This article first appeared in The Edge Malaysia Weekly on March 11, 2019 - March 17, 2019

GIVEN the pace of technology disruption, businesses often find themselves displaced or reacting too late to address their shortcomings. So, how should business leaders prepare themselves and the organisations they lead to deal with potential disruptions in the digital economy?

The British Malaysian Chamber of Commerce (BMCC) will host the Digital Innovation Conference on Tuesday at Four Seasons Hotel Kuala Lumpur with the aim of advancing thought and preparations among industry leaders towards the digital economy.

The conference seeks to cover the trends and technologies that will be impacting businesses over the next few years, including artificial intelligence, robotics, automation, machine learning and blockchain.

Themed “Working with tomorrow’s technology today”, the conference will feature a series of informative talks and discussions by ministers and speakers from the private sector.

Speakers include Communications and Multimedia Minister Gobind Singh Deo, Deputy Minister of International Trade and Industry Dr Ong Kian Ming, AirAsia group CEO Tan Sri Tony Fernandes, Malaysia Digital Economy Corp Sdn Bhd (MDEC) chief operating officer Datuk Ng Wan Peng and executives from HSBC, IBM Malaysia, Telekom Malaysia, NEM Malaysia, Chatbot Malaysia, Capital DK and the Global Center of Excellence Iskandar Malaysia.

The conference is targeted at heads of business, C-suite officers, heads of communications, managers, government officials, data and research analysts, programmers and designers.

According to Randstad, 9 in 10 respondents think digitalisation skills are needed for new opportunities and 69% of respondents are investing in new technologies to enhance their skill set.

Gobind has said his ministry is in talks with MDEC to formulate a digital economy policy, which is expected to be implemented in the third quarter of the year.

“Many are apprehensive because of a lack of awareness and knowledge. Some may not have the financial resources to adopt the practices necessary to facilitate their entry into the digital realm,” he said.

On March 4, BMCC executive director Jennifer Lopez said, “Any company looking to digitalise its business will face numerous challenges, especially in human capital and financial capabilities. The Digital Innovation Conference is designed to foster and cultivate mental readiness towards the digital economy era among member companies and wider businesses in the region.”

HSBC Malaysia country head of commercial banking Andrew Sill said, “Trade in Asia is growing, especially intra-regional trade, and HSBC sees this as the perfect opportunity to implement new technologies like Blockchain, to remove pain points [such as paper documentation] and make trade more efficient and cheaper.”

The conference is supported by the British High Commission and sponsored by HSBC. Invest KL and MDEC are supporting partners while BFM Radio and The Edge Malaysia are radio and media partners respectively.

For more information, contact BMCC at 03-2163 1784 or email [email protected].

The Edge is the media partner for the British Malaysian Chamber of Commerce (BMCC) Digital Innovation Conference

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