Sunday, November 13, 2011
GSIAC to push innovation in economic transformation
GSIAC to push innovation in economic transformation
Posted on May 15, 2011, Sunday
NEW
YORK: Renowned members of the Global Science and Innovation Advisory
Council (GSIAC), which will be set up here next week, will provide
valuable input and a fresh perspective to uplift Malaysia’s economy by
hastening innovation, leveraging on the nation’s strength in information
and communications technology and improving science and engineering
education and skills.
FRESH
PERSPECTIVE: GSIAC will bring together international leaders and
experts from government, industry, and academia to provide a fresh
perspective on Malaysia’s rapidly growing economy with an emphasis on
implementation and tangible results.
GSIAC would bring together international leaders and experts from government, industry, and academia to provide a fresh perspective on Malaysia’s rapidly growing economy with an emphasis on implementation and tangible results.
Rubinstein, a Pulitzer prize winner in science journalism, emphasised that members not only have their own individual areas of expertise but also constitute a large, diverse network that could be harnessed in order to connect Malaysian companies and institutions to others abroad to partner in key common areas of interest.
He cited how Malaysia could accelerate innovation in the palm oil industry and its derivatives relating to biomass and biofuels as well as leverage on the country’s prowess in ICT to resolve social, economic, and environmental challenges through smart cities-smart village concepts.
The Council could also provide the direction for Malaysia to improve science and engineering education and skills while creating and linking university research areas that complement the innovation needs of industry.
The GSIAC’s first council meeting would be chaired on May 17 by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak as part of his official visit to New York.
The Prime Minister has been very earnest in using innovation as a key driver towards Malaysia meeting its aim of achieving a high income economy under the Economic Transformation Programme (ETP).
Against such ideals, Rubinstein, who has been described as an innovator and change agent, noted that Malaysia has an excellent reputation in the IT industry, including in electronics manufacturing, multimedia, and programming work, and is also known as one of the international centres of excellence in palm oil.
Furthermore, Malaysia was increasingly building its manufacturing expertise in the aerospace, automotive, and other industries.
“GSIAC will play a crucial role in advising and helping implement projects that will help improve innovation and prosperity, particularly in the palm oil industry, Smart Cities-Smart Villages, and capacity building.
“It will also enable people-to-people meetings, providing real-time technical assistance, and play a role in the design and implementation of subsequent projects,” said Rubinstein, who is also chief executive officer of the 194-year old academy.
Malaysians would benefit from these endeavors at many levels as not only does a more innovative economy generate entrepreneurial opportunities and jobs, it also creates prosperity and increases income levels among all segments of the population.
A further benefit to Malaysia which he highlighted was that rising education and skills capacity would open up increasing opportunities for those Malaysians who were willing to take advantage of these attributes.
Rubinstein said the endeavour was led by the Prime Minister and his advisors, within the purview of the Malaysian government and GSIAC as an advisory body.
As a neutral, non-profit scientific organisation, NYAS would play a critical role not only in the planning of the May 17 GSIAC meeting but also in the organisation of subsequent implementation projects.
There had been many individuals involved in the creation of the GSIAC, but it was the Prime Minister who had the foremost vision and dedication to create the Council to propel Malaysia forward, Rubinstein stressed.
The Prime Minister’s Science Advisor Dr Zakri Abdul Hamid and Malaysian Ambassador to the United States, Datuk Seri Jamaluddin Jarjis, had also been instrumental to this end.
The Malaysian Industry Group for High Technology (MIGHT) and New York Academy of Sciences have played an important role in the creation and organization of the Council.
When asked why was it important to emphasise science and innovation, and not technology – which has been Malaysia’s focus, he replied, “Innovation is a broader concept than technology.
“While technology is important, innovation refers to the creative use of technology to solve specific problems or develop new products, often incorporating other non-technical competencies such as ergonomics and design.” To a question on how GSIAC could focus on innovation vis-à-vis Malaysia’s development plans such as the Economic Tranformation Programme (ETP), New Economic Model (NEM), and National Key Economic Areas (NKEAs) and importance in achieving high income levels, Rubinstein believes that the ETP, NEM, and NKEAs are critical to Malaysia’s economic future.
He said that GSIAC’s focus on innovation would complement these ongoing and evolving plans where areas like capacity building will be cross-cutting among most areas of economic focus.
“It also harnesses Malaysia’s IT strengths to solve pressing social and economic challenges through all the concept and envisions with the coordination of the implementation phase with governmental and industry leaders responsible for other components of the aforementioned plans.”
Rubinstein said competition was global, (therefore) Malaysia must focus on ways to enable its companies to compete in higher value-added market segments as opposed to commodity markets (and) innovation is the way to do this, generating wealth, prosperity, and jobs.
NYAS has been at the forefront of science, technology, and innovation since its establishment in 1817 and is well-positioned to help convene the Council and undertake subsequent follow-up projects in partnership with the Malaysian government.
As an independent non-profit organisation, the Academy serves as a neutral nexus of the academic, industrial, governmental, and NGO communities in the US and internationally.
“The Academy harnesses this neutrality, its global network, and an experienced staff to help address society’s challenges through science-based, public-policy solutions,” he added.
In recent work with Mexico, Russia, and New York State, the Academy has highlighted the importance of science and its related institutions in addressing the needs of society.
