DIGITALISATION continues to headline in the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic as the 24th World Congress on Information Technology (WCIT) 2020 and Penang TECHFEST2020 will now be held in both physical and virtual forms and will be broadcast live.
The two festivals will now be held from Nov 18 to 20, instead of the originally planned month of September at the same venue, Setia SPICE Convention and Exhibition Centre in Bayan Lepas.
The events are expected to build the momentum towards WCIT Malaysia which has been rescheduled to 2022.
Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow said that the three-day global tech festival will be conducted, in both physical and virtual forms.
“These two festivals will feature a live telecast from Penang with exclusive physical events and online streaming to a global audience with virtual exhibitions, artificial intelligence (AI) powered B2B matching and networking, as well as workshops and masterclasses.
TECHFEST2020, which is spearheaded by the National Tech Association of Malaysia (Pikom), and ‘Road to World Congress on Information Technology’ (WCIT) by World Information Technology and Services Alliance (Witsa), will look to reach a wider audience with the new format in place.
“We are expecting to attract online participation of up to 3,000 international visionaries, captains of industry, government leaders and academicians from more than 80 countries,” Chow said during a press conference in Komtar today.
Chow was also delighted that Penang was chosen as a host for this year’s WCIT2020 and TECHFEST2020.
“Today, we also welcome OCK Group Berhad as a partner that will be contributing its expertise in telecommunications infrastructure and technology services, especially with the trial deployment of 5G applications for smart cities development,” Chow added.
One of the most anticipated events for WCIT2020 segment is the WITSA Global ICT Excellence Awards 2020 which is to recognise exceptional achievements in realising the potential of businesses, providing better services, improved services and showcasing trust and transparency in governance.
WCIT2020 Sdn Bhd chief executive officer Low Ngai Yuen said that physical events would still be conducted despite the current situation but not with the original number of 3,000 to 4,000 attendees on site.
She also said that the two events this year are expected to build momentum towards WCIT Malaysia which has been rescheduled to 2022.
“We have turned this into a three-year-long event. So, it is going to happen in November this year as planned, August next year (2021) and June in 2022.
“That is why we have lobbied for WCIT for its full-blown event to happen in 2022, so we can still expect 4,000 participants in 2022.
“Having planned for that, we now have three years to enhance our country’s investment status, economic growth and properly structure appropriate action plans to address various sectors impacted through Covid-19 pandemic,” Low told a press conference.
Another highlight of Penang TECHFEST2020 is the 2020’s Featured Innovations, where innovative products, services and start-ups are invited to showcase and build market tractions through a home-shopping-talk-show format, the TECH MARKETPLACE.
The programme aims to list 300 new and emerging techs out of which some 40 will be properly highlighted and promoted to consumers.
Also present were state Tourism Development, Arts, Culture and Heritage (Petach) Committee chairman Yeoh Soon Hin, Penang Island City Council (MBPP) mayor Datuk Yew Tung Seang and WCIT2020 organising committee deputy chairman Datuk Sean Seah.
For further information, visit http://techfest.my and www.wcit2020.org.
Story by Kevin Vimal
Pix by Alissala Thian
Video by Law Suun Ting