AMSTERDAM, May 28 (Bernama) - Malaysia's government transformation programme as well as its New Economic Model are being shared with the rest of the world at the just-concluded World Congress on Information Technology (WCIT2010).

In his keynote address on "Transformation of A Nation" on Wednesday, Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation Datuk Seri Dr Maximus Ongkili spoke on the key role that innovation was playing in the development of Malaysia.

"Innovation and creativity are the way forward towards Malaysia becoming a high income economy from its current middle income status," he said.

The minister said the country needed a major push but it was ready to move into the innovation field as plans have been laid out for the sectors concerned.

They include the National Innovation Model (NIM) developed by his Ministry which calls for both technology-driven and market-driven innovation.

Technology-driven innovation initiatives include boosting basic science research, technology development and commercialization via the provision of incentives such as research and technology grants, as well as multi-stage funding.

The market-driven innovation, meanwhile, focuses on identifying market niches and putting in place the necessary incentives and programmes to enable Malaysia to tap into those specific markets.

In his address, the Minister also announced that Malaysia would be holding the Kuala Lumpur Innovation Forum from Oct 25-26, of which the highlight would be a Ministerial Dialogue on Innovation Policies.

The event features innovation thought leaders and captains of industry from Malaysia and around the world.

Dr Maximus was leading a 20-member Malaysian delegation to WCIT 2010 which includes top officials from MOSTI, the Malaysian Embassy in The Netherlands, MDeC, MATRADE, MIDA, MIMOS and Cybersecurity Malaysia.

The Malaysian delegation has been involved in government-to-government discussions and business meetings with key European companies to promote MSC Malaysia and enhance the potential for new foreign investments in the national ICT initiative at WCIT 2010.

MDeC officials have also held discussions with European Commission representatives of its Digital Agenda.