Digital Minister Gobind Singh Deo (fourth from left) was the guest of honour for AWS Cloud Day Malaysia 2024 held at KLCC on Tuesday. With him are (from left): AWS Worldwide Public Sector Asean Growth Markets head Julian Lau, AWS Global Data Centers vice president Kevin Miller, AWS Global Services vice president Uwem Ukpong, AWS Worldwide Public Sector Asean regional managing director Eric Conrad, Malaysian Digital Economy Corporation chief executive officer Anuar Fariz Fadzil, AWS Asean managing director Jeff Johnson, AWS Malaysia country general manager Peter Murray, and AWS Malaysia government industry head Hafiz Hassan.
IT is no secret that Malaysia has high potential to be the region’s next tech hub, with large tech companies investing billions in the country. Amazon Web Services (AWS), the cloud computing unit of tech giant Amazon, launched the AWS Asia Pacific (Malaysia) Region in August 2024, with plans to invest more than US$6.2 billion (RM29.2bil) in Malaysia through 2038.
In line with Malaysia’s digital transformation agenda, AWS Global Data Centers vice president Kevin Miller said that AWS is dedicated to building reliable and highly available infrastructure in Malaysia, enabling local innovation and the development of applications with global potential.“In supporting Malaysia’s national priorities around AI development and digital infrastructure, we believe AWS can be a valuable partner. With one of the largest investments among cloud providers and as the first to launch a Region here, the conditions are set for impactful digital transformation results.”
“AWS has decades of experience in AI applications, spanning all layers from high-level software to data centre infrastructure.
“As generative AI has gained momentum, AWS is well-equipped with 12 years of GPU infrastructure and data centres built in the last 15 years that are designed to meet the increasing demands for AI.
“This capability underscores the need for more energy and infrastructure to drive innovation and growth in various aspects of society in various aspects of society,” he told The Star in an exclusive interview at AWS Cloud Day Malaysia 2024.
With over 3,500 attendees, AWS Cloud Day Malaysia is one of the country’s largest technology events, designed to empower businesses and leaders to harness the full potential of cloud technology and the latest advancements in AI through detailed tech sessions, customer success stories, hands-on workshops, and innovative solutions presented by AWS experts and partners.
Advancing sustainability
Amazon is a pioneer in sustainability in the technology industry and has been the largest corporate purchaser of renewable energy for the last four years.
Exemplified by the corporation’s co-founding of the Amazon Climate Pledge to achieve net-zero carbon by 2040, AWS matched 100% of its electricity use with renewable sources in 2023—seven years ahead of schedule.
“We acknowledge that the energy demands of generative AI is significant due to its high computing power requirements, so we are continuously scrutinising our operations to improve energy efficiency and reduce our carbon footprint while serving millions of customers globally.”
“We are enhancing sustainability in our data centres by using lower-carbon concrete and steel, which saved over 22,000 tons of carbon emissions in 2023—equivalent to charging 2.6 billion smartphones.
“Additionally, we’re focusing on the circular economy, having reduced carbon emissions by over 65,000 metric tons through the use of cargo ships instead of airfreight, and diverted 14.6 million hardware components from landfills for recycling or reuse.
“We are also investing in alternative fuels, such as transitioning to hydrotreated vegetable oil to power our data centre backup generators, which is a renewable diesel made from waste cooking oil. This is only just the beginning of what we can achieve,” said Miller.
Elevating Malaysia’s tech capabilities
To address the talent gap in the tech sector, AWS launched Tech Alliance Malaysia, a public-private partnership initiative aimed at reaching 25,000 learners to develop digital talent in collaboration with Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) and their Premier Digital Tech Institutions (PDTIs), and employers such as CIMB, Deriv, PayNet, and PETRONAS.
AWS Malaysia country general manager Peter Murray said that the move was in line with the organisation’s intent to achieve three goals—developing skills, expanding partnerships, and assisting its Malaysian customers to reach global markets.
“We are focused on becoming a hub for local and global software companies looking to deploy and scale their technology in South-East Asia.
“Malaysia’s customer ecosystem is eager for top-notch software tailored to local needs, and we are dedicated to helping Malaysia provide these services to customers across the region.
“We’re very proud of what we’ve done to help our customers expand regionally and globally. “For instance, Aerodyne, a Malaysian born drone tech-as-a-service platform built on AWS, is now solving big problems for customers in Latin America, Australia, and other regions which have vast spaces and limited infrastructure,” said Murray.
Noting that the partner community in Malaysia is incredibly strong, Murray added there is a very bright future ahead for Malaysia to thrive in the tech space.
