Month: December 2021

By Thulasyammal Ramiah Pillai

Senior Lecturer, Taylor’s University

Products, businesses, healthcare, automobiles, education, the environment, and many more other areas exploit the data to shape their future. Data literacy is the mother of necessity in the future as the world has progressively achieved digital literacy.

Apple’s sleep tracking application of the Apple watch and the smart cars with various sensors tracking user behaviour utilising the generated data. Business analytics uses the data to make decisions for companies.

Patient care data can be utilised to offer patients with wholesome care, share information to improve patient health and assist in diagnosis.

The automobile manufacturers must have a robust supply chain of the components of the cars. Furthermore, this industry manufactures data-driven smart cars, and their predictive analysis facilitates the automotive industry to ensure better maintenance of the vehicle.

Educational data implements the educational process, producing outputs that include student progress, success, achievement, and personalised guidance.

Meanwhile, environmental data has been an important tool in combating climate change. The customer financial and preferential data enable the businesses to market their products and services to the targeted customers.

These are the factors highlighting that the world is moving fast towards a data driven world.

Facets of Data

These different sets of data had been described as big data, fast data, and actionable data.

Big data contains greater variety, volumes, velocity, intrinsic value, and veracity. Fast data promotes real-time interactions.

International Data Corporation (IDC) predicts that 30% of the global data will be real-time by 2025. Actionable data bridges the gap between big data and business value. This data can be processed and analysed to extract meaningful insights. There are various tools to process and analyse these data.

Tools and Skills

1.      Data Pre-processing Tools

Data fabric is the data integration and management solution. Its components are unified architecture, and software that allows consumers to integrate data from multiple sources which facilitates seamless access and data sharing from a distributed network.

Augmented data management utilises AI to automatically regulate metadata, data quality, database administration and data consolidation. This helps the workers to be more productive, reduce manual tasks and reduce human error in the workplace.

2.      Analytics Tools

Descriptive Analytics describes the data using numerical measures, tables and graphs using various data visualisation techniques.

Predictive analytics predicts future events using historical data, statistical and mathematical modelling, data mining methods and machine learning algorithms.

Prescriptive analytics analyses data and offers recommendations on how to optimise business practices to match the predicted outcomes.

X analytics trains and tests any type of analytics on structured and unstructured data, no matter where or in what format that data resides (Gartner).

Augmented analytics provides instant AI-powered insights by using natural language processing, and machine learning algorithms to produce data-driven solutions.

3.      Intelligence Tools

Continuous Intelligent channels real-time analytics into business operations, processing data, analysing incoming data against historical data, and offering innovative ideas instantaneously.

Business Intelligence makes data-driven decisions, using business analytics, visualisation, and infrastructure to optimize the performance of a business.

Explainable AI visualizes a model and explains the advantages, disadvantages and how it performs in a situation. Explainable AI builds the trust of the consumers.

Digitization and Digitalization

Digitization and digitalization have been accelerated by the pandemic in the data driven world.

Digitization is the process of changing analogue processes into digital form. Digitalization uses technology to innovate and reinvent the products and services.

The “Digital Transformation” uses the technology to enhance and restructure the business framework. Gartner projects that, by the end of 2024, 75% of organisations will fizzle out from pilot programs and will bring about full-fledged big data strategies.

This paradigm shift will increase the streaming data and analytics facilities at the rate of 500%.

Hence, MDEC has been assisting the companies in Malaysia with their digital transformation plans via eRezeki, Global Online Workforce, Go eCommerce and Malaysia Digital Hub.

Skills Needed

The top 3 scarcest skills needed for the “Digital Transformation” are data analytics, security, and AI. Hence, Taylors’ University has been producing graduates with these skills to support the MDEC initiatives.

Taylors’ University undergraduate and postgraduate students had designed and developed various AI products. The postgraduate students had developed predictive models to quantify the health impact of Malaysian citizen due to air pollution in collaboration with Ministry of Health Malaysia (MoH).

The undergraduate students had developed various applications for the industry via their final year project namely Facial Recognition Hotel Check in Application, Online assessment in educational System, Pocket-Money tracking Application, Teaching Statistics through Gaming and many more.

The undergraduate students also do their data science and data analytics projects in their Statistics and Data Science Principles modules.

