Four years after he first announced Sarawak’s initiative to establish its own central incubator for digital innovation and entrepreneurship, Chief Minister YAB Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri (Dr) Abang Haji Abdul Rahman Zohari bin Tun Datuk Abang Haji Openg has finally declared open TEGAS Digital Village (TDV) on 22 November 2021.
Located at Sama Jaya High Tech Park in Kuching, the digital village is part of the State’s digital entrepreneurship ecosystem, which also consists of the various digital innovation hubs situated across Sarawak; at present they are in Kuching, Kota Samarahan, Sarikei, Sibu, Bintulu and Miri.
Facilities available at TDV include two levels of co-working spaces, training rooms, meeting rooms, a cafe and an auditorium for pitching sessions.
Through Tabung Ekonomi Gagasan Anak Sarawak or TEGAS’s collaboration with its strategic partners, there are also innovation and technology labs that are set up at the digital village, such as a makers lab, an Industry 4.0 testbed, an extended reality (XR) lab and Solidworks innovation lab.
In his remarks, the Chief Minister said that the conducive environment found at TDV can give Sarawakians the opportunity to develop new systems and networking in order to advance Sarawak’s digital economy.
“I hope this building will symbolise modern technology and era of transformation in all sectors of our economy,” he added.
Earlier in his welcoming speech, Chairman of TEGAS YB Datu Haji Len Talif Salleh explained that the establishment of the digital village, as well as digital innovation hubs, is in line with the Sarawak Digital Economy Strategy 2018-2022 that aims to propel Sarawak into becoming a developed state by 2030.
Specifically, this refers to Action 38 of the strategy, namely to “establish Digital Village to facilitate technology transfer and commercialisation and accelerate the maturity of the start-ups through global accelerator partnership.”
“The idea of setting up TDV was first mooted by the Right Honourable Chief Minister in 2017, with the view that Sarawakians will have a centre in which they can be trained on digital initiatives,” said Datu Haji Len Talif, who is also Assistant Minister of Urban Development and Resources.
He further elaborated that the digital village is a platform designed to support the growth of start-ups and promote digital innovation and entrepreneurship in Sarawak.
Initiatives at TDV that will be undertaken include, among others, growth acceleration and scale-up programmes; research and development commercialisation; market access and funding facilitation; corporate innovation and ecosystem enhancement; as well as intellectual property or IP support.
“Youths interested in digital innovation and entrepreneurship should take the opportunity to utilise the digital village.
“Our hope is that TDV will be the launchpad for youth entrepreneurs and start-ups to scale globally, subsequently driving the Sarawak digital economy and creating job opportunities for Sarawakians,” said Datu Haji Len Talif.
