The 4th International Seville Conference on

Future-Oriented Technology Analysis (FTA):

12 & 13 May 2011
FTA and Grand Societal Challenges:
Shaping and Driving Structural and Systemic Transformations

Getting Malaysians to Systematically Look Into

the Future
Authors:
Sponsors:
Type:
Geographic
Coverage:
Scope:
Applied Methods:
Evaluation:

Impacts:
Organiser:
Duration:
Keywords:

Rushdi Abdul Rahim

email address
Nik Ahmad Faizul Abdul Mallek
email address
Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MOSTI)
National Technology Foresight
Nationwide, Malaysia

rushdi@might.org.my
nikfaizul@might.org.my

Management and planning of R&D in science and technology

Literature review, patent scanning, engagement of expert panels, series of workshop, scenario planning,
Delphi
The study has captured 9+5 key technology areas which deserve the attention of the government, industry
and academia in charting the countrys future development and growth through a consultative and
quantitative process involving the major technology stakeholders of the country. The priority key
technologies identified should form a constructive guide in the allocation of resources for R&D and other
approaches to technology development in Malaysia.
The recommendations proposed are to support an effective implementation and management of the Science
and Technology (S&T) agenda at the national level for the next ten years.
Malaysian Industry-Government Group for High Technology (MIGHT), Rushdi Abdul Rahim,
rushdi@might.org.my
Aug Dec Budget: Approx.600000 EUR
Time Horizon: 10 years
Date of Brief: Feb 2011
2010
Malaysia, MIGHT, Technology, Foresight, National

Purpose
Malaysia has decided to strengthen the countrys innovation capacity as the way forward in order to achieve the high income
economy targets. Innovation however is easier planned than realized. Therefore, foresight exercise is critical in planning
innovation investment. The National Technology Foresight 2010 project which was successfully completed in 6 months involved
scanning global drivers and trends, evaluating local competencies benchmarked against some of the best in the world, engaging
stakeholders in the country in scenario planning, vision building and prioritising the key technology sectors and areas.

Page 1 of 14

Getting Malaysians to Systematically Look Into the Future

excel in the innovation economy. It will provide clearer

directions and guidance for R&D, human capital
development and other technology investment.

Overview
Recognising the need to achieve the high income status by
2020, the Government of Malaysia has introduced key
policy initiatives to facilitate growth rates averaging at
least seven percent over the next ten years. The New
Economic Model (NEM) has targeted doubling the
countrys per capita income from about USD7500 now to
around USD15000 by 2020. However, reaching the target
should not be at the expense of the environment and
social equitability. Innovation is a key ingredient of the
NEM, where the emphasis will be on high technology
manufacturing and design, rather than the current low
value assembly which now pre-dominates the
manufacturing
sector.
Another
initiative,
the
Governments Transformation Plan (GTP), involves
improving the public delivery system and the
Governments mechanism for R&D and Human Capital
development. The Economic Transformation Plan (ETP)
strategizes to add value to 12 National Key Economic
Areas (NKEAs) where the private sector will be the main
driver. Under the ETP, several Entry Point Projects
(ETPs) have been identified to catalyse growth.

In executing the National Technology Foresight 2010

(NTF2010) study for Malaysia, it is fundamental to have
the understanding the global trend and future scenario, in
determining the socio-economic needs of the nation.
Through the Foresighting process, new sources of growth
will be identified taking into consideration of the New
Economic Model and other Strategic plans of the
government.
Decisions about the methodological framework are
affected by resources: the budget, the availability of
expertise, political support, technological and physical
infrastructure, and time. The Pre-Foresight phase does
consume resources and also involves the use of certain
methods and phases namely Recruitment, Generation,
Action and Renewal.
Subsequently, the identification of new sources of growth
through the foresight exercise will lead to more focused
sectors for the future needs. One of the key areas that will
be studied is the Renewable Energy. Strategic technology
platforms are equally important to be identified as tool for
downstream development of product and services which
will lead to the identification of technologies to support
various applications.

It is clear we need to understand more about the future.

Unless we read the future well, it is difficult to allocate
the countrys sources to prepare for future opportunities.
A major reason for the study is to help Malaysia identify
technology priorities and chart strategic investment to

Methodology & Techniques

The main objectives of the study is to systematically
identify Technology Areas for Malaysia in the next 10
years and to prioritized Key Science & Technologies that
are crucial for the future of Malaysia.

One of the key factors to ensure an effective foresighting

of the above is the reliability and comprehensiveness of
the related data and information on trends, patents. To
improve the effectiveness of the study, it is supported by a
robust set of tools and methodologies.

myForesightTM Platform

Methods chosen signify the needs to cater its adoption to

Malaysias case studies. Therefore the selection and
combination of methods are made to ensure the best outcome
and participation of stakeholders in Malaysia. This includes
but not limited to the following:

To inculcate and incorporate discipline and

subjectivity. This includes receptiveness towards
methods and systematic approaches of foresight;
To ensure engagement of diverse and equal
distribution of participants;
The need to sustain continued interest in the foresight
exercises by introducing creative and participatory
approaches;
Enabling use of multi tools environment (social
networking sites; online forum etc.)

The need to educate potential stakeholders on the

benefits and potential impact of foresight;
To negate the relatively high level of cynicism of the
stakeholders;
To enable change of thinking and mind set, thinking
of the futures rather than today;

myForesightTM is a pioneering national level strategic

engagement platform dedicated for foresighting and
studies of future possibilities from the economic
perspectives to other issues affecting the world and
country. The main objective of myForesight TM is to
provide a common platform to share experiences, insights
and expertise on future studies locally and globally.
Among the activities includes futures intelligence,
research, competency and community.

Page 2 of 14

Getting Malaysians to Systematically Look Into the Future

Patent Analysis

Figure 1: Foresight tools and methodologies

Patent analysis provides strategic intelligence on technologies,

used to indicate revealed competitive advantage based on
leadership in technological development. The assumption is
that the increase of interest for new technologies will reflect in
the growth of Research and Development activities and this,
will lead to an increase of patent deposits. This is a short-term
approach which uses patent databases to identify emerging
technologies and their possible applications in other fields.

Market Intelligence & Research provides viable, accurate and

verified information through intelligence & information
analysis on strategic market and technology positioning. The
analysis takes into account both global and local scenario for
businesses consumption or national policy inputs purposes.
This allows MIGHT to offer consultancy and audit services.

Using TRIZ methodology, it helps to map inventions in the

past, present and future time frame, through citing and cited
documents and patent documents. With this, it analysed the
uptrend of the technology, the importance of its patenting, and
its main application in the industry in order to try to anticipate
the scientific and technological advances and participate in a
way to influence in the guidance of technological trajectories.

MIGHT Strategic Consultation activities is undertaken

through MIGHT Interest Consultative Groups (MICG) which
is a consensus building platform established to prospect for
business and investment opportunities involving the strategic
harnessing of the technology. Among the key areas are
aerospace & defense, automotive, green technology, marine,
life sciences and alternative energy.
Engagement with global network of Foresight practitioners is
fundamental to the understanding of the future scenario,
various approaches/methodology to address it, data collection
and co-ordination activities that are necessary for the study.
MIGHTs current linkage with key organizations related to
Foresight around the globe is fully capitalized in order to
accelerate the progress of the project.
Site visits and virtual engagement is initiated far quicker
through this network. We also utilized myForesight TM which is
a part of a global network; for announcement and promotion
of activities.

STEEP Analysis
It is important to take stock and scan the external environment.
This takes the form of a STEEP analysis, i.e. an investigation
of the Social, Technological, Economic, Environmental, and
Political influences on Malaysia. The analysis is very useful as
it offers a wide ranging framework from which to build
scenarios.
For the study, surveys & series of focus groups session were
conducted to gauge how participants see big shifts coming in
society, economics, politics, technology, etc. Assessment,
description of each trend and how and why it will affect the
nation as well as to what degree these trends will affect
Malaysias situation will be made. Part of the analysis consist
of recording the group thinking and generating quantities of
ideas in this type of analysis exercise.

