SATURDAY-19TH JANUARY 2008 - CM URGES KKIPC TO BE MORE INNOVATIVE

CM urges KKIPC to be more innovative

KOTA KINABALU:

The Chief Minister has urged KKIPC Sdn Bhd which has been tasked to operate and manage the Sabah. Net for 20 years to be more innovative and creative in providing its services. “This is to ensure that Sabah will not be left behind in terms of Information Communication Technology (ICT) development,” said Datuk Seri Musa Aman at the company’s 11th anniversary here yesterday. The text of the Chief Minister’s speech was delivered by Deputy Chief Minister cum Community Development and Consumer Affairs Minister Datuk Seri Panglima Yahya Hussin. Musa said that the State Government had taken its own initiatives in ICT development in Sabah, and this was evident with the establishment of the State-owned intranet - Sabah. Net - in September 1997.
Today, he said the ICT industry was among the country’s most dynamic industries and served as an important catalyst for socioeconomic growth and development of the nation. As such, Musa reckoned that Sabah must be able to create new products and services that are of high value, not only to the local economy but international as well. Under the RM2.3 billion State Budget 2008, Musa who is also the Finance Minister, noted that RM17.8 million had been allocated for ICT development and a big chunk of the money goes to paying KKIPC’s services. Whilst stressing the State Government’s readiness to work with the private sector, Musa assured that the State Government would continue to call for greater cooperation and concerted national focus on the development of the ICT sector in Sabah.
“The adoption of private-sector initiatives can alleviate the burden on the Government and provide benefits to the private sector. Ultimately, this will be the driving motivation behind the State’s effort in bridging the digital divide.”
Moreover, he said there is a need to build a consensus by bringing together policy-makers, business leaders, academics and technical experts to work together in developing new policies and incentives that will make the Sabah ICT sector more competitive in the global market place.
He said this was part of a conducive investment climate that Sabah need to create. “The future focus would remain on strengthening human capital, developing hard and soft infrastructure, bringing innovations through ICT in the small medium enterprises and reducing the digital divide,” Musa added.