Research Platforms' Performance Reports GA21 2015-2017 | Page 7

Market Analytics
initiatives have taken place among government agencies,
industry associations, enterprises and communities, thus
introducing much-needed new knowledge framework and
skillsets into the cluster to understand global value chain
linkages, anchored by competent research teams tasked
with undertaking economic policy modelling for local
industry and government.
This also affirms the progression of the cluster toward
becoming more collaborative and multidisciplinary – the
appreciation for informed decision-making with information
derived from market analytics has ushered in an era of
data-driven economies that are less insular.
Associate Professor Santha Vaithilingam
Research Cluster Members
Associate Professor Santha Vaithilingam
(Cluster Leader)
Associate Professor Poon Wai Ching
Dr Ewilly Liew Jie Ying
Dr Ashutosh Sarker
Market analytics remains an emerging area of research,
employing continuously-refined empirical methods to
understand both micro- and macro- level economic
behaviour, as well as how these dynamics can impact
predefined goals. A key feature of the market analytics
cluster is fostering policy engagement and capacity
building initiatives aimed at providing high-quality research.
Members in this cluster engage in a broad range of research
that can create powerful societal impact by addressing and
finding solutions to local and global challenges alike.
Over the recent decade, the consumerisation of technology
has further enriched the market with an abundance of data
in various forms, rendering the prospect of applied analytics
an increasingly attractive one. 2016 and 2017 proved to
be a vibrant year for the market analytics cluster, having
attracted generous amounts of external funding. Many
The purview of the cluster includes but is not limited to
the following – behaviour of consumers, firms and society;
data analytics for decision-making; evolution of market
structures and its impact on specific institutional, national
and regional socio-political contexts; exploration of how
non-Asian firms’ and agencies’ behaviors shape the
economic landscape of Asia; healthcare analytics, aimed
at improving the health and well-being of communities by
employing data in medical/welfare logistics; sustainable
development strategies; competitiveness benchmarking for
enterprises operating in the knowledge economy; diffusion
of Information and Communication Technology (ICT)
across various demographics, particularly the marginalised
communities; impact of culture on socioeconomic
development; assessment of innovativeness among
enterprises; and resilience of financial systems.
One of the principal research projects that entailed the
involvement of cluster members and had attracted large
funding was the study on knowledge content in key economic
sectors in Malaysia Phase III (MYKE III) that was conducted
over a three-year period from 2015 to 2017 and was
sponsored by the Economic Planning Unit (EPU). This study
uses an integrated knowledge ecosystem model to assess
the state of development of the knowledge ecosystems for
the industry, which includes assessing the level of knowledge
content and its contribution to economic outcomes. The
goal was to identify strengths and weaknesses in each
industry based on their ‘dynamic capabilities’ (absorptive,
adaptive and innovative). Recommendations were provided
on the means to strengthen knowledge enablers within
the ecosystem and raise the competitiveness of Malaysian
industries against global peers.
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