WCIT 2008 live blogging - PMs Opening Speech

Seeing that I have a Wireless AP here in the hall, I'm going to take advantage to blog direct from the World Congress of IT event being held here in Kuala Lumpur.

Acknowledged as the most prestigious of all IT events, it pulls in the big names in IT. It's a big deal that Malaysia is hosting the event this year, a fact I think lost on the media. Nobody is really that excited about it outside the IT industry, I think. But I may be wrong.

The PM is currently giving the opening keynote speech, but this isn't his first contact with WCIT. He has spent the last few days involved with the International Advisory Panel (IAP), and I would like to think that the things discussed then will trickle through to WCIT. Anyway, this was the question I asked at the press conference, but didn't get much of an answer from the delegates.

One thing that's struck me about this opening ceremony are the number of kids involved. Schoolchildren sang a song (Paul Moss would say "pitchy", but Paula would say "beautiful), and schoolchildren held the PMs hands leading him up to the stage. Not great idea, it looked like a genial grandfather being coddled by his grandchildren, but Pak Lah explained, it was about how the youth of today is leading the generation of their forefarthers into the 21st Century.

Nevertheless, the opening speeches are predictable and pedestrian.

He has just announced the National Broadband iniative to increase broadband penetration to 50% by 2010 from 5% last year. Haven't we been trying to do this for the last five years?

"We are commited to facilitate more home-grown companies to be world-class" or something like that. What I say is, Show us the money. Again, this has been aroud for years, but why is progress slow? Or perhaps it's just deceptively so because the success stories are made by the quiet ones. Not everbody can be like Tony Fernandez.

Wireless KL is also mentioned again. Good concept, let's see the implementation before we applaud.

Aha. He has just mentioned that technology-based application with combined advances in agriculture, etc. can help solve the food crisis. We know what he likes and favours.

He has just announce smartcard technology will be used to control subsidies for petrol for certain segments of society. It sounds like the decision has been made This will be a ground for debate amongst some, I think.

Labels: wcit2008