A Malaysian heading the 16 member-economies Asia Pacific ICT Alliance is pushing for a review of its DNA

By HABHAJAN SINGH / Pic By APICTA

Asia Pacific ICT Alliance (APICTA), a 16 member-economies information and communications technology (ICT) alliance now helmed by a Malaysian, is undertaking a review of its approach as the world is witnessing all sorts of developments in the digital space.

APICTA chairman Stan Singh (picture), elected in March, will review the DNA of the alliance to strengthen the core values now that they are in the digital world economy.

That is one of the three areas of key strategic approaches for APICTA that Stan and the new team will undertake.

“Second, we will also review from a tactical perspective to bring values and benefits to the member economies. Third, we will create collaborations with other related-ICT organisations in the region for greater visibility for APICTA,” he told The Malaysian Reserve.

Stan was the deputy chairman of the alliance before elected as the chairman at the APICTA executive committee (exco) meeting in Myanmar.

He represents National ICT Association of Malaysia (Pikom) at the alliance. The other Malaysian representatives at the council come from Malaysia Digital Economy Corp.

Besides Malaysia, the other economies in APICTA are Australia, Bangladesh, Brunei, China, Chinese Taipei, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Macau, Myanmar, Pakistan, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Vietnam.

On his part, Stan is the founder and principal consultant of IronHorse Asia Sdn Bhd, which provides IT solutions for the retail and financial industries.

In the past, he had served as the senior VP of MUI dotcom Sdn Bhd and MD of Wincor Nixdorf Retail for the Malaysia and Thailand markets.

Upon his recent election, he said the move meant that Malaysia became the new head of the global alliance for the first time.

“I am thrilled at the opportunity of working with the new APICTA exco to strive together to tap and unearth the talent and skills of extraordinary companies and individuals in the dynamic ICT community of Asia Pacific,” he said in a statement released by Pikom.

Stan replaced Dr Dileepa De Silva from Sri Lanka, who had served as the APICTA chairman since 2014.

In that statement, Pikom chairman Ganesh Kumar Bangah said Stan’s new position follows a string of Malaysian ICT leaders who have played pivotal roles on the global ICT platforms.

On May 15, Stan led an APICTA delegation to Vietnam where they met Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam who suggested that the alliance shares with the nation its experiences in building e-government and e-administration accumulated from its members such as Australia, Singapore and Japan.

In recent years, Dam said the Vietnamese government has mobilised different resources to foster the development and application of IT in all spheres in a bid to step up the country’s socio-economic development, improve business environment and enhance national competitiveness edge.

In a statement released by Vietnam News Agency, Dam said the hosting of the APICTA Awards in 2019 in Vietnam would serve as a chance for the nation to introduce its IT development and facilitate partnerships between domestic businesses and international partners.

APICTA also organises the annual Internat ional APICTA awards dubbed as the “Oscars of the global ICT industry”, with the next round slated to be held from Oct 9-13 in Guangzhou, China.