Industry News: Malaysia

Malaysia’s huge leap forward shows commitment to innovation pays off - Changing Centers of IT Power

The biggest mover in this year’s index was Malaysia, which went 11 spots up in the overall rankings because of a surge in R&D activity. “It is abundantly clear … that investing in the fundamentals of technology innovation will pay huge dividends over the long term,” said BSA President and CEO Robert Holleyman.

According to the newly released IT Industry Competitiveness Index, an international ranking organized by the Business Software Alliance, in partnership with the Economist Intelligence Unit, Malaysia is positioned 31st in terms of being “capable of supporting a strong IT production sector.”

The last time the ratings were published. (The United States is ranked at the top this year, followed by Finland and Singapore.) The new Index, updated for the fourth time since 2007, benchmarks 66 countries on a series of 26 indicators covering six critical foundation areas for IT implementation and innovation: overall business environment, IT infrastructure, human capital, research and development, legal environment, and public support for industry development.

He had what might be interpreted as a warning for the countries that currently dominate IT services. “We’re seeing the fast-growing economies of the developing world invest heavily in things like research and development and human capital,” Holleyman said. “They are moving away from a more singular focus on providing low-cost products and services. Because of that, we are moving to a world with many centers of IT power.”

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NTT Com to Launch New Data Center in Malaysia

July 4,2011, TOKYO, JAPAN and CYBERJAYA, MALAYSIA NTT Communications Corporation (NTT Com) and its wholly owned Malaysian subsidiary, NTT MSC Sdn. Bhd. (NTT MSC), announced today that NTT MSC will begin construction of the new Cyberjaya 3 Data Center in July, aiming to launch commercial operation of this Tier III-ready facility by June 2012.

Located within Cyberjaya, the Cyberjaya 3 Data Center will join NTT Com's Cyberjaya 1 and Cyberjaya 2 data centers in meeting the expanding needs of Southeast Asian customers. It will offer high-quality, low-cost services based on the NTT Com Group's strict global standards aligned with those of global organizations such as the Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA), The Uptime Institute, Inc. (TUI) and the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers, Inc. (ASHRAE).

"By leveraging on the key strengths of Malaysia, we will offer customers a Tier-III -ready data center at a low total-cost-of-ownership." said Fumitoshi Imaizumi, President and CEO of NTT MSC. "Malaysia offers cost advantages, well-developed infrastructure, a large talent pool and good governmental support for infrastructure development. Such strengths have propelled Malaysia into the position of one of the world's top-three outsourcing destinations."

The facility will feature redundant systems for commercial power supply, cooling, uninterruptible power supply, power generator and power distribution, plus robust systems for fire and flood prevention. It is expected to be certified under the Green Building Index (GBI), Malaysia's green rating index for buildings, as an environmentally friendly data center that employs renewable-energy technologies, including solar panels, double-walled structures for improved insulation and recycled rain water.

Built with modular architecture for flexible expansion, the facility will offer convenient on-site office space, a rarity among local facilities, as part of its total disaster recovery solution. Full-time professional support will be provided by NTT MSC's multilingual team for the total management of customer networks and servers.

NTT Com has been offering data center services since 2002 through NTT MSC based in Cyberjaya, the hub of the MSC Malaysia (formerly Multimedia Super Corridor) initiative. Malaysia's relatively low incidence of earthquakes, tsunami and other natural disasters, as well as low electricity rates, make this an ideal location for disaster recovery and offshore relocation.

Customers of the new Cyberjaya 3 Data Center will receive the added benefit of extra-low-latency, extra-reliable services when the Asia Submarine-cable Express connecting Malaysia, Hong Kong, Japan, the Philippines and Singapore starts up in 2012. Customers in Malaysia will enjoy high-speed, large-capacity Internet access via NTT Com's global IP backbone and Arcstar Global IP-VPN. Service will be supported with abundant POP available at the Cyberjaya 3 Data Center, enabling customers to directly connect to the backbone without access lines or worries about network costs. For further details about the Asia Submarine-cable Express, please visit www.ntt.com/aboutus_e/news/data/20110131.html.

About NTT MSC Sdn. Bhd.
Please visit www.my.ntt.com

SOURCE NTT Communications Corporation, NTT MSC Sdn. Bhd.

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Malaysia ranked 9th in EF English Proficiency Index

When the British were finally expelled from India in 1947, driven out of a country scarred by decades of imperialist rule, they left at least one parting gift: a linguistic legacy that has formed a crucial ingredient in the country’s economic miracle.

English proficiency is hailed as an invaluable foundation in India’s rise to the top of the world’s information technology and knowledge outsourcing industries, fuelling the country’s rapid growth with billions of dollars of business every year and streams of overseas investments into global IT centres such as Bangalore.

Nine-year-old Chinese pupil, Sun Minyi, listens to his teacher during a special English class at Chongming county, north of Shanghai July 12, 2002. REUTERS/Claro Cortes IV

But, as Asian rival China surpasses India’s English proficiency rates for the first time, that advantage over other developing economies looks to have been squandered.

China was ranked one place above India in Education First’s 2011 English Proficiency Index, released last month, the first time India has been beaten by its neighbour and fellow BRIC economy in the international rankings of foreign countries English-speaking abilities.

“It appears that China is poised to surpass India in the number of English speakers in the coming years, if it has not already done so,” the report said.

The implications for India’s future IT and outsourcing prospects aren’t difficult to calculate.

“For the past six decades, India has been coasting on its colonial legacy when it comes to English. But without the systemic changes needed to ensure greater penetration of the language, the advantage has been shrinking,” the Times of India, India’s biggest-selling English newspaper, wrote in an editorial on Tuesday.

As Chinese authorities ramp up English teaching in schools across the country, looking to tap into a growing international outsourcing and IT market, India’s public education sector has been criticised for poor facilities, falling standards and a lack of government support.

“More than ever, English holds aspirational value for the average Indian who views it as a ticket to economic betterment. But on the supply side, both the central and state governments have been sadly lacking,” the editorial added.

“It is time they woke up to this particular side effect of the Indian public education system’s moribund state. There are economic consequences in the offing. India’s far behind China in manufacturing, it could be bested as a services provider as well.”

Malaysia, which has mimicked India’s use of English as a language used by no-one and used by all, tops the Asian region for proficiency, and was placed ninth globally in the rankings, assessed using hundreds of thousands of tests conducted across participating countries.

Writes Education First: “To the extent that China is increasingly driving much of the regional economy, its ability to communicate in English will pressure all of its neighbors to keep pace.”

Having blown its headstart, and in failing to meet the Chinese challenge, India now appears to be playing catch up.

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