Online Survey
Survey is one powerful tool for data inventory. The survey
focused on factual information about opinions of the survey
takers. It was administered in as a questionnaire, whereby the
survey participants were required to fill out the survey on his
or her own.
The surveys are generally standardized to ensure that they
have reliability and validity. Standardization is also important
so that the results can be generalized to the larger population.
For the study, the survey was on trends and drivers and sent
out to about 8000 targeted respondents online. The survey was
going on for two (2) weeks.
The results of the survey were then shared with participants of
the focus groups and expert panels for further synthesizing and
refining.
NTF2010 is Malaysia first attempt in foresight exercise. Thus,
there are rooms for improvement through feedbacks and
constructive comments from respondents. For example, during
the survey exercise; ample respond time shall be allocated
together with more organised set of questionnaire and
identification of dedicated respondents.

Expert Panel
The main task of the Panel is to synthesise a variety of inputs,
ranging from survey results, research reports to the outputs of
forecasting methods etc. Members of the expert panels are
expected to provide a vision of future possibilities and needs
for their topic areas, implicitly or explicitly.
As for the study, identification of the experts is the main
activities of this phase. In order to identify key stakeholders/
experts; the interest and strengths of different stakeholders was
taken into account. A systematic evaluation approach

Page 3 of 14

<Title>:

considering whether stakeholders or individuals are in favour

of or against particular project purpose and objectives shall be
presented in matrix form and analysed. The stakeholder
profiles were stored in the database and maintained by the
project coordinator.
Through this efforts, getting the right mix of the stakeholders/
experts participation, namely academicians, industrial and
policy makers; have aided us to have balance and unbiased
input for analysis.

For this particular programme; as in the previous rounds of

survey, the Delphi was conducted online through Internetbased method that was developed by MIGHT.
The result of each round then presented to the group and the
questionnaire used in the next round is built upon the result of
the previous round.

Technology Prioritisation Exercise

The main objective of this exercise is to reduce the initial list
of technologies considered to a list of critical technologies that
are the most relevant against the set of applied criteria.

Focus Groups
Series of meetings, discussions, and conferences were
organised in order to streamlining stakeholders/ experts
insights. The events were recorded and the inputs were logged
in the forms of reports for further references.
A combination of methods employed to select and motivate
the panel, assigning tasks during workshop sessions, and to
activate them in the development and sharing of knowledge.

Numbers of technology candidates, together with the range of

emphasis were plotted. As depicted in the below diagram,
points in the upper right-hand corner are strong candidates for
critical technologies, the points in the lower left-hand corner
correspond to less attractive technologies with low feasibility
in considered environment.

Brainstorming, STEEP as well as scenario planning are among

process using focus group methods.

Scenario Planning
There are four stages in using the scenario planning tools.
1.
2.
3.
4.

Impact Uncertainty Analysis

Cross Impact Analysis
Identify Uncertainty Axis
Scenario Writing and Development

Each stage typically has a number of requirements that have to

be satisfied in order to get the best results for the next stage.
During the exercise, participants were divided into smaller
groups. The purpose is to capture as much ideas through
brainstorming and discussions.
As the result of the exercise, four (4) plausible scenarios were
highlighted emphasizing the possible position for Malaysia in
the next 10 years.

Delphi
Delphi involves a survey of expert opinion with structured
group interaction process that is directed in "rounds" of
opinion collection and feedback. Opinion collection is
achieved by conducting a series of surveys using
questionnaires.

Output & Impacts

Figure 2: Technology Prioritization Plot

A special attention deserves the point in the upper left-hand

corner a technology of very high attractiveness but very low
feasibility.
However, the results of voting were not accepted
automatically as the final outcome of prioritization. The expert
panel deployed to thoroughly discuss and confirm the results
of Delphi survey and to identify possible pitfalls. It may
happen that the group of experts suggests to change the
standing of some technologies moving them to a better (or a
worse) position in the graph. However, in such a case the
project team should require a detailed justification; otherwise
the prioritization would lose its credibility.

