Malaysia's Sarawak Launches Digital Innovation Hub To Drive Digital Economy

KUCHING (Sarawak, Malaysia), Aug 28 (Bernama) -- The newly-launched Tabung Ekonomi Gagasan Anak Bumiputera Sarawak (TEGAS) Digital Innovation Hub, a platform which aims to attract, nurture, support and encourage talents to venture into digital entrepreneurship, would help boost the development of the state’s digital economy. Chief Minister, Amar Abang Johari Tun Openg, said the hub was just the first stage in supporting aspiring entrepreneurs and start-ups and it was one of the satellite initiatives centred around the Sarawak government’s Digital Village. “The Digital Village will consolidate and cement all the other initiatives by TEGAS Digital Innovation Hub, as well as other efforts by government and private sector to increase the rate and degree of success of digital startu-ups,” he said in his speech during the launch the innovation hub here on Monday. Abang Johari said the Digital Village would be managed by a team of experts, mentors and coaches, and would have a complete ecosystem which would include a research outfit, venture capitalist management and technologists. It would also include a business venture management team to help tip point start-ups to scale up their initiatives, he said. He said efforts to encourage digital entrepreneurship should not be confined to the TEGAS and Digital Village initiatives only. “I want other organisations, including the private sector and higher learning institutions, to be on board with us and play a more active role in providing similar innovation initiatives, enablers and hubs to transform the digital economy landscape in Sarawak,” he said. He said the state government would also be supporting aspiring digital entrepreneurs through the Sarawak Digital Economy Corporation and Sarawak Multimedia Authority. Abang Johari said at the same time, there was also a need to instil the correct mindset among the youths. “They should not be afraid to try and experiment. There is no real formula to success aside from hard work, the courage to try new idea and the will to rise again when you fall,” he said. -- BERNAMA