Oleh/By : DATO' SERI DR. MAHATHIR BIN MOHAMAD
Tempat/Venue : THE NIKKO HOTEL, KUALA LUMPUR
Tarikh/Date : 26/07/97
Tajuk/Title : THE LAUNCH OF THE CONCEPT REQUEST
FOR PROPOSALS (CRFPS) FOR
MSC FLAGSHIP APPLICATIONS
1. Terlebih dahulu, saya ucapkan terima kasih kepada
Multimedia Development Corporation (MDC) kerana menjemput
saya untuk melancarkan Konsep Cadangan Permohonan Tender,
ataupun `Concept Request For Proposals' (CRFPs) untuk
Aplikasi-Aplikasi Perdana bagi Koridor Raya Multimedia.
Pelancaran CRFPs ini adalah satu lambaran sejarah bagi MSC
kerana Aplikasi-Aplikasi Perdana ini adalah kunci kepada
kejayaan MSC.
2. I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate
all the task forces, the relevant government agencies
involved, and MDC in the successful completion of the Concept
Request for Proposals. From the beginning, these initiatives
have had the full support and commitment from the highest
levels of government and industries, and today is the
culmination of the combined efforts over the past several
months.
3. Most importantly, I would like to take this opportunity
to especially thank all the private companies involved in the
task forces -- I believe there were more than 50 -- which
have made major contributions in terms of resources,
commitment and expertise towards the project on a voluntary
basis. This has clearly proven to be a successful
collaboration between the government and private sector, and
a mutually-enriching experience for all involved. It is
remarkable to discover that in the course of formulating the
CRFPs, the companies that compete in the marketplace are able
to collaborate in search of standards, road maps and high-
priority pilot projects for the flagships.
4. With the completion of these CRFPs, we have passed a
major hurdle in the development of the Flagship Applications,
although we shall face many more as we progress with these
groundbreaking initiatives. These challenges and hurdles
are, however, very small in comparison to the benefits that
will be generated for us all for many generations to come.
5. The 15 CRFPs that we are launching today for pilot
projects under the Electronic Government, Multi-Purpose Card,
Smart Schools and Telemedicine Flagship Applications are in
themselves pioneering initiatives for our country. They must
not be perceived merely as documents outlining the
requirements for private sector companies to submit their
bids for government projects. They are actually
representative of the government's new approach for
partnering with the private sector. We have worked with the
private sector companies to develop CRFPs that provide
clarity of the benefits the government seeks, but leaves
flexibility for the bidding concortia to innovate solutions.
6. As you will see from the CRFPs, more emphasis is placed
on defining the project objectives and desired benefits
rather than specifying detailed technical requirements. It
also calls for open technology and business model. This
approach encourages collaboration among companies and between
companies and the government, hopefully, leading to the
building of consortia among companies to develop and deliver
the best and most comprehensive solutions for the various
pilot projects.
7. The MSC offers many opportunities for companies to
explore multimedia technologies to their limits. It is by
far the most comprehensive Test Bed devised for the purpose
of devising and testing the technologies and their
applications in the Information Age.
8. To spearhead the development of the MSC and give shape
to its environment, we have identified seven primary areas
for multimedia applications. These Flagship Applications
contain unprecedented and attractive opportunities for local
and international business, because of their variety and
scope, and the manner in which they are being offered to the
global community. Through these Flagship Applications, we
extend an open invitation to the multimedia community in
Malaysia and throughout the world to participate in the
MSC.Companies that take up the offer will be able to create
value for themselves in an environment uniquely suited to
their needs. While they will help to transform Malaysia and
the region they would also be contributing towards their own
role in the Information Age. What they learn and test here
will obviously help prepare them for the solving of problems
which they must face when applying their technologies and
expertise worldwide.
9. One of the most important Flagship Applications which we
will all be helping to develop is the Electronic Government.
There has been much talk on this subject and many initiatives
and systems have been mooted and even tried. But the problem
will be to choose the best system or combination of systems.
Whatever is decided upon and applied in actual administrative
procedures will obviously not be final. The development of
the Electronic Government will be a continuous process as new
ideas and new technologies make current ones out of date. We
will have to be prepared for these challenges and be open-
minded enough to keep our options and to be ready to accept
the new as much as to defend the old and the tried systems
and technologies. Again the experience and the results
gained here will be invaluable to the participating companies
as they promote their systems worldwide.
10. The Multi-Purpose Card Flagship Application is an
obvious necessity. Many people throughout the world are in
the process of developing it. Many will think they have the
perfect solution or system. But Malaysia is perhaps the only
country where the Government is willing to participate fully
in a project that will not only serve its own needs but those
of the private sector as well. As integrated circuits become
more powerful the need for information will rise with it.
Governments have always required certain documents and
information on individuals living within the country. But
now every individual needs to do numerous transactions in
daily life which needs to be accounted for. From bus fares
to million-dollar deals to travelling across countries,
transactions have to be recorded. Smart cards simply have to
get smarter and smarter. We may think we know everything
already about smart cards. But it is amazing how much we can
discover when real life trials are carried out. I am sure
much will be learnt by everyone from the Multi-Purpose Single
Card Flagship Application project.