The study has captured a number of key technology areas

which deserve the attention of the government, industry and
Page 4 of 14

Getting Malaysians to Systematically Look Into the Future

academia in charting the countrys future development and

growth. In view of the fact that all the identified technologies
were discovered through a consultative and quantitative
process involving the major technology stakeholders of the
country, there is already automatic ownership by the
stakeholders. The priority key technologies identified should
form a constructive guide in the allocation of resources for
R&D and other approaches to technology development in
Malaysia for the next ten years.
After series of intensive conference, workshops and focus
group sessions, the team enlisted 163 technologies which then
enhanced to prioritized list. The list will be used as indicators
to determine the key technology areas.
The study has identified 9+5 technology areas which Malaysia
should invest in to drive future growth. Each sector would
require the support of strategic technologies. Using the criteria
of attractiveness and feasibility, the technology fields for each
sector are prioritized. The 9 technology areas identified are:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.

Advanced Manufacturing
Domestic Security and National Safety
Food Security
Future Energy
Medical & Healthcare
Plantation Crops
Transportation
Water Security
Waste Management

Five (5) areas were identified as emerging, cross-cutting and

converging namely, Biotechnology, Electronics, ICT,
Materials Science and Nanotechnology.
Using the NTF 2010 as guidelines, more focused study is
recommended to be conducted in sectoral level for more
comprehensive findings and further deliberations.
Further to NTF 2010, MIGHT have successfully completed
the Renewable Energy (RE) Technology Roadmap Study for
MOSTI. The roadmap covers five (5) different sectors;
biomass, solar, hydro, wind, and ocean. This roadmap will
guide the direction on R&D in RE industry locally which will
highly benefit the industries, government, and academia.
Malaysia involvement in Foresight is still at infant stage.
Therefore, as an effort to continuously improving the foresight
methodology, a manual was drafted and supported with the
Standard Operation Procedures (SOP). The manual explaining
general info about the organisation, definition, methodology
and processes applied in foresight activities. The SOPs
includes procedure namely for scenario planning, vision
building and technology prioritization. Responses and
comments received from our stakeholders throughout the
programme very much aiding to improvise the manual.

Outcome & Evaluation

Throughout the programme, various methodologies tailored
and combined in collecting, gathering and inventorying
information which suit Malaysia atmosphere. To propose
relevant recommendations, plausible scenarios and drivers
impacting the country are identified.
Based on the scenarios developed, a common theme was
derived. The common theme identified provides a foundation
for identifying the technology areas to be considered. In
selecting the technology areas which will benefit Malaysia in
the future, the stakeholders unanimously agreed on the
following:-

Figure 3: Common Themes

Based on the findings, three (3) recommendations are

proposed.
1. To adopt the five (5) areas identified as National S&T
Technologies and its Technologies Areas;

Page 5 of 14

Key Industrial Technologies are intended to strengthen

and provide high value added technologies to
manufacturing sectors in Malaysia. Its supporting
technology areas are Advanced Manufacturing and
Plantation Crops;

<Title>:

Emerging and Converging Technologies are cross cut and

supports other sectors, as well as enhance and create new
areas for businesses. The technology areas are
Biotechnology, Electronics, ICT, Material Science and
Nanotechnology.

National Issues Related Technologies focus on providing

the general societal health and well-being for
sustainability primarily involves the functional needs of a
society through focused technology areas namely Food,
Medical and Health, and Water;

Global Issues Related Technologies enables Malaysia to

cope and manage global issues related to climate change,
energy resources and environment with the support of
strategic technology areas such as Future Energy and
Environmental Management.

Government Led Technologies involves technologies

requiring high capital investment but of national
importance to provide security in terms of domestic
safety and sustaining energy sources. The technology
areas are national security and domestic safety, nuclear,
satellite and public transportation.

2. To focus and prioritize the available resources to the nine

(9) + five (5) selected areas identified:
i.
Identified Areas
Technology Areas
1

Advanced Manufacturing: The

manufacturing industry has been
identified as the largest contributor to the
National GDP, registering about 30% of
the overall GDP for Malaysia. The
industry is now undergoing significant
changes and challenges, in tandem with
changes globally. Therefore, there is a
need for Malaysia to move towards
higher value-added sectors, producing
more advanced products & services.
Based on the investment approved in
2010, the industry has increased potential
employment at 33.89% in comparison to
2009. Despite the positive growth,
certain manufacturing sector did employs
huge number of foreign workers (35%, in
2006). In recent years, mid- and longterm planning was established to support
local manufacturers and boost the
industry competitiveness. It is essential
to rebalance the economy and industry
requirement on skilled workforce.
Current state shows many young
graduates with potential skills industry
needs are going elsewhere. In order to be
sustainable, the Malaysian local

Key
Technologies
Design
Engineering;
Assembly
Technology;
Special
Processes.

