by Professor Dato Dr Ahmad Ibrahim,
JULY 1 marked a milestone for Malaysia's scientific and technological development. The crucial role of science in powering the economy is being recognized increasingly as ministers heading the Science, Technology, and Innovation Ministry and Economic Planning Unit jointly launched the nation's Fourth Industrial Revolution (IR4.0) blueprint.
It provides details of the country's implementation of technologies that will shape future businesses. IR4.0 sees the world striving to achieve sustainable development.
A few years ago, the International Trade and Industry Ministry launched the Industry Forward plan, based on IR4.0, which focuses more on the manufacturing sector.
IR4.0 has implications for all of society. People need to embrace IR4.0 if the country is to benefit from it fully. In urban areas, sustainable cities are only viable through IR4.0 adoption.
In rural areas, the call to communities to embrace IR4.0 is equally strong because of low agricultural productivity and marketing difficulties.
Though digitalization is the main building block of IR4.0, it is more than just that. Advanced biotechnology, for example, is increasingly assuming a key role in IR4.0.
Many see IR4.0 as a prime tool in the global fight against climate change.
As has become clear during the Covid-19 pandemic, the health sector stands to benefit from it. Through the deployment of genomics and other biotechnology tools, IR4.0 has significantly cut the time needed to develop vaccines.
And through digital applications and other Internet-based tools, much of the public health management procedures to control the pandemic have been simplified.
The Internet is a technology we have to be grateful for in our fight against Covid-19. Schooling, for example, would be more badly affected by the pandemic without it.
The outbreak has highlighted our overdependence on migrant workers. Despite the differences in assessment among leaders, the data clearly shows that workplace clusters contribute the most to the spread of Covid-19 infection. It is easy to understand why.
It is not easy to practice physical distancing in workers' accommodation. Despite adhering to the standard operating procedures at work, it is almost impossible to observe them in dormitories.
This is not a new issue.
The practice of housing migrant workers in overcrowded dwellings has been the norm. It may have been tolerable before Covid-19, but the pandemic has raised the alarm.
The government, through the Human Resources Ministry, has drawn up guidelines on proper workers' accommodation. Unfortunately, they have not been effectively enforced.
Since such accommodation arrangement is untenable during an outbreak, there are signs that change is inevitable.
The message is getting through to the authorities more clearly as some Malaysian exports to countries, such as the United States and European Union, have been denied entry on account of the labor issue.
Consignments of rubber gloves and palm oil products to the US from some companies have been detained at ports there. Many believe this problem of tying labor practices up with exports will only get worse. The issue of environment, society, and governance (ESG) has arrived. Businesses must comply with ESG standards if they are to continue selling to these markets.
IR4.0 technologies, such as artificial intelligence, robotics, and machine learning, are potential solutions to the issue.
We need to invest in them. Palm oil industry players rely heavily on migrant labor when harvesting fruit bunches.
As a result of the recent lockdowns and movement control restrictions, the industry had experienced an acute labor shortage. Millions of ringgit were lost as much of the fruits were left to rot.
The industry must adopt IR4.0 solutions to resolve the issue. It is time we capitalized on it.
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