14 TECHNOLOGY
@ green | May-June , 2022
Capitalising on technological innovation
SIRIM Tech Venture accelerates business commercialisation through co-creation and co-opetition
BY FATIHAH MANAF
TECHNOLOGICAL innovations and industrial developments are essential in the country ’ s economic transformation journey . Collaborative efforts between academia , private sectors and relevant stakeholders will help Malaysia realise its economic potential to become a developed nation . To make this happen , the country must prioritise commercialising technologies and related businesses .
At the forefront of this commercialisation effort is SIRIM Berhad , which aims to establish itself as the nation ’ s technology hub with advances in robotics , Artificial Intelligence ( AI ), the Industrial Internet of Things ( IIoT ), nanotechnology , quantum computing , and biotechnology .
“ SIRIM views the commercialisation of technological innovations as important .
The commercialisation effort will help the nation gain more value and achieve its target to become a developed country at an accelerating pace ,” said Chief Executive Officer of SIRIM Tech Venture Sdn Bhd ( STV ), Ts . Ajmain Kasim .
“ We are all aware that Malaysia is trapped as a middle income-nation . We are a technological consumer rather than a technological driver or inventor .”
STV , a wholly-owned subsidiary company of SIRIM Berhad , serves as a special vehicle to drive the commercialisation of promising innovations from a broad range of technology sectors .
According to Ajmain , SIRIM will shift its focus from infrastructure as a service to software as a service . It will also streamline its projects into a Digital Factory model . Through this model , SIRIM will rapidly develop products and solutions according to the needs of its customers , in line with shifting demands and trends .
“ STV aims to accelerate more research output from frontier technology into products and services that can be sold to the market . Therefore , research as a business segment is expected to grow as one of SIRIM ’ s main sources of revenue in the future .”
He highlighted the government was