Big Data in Malaysia politics

Big Data technology is booming across the globe and it is not an exception in Malaysia. According to Malaysia Digital Economy Corp Sdn Bhd (MDEC), the powers of Big Data include assessing problems and producing solutions.

Besides, it can also be used for political campaigns, which is why Malaysian politician Rafizi Ramli became the top influencer of Big Data for the past quarter.

The PKR vice-president implements big data analytics into Invoke, which produced analysis by profiling voters from basic details like age, gender and religion, which was used for GE-14 electoral campaign.

It’s been over 10 months since Pakatan Harapan (PH) won the general election, and the top influencer of Big Data in the past month switched to Datuk Seri Mustafar Ali, who is the CEO of the newly-formed National Anti-Financial Crime Centre’s (NAFCC).

Mustafar was quoted by MalayMail as looking for a “new dimension of collaboration and co-operation” among government agencies through the utilization of Big Data, as it will help in upholding the law against financial crimes.

Not only did Mustafar climb the chart, Rafizi has now disappeared from the list. Besides, Home Affairs Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin and Education Minister Dr. Maszlee Malik also talked on Big Data for the past month.

Muhyiddin addressed his connection with Cambridge Analytica, a Big Data outfit, which was reported to be involved in electoral campaign during GE-13.

Back in 2013, Cambridge Analytica allegedly profiled the voters for Barisan Nasional (BN) by obtaining the data illegally, though Muhyiddin has denied having any knowledge of the activity.

On the other hand, Maszlee is looking for a way to use big data-based system and artificial intelligence to enhance Malaysia’s tertiary education.

It seems like the power of Big Data has received less attention in politics as compared to education and business sectors.