Game-Changer: Social Entrepreneurship And Digitalisation
Hello! Welcome to all new and existing subscribers. Head’s Up is back again with another coverage of AM Rainforum’s series on social enterprises with inputs from authorities and founders in the field.
This week, the forum had Surina Shukri, CEO of MDEC, Wan Dazriq Wan Zulkiflee, Group MD of NeoUprise & Chief Executive of Social Enterprise Academy Malaysia, Rashvin Pal Singh, Group CEO of Biji-Biji Initiative & Me.reka along with Amiruddin Abdul Shukor, Acting CEO of MaGIC.
The panel was moderated by Kamarul Bahrin Haron with a special appearance by Gideon Langub Pasen.
Present during the fifth discussion of AM Rainforum’s Game-Changer: Social Entrepreneurship And Digitalisation, Group Chief Executive Officer of Biji-Biji Initiative and Me.reka, Rashvin Pal Singh said social enterprises wear many hats to solve issues and gaps in the society but still face the challenge of limited access to funds to do so.
“We live in a time where people are aware of issues that are plaguing the society and government agencies can use this opportunity to tap into roles played by social enterprises,” he said.
“Social enterprises have been around for 10 years in Malaysia and the awareness and appreciation for them have definitely gone up particularly during the pandemic,” Rashvin added, highlighting the need for better access to the government.
Last year during the Covid-19 pandemic, Biji-Biji Initiative and Me.reka collaborated with a community of partners to initiate a Covid-19 relief effort, the Social Textiles movement.
The movement then became a collective of social impact organisations utilising a decentralised production platform to tackle the increasing demand of PPE scrub sets during the fight against Covid-19.
Phase 1 of this initiative saw success in distributing over 24,670 face shields, 1505 aerochambers, and 58 patient isolation boxes to 75 frontline organisations across Malaysia.
Fellow panelist, Chief Executive Officer of Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC), Surina Shukri said there is a need for more social enterprises than ever, especially when there is a whole movement ESG and more investors are demanding for social impact efforts from companies.
“At MDEC, I think of us as a social impact enterprise. We are helping people and societies. I even think of other government agencies as social enterprises as well,” she pointed out.
Surina further highlights that more and more corporates are also realising the role they play towards society as many divert their CSR efforts into social impact.
While she acknowledged that hiccups are part of plan executions by agencies to increase digital literacy, Surina also believes that there is more urgency now than ever.
Connectivity rollout for instance she says, despite having seen some slow down during its execution has come back on track.
Wan Dazriq Wan Zulkiflee, Group Managing Director of NeoUprise and Chief Executive of Social Enterprise Academy Malaysia on the other hand said the country is still lagging in terms of digital inclusion.
Despite having the talent needed, infrastructure has yet to keep up he says. One example he shared is the concept of crowdfunding that remains alien to many MSMEs in the country.
This is despite the country’s economy being supported by over 85 percent of MSMEs.
“Relearning is one way to go and to do that we need to infuse digital into our delivery methods. Rather than wait for the execution to come from the top, we need to go from ground up,” he said.
“People need to know that just through their phones, they can amplify and relay their stories to the world.”
Fellow panelist, Amiruddin Abdul Shukor, Acting Chief Executive Officer of Malaysian Global Innovation & Creativity Centre (MaGIC) said more social enterprise needs to be able to use technology and at the same time show investors that they can use the same technology to survive capital market issues.
He further shared that while MaGIC has its mandate to help social enterprises in the country, they are also urging the private sector to play an equally important role to help the ecosystem, evidently done through matching grants.
To date, the Government has exhausted RM3.5 million out of the allocated RM10 million.
Rashvin has also urged social entrepreneurs to be more bold in their thinking and innovative in order to be able to make systemic change. He has also urged for better access to the Government so more Ministries can be open to the roles social enterprises play for the betterment of communities.
“There are no shortage of money in the global market. We just need to create the right model that works,” he says.
Surina who shared a similar sentiment says entrepreneurship is all about being bold and that is what makes social entrepreneurship all that more important for the country and the time we are in.
ANNOUNCEMENT
Selangor Maritime Gateway (SMG) together with Malaysian Global Innovation & Creative Centre (MaGIC) has launched the Innovation Challenge: Upcycling River Waste to Wealth initiative.
They are calling on Malaysia’s startups, social enterprises ad social innovators to develop technology to convert river waste into functional sustainable product with commercial value.
Learn more about this challenge and apply to participate at: https://www.selangormaritimegateway.com/innovation-challenge-2/
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