KUALA LUMPUR: The Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (Mosti) is optimistic about seeing more market-ready products emerging this year with the launch of Supercharger Series 2024, which aims to invigorate Malaysia’s innovation ecosystem.
With the launch of the Series, Minister Chang Lih Kang said, Mosti is hoping to see an increase in high-quality products ready for commercialisation this year.
“This initiative is part of the ministry’s efforts to support innovators and startups in bringing their products to the market,” he told reporters after launching the Supercharger Series 2024, themed “Visions to Venture: The Pre-Commercialisation Drive” today.
The Series stands as a strategic initiative designed to foster collaboration, engagement and knowledge sharing within Malaysia’s research, development, commercialisation and innovation ecosystem.
Focused on facilitating the commercialisation journey from idea inception to market entry, the Series is set to revolutionise the pre-commercialisation phase of Malaysian innovations and, for 2024, it aims to create significant and far-reaching impacts through cultivating local technopreneurship champions, increasing Malaysia’s commercialisation rate, improving economic growth through R&D commercialisation and high-skilled jobs creation.
This initiative provides invaluable opportunities for university spin-off companies, researchers, private sector entities, and agencies to not only gain essential knowledge but also to identify and address various challenges, which in turn, will drive economic growth and strengthen the innovation ecosystem, ensuring that emerging technologies and research breakthroughs can effectively reach the market and benefit society as a whole.
Chang said Malaysia is ranked 36th out of 132 economies in the 2023 Global Innovation Index, highlighting the country’s continued progress and commitment to fostering innovation across various sectors.
“This achievement is noteworthy and there is ample room for advancement. Hence, the Whole Government Approach is crucial within the science, technology, and innovation (STI) sectors, towards ensuring that collaboration among multiple ministries and agencies can be fostered to address pressing societal issues via STI development,” he stressed.
Malaysian Research Accelerator for Technology and Innovation CEO Datuk Rais Hussin Mohamed Ariff said the Supercharger Series marks its commitment to provide the tools, knowledge and networks to transform innovative ideas into impactful products and services.
“The growth of the Supercharger Series has indeed been remarkable, with participation tripling from 500 in 2022 to over 1,500 in 2023 across Kuala Lumpur, Penang, Pahang and Johor,” he added.
Separately, Malaysian Commercialisation Year Summit 2024, scheduled for Aug 12 at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre, aims to promote commercialisation success stories from Malaysia’s universities, institutions and research agencies. The summit will focus on key sectors such as biotechnology, the hydrogen economy and space technology.
