@ green | September-October , 2022

Dr Raslan Ahmad

MIGHT leverages market intelligence to identify business opportunities

BY FATIHAH MANAF

Launched on Feb 22 , 1993 , the Malaysian Industry-Government Group for High Technology ( MIGHT ) aims to serve the nation by leading this mission of advancing the country ’ s competency in high technology .

MIGHT is a market-driven technological partnership think-tank emphasising market intelligence initiatives using foresight practices and methodology to identify technology and business opportunities .

Its key role is building and driving partnerships in technology through a consensus-building platform between the private and public sectors and providing strategic advice and alliances to shape high technology studies , capacity building through policy interventions , and flagship programmes and strategies for the country .

The agency conducts market intelligence , technology foresight , road mapping , and policy intervention across various industries and technologies .

“ Our strategic thrusts focus on three things . One is on the public-private partnership and cooperation among various sectors . Second , we are focusing on how to empower people involved in our projects . The third one is how we can fast forward and realistically facilitate innovation ,” said Dr Raslan Ahmad , Senior Vice President of

MIGHT , at the International Sustainable Energy Summit ( ISES ) 2022 .

These are three strategic thrusts that we push ahead to ensure the success of our programmes .”

Taking up a booth at ISES 2022 , he said the summit created opportunities for all the key stakeholders , not just for gathering or networking , but most importantly , to exchange ideas and best practices and demonstrate how stakeholders can work together .

“ It is a platform of networking and sharing . It is a platform for stakeholders to reflect their commitment and interest in making things happen ,” he said .

Malaysia Smart Cities Alliances

The Sustainable City Development in Malaysia project is an integrated approach to urban planning and management in strategic and Federal-State level linkages guided by an evidence-based , multidimensional , and broadly inclusive planning process that balances economic , social and environmental resource considerations .

MIGHT aims to create a sustainable ecosystem to support Malaysia ’ s sustainable city development .

One of MIGHT ’ s initiatives in this regard includes the establishment of Malaysia Smart Cities Alliances ( MSCA ). The programme is designed as an advocacy platform for crucial stakeholder engagement to create greater awareness of smart city technologies , applications , policies and best practices .

Touching on the programme , Raslan said : “ I can consider it a very successful project so far , in policy formulation and realisation . We have completed our policy facilitation at the federal level . We ’ re also helping the States produce their policy at the state level , such as the Smart Melaka Blueprint 2035 .

“ We are also helping the local government provide the guidelines , especially regarding ICT infrastructure for cities . It is critical because we need to ensure smooth implementation from the federal , state and local government levels .

“ Among the challenges is coordinating and integrating at different levels of participation of our programme . It requires cooperation between ministries and agencies at the federal and State and local government levels .”

He highlighted that the agency also needed to bring the community at large , including the society , academia , and public and private sectors , to cooperate with one common agenda .

“ So , cooperation , cooperation , and implementation are among challenges we must constantly address from the beginning until the end .” – @ Green