Putrajaya washes hands of computing bill, wants industry to fix it

By Shannon Teoh

April 18, 2012

The law seeks to create a national body to register and certify all ICT workers. — Reuters pic

KUALA LUMPUR, April 18 — The government has abandoned consultations with stakeholders over a law to regulate the information technology (IT) industry, telling the private sector to “sort it out among yourself first,” before making any further decision on the matter.

The science, technology and innovation ministry (Mosti) has not amended the controversial draft of the Computing Professionals Bill 2011 (CPB2011) that surfaced in December nor held any meetings with stakeholders after opening the proposed law up to the public for a month ending in mid-January.

Minister Datuk Seri Maximus Ongkili told The Malaysian Insider that Putrajaya has instead decided to “let the private sector drive it and, when [they] are ready, come back to us.”

“We just gave (the draft) back to them; after all, it was drafted by them. We said sort it out with your own gang and then come back to us when you are ready,” he said in a recent interview.

The CPB2011 was largely slammed when a working draft was leaked onto the Internet in December last year, with critics pointing out that it is filled with too many vague definitions despite it having been worked on for 30 months. The draft is also in its 17th revision.

The proposed law calls for the formation of a national body called the Board of Computing Professionals Malaysia (BCPM) to register and certify all ICT professionals, making it mandatory for those who work on projects deemed to be of strategic or critical importance.

IT professionals say registration under the Board of Computing Professionals will hurt the billion-ringgit industry by shrinking the pool of eligible professionals.

But the ministry said the move is to reverse Malaysia’s sliding standards in computing as reflected by its drop from 50th to 56th place in the International Telecommunication Union ICT Development Index between 2002 and 2008.

It said in December it would discard the controversial Bill if the industry can find a better way to boost the local industry towards meeting world-class standards.

The Malaysian Insider understands that the Cabinet Committee on Human Capital Development chaired by Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin then gave Mosti up to June to fix the Bill or dump the idea.

Ongkili confirmed in the interview that the June parliamentary sitting is the ministry’s deadline if the private sector wants to revive the CPB2011. There is speculation that the Barisan Nasional (BN) federal government could call snap polls by then, providing further uncertainty over the Bill.

“I am hoping by June we can finish this. Either we proceed, or leave it to private sector to sort it out of themselves,” he said, adding that various computing groups such as The National ICT Association of Malaysia (Pikom) has taken the matter up.

The ministry had said last month it would pursue a final round of consultations after only 29 per cent of respondents to earlier engagements supported the proposed law that has been called “Orwellian” by the industry and lawmakers.

But the Kota Marudu MP said that although “we decided (then) a lot more consultation needs to be done, now we have decided, let the private sector drive it.”

He said the industry could also decide to self-regulate via its own association but “sooner or later, the market will demand it.”

“Whatever the certification, it will become almost compulsory,” the Parti Bersatu Sabah deputy president said, citing banks as an example of clients who will want to have proper certification for IT systems especially those dealing with cybersecurity.