Post-COVID-19 strategy must include innovative digital technologies - Zahidi

KUALA LUMPUR: The post-COVID-19 recovery strategy must include innovative digital technologies and business models for Malaysia to become more resilient as the country transits into the endemic phase, said Deputy Communications and Multimedia Minister Datuk Zahidi Zainul Abidin.

He said in the current digital environment, businesses have become increasingly more dependent on digital technology, especially when the pandemic hit more than two years ago.

"We have witnessed businesses forced to get into the digital space or risk closing shop, and communications online and in social media have spiked more than ever before due to the increasing need for Malaysians of all age groups to be more tech-savvy whether we like it or not," he said at the Malaysia Global Business Forum Roundtable today.

Zahidi said the government will also continue to invest in digital infrastructure, including the 5G rollout in which new networks support a massive number of connected devices and are expected to be much faster, reliant and efficient.

He said the power and potential of 5G capabilities go way beyond enabling super-fast video streaming with zero lag time and full-length movie downloads within seconds.

"The new 5G technology will provide a more stable mobile network for these activities and will also enable infrastructure for other services, and this will allow foreign and domestic investors the required bandwidth to grow well into the future," he said.

However, Zahidi said the opportunities that came with digitalisation posed various threats globally, and Malaysia was not exempted as the Internet and digital technology were considered 'double-edged swords' which can be used for both good and bad purposes.

He said emerging cyber threats have become a lot more sophisticated, posing serious risks and challenges to individuals and nations.

Thus, there was a need to have resilience in the corporate sector and the baseline for resilience in the digital economy was cybersecurity, he added.

"As a cybersecurity technical and specialist centre, CyberSecurity Malaysia remains at the frontlines of our proactive defensive efforts to protect our business infrastructure and ecosystem," he said.

Zahidi said cybersecurity was a fundamental component of today's digital and hi-tech world and the government would continue to collaborate with various cybersecurity players via a public-private partnership for innovative policies to be developed.

-- BERNAMA