26/06/2011 (The Star) - Three high-impact projects are being implemented following the Global Science and Innovation Advisory Council’s (GSIAC) inaugural meeting, which was chaired by the Prime Minister at the New York Academy of Sciences (NYAS) last month.

Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said GSIAC, which was set up to facilitate the strategic cooperation, would involve industry members, international experts and Nobel Prize winners.

GSIAC is a joint initiative between the Malaysian Industry-Government Group for High Technology and NYAS to enhance Malaysia’s capabilities in science and innovation.

“STI (science, technology and innovation) experts who will be involved with the council will be among the best in their fields,” he told Datuk Noraini Ahmad (BN - Parit Sulong).

Najib said NYAS had ensured the participation of highly-skilled STI experts and authorities in the council.

One of the high-impact projects was the setting up of a biomass industry to turn palm oil waste into feedstock to generate electricity, which was expected to generate RM100bil in income for the country by 2020.

The second was the Smart City-Smart Village project to balance development in urban and rural areas, focusing on the use of the green technology and ICT (information and communication technology).

“The main aim of the project is to find ways to use STI to benefit and improve the living standards of the people,” he said, adding that the use of green technology and STI would improve the quality of health services, education and delivery of information.

Najib told Nurul Izzah Anwar (PKR - Lembah Pantai) that he had assigned the Science Adviser to the Prime Minister and the relevant agency to ensure that the implementation of all the planned projects was carried out in the best manner.

He said Malaysia had enough human capital and infrastructure facilities to become a developed nation if the country’s science, technology and innovation was strengthened through strategic cooperation with Japan and the United States.

“STI is a very important component for the country to make a quantum leap in realising the New Economic Model,” he added.

Najib said a Digital Malaysia Master­plan was in the offing to harvest key opportunities arising from the global analogue to digital shift.