Strengthening connectivity – including digital innovation – among Southeast Asian nations is embedded in the Asean Connectivity Strategic Plan.
The plan is one of six key documents that form the Asean 2045: Our Shared Future roadmap.
The other documents are the Kuala Lumpur Declaration on Asean 2045: Our Shared Future, the Asean Community Vision 2045, the Asean Political-Security Community Strategic Plan, the Asean Economic Community Strategic Plan 2026-2030, and the Asean Socio-Cultural Community Strategic Plan.
According to the Asean Connectivity Strategic Plan, the strategic goal for digital innovation is to achieve “a community with continuous digital innovation and enhanced cybersecurity, advancing payments and financial markets’ connectivity and efficient cross-border flow of information.”
As stated in the plan: “Asean’s digital economy is growing rapidly and to unlock the region’s digital economic potential and promote digital inclusion, adopting and integrating frontier technologies – such as the Internet of Things (IoT), artificial intelligence (AI) and big data – is essential.”
“While technologies and solutions offer significant benefits, their implementation poses challenges including the widening digital divide and increasing online safety and cybersecurity concerns, which will need to be addressed through advancing digital innovation, cross-border data flows, and promoting safe, inclusive access to and adoption of digital technologies and services.”
To achieve these goals, several strategic measures have been identified. They include:
- Promoting digital data governance to support inclusive and sustainable socio-economic development across Asean.
- Promoting the development and accessibility of open data.
- Supporting the adoption of existing and emerging technologies by all people and businesses, with a focus on micro, small and medium enterprises, women, youth, and persons with disabilities to enhance competitiveness and productivity.
- Advancing seamless regional payments connectivity.
- Enhancing collaborative research and development of digital technology, including nurturing innovation and addressing digital divides.
- Strengthening cooperation on cybersecurity to protect digital ecosystems, enhance online safety, and combat online scams.
- Enhancing information inclusiveness and accessibility, and strengthening collaboration in digital media and information literacy to foster digital literacy among Asean citizens and address fake news, disinformation and misinformation.
- Strengthening and nurturing digital talent mobility within Asean.
Prior to the ongoing Asean Summit in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysian Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said Malaysia – as Asean Chair this year – would continue supporting the development of digitalisation and AI across Southeast Asia.
He added that Malaysia’s digital push was not only for domestic growth, but also aimed at building a strong, integrated regional ecosystem that benefits all Asean member states.
