On Aug 4, following his speech at the IBM Forum 2005 in Kuala Lumpur, Minister of Science, Technology and Innovations Datuk Jamaludin Jarjis urged Malaysian companies to innovate for future growth. He said the private sector could apply for funds to acquire intellectual property (IP) and technologies.

The funds currently come from the RM1.5 billion allocated to the ministry under the Eighth Malaysia Plan but Jamaludin said he is asking for more under the Ninth Malaysia Plan.

"We are not very happy with the percentage of commercialisation in the public sector and we want a balance. Some research can still be public sector-led but we also want research to be private sector-led. They put in a dollar, we put in a dollar and then we go and buy the IP. We want R&D to be private sector-led and we are looking for technology asset tools to create economic value. That has to be the end-game. It must create economic value, it must create jobs and it has to be technologies that can develop the economy," he said.

This move by Mosti is a significant one in elevating the level and quality of innovation in Malaysia. If local entrepreneurs and scientists are to grow, they have to be recognised as two separate groups, where funding and resources are allocated based on the needs of each group.

As the minister aptly pointed out, if Malaysians are to accelerate their growth and innovation capability, the acquisition of IP would provide significant value by acting as a springboard to commercial endeavours. The Japanese government used this model with much success.

The Government should set up a special unit to surf the Internet for local websites distributing illegal copies of movies, music and software, said representatives of the industries.

The unit, said the Recording Industry Association of Malaysia (RIM), could comprise Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Ministry officers, and would deal solely with online piracy.

Antipiracy watchdog Business Software Alliance and the Motion Picture Association have joined RIM in urging the Government to set up the unit.

Last night, I was at the TeAM Industry Dinner 2005 at the Marriott Hotel in Putrajaya. The reason I was there was because Mindvault was nominated for the TeAM Merit Award for Oustanding Group Contribution to Technopreneurship. We were nominated along with Malaysian Debt Ventures (MDV) and the Cradle Investment Programme (CIP).

When I heard about the nomination, I actually wondered why we were nominated. You see, in the course of our business, we never set out to do what we do to win awards. We do what we do because we are passionate about what we do.

So, it was a real surprise to receive this nomination. I actually wondered what made us deserve this award. It was only at the dinner table when our nomination was announced that it dawned on me. The person sitting next to me asked what we had done for technopreneurship and it just came to me how we have really invested a lot of time to educate the ICT sector about the importance of Intellectual Property protection, management and commercialization.

From the days we were involved with MAVCAP's "Ignite The Technopreneur Fire!" program to conducting sessions with the Technoperneur Development Flagship of MDC as well as speaking to university researchers via the National Unipreneur Development Program (NUDP) as well as numerous other workshops and clinics with organizations like the MCA ICT Resource Center (MIRC), it dawned on me how much time we had actually devoted to supporting technopreneurship in Malaysia.

Looking back, it has been a rewarding journey and it is nice to be recognized for our efforts.

By the way, we didn't win the award. CIP deservedly received the honor.

In December 2003, we wrote an article in the Netvalue pull-out of The Edge about "Building a one-stop shop for IP". The concept and feasibility of the one-stop shop was the subject of a recent study by the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) where Mindvault was appointed as the country consultant for Malaysia.

In 2004, the ASEAN secretariat requested WIPO's assistance to conduct a feasibility study on the establishment of IP-related business development service (IPDBS) hubs in ASEAN based on a network model. The study was conducted at the local level for each country and will then be consolidated into a regional report that will eventually be presented to the ASEAN secretariat probably later this year or early 2006.

It may be some time before the ASEAN IPDBS hubs can be realized given the challenge of achieving consensus among the ASEAN countries. It is our hope that Malaysia would take a lead role to set up a structure that can be replicated throughout ASEAN. We are well-positioned in terms of our infrastructure and capability to do so.

Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said Thursday large Malaysian companies as well as small- and medium-size enterprises (SMEs) must seriously adopt and integrate branding and packaging strategies into their business practices.

The prime minister described the two as fundamental aspects of successful businesses.

"We must work to develop the capacity of Malaysian enterprises and enable them to roll out packaging and branding of their products and services that can compete at all levels."

Finally! For the past few years, we have been preaching our former Prime Minister's "Look East Policy" in relation to the area of Intellectual Property development.

Japan built up its technological prowess after World War 2 by importing/licensing technologies from the west. They didn't start from scratch. They used current technology, improved on it and then sold it back to the rest of the world.

Why should we in Malaysia reinvent the wheel?

The Government is to be commended for now setting aside funds to acquire the necessary technologies for us to catch up with the developed nations.

Click Bernama: Govt Will Assist Private Sector Acquire Overseas Technologies for the full article.

Click MTDC to fund IP Acquisition for The Edge's report.