11. For Smart Schools, companies involved in the Flagship
Applications will be given the opportunity to help Malaysia
make the critical transition from an industrial economy to a
knowledge-based one. This calls for a technologically-
literate, thinking workforce which is able to perform well in
a global environment and use of Information Age technology
to improve productivity. It follows that Smart Schools are
not only categorised by the introduction of technology, but
more importantly, by their ability to deliver heightened
education in a better and more comprehensive way. This
represents a compelling and challenging task indeed.
12. Telemedicine is obviously going to contribute towards
better medicine for a greater number of people. Today we are
already applying it through rapid access to expert
consultations in real time. The day will come when complex
surgical operations can be carried out from great distances.
Already surgeons are looking at TV screens and operating with
great precision without actually looking directly at the
surgical instruments or the parts they are operating on. And
of course the teaching of surgical and other procedures by
the great experts can be watched by a larger number of
students and doctors worldwide than presently. Everyone must
gain through this, the medical profession as well as the
patients.
13. The MSC can be developed into a regional hub for
Telemedicine services, products and education. The
possibilities are enormous and cooperation between the
medical profession, the experts in information technology and
the great pharmaceutical and medical firms is bound to
benefit mankind as a whole.
14. One of the key objectives in using the CRFPs approach is
to encourage collaboration and technology transfer involving
small and medium Malaysian enterprises. As most of the
solutions provided will involve leading-edge technologies
from world-class multimedia companies, this represents a
significant learning opportunity for local companies involved
in the consortia. In fact, one of the selection criteria is
to look at a workable and effective model of technology and
knowledge transfer between collaborating companies and
institutions, big and small; local and foreign.
15. What we hope to encourage, too, are smart and equal
partnership where both local and foreign parties will offer
value-added input. We also hope that this will help build
platforms for on-going innovations which will in turn
stimulate the development of new applications of multimedia
in both the public and private sectors, with ownership of
these pioneer applications attributed to all the parties
involved.
16. For Malaysians as a whole, the full impact of these
Flagship Applications will not be immediately felt or seen.
The pilot projects to be implemented under these applications
are part of our long-term plan to achieve our Vision 2020
goals. Studies have shown that with the MSC, we have the
potential to increase our per capita GDP by three, or even
four times by the year 2020. According to a study conducted
by Sumitomo Corporation, the value that will be generated by
the Multimedia industry in the MSC to the national economy
after the first five years is estimated at US$25 billion.
17. As observed recently by the editors of Forbes magazine
in their 80th anniversary report on the impact of the IT
revolution in the U.S., `in an economy built on technology,
and free from many physical restraints, change goes into
overdrive'. They also noted the change over the years in the
composition of the Forbes list of the top 100 valuable
companies in the U.S. with the advent of what they referred
to as the `silicon revolution'. This is what we feel will
happen as the multimedia industry grows at an accelerated
pace in the country.
18. The Flagship Applications will be instrumental in
facilitating through multimedia technologies vast
improvements and efficiency in important areas like public
administration, education and healthcare. Coupled with
focused initiatives on productivity improvements, these
technologies have the potential to revolutionise the way
government works and interacts with citizens in all walks of
life and in the way our children learn and interact with
society. We also hope to set standards that will stimulate
reverse investments from the MSC consortia. The benefits are
clearly far-reaching and cumulative.
19. With the Electronic Government Flagship Application in
place, not only will government services be easily accessible
to all members of the public but there should also be a
marked improvement in service quality and the speed in which
they are delivered. To improve access to services,
Electronic Government will provide one-stop shopping for
Government services through multi-channel delivery options.
Services will no longer be provided where the government is,
but where the people are. We will begin with the
installation of Electronic Government kiosks which will bring
these services closer to your home or to your workplace or
even your shopping centres. As an example, instead of having
to go to government offices and wait in long queues to renew
passports, it will be possible to go to a kiosk in a shopping
mall or access the service on your home PC. Obviously
you will not have to queue before your own PC. Most of the
checking will be done by computers, leaving only a few
decisions to be made by relevant officers.
20. These are the kind of things which the MSC will engender
and introduce to our life in the Information Age. We suspect
that there will be many innovations which we cannot even
imagine now. Just as the power of the integrated circuit,
the microchip was never imagined only 20 years ago, so will
the forthcoming innovations and technologies be difficult to
foresee today. But they will come, and they will come with a
speed that we may find unsettling. So be prepared to be
caught unprepared.
21. On that note, I would like to call on all of you to give
your support to the development of these Flagship
Applications which we believe will give rise to a better
quality of life for all Malaysians and others elsewhere. I
would also like to take this opportunity to call on both
local and international companies with the relevant expertise
and technology to form the necessary strategic alliances and
pursue the business opportunities provided by these pilot
projects. I wish you all the best in creating global
showcases for multimedia applications in the Multimedia Super
Corridor.
22. Dengan ini, saya dengan sukacitanya melancarkan Konsep
Cadangan Permohonan Tender untuk Aplikasi-Aplikasi Perdana
bagi Koridor Raya Multimedia.
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