Putting the ‘gov’ in govtech is no mean feat

Sign up for the Daily Newsletter, sent exclusively to our premium subscribers. We break down the big and messy topics of Asia’s tech and startup community. Get the newsletter in your inbox everyday with a premium subscription.

Hello reader,

Have you ever been sailing?

From the ages of about 13 to 15, my younger brother and I spent most Sundays with my dad and uncle, learning how to maneuver a dinghy in Larne Lough. It wasn’t plain sailing (I’ll get my coat), but it was mostly fun and we learned a few things.

Our first lesson was figuring out how to turn the dinghy the right way up after capsizing, in case this ever happened to us at sea. Being dumped into the freezing cold water made that one stick for sure.

I also distinctly remember being taught about right of way in the harbor. As my uncle told it, the least maneuverable vessel always has right of way, so almost any boat with an engine had to get out of our way.

The one exception is giant ferries or cargo ships, which are so hard to turn that everyone else has to avoid them.

Governments are much like these large ships – unwieldy and difficult to turn. Perhaps that’s why Malaysia’s efforts to modernize its government using tech are proving so challenging.

Today we look at:

• The bumpy road ahead for govtech in Malaysia
• Elon Musk’s Starlink having to find a local partner to enter Indonesia
• Other newsy highlights such as the US$6 million round of a firm trying to bring fintech to rural Vietnam, and the Singapore expansion plan of Indonesia’s Fore Coffee.

Premium summary

Govtech gridlock

Image credit: Timmy Loen

In recent years, Malaysia has been pushing tech-enabled public sector modernization, or govtech for short, with mixed results.

While there has been some progress in open data and bringing data centers to the country, policy hurdles and political instability have held such efforts back.

Star turn

In pursuit of a sustainable and equitable future

Quick bytes