Telekom Malaysia Berhad : TM AND CISCO ANNOUNCE STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP TO ...

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​Malaysia's national connectivity and digital infrastructure provider, Telekom Malaysia Berhad (TM) and worldwide leader in technology, Cisco International Limited, today announced a new strategic partnership as part of Cisco's Country Digital Acceleration (CDA) programme to supercharge Malaysia's ambitions to become a technology-driven nation and regional digital leader.

Both parties signed two collaboration agreements to pave the way for key projects focused on helping the country develop its 5G innovation platform as well as accelerate technology adoption and transformation for Malaysia's small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

These initiatives were introduced at a signing ceremony presided over by YB Tan Sri Datuk Seri Panglima TPr Annuar Haji Musa, Minister of Communications and Multimedia; and attended by YBhg. Dato' Sri Haji Mohammad Mentek, Chief Secretary, Ministry of Communications and Multimedia Malaysia; YBhg. Tan Sri Mohamad Salim Fateh Din, Interim President, the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission; Imri Mokhtar, Group Chief Executive Officer, TM; Dave West, President, Cisco Asia Pacific, Japan, and Greater China (APJC); and Hana Raja, Managing Director, Cisco Malaysia.

Cisco's CDA programme is a strategic partnership with governments worldwide to accelerate their national digitalisation agendas and create new value for the country, its businesses, and citizens. The programme taps on the power of private and public partnerships across a variety of sectors, including national infrastructure, education, and smart businesses and communities, to bring digital solutions to national challenges. Digitalisation initiatives that are rolled out are made into replicable solutions to cross-pollinate and contribute to Cisco's wider CDA ecosystem which is currently present across 44 countries globally.

The CDA programme in Malaysia was unveiled as a collaboration framework between Cisco and MyDigital Corporation in May 2022. It is aligned with MyDIGITAL, the government's Digital Economy Blueprint, aimed at accelerating the growth of Malaysia's digital economy, with a focus on driving digital transformation in the public sector, building digital infrastructure, and cultivating agile and competent digital talent.

TM's partnership with Cisco focuses on three key pillars: digital transformation in the public sector, specifically education - which will be launched at a later date; digital transformation for service providers, focusing on 5G innovation, and digital transformation for SMEs.

The two (2) collaboration agreements signed today were:

• 5GaaS Innovation Platform

Cisco and TM will build a 5G-as-a-service Centre of Excellence to springboard 5G adoption and develop proof of concepts for enterprises and vertical industries. Supported by Cisco's full stack of Private 5G Core technologies complete with services and support, the innovation platform will demonstrate 5G enterprise use cases realized on the reference architecture to allow businesses to visualize and implement 5G frameworks and solutions that address unique business challenges.

• Accelerating Digital Transformation of SMEs

Cisco and TM will drive a joint digital solution seeding programme through a proof of concept for selected SME customers. These solutions will range from the Internet of Things (IoT) to business analytics solutions for SMEs in the retail, education, and manufacturing sectors. Successful deployments will be showcased to broaden adoption within the SME ecosystem. Cisco will also launch a digital talent development initiative focused on introducing digital talent to Application Programming Interfaces (APIS) and training on how to navigate its cloud-based network, Cisco Meraki, as well as other mentoring opportunities and hackathon events.

"TM is honoured to be the first company to partner with Cisco in bringing the CDA programme to Malaysia, which has the potential to benefit enterprises, consumers and over 400,000 SMEs. This collaboration builds on TM and Cisco's 17-year partnership and will be the first of many "Innovation Sandbox" collaborations TM will drive, in our efforts to realise the Digital Malaysia aspiration and 5G objectives for the nation," said Imri Mokhtar, TM's Group Chief Executive Officer.

"Technology plays a critical role in powering an inclusive future for all. Our CDA programme in Malaysia is focused on turning the country's digital economy blueprint into reality by leading the development of core 5G technologies and infrastructure, accelerating the digital transformation of SMEs, and nurturing a pipeline of next-generation IT talent that will continue to support its national ambitions," said Dave West, President, Cisco Asia Pacific, Japan, and Greater China. "We are thrilled to embark on a new chapter of our collaboration with TM and the Malaysian government through our CDA programme and we're excited about the opportunities ahead."