Page 6 of 14

manufacturing industries and SMIs

should enhance their technological
capabilities to ensure production costs
can be reduced, increase in productivity,
and subsequently becomes competitive
in the global market.
Domestic Safety and National
Security: Malaysias Domestic Security
and National Safety capabilities are fairly
underdeveloped. The prevalent line of
thinking focuses on military hardware
and security gadgets to meet internal and
territorial security needs. Current
revolutions in military affairs worldwide
indicate that the future lies in asymmetric
forms of defense and security. Selected,
cutting-edge technologies could be
incorporated into the local context in a
cost-effective manner without
compromising the effectiveness of
domestic and national security needs.
However it is widely believed that
Malaysia do not have the necessary mass
to develop full scale defense technology,
therefore focus should be made on
autonomous systems as well as
technology to ensure national
sovereignty and less reliance on external
organizations/countries.
Various national agencies require such
procurements: the Fisheries Department,
Customs and Excise, Marine Police,
Maritime Enforcement Agency and the
Navy. A long coastline in both East and
Peninsular Malaysia, and disputed island
territory, add to these routine needs.
Malaysias defense budgets have been
cut in recent years, as expressed partly in
a 30% demobilisation, but actual
expenditure has repeatedly exceeded
budget allocations. The 2011 defense
budget is a modest RM9.1bil, down by
some 20% from last year.
Future Energy: Energy issues are
highlighted in most of the foresight
studies benchmarked and figures
prominently in the discussion of
workshop and focus groups held. These
issues include efficient energy
conversion and use, clean technologies
for energy production; renewable energy
such as biomass, solar; hydro; hydrogen,
fuel cells; nuclear power; process
integration, decentralized energy
systems; energy optimization;
construction materials and flexible
energy systems. The Government was
taking initiatives to secure future energy

Autonomous
and
integrated
system,
Information
integrity &
security,
Defence
Technology.

Energy
sources and
production as
to provide
alternative to
the existing
fuel and
increasing
energy
efficiency
while
reducing
consumption
of fossil
fuels,

Getting Malaysians to Systematically Look Into the Future

supply, such as diversifying sources of

fossil fuel supply by seeking a more
balanced generation fuel mix. Electricity
demand was expected to grow by an
average 3.4% from 2011 to 2020. With
growing energy demand and declining
fossil fuel reserves, the country is
looking to enhance and encourage the
usage of renewable energy. Malaysia
aimed to achieve the target of 6% of the
electricity generated from renewable
energy in 2015 from less than 1% now.
The prognosis up to 2020 indicates
growing energy consumption in the
developing nation especially China, India
and Brazil. Oil production is decreasing
trend however coal usage is increasing.
And this will give a significant impact on
the CO2 emission contributes to climate
change. There are therefore major
challenges involved in creating and
developing the energy technologies and
systems of the future, which will have to
provide sufficient, stable and intelligent
energy services at a competitive price
and with a minimal impact on the climate
and surrounding environment in general.
Medical & Healthcare: Health-care
technologies have contributed to the
extension of human life and to the
reduction of pain, disease risk, and
disability. Malaysia as a developing
nation has undergone a period of rapid
expansion of its health services to ensure
adequate coverage and accessibility to
the general population. From
observation, Molecular Farming and
Herbal Biotech were given strong
emphasis in the feasibility and
attractiveness exercise. With rapid
economic development, new challenges
have now emerged in these two areas.
These include the increasing rate of
technological change, variations in the
use of healthcare technology, rising
incidence of chronic diseases, and
increasing demands from physicians and
the public. There is a widespread
variation in the uptake and diffusion of
health-care technology which indicates
that there are opportunities for more
effective integration of technologies into
the health system. Based on the
estimation made by the Association of
Malaysian Medical Industries, the
medical devices market in the country
grew to RM2.7 billion in 2010. It is
expected to hit RM2.9 billion in 2011

reduction of
CO2
emission and
other airborne
and water
pollutants;
Energy
storage &
distribution:
solutions for
distribution
and storage;
and
Consumption:
energy saving
technologies,
optimal
utilisation of
accessible
energy.

