Abstract
As Malaysia accelerates her catch-up process to become a developed nation
on the world stage, various types of infrastructure are being implemented
at a rapid pace. The government’s Vision 2020 is a national
agenda for the country to be fully developed by the first quarter of the
next century. Like power and transportation, information is
fast becoming a public essential. Like power and transportation,
a national-scale delivery infrastructure must also be in place for information.
Like the national power and transportation grids, an information grid
forms the central component of the whole infrastructure, which basically
consists of physical, technological and human resources. The information
grid will emerge sooner or later in Malaysia, but compared to the current
leading nations, the country has limited time and limited resources to
achieve it successfully in a timely manner. Thus, a planned approach
to implement it, involving the concerted efforts of all relevant parties
in the country, must be acted upon now.
This brief paper describes the concept of the National Information Grid (NIG) in terms of its basic composition and functions, the business environment that surrounds its implementation, the need to develop it based on a focused national strategy, the numerous potential benefits that it can provide, and an outline of a recommended step-by-step implementation plan.