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Open Data User Group Officially Ready For Malaysia
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November 14, 2017 News

 

Putrajaya was the location for the launch of the Malaysian Open Data User Group (MODUG) programme that aims to position Malaysia as a digitally strong and mature society. To have data ‘open’ and available to the public helps promote efficient public services and economic opportunities as the country embraces the digital economy.

The programme was launched by the Malaysian Administrative Modernisation and Management Planning Unit (MAMPU) in collaboration with the World Bank. The programme will encompass the efforts from various government departments, agencies, industry, academia, media and non-governmental organisations and not forgetting fellow Malaysian citizens.

In order to make the open data safe for use, MAMPU’s core activity is in addressing confidentiality and privacy issues so that data providers will be less reluctant to release and share their data, while data users will be less reluctant to use the data provided.

Having valuable data for all parties to use, namely, government, private and citizens as well, gives way for better and more informed decisions to be made. By utilising resources efficiently, this would create a spill over effect that the economy could also benefit from.

Prime Minister Dato’ Sri Mohd Najib mentioned during the Prime Minister’s Innovation Awards 2017, that data is an invaluable asset in producing a variety of data products. He added that data products are what is needed to generate the country’s economic growth and be a catalyst for pioneering more value added services for the people.

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk Joseph Entulu Belaun, during the launching said that having timely and relevant data is crucial for evidence-based policymaking. “But it is also increasingly important for private sector development. Being the first country in ASEAN to implement the Open Data Readiness Assessment (ODRA) methodology, Malaysia was able to assess its institutional and technical readiness and is now moving fast to implement concrete actions required to move the open data programme forward.”

Big Community were invited to promote the Big Open Wrangle, which they are running in partnership with MAMPU. They explained that the 4-month online initiative is aligned with the aims of the government to drive higher adoption and usage of open data. One of the key benefits of the programme will be to bring the commercial sector together with the public sector to leverage their expertise. To that end, experts from NetApp, Cloudera and Tech Target who are supporting the Big Open Wrangle will be made available to organisations that are looking for advice on how to open up their data or leverage open data sets.

The MODUG programme represents Malaysia’s unrelenting push towards building a cohesive partnership between data holders and data users and elevate the open data initiatives to help Malaysia progress its digital economy initiatives.

 

Faris Hadad World Bank Country Manager, Malaysia

Dr. Yusminar, Director of Digital Government Division

 

 

 

 

 

 

Andrew Martin, Board Member at AOPG

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