I think there are broader benefits of promoting open science forums in Msia across all sectors of the economy. The call for open science comes from Dr Lim Teck Ghee's article, "Positioning Malaysia for open science: Any takers?" (http://english.cpiasia.net/)
The government and private sector can embark on a nation-wide knowledge innovation competition for each sector of the economy ranging from tourism, education to financial services.
The award will be on a quarterly basis and participants can submit their research work anonymously (you know how humble most Msians are when it comes to having a high profile) which focuses on raising productivity and innovation in their industries.
The government should have a grant to promote ideas that will benefit the entire industry and raise global competitiveness. The aim is to raise the productivity of the nation from the bottom-up rather than the top-down.
What are the incentives? The quarterly award could be RM5,000 each for three top prizes for each industry sector. Assuming six sectors, the annual prize money may cost RM360k, which will be subsidized by both the private and public sector. This is not costly in view of the unquantifiable external benefits for the country (excluding advertising and campaign costs.)
Who will be the judges? Like American Idol, the expert judges will be drawn from a panel of industry leaders as well as registered voters from the public through an online poll.
What are the benefits? It will promote out-of-the-box thinking and problem solving skills to short-term and long-term challenges in every industry.
How will it be executed? The biggest challenge will be to standardize the platform/format for the different issues facing 6-7 key industries. For instance, the finance industry will address issues of how consumers/investors can be encouraged to mobilise their savings without taking unwarranted risks, the tourism industry can tackle issues of how tourists can return to Msia in droves without spending too much on new tourist attractions. Simple value-enhancing ideas such as clearer signboards in English or touch screen information counters in hotels showing all the tourist hot spots, etc.
We know that often what benefits the consumer may not benefit the producer. However, competition, local and global, will ensure that both their interests are more aligned.
If done smartly, this innovation competition will put Msia on the map of high income, high productivity nations. Let the politicians handle their corruption problems with debates about the open tender system, we the rakyat need to move fast on the innovation highway and come up with an open innovation system that benefits both consumers and producers alike.
In fact, if the government lacks the initiative, internet bloggers can jumpstart this idea on an Asia-wide basis starting with the more English-literate countries such as Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Australia. Malaysia is well positioned to be a thought leader due to the potential of its English-speaking population notwithstanding the recent decline in English standards.
The government and private sector can embark on a nation-wide knowledge innovation competition for each sector of the economy ranging from tourism, education to financial services.
The award will be on a quarterly basis and participants can submit their research work anonymously (you know how humble most Msians are when it comes to having a high profile) which focuses on raising productivity and innovation in their industries.
The government should have a grant to promote ideas that will benefit the entire industry and raise global competitiveness. The aim is to raise the productivity of the nation from the bottom-up rather than the top-down.
What are the incentives? The quarterly award could be RM5,000 each for three top prizes for each industry sector. Assuming six sectors, the annual prize money may cost RM360k, which will be subsidized by both the private and public sector. This is not costly in view of the unquantifiable external benefits for the country (excluding advertising and campaign costs.)
Who will be the judges? Like American Idol, the expert judges will be drawn from a panel of industry leaders as well as registered voters from the public through an online poll.
What are the benefits? It will promote out-of-the-box thinking and problem solving skills to short-term and long-term challenges in every industry.
How will it be executed? The biggest challenge will be to standardize the platform/format for the different issues facing 6-7 key industries. For instance, the finance industry will address issues of how consumers/investors can be encouraged to mobilise their savings without taking unwarranted risks, the tourism industry can tackle issues of how tourists can return to Msia in droves without spending too much on new tourist attractions. Simple value-enhancing ideas such as clearer signboards in English or touch screen information counters in hotels showing all the tourist hot spots, etc.
We know that often what benefits the consumer may not benefit the producer. However, competition, local and global, will ensure that both their interests are more aligned.
If done smartly, this innovation competition will put Msia on the map of high income, high productivity nations. Let the politicians handle their corruption problems with debates about the open tender system, we the rakyat need to move fast on the innovation highway and come up with an open innovation system that benefits both consumers and producers alike.
In fact, if the government lacks the initiative, internet bloggers can jumpstart this idea on an Asia-wide basis starting with the more English-literate countries such as Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Australia. Malaysia is well positioned to be a thought leader due to the potential of its English-speaking population notwithstanding the recent decline in English standards.
Innovation awards for industries are nothing new but what is different about this idea is that instead of rewarding CEOs and captains of industry, middle-management staff are given an external incentive to innovate.
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