KUCHING: The setting up of Malaysia Software Testing Hub (MSTH) Sarawak Chapter will contribute to the gross national product (GNP) and create new high-value jobs in the state.
This is because MSTH has taken a holistic approach in developing all the components that make up a software testing ecosystem – market, human capital, technology and policy, said Deputy Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Datuk Fadillah Yusof.
He said public-private partnership initiative under the economic transformation plan and new economic model could help drive the country towards a high income and developed nation by 2020.
“I have been keeping close tab on the progress of efforts to develop Malaysia’s software testing industry since the roll-out of the Malaysia Software Testing Hub (MSTH) initiative in 2009 and is indeed encouraging to see that Sarawak is now picking up pace in a similar direction,” he said at the MSTH Sarawak Chapter official launching yesterday.
At the launch, MSTB and Sarawak-based organisations, Unimas, Swinburne Unviersity of Technology, and Independent Data Services signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to facilitate the development of the industry.
“In today’s environment, software testing is applicable and relevant across all industries and sectors which makes it an important element of our daily lives.”
With the formation of the MSTH Sarawak Chapter, he is confident the development of the software testing industry in the state would move at a much faster pace.
He believed with the involvement of Swinburne University of Technology in the MSTH Sarawak Chapter, the state would not be short of competent software test professionals needed to support the growth of the industry in time to come.
He added that software testing was not a standalone industry and must co-exist with other software development activities wherever software or software-enable products were deployed.
Meanwhile, recent government initiative to create a strategic framework to drive Malaysia into a new digital economy by
fusing the various ICT programmes across the public and private sectors to form a cohesive ICT ecosystem further reinforces the opportunities in software testing.
Digital Malaysia is expected to drive new wealth creation and enhance the quality of life of Malaysians by maximising the use of information and communication technologies in boosting the economic, social, governance, technology and environment dimensions that make the need for quality software testing all the more pertinent.
Fadillah is confident that Digital Malaysia will achieve its fundamental aim of continuously making Malaysia a productive, creative and innovative nation in a complex competitive global economy.
However, to achieve this, all stakeholders must work together and in convergence towards achieving MSTB objectives.
Also present were MSTB president Mastura Abdul Samah, Unimas deputy vice-chancellor Prof Dr Peter Songan, Swinburne Sarawak campus academic director associate professor Enn Ong and Independent Data Services chief technology officer Reuben Wee.