Critical convos with a focus on impact: How MRANTI is bridging local & global markets

[This is a sponsored article with MRANTI.]

“We must take action. Whether in policy-making, research, or industry practice, it is our responsibility to turn today’s insights into tomorrow’s solutions.”

This call to action from MRANTI CEO Datuk Wira Dr. Hj. Rais Hussin captures the organisation’s drive to turn innovation into tangible impact. But while insights are important, real change requires more than just ideas—it requires collaboration and action.

At MRANTI, that means bringing together local and global leaders to tackle some of Malaysia’s biggest challenges, from food security to healthcare transformation. 

At the recent three-day I-Nation Global Summit 2024, we got a firsthand look at how MRANTI is putting this vision into action. Here are three ways they’re bridging local and global markets.

1. Providing a platform for open international discussions via the National Technology Innovation Sandbox (NTIS) Global Sandbox Forum

As the name may suggest, the NTIS Global Sandbox Forum spotlights how sandbox models drive innovation across industries like Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Autonomous Vehicles (AV) by creating safe spaces for experimentation. 

Held on the second day of the summit, the forum invited speakers from around the world to share their sandbox success stories during a panel session titled “From Policy to Practise: How Regulatory and Innovation Sandboxes Accelerate Technology Commercialisation”. 

We got to hear insights from industry experts who shared their best practices in building successful sandboxes, namely:

Moderated by Hazami Habib, Chief Executive Officer of Akademi Sains Malaysia, the panellists didn’t shy away from candid sharings about what worked or didn’t work for their sandboxes. This allowed for open discussions on how Malaysia can build sustainable, scalable innovations through our own sandboxes such as the NTIS Sandbox.

Some key points that were shared included the importance of having an interconnected innovation ecosystem, the need for governments to be agile when it comes to policies, and the value of cross-collaboration amongst stakeholders and ecosystem players.

2. Hosting satellite events that allow for real-time problem-solving and actionable outcomes

Due to the captivating main stage lineup at the I-Nation Global Summit 2024, we could only attend one satellite event, the NTIS Global Sandbox Forum. Yet, even this brief experience showcased how MRANTI’s events facilitate real-time problem solving.

To illustrate, Raphael von Thiessen noted the regulation concerns encountered by the Swiss Innovation Sandbox for Artificial Intelligence (AI), which is a test environment for the implementation of AI projects. For example, autonomous tractors for agriculture would occasionally need to cross public roads, where they’re classified as self-driving vehicles but don’t meet the requirements to be on public roads. 

This raised the issue of how policies must evolve alongside innovation. In Raphael’s case, they took an active approach to meeting with local legislatures and requested revisions in traffic laws to accommodate such use cases. 

Moderator Hazami Habib shared that as a think tank, Akademi Sains Malaysia has come up with various solutions locally too. “We do everything that is unthinkable but the government is not ready, so what we need is an agile government.”

A case study she cited was Japan and its gradual adaptation of autonomous vehicles on highways. With such encouragement from the authorities, the nation is moving towards a future where driverless cars might rule the streets.

While we didn’t manage to attend the other satellite events, they each play a role in bridging the gap between innovation and implementation:

3. Advancing innovations that address universal challenges faced by the international community

Rebranded in 2021, MRANTI was established to drive idea generation and impact through the invention, development, and commercialisation of technology and innovation.

Hence, it has many initiatives in place to facilitate Malaysian businesses and innovators in this endeavour. This includes bootcamps, IP services, research prototyping, as well as a slew of in-house programmes like its Supercharger Series.

Some of the graduates under MRANTI’s initiatives have been successful in creating innovative technology that addresses universal challenges. From healthcare access to sustainable agriculture, local startups are contributing valuable solutions to the international community.

For example, Qmed Asia is a healthcare tech startup that graduated from the Supercharger Series and was named one of the top tech startups at the HK Tech 300 SEA Start-up Competition. Initially a digital solution to long queues, Qmed Asia has moved towards patient care with innovations like the Qmed AI Vision, an AI-powered tool designed for interpreting radiological images.

HEXA IoT, who was part of the MRANTI Global Accelerator Programme (GAP), was also present at the summit and showcased their agritech device called Project A3. It helps boost harvests by tracking crop performance with a 5G remote-steered all-terrain vehicle with AI vision.

Bigger and bolder ambitions in the works

MRANTI Park takes these efforts a step further. The space allows local talent and international investors to come together and turn ideas into real-world solutions with global impact.

Going forward, its CEO announced at the summit that MRANTI will establish artificial intelligence (AI) labs with partners in the UK with a Hub and Spoke lab configuration between the UK, India, and MRANTI. 

In a commitment to ensure that critical conversations like those at the summit lead to meaningful progress, Datuk Wira Dr. Rais stated, “We will compile and continue to monitor the discussion points to ensure actions are taken, especially in the areas of agriculture and healthcare—two critical sectors for our future generations.”

The team will also deliver regular updates on the progress of key initiatives discussed during this summit and future ones. This is to ensure that impactful actionables come out of their events. 

All of these efforts play into MRANTI’s bigger goal of supporting the growth of more innovations that meet the needs of international markets, and come 2025, we can expect greater things from the organisation.

Featured Image Credit: MRANTI