MEET OUR SPEAKERS

A visionary and accomplished Managing Director with an illustrious career spanning more than twenty years, excelling in international management within a European multinational company in the medical industry across Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and Oceania. A trailblazing leader with a remarkable track record of spearheading innovative projects, extending well beyond healthcare, into the realms of sustainability and climate action, and smart city development. Renowned for an unwavering dedication to cultivating strategic alliances among industry titans from Spain, Malaysia, and various other nations. Distinguished by an exceptional aptitude for steering and actively contributing to the advancement of smart city initiatives, ushering in a new era of urban innovation and progress.

Suresh has over 25 years of experience spanning senior leadership, operations and strategy across Asia with experience in the telecoms sector that spans the migration of 2G to 5G. Suresh was previously the CEO of edotco Group and spearheaded the transformation and growth of one of the fastest growing TowerCos in Asia. He has held senior roles at Sime Darby, the Boston Consulting Group, Maxis Communications and the Axiata Group.

He is currently one of the Founders and the Chief Executive Officer of EdgePoint, a telecommunications infrastructure company focused on building and leasing sharable and modern telecom structures as well as providing solutions such as small cells and in-building systems. EdgePoint is backed by DigitalBridge a leading investor, owner and operator enabling the next generation of mobile and internet connectivity through investments around the globe.A

Hong Eng started his career with the Singapore Police Force (SPF), and served the nation through

various roles in investigation, crime prevention, public affairs, operations, training and technologies.

He subsequently took an active role in the early years of the Singapore Government’s

computerisation initiatives, including the international award-winning Public Services Online, the first-

generation e-government project of Singapore. Thereafter, he spent 16 years in Sun Microsystems

and Oracle (which acquired Sun), on various regional and global leadership roles in the government,

education and healthcare segments.

In 2016, Huawei hired Hong Eng to setup the industry experts’ office for its fast-growing public sector

business globally. This team engages top public sector agencies globally to help with their digital

transformation efforts and strategic ICT design. Hong Eng is a well sought-after speaker and

workshop facilitator globally. He is also a member of the Singapore National Transplant Ethics Panel,

and a member of the National University Health System’s Bioethics Committee.

Hong Eng graduated from the National University of Singapore with an Honours Degree in

Mathematics. He obtained his MBA with Distinction from the University of Leeds (UK) and a

Specialist Diploma in eCommerce from the Nanyang Polytechnic (Singapore). He also completed an

executive program with the MIT on Artificial Intelligence.

Fabian Bigar assumed the role of CEO at MyDIGITAL Corporation 19 April 2021 overseeing the implementation of the Malaysia Digital Economy Blueprint (MDEB) and the National Fourth Industrial Revolution Policy. MyDIGITAL Corporation is the secretariat for the National Digital Economy and 4IR Council (MED4IRN), chaired by the Prime Minister. Concurrently Fabian is the Head of the Malaysia Centre for 4IR, a collaboration between the Malaysian government and the World Economic Forum. His previous roles include Undersecretary for Policy, Ministry of Health, Director Civil Service Delivery Unit in the Prime Minister's Department, Director Performance Management and Delivery Unit (PEMANDU) and a brief assignment with the Presidential Delivery Bureau in Tanzania. Fabian holds a BSc. from Case Western Reserve University and a Masters in Public Policy from the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies in Tokyo.

Encik Sudarnoto Osman earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of Tohoku, Japan in Electronic Engineering. After graduating he started his career with Matsushita Air-Conditioning R&D Sdn. Bhd (Electrical and Electronics Development) in 1993

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His mobility career started in 1994 with Celcom Malaysia Sdn. Bhd. whereby he was instrumental in expanding Celcom network and initiated the 2G network rollout throughout Sarawak. He left Celcom Malaysia Sdn. Bhd in September 2000 to join Maxis Mobile Sdn. Bhd. and he embarked on Maxis network rollout in East Malaysia. He left as Regional Network Head at Maxis Broadband Sdn. Bhd. in March 2013.

