The Malaysia Automotive Institute (MAI), has been rebranded as the Malaysia Automotive, Robotics and IoT Institute (MARii). The announcement was made by the Minister of International Trade and Industry (MITI), Datuk Darell Leiking at the Car of the Year 2018 (COTY2018) awards on the 4th of December 2018 and sometime last week, MARii Chief Executive Officer Dato' Madani Sahari spoke to members of the automotive fraternity which comprised of industry players, academics, government bodies and members of the media on the scope expansion of MARii. This included the opportunities created for all stakeholders in expediting the adoption of robotics within the automotive sector in a briefing, titled “An Introduction to the Malaysia Automotive, Robotics and IoT Institute”, in MARii’s headquarters in Cyberjaya, Malaysia.
So what happens is that the current ruling party has decided to endorse MAI and has rebranded it to MARii. This was done at the ministerial level as it was explained that the cabinet has approved of MARii. The MITI based agency now has an added scope where they are now the focal point, coordinating centre and think tank towards enhancing the competitiveness of the automotive industry and overall mobility, through the adoption of Robotics and the Internet of Things (IoT). So here, the fate of MAI, now MARii has been decided and they are now the agency under MITI which will be the one charting the course of the Malaysian automotive industry.
The rebranding exercise aims to establish MARii as a strategic organization for automotive industry players, experts and relevant stakeholders to initiate their transformation towards the utilization of smart technologies of the future. The concepts and future programmes, courses and guidance of MARii will be applicable within the entire automotive industry ecosystem, with numerous potential spin-offs that can also be commonly shared across other sectors.
“The automotive sector is one of, if not the main driver of Robotics and IoT, especially within the manufacturing and services sectors of the future. The sheer scale and competitive environment of the sector spurs the need for new technologies that bring a higher value of cost efficiency, productivity and even eco-sustainability”, said Dato’ Madani.
Dato’ Madani explained that the roles and responsibilities of MARii essentially remains the same, with the added inclusion of enhancing the application and development of Robotics and IoT within the automotive industry to spur new jobs and business opportunities. He further explained that the adoption of these two fast growing technologies are expected to create various cross-functional applications in Advanced Manufacturing and Advanced IT, with robotics and IoT applications rapidly becoming a fundamental requirement particularly in achieving Industry 4.0 compliance.
While it may seem that MARii is the Internet of Things Institute, Dato' Madani has stated that the agency will only be concentrating on the automotive or mobility aspect of it and they will be working with other tech based government agencies if there are any overlaps in fields or sectors. MARii is basically IoT in terms of the automotive sector only.
Dato’ Madani added, “We look forward to greater collaborations between MARii and all relevant stakeholders, in creating a technology ecosystem that brings a multitude of new societal benefits at all levels. Together with MITI, MARii aims to unlock new avenues in accelerating the adoption of robotics and IoT within the automotive sector, at the same time aspiring to create technology spin-offs and applications in other areas and fields”.
MARii, previously known as MAI prior to this dealt more with the passenger cars sector and there was very little or almost no commercial vehicle industry players as stakeholders. Whilst the numbers of commercial vehicles sold here are less than the passenger car sold here, they play a large part in terms of employment in the industry and they do assemble their vehicles locally. There is also the added fact that the commercial vehicle players globally are quite advanced in terms of manufacturing and also in terms of vehicle technology - they are now at the forefront in terms of autonomous vehicles and also vehicle management systems (fleet management systems are used by commercial vehicle manufacturers and offered to their customers to monitor fuel consumption, brake wear, tyre wear and even driver management).
So when asked, by Yours Truly (above, with the mic in hand) at the talk on the inclusion of commercial vehicle manufacturers, Dato' Madani answered that they have already planned to include commercial vehicle players into their scope. With this, we shall soon see a very holistic game plan on how the Malaysian government will chart a course for the automotive industry. Hopefully with this added stakeholders or industry players, it will make the country into something more competitive in the regional or even global level.
From what we see here, it looks like they are very relevant and they will be the one charting the course of the Malaysian automotive industry.
No comments:
Post a Comment