Advanced
detection &
diagnostic;
Advanced
prevention;
and
Treatment.

Page 7 of 14

and RM5 billion in 2012. Advances in

technology, domestic investments growth
and businesses joint-ventures is believe
to offer more medical products and
services with superior quality into the
market at affordable price.
Plantation Crops: The plantation
agricultural sector is poised to become
one of the engines of growth for the
country's economy, besides
manufacturing and services. Backed by
the related national policy such as NAP3
and other public-private initiatives, this
sector will feature more prominently as
an indispensable fulcrum of the economy
that will be knowledge-based and
technology-driven, shifting from a
labour-based industry. Malaysia raked in
RM113.3 billion from plantation
commodity exports in 2011, the best ever
performance as global demand surpassed
supply. Palm oil had made up earning of
RM62.85 billion. To a certain extent, the
higher demand was also fuelled by the
weakening of the US dollar against the
ringgit from RM3.45 to RM3.06. This
would lead to the high demand for
plantation workers as Malaysia still faces
an acute shortage of them. Sarawak Oil
Palm Plantation Owners Association
stated that the oil palm industry was
short of between 20% and 30% of its
total labour requirement and that the
labour woes were expected to worsen as
more land is opened up for cultivation.
The effective development of the
nations plantation agricultural sector has
resulted structural transformation of our
economy. The capabilities must be
continuously developed to generate
greater yields and innovative products
from both upstream and downstream
activities. The future challenge would be
creating industrys technical
competencies; from production to
processing, product development,
distribution and marketing. In order to
obtain growth, the industry should be
geared by the new specialisation,
expertise and technological advancement
along the value chain.
Transportation: Globally, the
transportation sector has been under
extreme pressure since global financial
crisis in 2007. At first, it was hit by rising
fuel costs. Then, the global recession
slashed traffic of all types, including
airline passengers and ship cargo. The

Farming
technology;
and Yield
processing.

Energy
consumption
and
environmenta
l
conservation;
Innovative

<Title>:

decline in business was felt by all types

of firms within this sector. The byproducts of transport including air and
noise pollution, greenhouse gases and
encroachment on natural land affect
human health as well as the environment
continues to be main concern in this
sector. One of the biggest challenges
facing the global transportation sector
over the mid- to long-term period is to
focus on lowering carbon emissions and
enhancing energy efficiency. According
to a report on energy use in the
transportation sector in Malaysia, there
are no radical changes of fuel use for
transportation sector in Malaysia. The
data showed that fuel use are 53% petrol,
34% diesel, 13% ATF, 0.06% Natural
Gas, and 0.03% electricity in year 2000.
It was projected to be 46% petrol, 42%
diesel, 12% ATF, 0.29% Natural Gas and
only 0.07% electricity in the year 2020.
This has been reflected in the technology
prioritization exercise as use of
alternative energy, innovative instrument
for improving transport design and
engineering, as well as application of
Intelligent Transport Systems were given
strong emphasis in the exercise. Since
land transport is one of the major energy
consumers in the transportation sector in
Malaysia, implementing suitable energy
efficiency policy and application of
appropriate technology for this sector
may contribute a significant impact on
energy consumption in the transportation
sectors and offer great benefits for the
consumers, government as well as to the
environment.
Food Security: The challenges facing
agriculture today are immense.
International nominal prices of all major
food commodities reached their highest
levels in nearly 50 years while prices in
real terms were the highest in nearly 30
years (FAO, 2008). Challenges of
climate change are increasingly urgent.
The warming of the climate system is
'unequivocal', Agriculture have to cope
with increased climate variability and
more extreme weather events. The rise in
use of chemical inputs has also had
adverse environmental and health
impacts on farm workers and consumers.
A substantial portion of pesticide
residues ends up in the environment,
causing pollution and biodiversity
decline. The extensive use of pesticides

instruments
for improving
transport
design and
engineering;
and
Advancement
of Intelligent
Transport
Systems.

