PUTRAJAYA, Dec 13 — The Science, Technology and Innovation Ministry (MOSTI) said today it would discard the controversial Computing Professionals Bill if the industry can find a better way to lift the local industry to meet world-class standards.Deputy Minister Datuk Fadillah Yusof told reporters after the ministry’s open day on the Bill that it is up to the IT sector to find ways to “uplift the IT profession.”
“There is no decision on whether it (the Bill) is going to be done or not. We can use any other mechanism.
“That is why we have this open day. It is up to the profession to decide how to protect themselves,” the Petra Jaya MP said.
IT professionals voiced concern over the Bill when a draft surfaced online last week, saying registration under the Board of Computing Professionals will hurt the billion-ringgit industry by shrinking the pool of eligible professionals.
But the ministry’s ICT policy division, which is facilitating the process of formulating the Bill, told The Malaysian Insider today it would have “no problems” if the industry were to offer a better alternative.
Under Secretary Amirudin Abdul Wahab said the move was to reverse Malaysia’s sliding standards in computing as reflected by its drop from 50th place to 56th place in the International Telecommunication Union ICT Development Index between 2002 and 2008.
Datuk Halimah Badioze Zaman, who is part of the working committee drafting the Bill, also said the Bill is not yet finalised, having gone through 17 revisions so far.
“This is the fastest vehicle for us to get there (to international standards). If not, what would be another vehicle to bring us forward?” the National Professors Council member said at the open day.
read more at TheMalaysianInsider.com