He continued his career by venturing into telecommunication infrastructure business when he was appointed as Chief Executive Officer at SACOFA Sdn. Bhd. (“SACOFA”) in April 2013. During his tenure at SACOFA, he expanded SACOFA’s business and network beyond Malaysia. He was also appointed in various capacity in other organisations such as PT SACOFA Indonesia, PT BINA Indonesia, DSTA Sdn. Bhd., Malaysian Access Forum Bhd., Persatuan Infrastruktur Telekomunikasi Malaysia, and Konsortium Rangkaian Serantau

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He was later appointed by the Sarawak Government to spearhead Sarawak digitalisation initiatives as Chief Executive Officer of Sarawak Digital Economy Corporation Berhad on 15th May 2020.

DATUK AHMAD ZAKI BIN ZAHID

Datuk Ahmad Zaki serves as the Chief Strategy Officer of Digital Nasional Berhad (DNB).

Datuk Ahmad Zaki has more than 25 years’ experience in Government policy and strategy, executive leadership, entrepreneurship, and regulatory work. In the Government, he has served at the Prime Minister’s Department, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Youth and Sports, Securities Commission and National Institutes of Biotechnology Malaysia. He has also held leadership roles in Government-Linked Companies, as well as public listed and private entities.

Datuk Ahmad Zaki holds a law degree from the University of Bristol, United Kingdom and a Certificate in Legal Practice from the Malaysian Bar.

Muhundhan comes with over 20 years of experience in key leadership roles that spans the domains of digital transformation, entrepreneurship, education, healthcare, technology management and organisational capability development. He is a trained Project Management Professional, Information Security Lead Auditor (ISO27001) and Certified Professional Marketer (Asia Pacific). At present he is the Chief Digital Officer at MRANTI (Malaysian Research Accelerator for Technology and Innovation), a government agency mandated to accelerate national R&D commercialisation. He leads a team providing technology business services such as software engineering, human centered design, data analytics and systems and network including 5G, as part of a suite of innovative solutions for MRANTI and its park’s digital evolution. In his previous capacities within the industry and a government agency, Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC), Muhundhan was involved in leading business digital adoption initiatives, spearheading growth of the Malaysian digital economy landscape as well as helping enterprises embrace digital transformation and innovation. His preceding tasks include consulting and advisory roles to the Malaysian government in national policy development for National 4IR policy, MyDigital blueprint, Malaysia Plan and Industry4WD.

Pedro heads the Solutions portfolio and business development at Celcomdigi Enterprise Business Unit. He has close to 30 years experience in telecom and ICT companies across Europe, Africa, Middle East and Asia, heading sales, marketing, product, and managing mobile, fixed, Cloud, IoT, Data analytics and Cybersecurity portfolios.

He has led business turnarounds in both B2B and B2C divisions and has established both Enterprise Business Units, and ICT companies, across several markets/OpCos.

Prior to Celcomdigi, Pedro has worked in Vodafone Portugal, Oni Portugal, Spain and West Africa and Zain telecom across 8 Middle Eastern Markets.

He has an International MBA from Catolica | Nova | MIT, and a management degree, with executive management courses at London Business School.

After more than a decade in broadcast television with TV3 Malaysia and CNBC, Keith dived into the intersections of technology, gaming and consumer tech services, in marketing and business development roles with multinationals, SMEs and start-ups. He is the Chief Marketing Officer and Head of Publishing for games company GCL Global and an international news presenter for CNA.

A Why-based" & Purpose driven entrepreneur, coach, mentor & human who stands for Freedom, Happiness & Oneness.

Currently serving as the CEO and Co-Founder of W3GG, Irene Umar started her career as a global international banker that gave her the opportunity to work and live in MENA, India and the SEA. She returned to Indonesia in 2016 and started the first game-focused venture capital in the region when esports was still at its infancy.

She fell in love with the game industry and has become an advocate for the industry since then. She strongly believes that gaming is the birthright of every human - which many of us forgot as we grew up.

Blockchain gaming is the next phase or extension to the gaming industry and she believes that it could unlock the real value of traditional gaming digital economy and help remind many the importance of “play” in life. In addition, she is also excited looking at the current “level-playing” field blockchain industry has to offer. Through W3GG, she aims to centralize as much opportunities as possible for knowledge transfer, self growth and “jobs” within the industry to prepare the community for a decentralized economy and future of works! Centralize to Decentralize!