Nonproduction/Br
eeding;
Production;
and
Processing/Pr
eservation.

Page 8 of 14

Getting Malaysians to Systematically Look Into the Future

Page 9 of 14

<Title>:

Page 10 of 14

Getting Malaysians to Systematically Look Into the Future

Page 11 of 14

<Title>:

Page 12 of 14

has also resulted in pesticide resistance

in pests and adverse effects on beneficial
natural predators and parasites. For the
past 10 years, Malaysia reliance on food
exports has increased exponentially
where statistic released has indicate that
we produce less than 40% of our
consumption. With the growing
population, this trend will likely
continue. Therefore the idea is to identify
technology that will contribute towards
the future food security of Malaysia. It
was targeted to create 50,000 ha of paddy
estates and the yield to reach eight tonnes
per hectare by 2020. It will also offer
paddy farmers to enjoy between 30% and
60% boost in income.
Water Security: Malaysia is facing a
growing population. The population of
Peninsular Malaysia will be more than
double its size from 18.1 million in 2000
to 38 million in 2050 alone to support the
argument. The present total treatment
plant capacity in the country is 16,283
million litres per day (MLD) which is
able to meet the current demand of
13,506 MLD and expected to be at
31,628 MLD by 2050. Water availability
index was found to be decreasing, 68%
in 1992 and 26% in 2002
(WWFMalaysia). Water sustainability
index also mark a decline from 64% in
1992 to 33% in 2002. Long term
projections of water demand are
necessary in order to quantify
requirements to ensure continuous
supply of water as water is consumed by
the domestic, industrial, commercial and
institutional sectors. Long term
sustainability of Malaysian water
resources development is key to be a
fully industrialised nation. Hence, water
security is considers as priority area
towards the nation commitment towards
sustainable development. The average
percentage of Non Revenue Water
(NRW) in Malaysia is very high at
40.6% in 2002. The main causes of water
losses are leakages (16-30%), meter
under registration (3-7%) and pilferages
(1-8%). Sabah indicates the
highest(NRW) contribution at 73.9% in
2002 but reduced to 56% by 2005.The
use of membrane technology would
reduce the processes involved in treating
water, thus increase efficiency in
operations. With progress made in
membrane technologies, it is heartening

Source
diversificatio
n of water
source;
Conservation
&
sustainability;
Water
treatment;
Distribution
& collection;
Technology
to efficiently
utilize water;
and
Integrated
water control
and
management
system.

Getting Malaysians to Systematically Look Into the Future

to learn that the energy consumption is

one fifth and the cost is less than one
tenth compared with the 70s. It is also
believed that desalination of seawater
would be the nations hope in exploring
water resources.
Waste Management: In waste
management the focus was on waste
management due to the fact water and
energy; the other main factor in waste
management has already been attended
to in other areas. Issues related to waste
management are high on the agenda in
nearly all the foresight studies
benchmarked and also feature
prominently in the discussion of
workshop and focus groups held. The
prognosis up to 2020 indicates growing
pile of waste generated from various
sources that includes industries and
household that contributes to the climate
change. There are therefore major
challenges involved in creating and
developing the sustainable waste
management systems of the future,
which will have to provide sufficient,
stable, safe and intelligent waste
management at a competitive price and
with a minimal impact on the climate and
surrounding environment in general. The
move to get Malaysians to separate their
household waste has been postponed
from April 1to 2013. This due to the low
awareness among the public on the need
to separate their household waste. At
present, less than 10% of the countrys
household practice waste separation.

ii.
Cross Cutting Areas
Technology Areas
1

Biotechnology: The prognosis up to

2020 indicates growing demand for
biotechnology advancement in various
sectors such as agriculture, food,
medical and healthcare, and industry.
Malaysias biotechnology industry is
expected to contribute 2.5% of the
national gross domestic product (GDP)
by 2010, 4% by 2015 and 5% by 2020.
Biotechnology is widely applied and
therefore categorized as an enabler.
There are therefore major challenges
involved in creating and developing the
biotechnology of the future, which will
have to provide sufficient, stable and
intelligent enhancement towards the

sector it contributes to at a competitive

price and with a minimal impact on the
environment, health, ecosystems, and
issues pertaining to religious and
community perception environment in
general.
Biological
Treatment;
Waste
Collection &
Transport;
Mechanical
Treatment;
Recycling;
and Thermal
Treatment.

