Public Readiness and Acceptance Towards Implementation of Sarawak Digital Economy: A Case Study in Kuching, Sarawak
Keywords:
digital economy, public acceptance, public readiness, digital transformationAbstract
Sarawak’s Digital Economy Strategy has become vital to the state since its implementation in 2018, which outlined 47 strategic plans in eight economic sectors, namely agriculture, manufacturing, tourism, smart city, digital health, e-commerce, digital government, sports, social, arts and culture. This initiative is one of the efforts to transform the state's economy into a digital economy by 2030. With the rise of entrepreneurial culture in today's era, it is crucial to encourage society to keep up with world trends on a global scale. This study aims to examine the public readiness and acceptance toward the implementation of the Sarawak Digital Economy, in which a total of 384 questionnaires were distributed to the public in Kuching, Sarawak. The result of this study shows a positive reaction toward accepting Sarawak’s Digital Economy initiative, as the result suggests that the public does not show any signs of reluctance to embrace the digital world. Therefore, investing in telecommunication infrastructure and encouraging the public to become digital entrepreneurs can drive the state economy to achieve high-income status and become a developed state by 2030 which is through digital transformation. This is also to ensure that the state is not left behind as most developing countries are already at the forefront of the digital economy.
References
Ahmad, N., & Ribarsky, J. (2018). Towards a Framework for Measuring the Digital Economy. 16th Conference of IAOS, September, 19–21. http://www.oecd.org/iaos2018/programme/IAOS-OECD2018_Ahmad-Ribarsky.pdf.
Anak Edirin, E. (2018). Opportunities and Challenges of Economic Development in Malaysia’s Rural Areas. Trends in Undergraduate Research, 1(1), h1-5. https://doi.org/10.33736/tur.1177.2018.
Bicket, M., & Vanner, R. (2016). Designing Policy Mixes for Resource Efficiency: The Role of Public Acceptability. Sustainability (Switzerland), 8(4). https://doi.org/10.3390/su8040366.
Bukht, R., & Heeks, R. (2019). Defining, Conceptualising and Measuring the Digital Economy. SSRN Electronic Journal. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3431732.
Dahlman, C., Mealy, S., & Wermelinger, M. (2016). Harnessing the Digital Economy for Developing Countries. OECD Development Centre Working Papers, 334, 1-77.
Ejelöv, E., & Nilsson, A. (2020). Individual Factors Influencing Acceptability for Environmental Policies: A Review and Research Agenda. Sustainability (Switzerland), 12(6). https://doi.org/10.3390/su12062404.
Institute for Management Development. (2020). IMD World Digital Competitiveness Ranking 2020. IMD World Competitiveness Center, 180. https://www.imd.org/research-knowledge/books/world-competitiveness-yearbook-2020/.
Jasimuddin, S. M., Mishra, N., & A. Saif Almuraqab, N. (2017). Modelling the Factors That Influence the Acceptance of Digital Technologies in E-Government Services in the UAE: a PLS-SEM Approach. Production Planning and Control, 28(16), 1307–1317. https://doi.org/10.1080/09537287.2017.1375144.
Kalantari, F., Mohd Tahir, O., Akbari Joni, R., Mohd TAHIR, O., & Azemah Aminuldin, N. (2018). The Importance of the Public Acceptance Theory in Determining the Success of the Vertical Farming Projects. Management Research and Practice, 1(March), 5–16. https://www.ceeol.com/search/article-detail?id=670355
Krejcie, R. V., & Morgan, D. W. (1970). Determining Sample Size for Research Activities. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 30(3), 607–610. https://doi.org/10.1177/001316447003000308.
Low, M. P., Chung, C. Y., Ung, L. Y., Tee, P. L., & Kuek, T. Y. (2019). Smart Living Society Begins with a Holistic Digital Economy: A Multi-Level Insight. 2019 7th International Conference on Information and Communication Technology, ICoICT 2019. https://doi.org/10.1109/ICoICT.2019.8835199.
Mentsiev, A. U., Engel, M. V, Tsamaev, A. M., Abubakarov, M. V, & Yushaeva, R. S.E. (2020). The Concept of Digitalization and Its Impact on the Modern Economy. Proceedings of the International Scientific Conference “Far East Con” (ISCFEC 2020), 128(March), 10–15. https://doi.org/10.2991/aebmr.k.200312.422.
Nasution, R. A., Rusnandi, L. S. L., Qodariah, E., Arnita, D., & Windasari, N. A. (2018). The Evaluation of Digital Readiness Concept: Existing Models and Future Directions. The Asian Journal of Technology Management (AJTM), 11(2), 94–117. https://doi.org/10.12695/ajtm.2018.11.2.3.
Rashid, N. M. N. N. M., Hamid, N. A., Taib, H. A. M., Noor, R. M., Kurniasari, T. F., & Mulyandi, M. R. (2017). The Influence of Malaysia ’ s Digital Economy on Students ’ Entrepreneurial Characteristics and Entrepreneurship as Career Choices. World Applied Sciences Journal, 35(8), 1626–1631. https://doi.org/10.5829/idosi.wasj.2017.1626.1631.
Uddin, M. G., & Uddin, M. (2020). E-Government Development & Digital Economy: Relationship. American Economic & Social Review, 6(1), 39–54. https://doi.org/10.46281/aesr.v6i1.580.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2024 Ivy Jugah, Chai Shin Yi, Nur Afisha Yusuf, Ordellia Alfred, Anatasia Sawai
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
