WSIS+20 highlights Malaysia’s wins in telecoms sector

GENEVA, July 11 — Malaysia’s participation in the World Summit on the Information Society+20 (WSIS+20) High-Level Event, held here from Monday to today, highlighted the country’s achievements in advancing telecommunications.

This was evidenced by the National Information Dissemination Centre’s (NADI) WSIS Prizes 2025 victory, through the NADI Pulau Banggi initiative, recognised for providing digital literacy, skills training and economic opportunities to one of Malaysia’s most remote island communities.

NADI, led by the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC), was also declared champion in the category C4: Capacity Building, while another MCMC project in collaboration with Telekom Malaysia Bhd — Stingray II Project at Pulau Ketam — won the C2: Information and Communication Infrastructure category.

Malaysia was also named champion in category C10: ICT Applications — Benefits in All Aspects of Life — E-health, and C10: Ethical Dimensions of the Information Society.

These wins were achieved through the MyHeart: AI-Powered Predictive System for Cardiovascular Health, developed by Universiti Teknologi Mara and Universiti Malaya; and the Penang Stop Violence application developed by the Penang Women’s Development Corporation in collaboration with the Penang government.

Communications Minister Datuk Fahmi Fadzil said NADI’s success was highly significant, as it was among only 18 WSIS Prizes 2025 winners out of 970 projects nominated worldwide.

“This is truly a remarkable achievement,” he told reporters at WSIS+20 here yesterday.

Fahmi said Malaysia’s participation at WSIS+20 also gave the country the opportunity to share its views on current developments in the telecommunications sector, artificial intelligence, and other related issues.

“We were also able to listen to the perspectives, recommendations and challenges faced by other countries, as well as the efforts of platforms such as the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) to establish global policies that enable member states to find solutions suited to their needs,” he said.

He said the issues raised by participating delegations included the capacity to build infrastructure that supported AI, ethical and moral guidelines in AI use, and the divide between the Global North and Global South.

“The foundation of AI is robust telecommunications infrastructure, with the ability to compute at high volumes.

“This can only happen when internet connectivity is exceptionally good and fast… we hope Malaysia’s experience in implementing infrastructure projects can be shared with countries that have yet to roll out 5G,” he said.

Malaysia’s willingness to share its experience with ITU members is also in line with its bid to be re-elected as an ITU council member at the upcoming election in November next year.

Fahmi said Malaysia’s political stability and policy clarity were seen by ITU members as being among the factors that enabled the country to play a bigger role on the global stage.

“Malaysia’s voice is important because we represent a part of the Global South, and our leadership in Asean as chair for 2025 places us in a prominent position in the eyes of the international community,” he said.

Fahmi said the bid, which had been approved by the Cabinet, would not only secure Malaysia a place to speak on global platforms but also provide new learning opportunities and the chance to discuss policy matters concerning emerging technologies such as AI.

Fahmi, who concluded his visit here today in conjunction with Malaysia’s participation at WSIS+20, also held 10 bilateral meetings during the summit.

Among others, he met with Algerian Post and Telecommunications Minister Sid Ali Zerrouki; Ghanaian Communication, Digital Technology and Innovations Minister Samuel Nartey George; Somali Communications and Technology Minister Mohamed Adam Moalim; Kuwaiti State for Communications Affairs Minister Omar Al-Omar; and Britain’s Future Digital Economy and Online Safety parliamentary undersecretary Maggie Jones.

— Bernama