unparalleled increase in knowledge in the field of robotics over the decades, universities are not always able to keep up with their curricula. As a result, recent graduates are lacking basic knowledge needed for jobs in service robotics. Another difficulty for SME is having a tough time attracting talent and competing with bigger companies that can offer more in terms of salary, job security, and prestige. Policy perspective Achieving long-termchange policy goals will require a remarkable ramp-up in the collaborative efforts by the stakeholders namely the users, entrepreneurs, government, and financial institutions. Collaborative robot technology is in the early phase of disruption exponential trajectory curve. Even though the technology advances are market driven, there appears to be areas where policy intervention can make a difference. Standardisation of safety rules is crucial to guarantee maximum safety, but it should not be burdensome or overregulated. At this early stage of development, the industry may not yet be willing to accept residual safety risks. This could slow down the uptake of collaborative robotics, especially if dealing with SMEs and first-time adopters of robots. Policy instruments such as mandatory insurance to mitigate risks could possibly be implemented. Industry must be committed to investing in safety and consumer education. The robotics sector is relatively capital intensive. Significant investment is needed in R&D and infrastructure for the creation of a prototype and for establishing the proof of concept. In
most cases, this happens before the companies are anywhere near to making any profits. Return on investment in high- tech takes more time to achieve than in other sectors, as profits need to be re- invested. This means that the capital is locked for a relatively longer time. As a result, most investors are not attracted to this sector. One possibility to support long-term capital investments would be through tax incentives. Making long-term investment more advantageous from a tax perspective would reduce its overall cost and increase the attractiveness of financing such an undertaking. Another option is to promote Islamic FIs to have an exposure in this type of business endeavour given their preponderance for value-based investment (VBI) approach as dictated by their profit-sharing mode of financing. Policy should ensure the incentive structure for the entrepreneurs and researchers have the same objectives through a different reward mechanism. Both academia and industry stand to gain from cooperating instead of struggling to reach their own separate agendas. The commercialisation and exploitation of research results is an important policy objective. SMEs with near market ready ground-breaking innovative ideas for products, services or processes should be supported through business innovation grants for feasibility assessment purposes, innovation development & demonstration, business coaching and mentoring, support services for commercial exploitation of the innovation, and facilitating market entry.
POLICY SHOULD ENSURE THE INCENTIVE STRUCTURE FOR THE ENTREPRENEURS AND RESEARCHERS HAVE THE SAME OBJECTIVES THROUGH A DIFFERENT REWARD MECHANISM. BOTH ACADEMIA AND INDUSTRY STAND
TO GAIN FROM COOPERATING INSTEAD OF STRUGGLING TO
REACH THEIR OWN SEPARATE AGENDAS
InMalaysia, theseactivitiesareembedded in the seamless flow of collaboration
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Malaysian Technology Strategic Outlook 2019/2020 Intergration of High Technology
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