SMEs’ Technology Uptake in Malaysia

Malaysia is not too far behind and with the right amount of technology awareness and adoption, there's no doubt that we will be in leading game soon.

Through the years, we have witnessed Malaysia turn from a country with vast green fields to one with skyscrapers piercing through the skies. Being a citizen of a multicultural, multiracial and multilingual country, we ought to have the advantage of extra knowledge, just like little jack of all trades. In this case, we can also be deemed as sponges because of our enhanced ability of knowledge and information absorption. One thing I can say about Malaysians is that we are pretty passionate and welcoming of new things, regardless of age. That includes advanced technology or something as mere as a new social trend.

According to the Individual and Household Survey Report on Information Technology and Communication (ICT) Usage and Access, the percentage of individuals using the Internet, computers, and smartphones have increased gradually over time. The Malaysian ICT scene is definitely experiencing rapid growth even until now. Despite that, it is still considerably low compared to our neighbouring countries such as Brunei and Singapore where they are at least 10% ahead of us. Take the Internet Penetration in Southeast Asia for example, Brunei is leading at 86%, Singapore at 82% followed by Malaysia at 71% in January 2017.

Now, over 90% of Malaysia’s economy is made up from SMEs. With a new wave of mushrooming local businesses by younger entrepreneurs, it is only normal for them to take advantage of the advanced technology to maximise their business. Surprisingly, the uptake of local technology by Malaysian companies is still rather low. This can probably be accounted for the low awareness and acclamation from the public. Believe it or not, homegrown technologies in Malaysia are usually as competent and almost always more affordable than foreign ones. The lack of such understanding and knowledge is critical as it can partially be the reason behind low technology uptake in local businesses.

There is undoubtedly a need to have the initiative to incentivise local technology for the better of all. Albeit the issues, the growth will continue to step up throughout the nation especially in the aspect of e-commerce. With the increased usage of the Internet, smartphones, and computers, e-commerce is an open door. Local businesses can intelligently implement these technologies into their operations with current integrated, mobile-centric platforms that combine and connect various services together into one. This business-technology incorporation can be done on a greater scale with incentive support and helps the economy flourish further.

As the technology uptake in local SMEs increases, it will definitely raise more opportunities. In such a dynamic and ever-changing industry, multiple developments happen at once which will most probably leave you flustered. Nevertheless, this is a win-win situation for a developing country like Malaysia in both digital evolution and innovation. Two of the best ways to improve ourselves are looking up to the best and setting a goal. Observe and learn what the best is capable of and what do they do to achieve it. It may not be totally accurate to your context, but with a little of your own twist, things will work just fine. For instance, you can start small even if the person you’re looking up to is already using the best. After all, perfection takes a lot of practice and time, but beginning something is already half the work.