MCMC implements light touch regulation on cloud services

PUTRAJAYA: The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) will implement light touch regulation on cloud services in Malaysia from Jan 1 next year.

Communications and Multimedia Minister Tan Sri Annuar Musa said in a statement today that the decision was taken after the MCMC considered the views of local and foreign industries who were concerned about the regulatory impact on investment in the cloud service sector, including operating costs.

Annuar said the light touch regulation would be implemented through cloud service licensing under the Application Service Provider Class ['ASP (C)'] licence which was liberalised in 2012 allowing foreign shareholding of up to 100 per cent with a registration fee of RM2,500 a year only.

He said through the light touch regulation, MCMC would have the opportunity to work with service providers to produce regulatory instruments such as technical codes as well as standard operating procedures (SOPs) on data security and protection based on international benchmarks.

"Adherence to these jointly developed instruments is important to ensure the stability and uniformity of cloud services to create a trusted and secure environment," he said.

Annuar said it was important for cloud services to be regulated to ensure data security, data privacy, data protection and user data flow.

The government is implementing a cloud first policy strategy which will increase the use of cloud services in line with the launch of the Malaysia Digital Economy Blueprint (MyDIGITAL).

MyDIGITAL, launched on Feb 19, is expected to create 500,000 jobs in the digital economy and will contribute 22.6 per cent to the country's gross domestic product (GDP).

-- BERNAMA