“We believe these demonstrated capabilities combined with the knowledge and experience gained from this recent project work make the Academy uniquely qualified to undertake this partnership,” he said.
For instance, based on the academy’s work with Mexico and in 2007, the Mayor’s Office of Mexico City had embarked on a global search to identify organizations to advise the city on best practices for fostering innovation, science, and economic development based on technology.
The led to an alliance with the Academy, which leveraged on its core strengths and international network of members in transferring critical knowledge to a major developing city besides trying to improve the lives of its populace.
In September 2008, the Academy organized a groundbreaking event in collaboration with the Innova Trust of Mexico City.
And under the guidance of Mayor Marcelo Ebrard, the Science & Innovation Week event, officially launched by the Mayor’s initiative to foster innovation and economic development through science and engineering and brought together key stakeholders from across academia, industry, and government with both local and international experts.
“NYAS is now working on the next phase of the project whereby it is advising the Mayor’s Office as it builds a Biomedical Knowledge City within Mexico City.
“This will be followed by a Sustainability Knowledge City focused on urban sustainability, said Rubinstein. — Bernama
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
Britain is rewriting its history
When I first arrived to live in the UK, one of the things that struck me was the British people’s belief that the UK on its own (some would add with a bit of help from the US) won World War II. Every time I heard it, it made me choke. I was grateful my grandparents had never heard it, believing till the last minute of their lives that the British were their allies in World War II, not realizing how much they were underappreciated by them. I do understand each country writes its own history, but what a sad history not to recognize the rest of the world’s fight against Nazism and the suffering that it brought to millions on this planet.
And so what a pleasant surprise it was for me to stumble across a newly published book by British historian Max Hastings, “All Hell Let Loose,” that attempts to rewrite the history of World War II, putting everything in perspective and correcting nearly 70 years of mistaken beliefs. It is even more pleasing that the historian who decided to do it is arguably the most renowned and respectable historian in the UK.
The first record that Hastings decides to put right is the role of the Soviet Union in the war. He fights the postwar myth of the British and American roles in the victory, pointing out that 90 percent of Nazi soldiers who died in combat were killed on the Eastern Front.
The massive scale of death in the Soviet Union was also previously underestimated in the UK. Hastings reminds us that the city of Leningrad alone lost more people than the British and American armies combined.
Writing about the siege of Leningrad, Hastings remarks with fascination: "It is unthinkable that British people would have eaten each other rather than surrender London or Birmingham – or would have been obliged by their generals and politicians to hold out at such a cost."
It is a well-known fact that most of the 630,000 people who died during the siege of Leningrad died of starvation, but Hastings adds remarkable details that help readers realize the scale of the disaster. He describes an entire trainload of cats being sent to the city in 1943. All of the cats in Leningrad had been eaten during the siege, and there were none left to combat the plague of rats that were feasting off the dead.
When Hastings talks about Britain and the Western allies, he tries to correct the triumphalist and self-righteous messages. The historian outlines that many actions by the Western allies would, had they been committed by the Germans, have been considered a war crime – such as the shooting of prisoners, for example. He minimizes the contribution of the US army, which has so far remained unchallenged in the Western world. The author describes the Americans as having “cherished a hubristic belief in their own virtue, and consciousness of their own dominance.”
However, Hastings is particularly hard on the British, making clear that Britain, after courageously defying Hitler in the anxious months of 1940-41, played a remarkably diminished role in the defeat of both Germany and Japan as the war progressed. He then outlines that “the British nation’s single greatest achievement of the war” was breaking the Enigma code, but even that was due to help from the Poles, a fact that is often forgotten.
Hastings is appalled by the British treatment of the people in their colonies. He outlines that the 1943 Bengal famine, in which at least one million people died, was due to the neglect of the British rulers, highlighting Churchill's "brutal insensitivity, which left an irreparable scar on Anglo-Indian relations."
The author goes on to unveil another myth that the war took place in the Western world, and the major casualties were those of the Western allies. In reality, the war left 60 million dead, a similar number displaced, and hundreds of hundreds of cities destroyed. World War II took place in the skies, the oceans and the lands of five different continents. It embraced fighting in the Arctic, jungles and deserts. Hastings insists we should never forget that no fewer than 15 million Chinese died, a fact that puts the experience of the Western allies into an unfamiliar perspective.
This book promises to not be a comfortable read for most Brits, as it requires them to completely change their perception of World War II, and especially the role that the UK played in it, a role that was hugely overestimated by previous historians.
However, “All Hell Let Loose” is not only for a British reader. This book is so much different from most books written about World War II that it definitely deserves attention all around the world. Hastings takes a completely different approach to writing about World War II. While describing the course of events, he focuses on human experience. The book depicts what the war was like to live through, whether you were a starving child in Leningrad, a soldier in North Africa, or a civilian in Dresden. The author brings together many different human stories, and touches on almost every country in the world.
The book is the culmination of Max Hastings’ 35-year-long research into World War II. A month after its publication, “All Hell Let Loose” has already earned the reputation of the best book ever written on World War II.
But is it possible for one book to destroy the myth of Britain’s victory over Hitler? Can one book change the way British people understand history? Of course not. How many people actually pick up a history book after they leave school? Until the school books are penetrated by these “new revelations” and understood by school teachers in the UK, people in this country will continue shocking the Russians they meet with their narrow-minded, triumphalist beliefs.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)