In order to advance the drone industry in Malaysia, MRANTI, the coordinating agency and secretariat for MDTAP30, also introduced Area57, a centre of excellence, in 2021.
The Drone Readiness Index (DRI) places Malaysia at number 21, up from number 30 last year, and the country’s drone industry is flourishing.
It also holds the top spot in the Index for Southeast Asia. The nation’s overall drone readiness increased by 29 percentage points, from 31% to 60%, according to the DRI.
According To CEO of Malaysian Research Accelerator for Technology and Innovation Dzuleira Abu Bakar, “Our achievement in the DRI is an early outcome of the Malaysia Drone Technology Action Plan 2022 – 2030 (MDTAP30) and other initiatives which involve strong collaboration by multiple agencies and stakeholders” (MRANTI).
She thanked the National Disaster Relief Management Agency (NADMA), the Department of Survey and Mapping (JUPEM), the Malaysian Space Agency (MYSA), the Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia (CAAM), the Malaysian Fire and Rescue Department (BOMBA), and others for their assistance.
Dzuleira stated that the MDTAP30’s primary objectives are the creation of a national Unmanned Traffic Management (UTM) system, a digital portal for drone registration, the adoption of unique drone use cases in important industries, and talent development initiatives like the accreditation of Remote Pilot Training Organizations (RPTO).
Ismail Sabri, a former prime minister, announced the MDTAP30 last year. He said that” The drone industry in Malaysia has the potential to increase the GDP by US$11.452 billion (RM50.71 billion) by 2030 and to create 100,000 new job opportunities.”
According to six criteria—applicability, operational scope, human resources, administrative infrastructure, certification, and airspace integration—the yearly DRI updates, which are a component of Drone Industry Insights’ (DII) annual Drone Regulation Report, rank participating nations.
The UK, Brazil, Switzerland, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, and China are the nations with the greatest increase in drone readiness, according to the report.
Malaysia received a perfect score in all categories—applicability, human resources, and certification—but needs to work on improving its operational scope (readyness score of 50%), airspace integration (readiness score of 40%), and administrative infrastructure (readiness score of 25%).
In order to advance the drone industry in Malaysia, MRANTI, the coordinating agency and secretariat for MDTAP30, also introduced Area57, a centre of excellence, in 2021. When finished, the 6-acre Area57 will have workshops for services and maintenance, design and simulation, prototype development and manufacturing, training, as well as equipment for testing and certification.
The National Technology and Innovation Sandbox was established by the Ministry of Science, Technology, and Innovation (MOSTI) in order to promote the development of Malaysia’s drone industry (NTIS).
The NTIS focuses on the creation and evaluation of technologies in real-world settings. Companies can get help with funding for commercialization, regulatory support, and market development through the NTIS. In this regard, 25 applications for drone technology have been authorised for testing in different Sandbox initiatives.
From 2020 to 2022, NTIS gave 19 Malaysian drone companies funding totaling about US$2.2 million (RM10 million). These drone businesses provide services for many different industries, but the majority of them are in agriculture, medical delivery, infrastructure, security surveillance, and other areas. Drones are being tested in these Sandboxes for a variety of tasks, such as spraying, mapping, plant analysis, and warehousing, among others.
To support the growth of Malaysia’s drone industry, the NTIS has the strong backing of 50 Innovation Accelerator Network (IAN) partners, including technology behemoths, conglomerates, and multinationals.
Malaysia’s Aerodyne Group and Meraque are among the top 20 companies worldwide in the Drone Services Providers Ranking 2022, which is also published by DII. The top-ranked company, Aerodyne, has more than a thousand employees and has raised more than US$ 60 million in funding rounds.