerings from within and
outside ASEAN. Potential areas of opportunity