NAIO Launches alongside National AI Training Initiatives
Malaysia’s Ministry of Digital held the official opening of its National Artificial Intelligence Office (NAIO) on December 12, featuring a speech from PM Anwar. Chief technology and innovation officer (CTIO) at the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC), Shamsul Izhan Abdul Majid, has been revealed as the head of NAIO. Using NAIO as a vessel, Minister of Digital YB Gobind Singh Deo plans to fast-track Malaysia’s preexisting AI initiatives and expedite the technology's adoption in critical sectors.
NAIO will exercise a heavy emphasis on cross-sector collaboration. Minister Gobind elaborates that AI will have far-reaching benefits “from the agriculture sector in the north to the semiconductor industry in Penang,” streamlining data-intensive tasks, interpreting results, and making business model predictions. Such broad implementation will surely involve a need to upskill Malaysia’s workforce across the public sector, private sector, labor and service industries, and all stages of the value chain.
To make the initiatives under the NAIO possible, prominent US-based ICT companies have announced their support of the AI for Malaysia’s Future (AIForMYFuture) program. The program targets a broad cross-section of stakeholders across ages, industries, and education levels. AIForMYFuture has initially set out to upskill 800,000 Malaysians by the end of 2025. Given these ambitions, it is a fitting role for the US private sector to support this initiative and benefit from doing business with AI-literate Malaysian professionals.