Every organization is packed with data that should be exploited intelligently to stay competitive in the market. Data holds the golden key of the future for the sustainable development of any organisation.

Author’s Profile

A 27-year experienced lecturer, fully committed as an academic professional who has deeply moved oneself in lecturing and tutoring students from various social and cultural backgrounds at higher institutions.

She is specialised in Applied Statistics. She has acquired a deep understanding in Data Analytics and Machine Learning.

Currently she is experimenting the application of gamification in the teaching and learning of Mathematics and Statistics.

She is involved in a multi-disciplinary research group in the field of Data Analytics, Big Data, IoT, AI, Health, Environment, Transportation, Travel Behaviour, Smart Sustainable Cities and Business.

After China, US, Japan and South Korea, Germany is the world’s fifth largest gaming market. The country’s gaming industry was reported to generate roughly USD 6 billion in revenue for year 2020, with 34 million players daily. In Germany, there are 651 gaming studios and publishers, as well as 128 colleges with game-related courses.
Observation/Opportunity

The annual Gamescom in Cologne is the world’s largest video gaming expo in terms of attendance. Computer and video games are played by more than half of Germans. Between the ages of 6 and 69, 58% of the population uses a console, PC, or smartphone to immerse themselves in the digital world. Additionally, 5% more people in Germany began playing computer and video games in 2020.

COVID-19 had led to people staying at home and playing video games instead of going out. In 2020, the value of video games was reported to increase by 21%. The number of Virtual Reality (VR) headsets available continues to grow, with higher price points and better-quality entry-level devices. With a 13% value share in 2020, Nintendo of Europe GmbH continues in the lead. In 2024, the market for video games is predicted to grow to EUR4.7 billion.

In Germany, video games were expected to expand by double digit in value in 2021, mainly due to growth in console games (digital), mobile games and internet games, as well as AR/VR headsets. While the increased demand for online and mobile games can be attributed to the extra time spent at home as a result of the epidemic, it is also
attributed to the growing trend of consumers willing to spend on games.

The Way Forward

The German games industry is mainly concentrated in the country’s major cities, with Hamburg and Berlin emerging as hotspots in recent years. Munich, Frankfurt, Cologne and Düsseldorf where most game creators and publishers are headquartered, are other economic centres for the games industry.

Sales of static consoles recorded an upward trend towards the end of 2020, contributed by new console releases from Sony and Microsoft, as well as increasing consumer demand over the holiday season. However, value sales were down due to temporary supply problems, but are expected to catch up in 2021.

When it comes to video game software, there is a trend in Germany to buy digital games. Video game software (physical) retained a considerable portion of the industry in 2020, but sales were significantly impacted by the pandemic because of store closures and consumers opting for digital forms.

For further information and enquiries, please contact MATRADE Frankfurt at [email protected].

Note 1:
This article is based on Market Alert (MA) prepared by MATRADE Frankfurt and the information is
correct at the time of the writing (25 November 2021).

Note 2:
The MA is available in MyExport which can be accessed at www.matrade.gov.my

Disclaimer
While every effort has been taken to ensure that the contents of the article (MATRADE’s Insight) are accurate and current, MATRADE cannot be held responsible for any inclusion, omission or error and is not liable for any loss or dispute arising from the use of the information provided.

By Associate Professor Dr. Melissa Teoh Teng Tenk & Associate Professor Dr. Angeline Yap Kiew Heong

HELP University

FinTech is derived from the words “Finance” and “Technology”. With innovation and advancement in technology, the incorporation of technology in financial products and services help to improve efficiency and productivity when servicing the clients.

FinTech is also inclusive of mobile payment apps, online banking services and cryptocurrency backed by the Blockchain technology among others.

Digital payment and financial services have recently become increasingly popular during the current COVID-19 pandemic as cashless sales and purchases are promoted to cut down the risk of virus infection.

Presently, the most used cashless payment methods are credit/debit cards, internet banking, while eWallet emerges to become a new trend of mobile payment resulting from the pandemic.

Compared to traditional payment methods, the contactless nature of electronic payment methods enables customers to maintain social distancing and prevent both direct and indirect contacts from the cash transaction process.

