Did you know that biodegradable implants would one day replace the syringe and needle? Dutch company Bioneedle Technologies Group is developing “bioneedles” and a breakthrough could reduce the likelihood of HIV and hepatitis infection via today’s syringes.
The company, located in Eindhoven, Netherlands, is one of the many interesting startups in a city called one of the most innovative in the world by Forbes magazine due to its “patent intensity”. Eindhoven is one of the many technology hubs that are emerging around the world.
Although Silicon Valley has been the benchmark for startup ecosystems for many years now, other innovation hubs are emerging and gaining ground with non-information technology startups. One example of this is Malaysia’s very own Cyberjaya.
Cyberview Sdn Bhd, which is tasked by the government to transform the 2,784ha of land area in Cyberjaya into a nucleus for the Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC) initiative, is turning the area into a global hub and preferred location for organisations involved in information and communications techonology and other fields.
Cyberview managing director Faris Yahaya says, the company, which was established in 1996, has since turned the former oil palm plantation land where Cyberjaya sits to become home to over 600 technology companies, including 35 multinational corporations.
Last year alone, investments from companies in Cyberjaya totalled over RM7bil, contributing over RM4bil to Malaysia’s GDP while creating over 40,000 jobs for knowledge workers.
Moving on
“We must not rest on our laurels. We need to constantly reinvent ourselves according to the changing business environment,” Faris says.
The next leap forward for the government-owned company under the Finance Ministry is to increase the scope of companies based in Cyberjaya, taking it from a regional cluster of ICT companies to become a full-fledged global innovation hub.
This will include bringing in non-ICT related companies that are working in fields such as green technology, biotechnology, wearable technology and also smart grids while preserving the ICT companies in the five existing ICT areas of information security, creative content technologies, mobile Internet, cloud computing and data analytics.
Although cloud technology may be growing each day, Faris is not one who believes in plucking ideas out of the sky without thorough study and verification.
“To decide on our next step, we hired a consultancy firm who have experience in doing strategic blueprints for various governments,” he said.
The blueprint involves a comprehensive 10-week study on leading science and technology parks (STP) and start-up city hubs around the world.
The STPs studied include the Research Triangle Park in the US, Cambridge Science Park in UK, Daedok Innopolis in South Korea. Start-up city hubs like Tel Aviv (Israel), Sydney (Australia) were also included.
“From the study we learn the success factors of these STPs and start-up city hubs and try to see how it can be applied to Cyberjaya,” he said.
Some of the factors include close collaborations with industry, academicians and government. Strong networks and communities, including active accelerators and incubators to provide mentorship to start-ups, funding and talent availability, and an entrepreneurial culture are also important factors.
“We have the right foundation and framework in place. Our next step is to approach the relevant stakeholders on how to introduce non-ICT companies to Cyberjaya,” he said.
Greater partnership
The plan for the global technology hub envisions a complete symbiosis of start-ups, small- and medium-sized enterprises and big companies, both local and foreign, from the various technology sectors coming together with end-to-end support for the whole value chain.
“We want to attract more iconic organisations, which will in turn want a strong local logistics chain from research to commercialisation,” he said.
Taking the success factors into consideration, Faris said the four new non-ICT areas were proposed after filtering through over 150 technologies.
He added the four new areas are not strictly ICT related.
Using bioinformatics as an example, Faris explained that the field encompasses both biotechnology and augmented reality and IT. The elements also involve creative multimedia and wearable technologies.
Cyberview is in the process of short-listing leading companies in these new areas from around the world and will approach them with the help of the Multimedia Development Corporation, InvestKL and Malaysian Investment Development Authority.
“We will schedule visits to interested companies in phases, with a customised approach to ensure they are a fit for Cyberjaya,” Faris says, adding that an attractive and well-coordinated incentive package would be offered to attract the companies.
To take Cyberjaya to its next level of growth, Cyberview is planning to spend between RM160mil and RM600mil to strengthen its ICT and non-ICT sectors, including boosting the talent pool, infrastructure and research and development institutions there.
Another RM100mil to RM400mil is needed to improve the overall ecosystem in Cyberjaya, including broadband connectivity, networks and incentives for the companies.
A programme monitoring office will also be established to make sure the day-to-day implementation and progress are on track, he said.
