The Sarawak Development Institute (SDI), in collaboration with the College of Development Communication (CDC), University of the Philippines Los Baños, has set up the Sarawak Communication for Development Centre (SCDCentre).
The SCDCentre aims to provide capacity building on strategic communication planning for its stakeholders that include grassroots leaders, civil servants, and members and/or volunteers of community organizations.
In addition, the SCDCentre is being positioned to play a significant role in the Sarawak government’s initiatives to transform its economy into that of a digital economy. Sarawak is one of the states that make up the Malaysian Federation.
In his maiden address as Sarawak’s 6th Chief Minister at the 1st session for 2017 of Sarawak’s Parliament held in May this year, Abang Johari Tun Abang Haji Openg, referred to “Big Data” as the basic core of the digital economy that Sarawak must leapfrog into. He announced that the “Sarawak Big Data” will “represent a small but first step in our journey of a thousand miles in the development of the Digital Economy of Sarawak.”
To support the Sarawak government’s digital economy transformation initiatives, the SCDCentre will focus on content creation related to Sarawak’s development data. The SCDCentre will seek to compile, process unstructured data, and build up structured data on Sarawak’s development in the following areas:
- Climate change and disaster risk management;
- Sustainable agriculture;
- Governance and development management;
- Biodiversity and biotechnology;
- Digital economy transformation; and
- Culture (unity in diversity) as x-factor for development.
In this role, the SCDCentre will develop and implement programs and provide communication-related services that will promote “data-driven” thinking among policy makers, civil servants, and the citizens of Sarawak, particularly the youth segment of its population.