Digi and MDEC tie-up to encourage 5G innovation among start-ups

Digi Telecommunications has collaborated with the Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) to enable more entrepreneurs, start-ups and developers to obtain access to perform trials on next-generation 5G technology at Malaysia?s first 5G OpenLab in Cyberjaya.

Entrepreneurs, start-ups and developers are encouraged to conduct trials in the 5G OpenLab to better understand and verify the technical requirements needed for the deployment of 5G in Malaysia. According to the press statement, use cases should be?related to the areas of smart cities, smart mobility, smart healthcare and digital creative content. Through the data collected, learnings can be applied to narrow down and identify which use cases will be relevant for the growth of 5G in Malaysia.

Both Digi and MDEC are of the view that 5G will drive significant progress in?emerging technologies, placing?entrepreneurs, start-ups and developers in the best position to test the limits of 5G and bring to fore new ideas for solutions and content. Digi?s 5G OpenLab is hosted at RekaScape, a community space by Cyberview in Cyberjaya. Launched last month in partnership with Cyberview, the Lab serves as a collaborative space for businesses, academics and developers to test their 5G use cases.

Digi CEO?Albern Murty said that collaborative efforts involving parties in the private and public sector is imperative to move 5G forward for the nation. He added that Malaysia needs tech innovators?who can either improve existing solutions, or create entirely new ones for these industries to benefit from the unparalleled speeds and even higher amounts of data that 5G offers.

"Our partnership with MDEC allows us to support greater research and development across these different verticals, and put 5G in the hands of those who can facilitate the innovation needed to develop and accelerate the deployment of 5G in Malaysia," Murty added.

Surina Shukri, MDEC's CEO, said that deeper?collaboration between the private sector and government agencies, especially around new technology such as 5G, is vital towards opening up white spaces for economic growth in Malaysia.

"We need to enable more spaces and supporting ecosystems to encourage greater innovation, efficiency and productivity. I believe this pioneering initiative creates a platform for innovators to nurture fresh technology-driven ideas to transform businesses and enhance user experience through the hyper-connectivity made possible by 5G," she said.

Meanwhile, Minister of Communications and Multimedia Gobind Singh Deo, also encouraged more partnerships of such nature that offers invaluable opportunities to the start-up community. "I believe that initiatives such as these will accelerate the development and adoption of new and innovative 5G technologies. I wish to see more ?Made in Malaysia? 5G solutions and this initiative will help our local aspiring entrepreneurs achieve that goal," he added.