Matthew Tan is the CEO and Founder of Etherscan, the leading and most used blockchain explorers for the Web3 ecosystem

Mahadhir Aziz is a prominent veteran of visionary and strategic national initiatives. He is a strong advocate for digital transformation and social digital inclusion and often shares his insights and thoughts on digital economy at various speaking engagements and events including the Smart City Expo World Congress, UN Habitat World Urban Forum and Mobile World Congress.

He spent the past 20 years developing and leading strategies and initiatives such as the Cyberjaya Global Tech Hub, the National Regulatory Sandbox (which later gave birth to the NTIS of today), and the Malaysia Digital (MD)national initiative that succeeds the Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC)Malaysia – giving it a refresh in many critical areas. Mahadhir also serves as a member of the board of Malaysia Board of Technologists (MBOT), Johor Land Group (JLG) including state digital economy councils.

Mahadhir is currently the Chief Executive Officer of Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC), a keynote speaker, and someone who enjoys sports.

Ruslan bin Abdul Ghani was appointed as the Group Chief Executive Officer Designate of Bintulu Port Holdings Berhad (BPHB), effective from 1 September 2022, and subsequently as the Group Chief Executive Officer of BPHB on a contract basis, effective from 1 March 2023, until 28 February 2026.

Zakaria Polit is the Head of Technology Services for Sarawak Digital Economy Corporation since 2021 and has been in the IT industry for almost 20 years.

Chloe is an environmental scientist by training, with years of experience as an urban data analyst dedicated to aiding stakeholders make data-driven decisions. After receiving her degree in Environmental Science from the University of Manchester, Chloe practised as an environmental consultant before joining UrbanMetry as a data analyst.

UrbanMetry harvests, cleans and analyses large amounts of city data through artificial intelligence and proprietary algorithms to extract trends and patterns in the built environment. Their work involves extracting actionable insights from large datasets to assist urban planners, financial institutions and other urban stakeholders to make informed decisions.

Currently, Chloe is also the product manager for UrbanVault, a mortgage application platform which empowers homeowners-to-be to take control of the home-buying process.

More than 20 years experience in the telecommunication industry, holding various leadership positions in different Malaysian telcos.

Currently overseeing the strategy and transformation of Enterprise Business in Celcomdigi.

Graduated with a Masters in Engineering from Ecole Superieure d'Electricity, a French engineering school.

Hazwan is the General Manager for Innovation & Entrepreneurship at Sarawak Digital Economy Corporation, where his team focuses on building a robust ecosystem that supports local start-ups and entrepreneurs, and providing digital empowerment opportunities in all corners of the state. He also leads several Sarawak STEM initiatives, as well as a founding committee member of the Malaysian Business Angel Network, Sarawak Chapter. He started his career in upstream oil & gas operations with PETRONAS, before expanding his skillsets working at a unicorn tech startup, and starting an education-focused social enterprise. As a member of the International Development Design Network (IDIN), he has carried out short-term development design projects globally. He was educated at Melbourne and Oxford in engineering, and loves all things tech.

Passionate Engineer, accidental finance expert.

14 years in leadership & transformational roles at GE. Commercial Director for GE Oil & Gas. Led global change management, restructuring & digitalization efforts for various GE businesses.

Jit Nee is a corporate innovation strategist driving Maxis’ strategic innovation agenda to create value and competitive advantage in new areas of business. She is experienced in innovation culture building, venture-building and co-creation, leveraging collaborations with the Malaysian Innovation ecosystem including startups, government agencies, investing bodies and other corporates, and translating these efforts into solving real-world business problems within Maxis.

Jit Nee is also passionate about helping other corporates and startups navigate the challenges of working together to find synergies and create shared value. Her candid insights on this topic will give both corporates and startups a no holds barred view on corporate innovation and venturing.

Hello, I'm Jacob, and my journey from aerospace engineering in Germany to the heart of Sarawak reflects my passion for startups and their potential to solve the nation’s problems. I'm a lifelong entrepreneur with a commitment to building impactful startups that contribute to a better world.

Currently, I have the privilege of working alongside the dedicated team at TEGAS, where we're fostering innovation and entrepreneurship. My enthusiasm extends beyond startups; I'm also deeply passionate about game development as a medium for creativity and problem-solving.

In addition to my professional pursuits, I host a podcast where I engage with fellow entrepreneurs and thought leaders, sharing their stories and insights. Through these conversations, I aim to humbly contribute to the global dialogue on innovation and inspire others to take action