PENANGITE Tony Yeoh Choon Hock, a former industry fellow of Singapore Institute of Technology (SIT) and a former vice-president of Technology at InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG), has been appointed as the chief executive officer (CEO) of the recently-formed Digital Penang Sdn Bhd.
Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow announced Yeoh’s appointment, which took effect in April, at a press conference and also launched the logo of Digital Penang in Komtar today.
Digital Penang was created by the state government this year to accelerate efforts in pursuing opportunities in the digital economy as well as to promote a digitally engaged society.
A former Penang Free School student, Yeoh holds an MBA from University of Auckland, New Zealand and BSc from Monash University, Australia.
He has lived and worked in seven countries in Asia and has now returned to contribute to his home state.
He started his career with Singapore National Computer Board as one of the pioneers of the Civil Service Computerisation Programme and later on moved to New Zealand to work for a systems consulting company called Computer Sciences Corporation.
His other working experience was with Hewlett Packard (HP) China where over 12 years, he led the consulting and systems integration business.
“The Covid-19 crisis has changed the landscape and lifestyle of the public. It has demonstrated that going digital is no longer an option,” Chow told the press conference.
“In line with Penang2030 vision for a ‘Family-Focused Green and Smart State that Inspires the Nation’, several initiatives and plans covering institutional, economic and social aspects have been studied to enable the people’s lives to return to normal as usual.
“Many agencies and departments have started multiple digital initiatives, especially under the framework of smart city. In order to align them to the Penang2030 vision, Digital Penang was set up as an umbrella organisation to oversee and integrate these initiatives towards a common structure and agenda.
“The state government believes that Tony, as an experienced person with unique expertise in technology and business, will be able to shoulder the responsibility and lead Digital Penang with excellence.”
Yeoh thanked Chow for his appointment.
“I’m glad to have this opportunity to serve and contribute to the state. I hope my years of international experience will be useful to the state’s ambition to transform into the digital economy in line with Penang2030 vision,” Yeoh said in his speech.
“Penang has two strong engines of growth in manufacturing and tourism; our plans will focus finding the next engine of growth in digital services.
“We’re only a small team and our immediate task is to deliver the multi-year Digital Transformation Masterplan. So, we will provide more updates on digital initiatives in future.”
The current board of directors of Digital Penang are Chow (as chairman), state executive councillor Zairil Khir Johari (vice-chairman), Deputy Chief Minister II Prof Dr P. Ramasamy, state executive councillors Jagdeep Singh and Datuk Abdul Halim Hussain, state Financial Officer Datuk Sarul Bahiyah Abu, Penang Institute CEO Datuk Ooi Kee Beng, PDC Telecommunications Service Sdn Bhd director and former Dell Inc VP/managing director Tang Ching Siang and State Secretary Datuk Abdul Razak Jaafar.
Besides Yeoh, Chow also introduced other staff members of Digital Penang. They are Timothy Choy Xia Wei (senior manager, strategy and communications), Lee Chia Yi (senior manager, digital transformation), Mohammad Nasrullah Zulkifli (digital marketing specialist), Nur Azmina Salimi Uzair (administrative assistant), Julian Ooi Khai Ming (full stack specialist) and Yeap Zhe Chyuan (data analyst).
Chow added that Digital Penang has four pillars of focus, namely infrastructure, economy, governance and community.
On its logo, he said the inspiration behind the logo is about conversations on change and the journey of digital transformation.
“The yellow and blue colours symbolise the state of Penang, uniting the digital community towards a common goal,” he explained.
One of the first initiatives from Digital Penang happened in the midst of the Covid-19 movement control order (MCO) when it hosted a webinar PLC19 eCrowdsource Hacking the Next Normal, where participants from civil society came together to discuss and seek technology solutions to the new challenges.
And one of the outcomes, through the sponsorship of various parties, was the deployment of the PGCare solution to make movement safer for the general public.
Story by K.H. Ong
Pix by Noor Siti Nabilah Noorazis
Video by Ahmad Adil Muhamad