Huawei to build OpenLab in Malaysia, signs MoUs with Malaysia government

Source: Huawei. Guo speaks at Huawei Innovation Day 2017.

Huawei has announced the construction of a new OpenLab in Malaysia, which will serve as an open, flexible, and secure platform for joint innovation with local partners, at Huawei Innovation Day 2017. There are similar OpenLabs in Dubai, Singapore, and China as well as in other parts of the world. Together, these labs support extensive cooperation between Huawei and over 400 solution partners globally.

This year's event, in Kuala Lumpur, focused on fostering digital economy in the APAC region, with special focus on digital transformation models for emerging markets, small- and medium-sized enterprises, and core industries like services and tourism.

Huawei's Deputy Chairman of the Board and Rotating CEO, Guo Ping, spoke about the different stages of digital transformation, and what countries can focus on at each stage of development. "We've all heard about Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs," said Guo. "When a country goes digital, they experience a similar evolution of needs. I would divide this hierarchy into four layers. The first is ICT infrastructure, which is the foundation of a digital economy. The second is security, for both the physical and digital worlds. Security is necessary for further development. The third layer is developing a supportive environment for industries to go digital. Building on a solid foundation of privacy protection, the fourth and highest layer is enabling broader information sharing. More data will help cities and national governments better manage the digitisation process, ultimately promoting safer cities and smarter countries."

Guo stressed that technological innovation and an open ecosystem are critical to the success of digital initiatives in the Asia Pacific region (APAC). "We need to collaborate more broadly and share views across the ecosystem, including between industries and universities worldwide. Close collaboration between industry and academia will help ensure a thriving digital economy. As always, Huawei remains committed to the Asia-Pacific region, and will continue working with our partners to drive digital economic growth and ensure a better connected future for all of APAC."

The Deputy PM of Malaysia and Minister of Home Affairs YB Dato' Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid bin Hamidi encouraged all APAC countries to communicate more and work more closely together to drive positive, sustainable economic outcomes.

The Brookings Institution, a US thinktank, released the global safe city report, a blueprint of safe cities around the world at the event. According to the report, the Asia Pacific region has enormous potential for smart city and safe city development. Brookings said in a blog post that Singapore is one of the top public safety innovators, while Kuwait City, and Astana, Kazakhstan, lag behind. Public safety innovators have a clear vision, significant financial resources, and strong infrastructure; generate positive safety outcomes; utilise data analytics; and engage the community to improve ties with the general public, the thinktank said. Huawei corroborated the results, highlighting its own experience helping the Longgang District in Shenzhen, China, build out its safe city infrastructure as an example.

Xue Ding, co-founder of ofo, outlined the shared bike company's partnership with Huawei, which helped ofo embed Internet of Things (IoT) chips in their bicycles and leverage artificial intelligence (AI) to offer riders more personalised services. Xue said that ofo would like to join forces with Huawei and other partners to build out the global IoT ecosystem.

During the event, Huawei signed memorandums of understanding (MoUs) with the SME Corporation Malaysia, Universiti Malaysia Sabah, Terengganu State Government, and CyberSecurity Malaysia, expanding cooperation across domains like scientific research, innovation, talent, smart campuses, and cybersecurity.

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