NDI will serve as a trusted digital certification and verification for individuals, ensuring flexible and secure online transactions

by NURUL SUHAIDI / pic credit: opengovasia.com

MALAYSIA, via the Malaysia Digital Economy Blueprint, is set to expand the implementation of new digital identification and signature, allowing the public more flexibility, increasing the scope and quality of online services and enhancing a better user experience.

In the wake of this digital identification industry, Malaysia Digital Economy Corp (MDEC) is working closely on the implementation of National Digital Identity (NDI) and digital signatures alongside tech companies.

The NDI will serve as a trusted digital certification and verification for individuals, ensuring flexible and secure online transactions while reducing administrative costs.

MDEC CEO Mahadhir Aziz said Covid-19 has accelerated the prominence of digital ID, forcing public and private entities to embrace new practices for work and businesses, especially with remote work and the prevalent e-commerce.

“New digital ID solutions offer better security measures, including easier authentication processes.

“The development of fintech also made the digital ID market ripe for the picking and Malaysia has local champions well-equipped to start plucking,” he said in a statement yesterday.

According to forecasts from Adroit Market Research, digital ID solutions will grow at a 16% compound annual growth rate from 2020 to 2025 to reach US$33 billion (RM138 billion), with the integration of biometric tech in smartphones and numerous industries as a driving factor.

For the NDI adoption, MDEC has teamed up with Innov8tif Technologies, a certified artificial intelligence (AI) company and CALMS Technologies Sdn Bhd, which provides cost-effective and leading-edge smart ID solutions.

Innov8tif assists businesses to widen sales funnel, speed-up processes without paper, and prevent frauds with a customer base including telecommunication companies, banking, financial services and insurance, investment firms, multinational manufacturing companies and the government.

The company specialises in digital ID assurance, digital low-code process automation and mobile biometric authentication.

Meanwhile, CALMS Technologies has grown to provide a dynamic range of integrated solutions to more than 1,000 organisations from various industries and sectors in Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore and Thailand.

As part of MDEC’s delegation to Expo 2020 Dubai, both digital ID inventors will participate in Malaysia Digital Economy Week, promoting their products and services abroad.

“MDEC is proud to showcase Innov8tif and CALMS Technologies at a global stage, and thus spotlight Malaysia as a stronghold for the digital ID industry,” said Mahadhir.

He added that Malaysia has a multitude of innovative and impactful digital ID solutions and providers that could serve the needs of many global tech companies.

Mahadhir emphasised that innovative technologies, such as the digital ID, are in accordance with MDEC’s “Digital Investments Future5” (DIF5) strategy, a five-year plan aligned with the 12th Malaysia Plan aimed at attracting investments and expanding Malaysia’s digital economy.

Another objective of the DIF5 is to garner an investment worth RM50 billion in the digital economy on top of attracting 50 Fortune500 tech companies to land and expand in Malaysia by 2025.

DIF5 also aims to establish five unicorns with the creation of 50,000 high-value jobs in the MSC.

“Expo 2020 Dubai will also enable MDEC to highlight the digital economy ecosystem present in Malaysia which fosters innovation and nurtures innovators such as Innov8tif and CALMS Technologies.

“With this, we will be able to showcase Malaysia as the digital hub of Asean that can further advance the digital ID industry,” concluded Mahadhir.