This aspect enables customers to formulate their opinions based on the perceived physical and mental advantages of personal security and offers practicality and convenience when employing electronic payment technology as an alternative approach for financial transactions during the pandemic.

Consequently, online purchase of perishable and non-perishable goods, online food ordering, banking transactions become a norm among consumers.

This change has impacted our present daily lives, therefore FinTech is a highly needed and effective approach during this physically isolating period, and given that, its demand is escalating in Malaysia.

In view of this growing trend, the authors and students at HELP University conducted a survey in June 2021 to examine the factors that influence the adoption behaviours of FinTech services among the Malaysian households.

The survey looks at the influence of perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness, social influence, perceived enjoyment, security concern, and personal innovativeness on the intention to adopt FinTech

Intention to adopt is defined as the inclination to engage with an object based on an individual’s acceptance and understanding of the new­ object. The intention to adopt technologies is influenced by numerous factors.

Data showed that as high as 90.9 percent of the survey respondents strongly agreed or agreed to continue using the FinTech services.

Perceived ease of use is identified as how trouble-free and easy a new technology would be to acquire and operate for a new user.

More than 50 percent of the respondents agreed that the FinTech services are straight forward, clear, and understandable.

Perceived usefulness is the belief towards the advancement of their job using technology. The results showed that more than 50 percent of the respondents found FinTech useful and allowed them to accomplish their financial tasks quicker.

Social influence describes the degree of individuals’ FinTech behavioural intention is influenced by social groups, their peers and group’s culture. This experience is especially significant when they face unfamiliar technology.

Results showed that more than 50 percent of the respondents found that their adoption of FinTech is influenced by peers and family around them, while 25.2 percent to 35.8 percent of the respondents were neutral to the social influences.

Perceived enjoyment is a subjective psychological pleasure stemming from the use of new technology. Perceived enjoyment knowingly affects user satisfaction and acts as a motivator which influences an individual’s acceptance of information technology that notably drives user satisfaction.

More than 50 percent of the respondents agreed that their experience of FinTech adoption is pleasant. Between 22.7 percent to 28.8 percent of the respondents were neutral about the enjoyment of using FinTech.

Security concerns are about the concern of privacy and security issues when using electronic services, which translate as how safe is the individuals’ private information being exposed to unfriendly parties when using the FinTech services.

Results showed that between 38.5 percent to 59.4 percent of the respondents were alarmed that security issues affect their FinTech adoption, while 37 percent to 42.1 percent of the respondents were neutral about the security safety of using the FinTech services.

Perhaps, the service providers can address this serious concern effectively to protect sensitive information from hackers and to gain confidence from the FinTech users.

In contrast, personal innovativeness has a negligible impact on the technology adoption behaviour.

Personal innovation variable is described as the individual’s willingness to adopt new products taking the uncertainty of the product into account.

It shows that 27 percent of the respondents disagreed that they will be the first to try out FinTech services, and 34.8 percent of the respondents disagreed that they are hesitant to try out new FinTech services.

As a conclusion, Malaysians are open to exploring FinTech, but they may not want to be the first to try it.

It is important for Malaysian financial service providers and financial institutions to continue improving their FinTech related services to meet customer expectations in light of the factors examined.

FinTech plays a vital role in the current global economic growth. The pandemic has changed society and various human practices around the world. Social distancing and containment measures increase the consumers dependency on digital financial service – FinTech.

Cashless transactions are highly favoured during the pandemic especially with restrictions ­set in place to decrease the risks of infection.

Once the habits of dependency on digital services are established, it will be a norm for the adoption of FinTech services and FinTech will continue to remain highly relevant post-pandemic.

Authors’ Profile

• Dr. Yap Kiew Heong is currently attached to the Faculty of Business, Economics and Accounting in HELP University. 
• She has previously associated with TAR UC and UTAR since 1997. Dr Angeline Yap obtained her PhD in Accounting and MBA (Accountancy) from the University of Malaya. 
• She also received research grants from the University of Malaya, and Fundamental Research Grant Scheme from the Malaysian Government. She has completed the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants and is a Certified Accountant of MIA.
• She has presented some research papers at national and international conferences, and published research papers in the areas of cryptocurrency, corporate governance, and accounting with peer-reviewed journals.