Keluarga Malaysia STIE space will create thinkers, spark innovation culture - PM

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob said the STIE Design Space developed by the Science, Technology and Innovation Ministry (MOSTI) under Yayasan Inovasi Malaysia (YIM) will also spark an innovation and creative culture and spur more to be involved in the fields of science, technology and innovation (STI).

In addition, he said the government also invited grassroots innovators to assist in developing the country's innovation field and turn social innovations into an important platform.

"The concept of social innovation is fast gaining attention and interest in the past few years. Social innovation in Malaysia is very encouraging and we can see a rise in the number of social enterprises.

"Social innovation can also solve social issues with its potential of creating job opportunities through new markets that can be developed from ideas from grassroots innovators," he said when officiating the Bera Keluarga Malaysia STIE Design Space in Felda Bukit Puchong here today.

Social innovation could reduce the gap between urban and rural economies and propel traditional innovation as a competitive economic source, Ismail Sabri said.

He referred to the 6,000 grassroots innovators who have received assistance since 2012 through funding development in technology and automation, patent ownership, self-capacity guidance, company establishment and product diffusion involving government financial investment of over RM50 million through MOSTI.

He stressed that social innovation should not be viewed as a one-off project or initiative but needed to be supported by entrepreneurial thinking so that the generation of new resources would continue to develop in line with organisational growth and sustainable competitive markets.

"I urge corporate institutions to also provide support to the government and assist YIM as an agent of social innovation to support the development of our grassroots innovators.

"I hope there will be more STIE ideas that are not only interesting but capable of competing involving automation technology, machine learning and big data, artificial intelligence (AI), robotic technology and Internet of Things (IoT) till it can provide added value to local communities," he said.

On the Bera STIE Design Space, Ismail Sabri said it would provide the local community, especially students, youth, small and medium enterprises as well as startups, with the opportunity to adopt the latest technology and generate income.

The Bera STIE Design Space is the seventh space launched, after two in Johor and one each in Negeri Sembilan, Terengganu, Kelantan and Kedah, and offers facilities with design labs, computer labs, innovation corners, digital studios and training areas that can be used for free.

Ismail Sabri also witnessed the handover of a letter of intent of partnership between YIM and Universiti Malaysia Pahang (UMP) involving the provision of training and capacity development in innovation to the community in Bera.