Morshidi hopes to see lively participation among delegates at Idecs 2017

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KUCHING: The inaugural International ICT Infrastructure and Digital Economy Conference Sarawak (Idecs) 2017, which has attracted over 1,500 delegates, is expected to be a lively event.

State Secretary Tan Sri Datuk Amar Mohamad Morshidi Abdul Ghani is hoping that the delegates comprising state leaders, senior civil servants, business leaders, young entrepreneurs, think tanks and university students will engage actively in the two-day conference through questions, suggestions and critiques.

“This is about charting the future economy of Sarawak in which each and every one of us has a stake. So please make your opinions and especially your concerns heard so that they will be given due consideration when the action plans are formulated,” he said before Chief Minister Datuk Amar Abang Johari Tun Openg launched the conference at Borneo Convention Centre Kuching (BCCK) here yesterday.

Morshidi, who is the organising chairman of the event, said the conference was the result of enormous collective effort which began early this year.

Many institutions and individuals had contributed in one form or another towards the success of this conference, he added.

He extended his appreciation to collaborators, supporters and the 36 companies that are exhibiting their products and services during the conference.

Among the companies are Sacofa Sdn Bhd, Maxis Broadband Sdn Bhd, Celcom Mobile Sdn Bhd, Huawei Technologies (M) Sdn Bhd, Digi Telecommunications Sdn Bhd, Telekom Malaysia, Grab, Google, AirAsia Berhad, PaymentGalaxy, Takaful Ikhlas Berhad and Malaysia Global Innovation and Creativity Centre.

“I feel privileged and honoured that some of the leading minds and practitioners of digital economy in the world and in the region have agreed to share their knowledge, experiences and thoughts in this conference.

“This includes our keynote speaker Don Tapscott, a bestselling author on the subject. Tapscott was rated the fourth most influential management speaker alive by the Thinkers50 group in 2015.

“Tapscott is complemented by 17 other highly experienced and knowledgeable speakers from the academia, technology providers, industry players and practitioners. They are moderated by three notable and well-known personalities in the industry; namely Freda Liu, Jeff Sandhu and Karamjit Singh,” said Morshidi.

He was confident that the proceedings would be enriching and useful, given the range and depth of knowledge and experience gathered at the conference.

Meanwhile, the keynote speaker for today (April 4) is Randeep Sudan, adviser on Digital Strategy and Government Analytics, World Bank.

Others speakers for the day include Grab Malaysia country head Sean Goh, Malaysian Global Innovation and Creativity Centre executive director Ehon Chan, Connectloud Inc head of Asia business Kumaran Singaram, Neuroware.io co-founder and chief executive officer Mark Smalley and Sacofa Sdn Bhd managing director Zaid Zaini.

Admission to the exhibition is free but the talks by invited speakers are only for delegates.