By Lian Cheng
KUCHING, May 23: Sarawak Multimedia Authority (SMA) is currently working with the Land and Survey Department to build up big data for Sarawak’s land, including its topography and soil structure.
Sarawak Premier Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg said the extensive data collected would generate further information, which is expected to help Sarawak make various decisions.
Citing the example of road building, he said if there were information on the soil structure and the topography of a hill which is situated right at the centre of the road to be constructed, the information available would quickly help the authorities to decide whether a tunnel should be built to cut across the hill or the road needed to circumvent around the hill.
Defending his policy to digitalise Sarawak, he supported his argument by citing global and national statistics on the fast growth of the digital economy.
“According to the Department of Statistics Malaysia, Malaysia raked in as much as RM279 billion in terms of revenue from e-commerce in 2020 while the third-quarter of 2021 shows an increase of 17 per cent growth in the industry.
“E-commerce contributed 11.5 per cent towards Malaysia’s GDP in 2020, compared to 8.5 per cent in 2019,” said Abang Johari at the SMA Hari Raya and Pre-Gawai celebration held at a local hotel here this evening.
He also quoted an international report, saying that the digital economy has been anticipated to contribute 25 per cent of global GDP, which means a value of 25 trillion USD.
The figures showed that e-commerce activities are thriving yearly, which led him to believe that in 2022, these activities will increase further as some places that used to be internet blind spots may already be connected by this year.
Abang Johari had also included ‘telecommunications’ into the Utility Ministry to emphasise the digital economy, making it the ‘Utility and Telecommunications Ministry’ after the 12th Sarawak Election. — DayakDaily
