KUALA LUMPUR: Companies participating in the government's High Technology, Low Touch (HTLT) initiative are encouraged to adopt the "coopetition" spirit of partnering with their competitors rather than competing with one another in order to offer better solutions.

In making the call, the Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation Datuk Seri Adham Baba said the initiative is key in accelerating Malaysian companies towards the adoption of Industry 4.0 solutions.

"Instead of inviting solution providers to come and offer their one solution, we encourage them to form partnerships or consortiums with other players. We encourage competitors to cooperate.

"Instead of, for example, offering a sensor-based anaerobic digester to the fish market, companies now combine forces to offer the same client artificial intelligence (AI)-based anaerobic digester with sensors," the minister said in his keynote address at the Asian Science Park Association (ASPA) 2021 Conference today.

HTLT is one of the key initiatives of the Malaysian Technology Development Corporation (MTDC), in partnership with the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MOSTI).

Adham Baba pointed out that by forming partnerships, the clients would get more value for their investments and gain greater benefits through increased efficiencies in more than just one area.

"The companies generate more data that enables their system to learn better with better traction in the market. Everybody wins," he added.

At the event, MTDC chairman Tan Sri Abdul Rahman Mamat noted that the ASPA conference, which is held annually, gathers all the technology players around Asia to present a new paradigm for Asian industry and build economic consensus in Asia by bringing together innovative organisations, companies, and individuals that make contributions to industrial and economic development in their societies.

He said previous conferences had all been successful in helping science parks around the region become more effective in value-adding their tenants as participants exchanged best practices and leveraged on each other's strengths.

"MTDC's ASPA Conference 2021 Kuala Lumpur intends to push further the agenda of science parks as the breeding ground for development in the fields of innovation, technology application, research and development, commercialisation of inventions, and the monetisation of intellectual properties, particularly in the Asian region," he said.

The 24th ASPA Conference, themed 'Advancing Technological Revolution Through Coopetition,' is welcoming participants from 47 countries, among them Korea, India, Indonesia, Russia, Singapore, Thailand, Turkey, Vietnam, Japan, Iran, China, and host Malaysia.

Visitors will have the opportunity to view the 60 virtual exhibition booths from 10 countries and network with participants. MTDC has been entrusted to host ASPA Conference 2021, held virtually for the first time in Kuala Lumpur.

-- BERNAMA