Data Governance and Protection Data protection and governance is a necessity for business and government institutions, as data is an organisation's, public or private, most valuable and vulnerable asset. While existing regulations and legislation clearly define mandatory expectations about how data must be managed there is room to improve and share best practices amongst industry, public and private organisations. Data governance and protection is not possible with legacy technology, which is why next-gen data management is the only solution that supports appropriately adopting new technologies like artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things (IoT), machine learning and 5G. The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated digital transformation and the implementation of new technologies, now we need to protect and govern the data that is generated by these technologies to ensure their ongoing efficacy.   Industry 4.0 As the fourth industrial revolution continues through the implementation of IoT, establishing how IoT should be encouraged and managed is a key area that the Twelfth Malaysia Plan (12MP) may look to address. IoT offers incredible promise through its ubiquitous connectivity and the data-led insights or decision making it affords. From revolutionising production lines and manufacturing processes, to being the backbone of smart cities and better citizen services, or providing information about natural weather impacts to livestock and crop harvests, the opportunities created by IoT are incredible. To truly benefit from Industry 4.0, the implementation of educational and training programs, funding of grants or subsidies to industry and business, and other national programs must be considered.  Deployment of 5G The deployment of 5G is a fantastic driver for future innovation, such as automated factories or connected vehicles, but a structured approach is key. The Malaysian government has already committed to investing RM15 billion - under the MyDIGITAL initiative - to build 5G infrastructure, now setting clear regulations, spectrum governance and national frameworks is required. They need to move fast though, with 5G once it’s switched on immediately the challenge becomes how is the data processed, transferred and stored instantly and at speed, with consistency and reliability? If this challenge isn’t met when 5G is unleashed, the data fragmentation issues could lead to spiralling storage costs for providers and businesses, increased risk and security issues, lack of compliance, data recovery failures, and undermine the agility that 5G promises.  Cybersecurity The importance of cybersecurity has moved from being an IT conversation, to a boardroom and parliamentary floor conversation. However, malicious actors pose a significant risk to digital transformation, the innovation of digital citizen services, and technology based national building, regardless of whether they are targeting business or government. Cybersecurity initiatives, policies and investment should also address securing critical infrastructure, which is increasingly becoming a target. As connectivity and transformational technologies like 5G and IoT are introduced to critical infrastructure, such as power grids, water networks, transport systems, and hospitals, so too is the risk of being hacked, with downtime having the potential to cripple cities and nations. As technology adoption and connectivity increases, it is fair to expect that the next Malaysia Plan will incorporate key policy initiatives to encourage safe and secure cyber behaviour. Ransomware The winners and losers of tomorrow will be decided by those that can gain better insights from data, protect against ransomware, and make data governance a priority, with failing to do so now costing over MYR$3,221,293 to remediate (according to Sophos). The problem is that many organisations, public and private, rely on 20th century solutions to solve 21st century problems, but if an organisation doesn’t know what data they have, where it is located, how it is stored, or the types of data they have - how can they govern it, let alone protect it? Addressing the challenge posed by ransomware is likely to be covered within an initiative or feature of the upcoming Malaysia plan, if not explicitly called out.

* Ravi Rajendran is the Vice President, Asia Pacific, Cohesity **The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the position of Astro AWANI.