Aliza Akmar Omar

ICT Clusters as a Way to Materialize a National System of Innovation: Malaysia's Multimedia Super Corridor Flagships

Developing countries have realised the need to develop the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) sector to compete in an environment of increasing globalisation and also the emergence of the knowledge based economy. But given the limited resources, one approach seems to be popular among many countries is the ‘cluster’ based approach for industrial development This paper seeks to highlight one such effort viz. Malaysias Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC) Cluster with its Flagships approach. The MSC is presented in the paper as a physical manifestation of the NSI, to illustrate how a policy driven – cluster based regional development approach has helped to further national innovative performance and competitiveness

Policy-driven collaborative arrangements and competency development – a case of Malaysia's MSC flagship networks

This paper presents the results of a survey done among organisations participating in flagship networks in Malaysias Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC Malaysia) project. The MSC flagships are an integral part of MSC Malaysia and are inter-organisational networks, built through policy-driven collaborative arrangements, to help participating organisations develop innovative applications and achieve sustainable competitive advantage. These directed networks of exchange relationships are intended to create value in that the creativity and talent derived out of such an environment is perceived to result in certain competencies. Preliminary findings indicate that the three network groups are identified as having different forms or structures. The results of the statistical analysis indicate the following – that network structure is important in facilitating results for the organisations committed to the networks, where different network forms display different combinations of network characteristics and correspondingly, the different combinations lead to differing strengths in different competencies. It is especially significant where the focus is on policy-driven inter-organisational networks in developing economies.

Can Government Policies Drive Open Innovation Type Platforms? Ideas from the MSC Malaysia Flagship Applications:

The discussion of open innovation has always been centred on the organisation where innovation occurs. The focus would be on the inflow and outflow of knowledge into the organisation; several studies and cases published have addressed the concept around business (or government) organisations and their research and development (R&D) activities. The open innovation framework is based on a focal organisation, which is usually a business organisation that provides a platform for other organisations to collaborate—either helping the focal organisation to commercialise its knowledge and gain economic benefits or vice versa. This notion, we argue, is where an open innovation platform is ‘supplier-driven’, that is, ‘supplier’ indicating the focal organisation where innovation occurs. In this article, however, we propose an alternate framework for open innovation, that is, one that is ‘customer-driven’ where the customer organisation or demand-creating organisation provides a platform for open innovation. This alternate notion is derived from the case of the flagship applications of Malaysia’s Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC Malaysia). The MSC Malaysia flagships can be seen as open innovation type platforms established by the customer, that is, the Malaysian government—which provides the demand pull for creating an open-innovation platform. This framework of a ‘customer-driven’ open innovation platform could provide lessons for other emerging economies to understand how their governments can play a more active role, as policymaker and demand-generating entity, to create a platform for open innovation.

Automated network for knowledge transfer between resource management agencies: Real-time monitoring/database for household waste management in high-rise residential buildings in Malaysia

A conceptual network for household waste management in high-rise residential buildings in Malaysia is proposed in this paper. This study is justified based on: (1) the current situation of municipal solid waste management in Malaysia that (hypothetically) has been affected by improper knowledge transfer between resource management agencies due to the lack of technology involvement, and (2) fast urbanization in Malaysia and increasing demand for high-rise residential living lifestyle due to land scarcity, which is more tangible in areas with higher density of population. Additionally, categorization of living quarters has not been considered (by the resource management agencies) in municipal solid waste management planning. This study focuses only on household waste management in high-rise residential buildings. However, possibilities or limitations of implementation of the presented system in other categories of living quarters are discussed at the end. The proposed network aims at facilitating the process of knowledge acquisition, knowledge management, and knowledge transfer in the mentioned area. The outcomes of this study are somehow the current Governments stalled sustainable goals, which were aimed to be achieved through enforcement plan (unsuccessful to date). This study tries to approach the research problem through a more realistic and feasible fashion, considering todays modern lifestyle. This study, however, does not argue over what has (not) been done in the past, but how to use the previous experience(s) towards the future sustainable development. The proposed network presented in this paper is accompanied by a conceptual prototype, which has been developed and visualized based on interpretation of the findings of the study. So, the prototype can be technically tagged data visualization.

Exploring innovation intermediaries in public services: a case study of Malaysia’s Smart Card Flagship project

The paper focuses on the different types of innovation intermediaries in a project serving national interests – the Smart Card Flagship project, a network of public and private organisations formed through policy interventions by the Malaysian Government. An important finding is the formation of intermediaries specifically for the network that, in turn, helps develop linkages between the organisations. Some organisations are found to take on an intermediary role, in addition to their principal role, in the network. Findings also indicate that the quality of the inter-organisational relationships, and the presence of well managed network conditions conducive for innovation activities, effectively ensure the ability of the organisations to intermediate. These findings offer lessons to other developing countries on how public-private partnerships can be effectively leveraged. The case study provides insights on innovation intermediaries in an emerging economy where there is a high level of dependence on foreign sources for technology.