INGENIEUR
THE AIM 2010 ACT ALSO ENUMERATES THE
SPECIFIC MANDATE OF THE STATUTORY BODY
• Formulate national policies, strategies and
directions relating to innovation
• Organise, cooperate in and coordinate the
performance of activities with the public
and private sector to stimulate innovation in
Malaysia
• Conduct enquries, surveys and analysis of
data, research and development relating to
innovation and the national innovation ecosystem
• Promote and facilitate investment activities
and initiatives by the public and private sector
in relation to innovation
• Promote the culture of innovation in the public,
private and education sectors in Malaysia
• Advise the Government in matters relating
to innovation, and make recommendations
relating to the innovation component of
existing or future strategic national projects
2. Innovation for and by
society
3. Facilitating industryacademia collaboration
4. Transforming strategic
sectors
5. Innovating organisations
6. Catalysing
commercialisation
On the intellectual front, AIM
started a programme to enhance
thinking skills for primary and
secondary school children. Its
“i-Think”. programme has been
rolled out to 1,000 schools and
is now spreading nationwide. It
is expected to benefit 5.2 million
students and 450,000 teachers
around the country.
Targeting young graduates
and professionals, AIM initiated
Malaysia’s first design thinking
school. Located in Petaling
Jaya, Selangor, the Genovasi
school teaches a unique
discipline called design thinking
to focus on innovation and
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problem solving. Rozario adds
that senior executives can also
attend a three-day programme
at the school. The school will
continue to be open after AIM
winds down. (See accompanying
article)
Another innovation-related
move by AIM was the setting
up of the Steinbeis Malaysia
Foundation, a non - prof it
organisation which acts as a
central coordination unit to
facilitate engagement between
industry players and academia.
It is modelled after the Steinbeis
Foundation located in Stuttgart,
Germany.
Steinbeis has
branches in 50 countries and
is internationally recognised
as a successful catalyst for
knowledge and technology
transfer from universities
and research institutions to
industries and companies.
The Foundation provide s
consult ancy ser vice s for
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identifying industry needs and
facilitating collaboration with
researchers and professors. The
Foundation has vast expertise
in assisting companies in
capability development, export
readiness and IPO readiness
assessment.
Financial
assistance is also provided to
eligible companies.
AIM’s
wholly-owned
subsidiary PlaTCOM Ventures
Sdn. Bhd., in collaboration with
SME Corporation Malaysia,
assists entrepreneurs in the
e n t ire c o mm e r c i ali s a t i o n
process- from Intellectual
Property (IP) services, legal
services, capacity building,
technology scouting to funding.
This company will also continue
once AIM closes.
Under the High Impact
Programme 2 of the SME
Masterplan 2012-2020 of
SME Corp, PlaTCOM Ventures
has admitted 110 Malaysian