Malaysia is leading ASEAN in fourth industrial revolution initiatives

With the fourth industrial revolution (IR4.0) transforming nations, governments are gearing up for this new paradigm, including Malaysia, which is setting up clear guidelines to support digital transformation. 

The country’s MyDIGITAL Corporation acts as the programme manager which drives the country’s digital transformation efforts.  

MyDIGITAL Corporation’s Chief Executive Officer, Adrian Marcellus, notes that the organisation oversees implementing both the national Digital Economy Blueprint and the National Fourth Industrial Revolution Policy. 

He adds that these national frameworks support the incubation of new entities within the government that will work toward digital transformation, as the agency houses the Malaysia Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution (MYCentre4IR). 

Marcellous notes that the centre is tasked to provide thought leadership, capacity building, and policy development in terms of the digital economy and IR4.0 technologies. 

The centre focusses on digital transformation and energy transition to fulfil the national digitalisation goals. 

“We want to make sure that IR4.0 technologies, whether it’s artificial intelligence (AI), quantum, blockchain, space tech, or anything else new that may come up, are the types of technologies that we deploy in the country to realise our national digital transformation goals,” he adds. 

By setting up MYCentre4IR, Malaysia stands as the “first mover” in ASEAN to be part of the World Economic Forum (WEF) Fourth Industrial Revolution Network, Marcellus adds. 

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Driving industrial transformation 

One of the projects that brings together the mandates of digital transformation and energy transition is the setting up of the Transitioning Industrial Cluster (TIC). 

Through this WEF initiative, the centre helps industries adopt advanced technologies and work toward decarbonisation.  

“The intent in every TIC is to make sure that we decarbonise, but at the same time have a GDP uplift and job creation,” notes Marcellus. He adds that the expected GDP uplift in the next 15 years is around US$12 billion per year and about 19,000 jobs to be created. 

The TIC projects start with a business case co-created with industry players and academics, then proposed to the government to obtain endorsement, Marcellus explains. 

“Then, we work with the different partners and parties to set up a programme management office to monitor the progress of the business case itself, in order for us to achieve the goals we set out,” he says. 

Marcellus shares that Malaysia’s first TIC pilot is in Sarawak, focussed on petrochemical and resource-intensive industrial clusters. The goal is to integrate clean energy solutions with digital technologies to reduce emissions and enhance competitiveness. 

The Sarawak project will be showcased at the WEF Annual Meeting in Davos in January 2026, he adds.  

MYCentre4IR is also looking at other areas in Malaysia where they can take a similar approach for the TIC. 

After about a year in, Marcellus says the team has learned lessons on how to bring all different players together and finding synergies in the work they do.  

They are now coming up with the TIC Playbook to compile these learnings and contribute back to the WEF Network, says Marcellus.  

Building up with innovation 

The centre has introduced Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Innovation Challenges last year to bring about solutions to problem statements and encourage the growth of the innovation ecosystem.  

Marcellus shares that the centre identified five problem statements provided by different companies, and startups participated in the Innovation Challenge to develop solutions and implement them.  

These solutions will be demonstrated at the ASEAN Leadership Summit to be held in Kuala Lumpur on October 26-28, and the centre had been monitoring the progress from proof-of-concept to development to ensure they delivered the expected results. 

Based on the success of the Innovation Challenge, the centre is now looking to use the same approach with the TICs, at a larger scale for higher impact, says Marcellus. 

“We’re trying to match the demand, which are the problem statements, together with the supply of practical solutions coming from the players”.  

Additionally, this has the potential to build a new ecosystem, involving micro, small and medium-sized enterprises to enable them to participate in the problem-solving process, he notes.  

On the centre’s long-term vision, Marcellus says that there is potential for assessing if there are any areas in government that could be solved using a similar approach. 

He notes that while government procurement tends to be rigid and meant for large scale implementation, there are other areas for “simpler” innovations where smaller companies can come in to provide solutions. 

“We need to loosen up [government procurement] slightly, so we get better innovation, quicker solutions, and better citizen satisfaction out of it. 

“Once we get more success stories, once we show that within TIC this works, it might be easier for us to demonstrate that this is a different approach that we can take to solve the larger problems within the country,” he adds. 

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Working with the network 

The WEF Centre for 4IR Network consists of 22 independent centres across the globe that supports the technological innovation of industries at the national and international level for sustainable progress.  

“Collaboration, that’s the purpose of the network,” says Marcellus. 

Marcellus notes that Malaysia, as the first mover in ASEAN to be a part of the WEF global network, has led the way on the TIC project which can benefit not just the country, but the network as a whole.  

“Our goal is to add value to the whole network, to learn from others but also to contribute our learnings to others”.  

Additionally, MYCentre4IR is working with other centres to develop different areas of competency. For instance, it is working with the centre in UAE to develop AI capabilities, while learning from the work that Azerbaijan does in terms of digital literacy.  

Future plans 

Marcellus says: “we intend to expand the type of offerings that we are providing at the moment. For example, in terms of toolkits and frameworks, we will focus on what we can get out of TIC.” 

These efforts include scaling up the energy literacy programme to get everyone on the same page about what the energy transition entails, he notes.  

Marcellus adds that the MYCentre4IR is also working to set up the ASEAN AI Safety Network, to be announced at the ASEAN Leadership Summit.  

This initiative grows from the common objective of governing AI safely and responsibly, while understanding that every country has a different level of maturity when it comes to AI development. 

“It's something that we hope that we'll be able to share and have a better voice on the global stage,” says Marcellus. 

“The whole concept of the [AI Safety] network is so that we leverage our strength at ASEAN. Otherwise, it's just individual countries trying to put their point of view across. But as ASEAN, we feel that we can do it in a much, much better way,” he adds.