Key
Technologies
Biotechnolog
y in Medical
and
healthcare;
Agriculture;
and
Industrial.

Page 13 of 14

Electronics: The global demand for

consumer electronics continues to
expand as new emerging economies
increase their buying power. Malaysia
has done well in the early years as one
of the leading global centre for low
value manufacturing and assembly of
electric and electronic products. Many
companies then were attracted to
Malaysias competitive labour and land
cost. That competitiveness is no longer
there as new lower cost countries
emerge as investment destinations.
Unfortunately, Malaysia did not build
sufficient capacity in product and
process design. Recent years have
witnessed the exodus of many electronic
companies away from Malaysia to other
lower cost countries. If Malaysia is to
continue to tap on the growing global
business in consumer electronics, the
country will have to rethink its
strategies in technology development
and branding. Companies will have to
invest more in the high end technologies
including optical signals processing,
sensors and communication devices.
Information and Communications
Technologies: Malaysia, like all other
countries has introduced a number of
direct and indirect ICT policies and
strategic action plans in stages to spur
the ICT development. Its initiatives
include MSC Malaysia flagship
applications, MyICMS-886, TIGeR
(Technology, Industry and Government
for the e- Economic Revolution), One
Home One PC, Gerakan Desa Wawasan
and so on. These projects successfully
raised the level of ICT use among
Malaysians. The level of diffusion on
three types of ICTs personal
computers, mobile phones and internet
varies. Among three ICT items probed,
mobile phones were the most popular.
New cost-effective technology such as
WiFi, found in urban hotspot zones
should be considered as a means of
providing WiFi-enabled mobile-phone
services to local communities especially
in rural areas. Networks will have to be

Power
Management
Devices;
Communicati
on Devices;
Sensors;
Intelligent
System;
Display
Technology;
Semiconduct
or; and Cross
Cutting.

Intelligent
devices;
Security;
Infrastructure
;
Communicati
on; and ICT
Interface.

<Title>:

even more intelligent and all devices

will need to be extremely intelligent in
order to deliver the customised services
and products that consumers will
demand. Celcom Axiata Bhd will invest
RM1 billion in capital expenditure to
upgrade its network; and long-term
evolution (LTE) ready. 60% of the
budget will be used to enhance its data
network while 40% is used to maintain
its current network.
Material Sciences: Increased in market
globalization and environmental
concerns urged us to improve the
existing materials performance and the
processes used to manufacture
materials. In some of the strategic
industry, it is highly essential. It is
known that a lot of technology and
fundamental understanding of material
science remains undeveloped thus
leaving significant opportunities for
long range concerted research.
Continued development of new
materials is important not only to
improve materials characteristics but
also to optimize / enhance the existing
ones. The significant markets for
polymers in emerging electronic /
optoelectronic market are already
wellknown. Same goes to composite
materials for aerospace applications
which today is widely used and

References

recognized.
Nanotechnology: The global
nanotechnology market is projected to
grow at a CAGR of over 18% during
2010-2013 will worth US$ 1.6 Trillion.
Nanotechnology is expected to be
incorporated in various manufactured
goods. Globally, the investment will
largely be driven by massive investment
in nanotechnology R&D by both
governments and corporates. As in
Malaysia, the National Nanotechnology
Initiative (NNI), which was launched in
2006 plays an important role in shaping
the nanotechnology environment
locally. The local landscape for
nanotechnology development is given
according to various sectors and the
targeted product applications are
nanobiochip, nanodrug delivery system
and biosensors.

Processing;
Materials;
and
Performance
Improvement.

Nanomaterial
s;
Nanodevices;
Nanobio; and
Nanoprocesse
s

3. Strengthening the areas of cross cutting and converging

technologies to support the identified technology focus
areas. The cross cutting and converging technologies that
will be the enabler and support are;
i.
ii.
iii.
iv.
v.

Biotechnology;
Electronics;
Information & Communication Technology;
Nanotechnology;
Material Science

National Technology Foresight 2010, MIGHT, Malaysia

Page 14 of 14