IDS: Sabah must address issues before digital economy goal can be met

 By Olivia Miwil - January 12, 2021 @ 5:06pm

Assistant Minister to the Chief Minister Datuk Abidin Madingkir (third right) receiving a memento from Institute For Development Studies Sabah (IDS) chief executive officer Anthony Kiob during a courtesy call by IDS management committee to the former at Sabah Administrative Centre in Kota Kinabalu, on Wednesday. - NSTP/ courtesy of IDS

KOTA KINABALU: While digital economy is the way forward for Sabah, the state government has to address a number of issues to ensure that its digital goals are achieved.

Institute For Development Studies Sabah (IDS) chief executive officer Anthony Kiob said for starters, the state government has to find quick alternative solutions to Sabah's current lack of infrastructure facilities to support the moves.

"Digital economy is the way forward for Sabah. Infrastructure is not the only issue that needs to be addressed in order for Sabah to move towards the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) and digital economy successfully.

"Mental revolution is crucial and exposing the target group to knowledge of the digital economy and coaching them in applying this knowledge is important to ensure the success of the digital revolution in Sabah," he said in a statement.

IDS yesterday held a discussion on Digital Economy and 4IR, which was attended by key government, private and non-governmental organisation players in the state's technology innovation sector.

Meanwhile, Anthony that another hindrance to digital economy development in Sabah was the lack of cooperation in terms of data-sharing between the state and federal agencies.

"Precious time is wasted due to federal and state tussle in data-sharing when meaningful and effective progress is needed in the implementation of the digital revolution in Sabah.

"Close working relationships between the government, the private sector and the community are important to ensure the success of the implementation of 4IR and the digital economy in Sabah."

Meanwhile, on the National Digital Economy and 4IR Council, which IDS is a part of, Anthony said smart farming was one of the six clusters identified during the council's first meeting.

"Smart farming is in line with the state's mission in the Sabah Maju Jaya (SMJ) agenda.

"In the SMJ, agriculture was highlighted as one of the backbones of Sabah's economy which needs to be propelled further," he said, adding it is crucial to set up agriculture collection centres in major agricultural districts and expose farmers to digital marketing.

The other five clusters set to be expanded include real-time broadband, strengthening cross-border data transfer, seamless data flow, smart cities and cyber security matters.