Malaysian Science & Technology Indicators 2008 Report
110
Malaysian Science & Technology Indicators 2008 Report
111
Chapter 7 Chapter 7
INFORMATION AND
Malaysian Science & Technology Indicators 2008 Report Malaysian Science & Technology Indicators 2008 Report
Chapter 7
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY IN MALAYSIA
Chapter 7
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY IN MALAYSIA
INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION
TECHNOLOGY IN MALAYSIA Chapter 8
7.7 CONCLUSION
Generally, the numbers of applications received for Intellectual Property rights including patenting, trademark and industrial designs are much higher for foreigners than for Malaysians. The same also goes to the number of applications granted and registered for these rights. On the other hand, the figures are looking somewhat promising for a developing country like Malaysia. The increasing patterns in patent granted indicate that Malaysia is actively participating in various innovative design activities each year. The high number of foreign registrations most likely reflects government’s initiative in foreign direct investment in the high technology industries.
Patent application by foreigners was seen dropped during 2001 to 2005 period. However, patents granted for both foreigners and Malaysians increased.
Global comparisons indicates that Malaysian innovative works is quite insignificant based on the small number of patterns applied and granted by USPTO. However, the country is considered progressing well as compared to its other ASEAN counterparts such as Thailand, Philippines, Indonesia and Vietnam. More innovative works in Malaysia should be registered at the International level such as with USPTO.
Malaysian Science & Technology Indicators 2008 Report Malaysian Science & Technology Indicators 2008 Report 8.1 INTRODUCTION
Malaysian National ICT Agenda (NITA) defined information and communication technology (ICT) as both production sector and an enabler in its growth development strategy and in moving the country into knowledge society and knowledge economy. In the 8th Malaysia Plan (RMK-8), ICT is considered a key strategic driver to support and contribute directly to the growth of the economy and to enhance the quality of life of the population. In the RMK – 9, ICT is regarded a key determinant in the development process to move the economy up the value chain. Various ICT strategies have been developed in these regards in order to move the Malaysian society and its economy to become more competitive in the globalized market.
According to the Malaysian ICT report 2007, the Malaysian ICT industry has continued to grow positively from year to year over the past decade. In 2006 alone ICT spending was totaled to US$ 9.32 billion.
Subsequently, ICT spending continues to grow at an annual growth rate of 7.5% within the forecasted period of 2005 to 2010. By the year 2010, the ICT spending is expected to increase to US$ 12.31 billion.
(Source: IDC)
This chapter covers the current status of ICT development in Malaysia. The ICT indicators reported in this chapter are categorized into three categories, namely, workforce in ICT, ICT funding and expenses, ICT industry, ICT infrastructure and access, and International comparisons.
8.2 WORKFORCE IN ICT
Figure 8.1 below provides the distribution of workforce in the IT industry from year 2000 to 2005. Based on the prediction made by IDC through a yearly increment rate of 7.5 %, the figure also provides an expected number of workforces by year 2010. The industrial sectors involved include software vendors, IT services, channel, and IT hardware. Most of the IT workforces can be found occupying the job within the IT hardware industry and services.
Figure 8.1: Number of Employees in Malaysia by IT Sector, 2000 – 2010
Source: IDC report
Total number of employees in IT industry in Malaysia has grown about 43% from 254,208 in 2000 to 364,656 in 2005. Based on similar yearly rate of increase of 7.5%, a total number of IT workers is predicted to increase to 497,071 by year 2010. A constant growth can also be observed, in all of the IT industry sectors reported. Since year 2000 the number of employees in the IT Hardware industry has increased 21% to 157,296 in 2005. Based on similar rate, the amount is expected to increase.
8.3 ICT FUNDING AND EXPENDITURE 8.3.1 Government Expenditure
A resource from IDC provides information on Malaysian ICT spending from 2005 until 2007, and ICT spending as predicted by IDC from 2008 until 2010 (see Figure 8.2). The growth in the ICT expenditure is found quite linear at an average rate of growth of 10% per year. The figure also provides the total amount of expenditure on ICT per US million dollars for each consecutive year.
Figure 8.2: Malaysian ICT Spending (in US$ Millions), 2005 – 2010
Source: IDC
8.3.2 Public Funding on ICT
Public funding for promoting the growth of ICT industry comes from various government and semi- government resources such as Multimedia Development Corporation (MDeC), Ministry of Science and Technology (MOSTI), and Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC). Among the source of funds reported in this chapter are grants provided by MOSTI such as ScienceFund (Figure 8.3) and Technofund (Figure 8.4), and a grant from MCMC called Spectrum Research Collaborative Programme (SRCP) (Figure 8.5).
Chapter 8 Chapter 8
Malaysian Science & Technology Indicators 2008 Report Malaysian Science & Technology Indicators 2008 Report Figure 8.3: Number of Projects Approved under ScienceFund by Sectors, 2006 & 2007
Source: Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MOSTI)
Figure 8.3 above shows the distribution of the number of projects approved under the ScienceFund grant according to different areas of science and technology research during the year 2006 and 2007. The grant is provided by the Malaysian government to support R&D projects for institution of higher learning (IHL) in the area of science and technology. The government has granted RM 65.49 million worth of funds for the S&T industry in 2006, 188 of which were allocated for projects in the ICT sector.
Techno Fund is a competitive grant by the government given through the Ministry of Science Technology and Innovation (MOSTI) to foster greater collaboration between Malaysian private entities and government research institutes or institutions of higher learning in S&T innovation and commercialization. The distribution of the projects approved under this grant is provided in Figure 8.4 below.
Figure 8.4: Number of Projects Approved for TechnoFund by Sectors, 2006 & 2007
Source: Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MOSTI)
A dramatic decrease can also be seen in the number of projects approved for TechnoFund in 2006 and 2007. The number of projects approved for ICT sector has decreased from 27 projects in 2006 to only 3 projects in 2007.
Figure 8.5: Application & Approval of Grants under Spectrum Research Collaboration Programme (SRCP) by Industrial Sector, 2007 & 2008
Source: Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC)
SRCP is funded and managed by MCMC in promoting research collaboration between IHLs. MCMC allocates and manages its own fund to selected institutions and currently RM 4 million has been allocated per annum for such purposes.
Figure 8.5 above shows the approved and applied SRCP in 2007 and 2008. Three types of grants were applied and approved under three research categories. These are technical studies, spectrum management and social studies for a total of 11 approved projects. Table 8.1 provides the information on the amount approved in each research areas.
Table 8.1: Total Amount Granted for SRCP by Research Areas, 2007 & 2008
Year Industry Amount Applied
(RM Million)
Amount Granted (RM Million)
2007
Technical Studies 3.71 2.96
Spectrum Management 0.41 0.09
Social Studies 2.76 0.78
Others - -
2008
Technical Studies 5.28 0.75
Spectrum Management 3.11 0.3
Social Studies - -
Others 3.15 -
Source: Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC)