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Image credit: The Malaysian Reserve

PETALING JAYA: Maxis Bhd has officially launched its Maxis Business Innovation Centre (MBIC), a digitally immersive space designed to foster innovation and drive digital transformation for businesses.

Acting chief enterprise business officer Claire Featherstone said businesses, ranging from small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to large corporations, are able to utilise an Internet of Things (IoT) lab, an auditorium equipped with cutting-edge audio video technology and a co-sharing workspace for collaborative and innovative work, all of which are available at the MBIC.

Maxis’ corporate customers will also have access to a wide range of multi-industry use cases enabled by cloud computing, artificial intelligence, IoT, machine learning and other advanced technologies.

Among the use cases include 5G smart surveillance for emergency responses, smart agriculture solution to increase farming efficiency, smart fulfilment for warehouse efficiency, as well as eCommerce solutions.

According to Featherstone, Maxis is in talks with government agencies and private companies to embrace and incorporate new technologies and innovations into the operations of diverse industries.

Regarding the adoption of these technologies, Featherstone mentioned that it would vary across different industries.

She said that while certain industries, such as oil and gas, have an immediate need for digitalisation due to limited alternatives in remote areas, other industries may take a more cautious approach.

“They may observe and wait until the technology becomes more affordable before they adopt it, so it depends sort of case by case,” she said in conjunction with the official opening of MBIC yesterday.

Featherstone highlighted that Maxis has actively been aiding SMEs in their digital transformation journey, adding that the telco giant has seen a steady increase in its customer base over the last couple of years.“We have 90,000 customers in the public domain and we are seeing steady quarterly growth,” she said.

Meanwhile, head of corporate and SME segment Kevin Lee revealed that, through Maxis, over 27,000 SMEs have taken advantage of the government’s SME digitalisation grant scheme since 2020.

The digitalisation grant scheme is an initiative to assist SMEs to adopt digitalisation in their business operations.

Through the scheme, each SME is eligible for a 50% matching grant of up to RM5,000 over a period of five years for the subscription of digital services aimed at enhancing their productivity and competitiveness.

Lee believes that among the challenges faced by Malaysian SMEs in adopting digitalisation are their lack of know-how and confidence regarding the benefits and potential outcomes of digitalisation efforts.

“Hence, through MBIC, we can bring along many SMEs with the objective for them to understand a lot more in terms of their digitalisation journey.

“Maxis will be able to be the one stop solution to handhold them towards their digitalisation journey,” Lee added.

The MBIC, which spans over 9,000 sq ft on the ground floor of Menara Maxis, was officiated by Communications and Digital Minister Fahmi Fadzil. He was accompanied by Communications and Digital Ministry secretary-general Datuk Mohamad Fauzi Md Isa.

Fahmi said his ministry has been given the task to drive the digital economy forward in Malaysia as part of a strategic framework.

“This requires all stakeholders to play their role through collaboration, innovation and knowledge sharing,” he said.

Source: https://www.thestar.com.my/business/business-news/2023/05/10/maxis-backs-smes-in-digitalisation-journey