Foundation of IT Jobs

 Malaysia started to lay the foundation for the knowledge-based economy
in the mid-1990s, among others, with the launching of the National IT Agenda
(NITA) and the Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC). Some efforts have also been
taken in the areas of human resource, S&T and R&D, infostructure and financing,
as well as to ensure that the development of the knowledge-based economy does
not result in a knowledge divide.

The objective of NITA is to formulate strategies and promote the utilization
and development of IT, the key enabler of a knowledge-based economy. For
NITA to be realized, demonstrator applications, crucial for the implementation
of IT projects at the national, public sector and community levels, were launched.
The demonstrator applications priority areas are e-economy, which covers ecommerce
and e-business, e-public services, e-community, e-learning and esovereignty.

The MSC strives to create an ideal IT and multimedia environment as well
as a global test-bed to enable Malaysia to be in the mainstream of activities


necessary to attract knowledge workers, technopreneurs and high-technology industries.
The basic physical infrastructure, including the telecommunications infrastructure
with 2.5 gigabits per second asynchronous transfer mode-based backbone scalable
to 10 gigabits per second in the MSC, were completed in mid-1999. This will
enable the transfer of voice, image and data. The five designated cybercities of
Kuala Lumpur City Centre, Kuala Lumpur Tower, Technology Park Malaysia,
Cyberjaya and Malaysian Technology Development Corporation- Universiti Putra
Malaysia Incubator Centre have attracted a sizeable number of sophisticated
businesses, world-class technology-led companies and R&D investments. The
First Wave Flagship Application including e-government, multipurpose card and
smart schools are currently being implemented. New programmes and projects for
the Second Wave Flagship Application are also being identified.

In the area of human resource development, although the overall level of
educational attainment improved, the percentage of those in the labour force
with tertiary education, which is critical to drive a knowledge-based economy,
is still small at 13.9 per cent, as shown in Table 5-1. The enrolment at the tertiary
level of the age cohort 17-23 years increased to 25 per cent following the
substantial allocation provided for tertiary education, but it is still lower compared
with many of the newly industrialized economies (NIEs), as shown in
Table 5-2.

 In addition, enrolment at the first-degree level in public institutions
continues to be biased towards the arts courses. While it is recognized that the
arts courses are also important in the context of a knowledge-based economy,
the need to create a critical mass of scientific and technical manpower necessitates
higher enrolment in these fields. Enrolment in science and technical fields
constituted only 31 per cent of total enrolment in 1999. This was largely due
to the lower number of science stream students at the secondary school level,
comprising 25.7 per cent of the total number of students in 1998, which was below
the targeted 60:40 science to arts ratio.