GEORGE TOWN, Nov 22 — The World Congress on Information Technology (WCIT), known as the Olympics of the world’s information technology conferences, will be held in Malaysia next year with Penang as the host city.

In a statement, National Tech Association of Malaysia (Pikom) chairman Danny Lee said Malaysia last hosted WCIT in 2008 and it was touted as the best WCIT ever, which spurred more confidence for the World Information Technology and Services Alliance (WITSA) to award Pikom another opportunity to host the event.

"Next year, Malaysia promises to deliver another exceptional experience for everyone in WCIT 2022. With the theme, Connecting and Transforming the World, WCIT 2022 will take centre stage for the tech world,” he said.

Lee said WCIT 2022 Malaysia, organised in collaboration with the Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC), sets to be the gateway to South-east Asia and is expected to attract the participation of 4,000 visionaries, captains of industry, government leaders and academics from over 80 countries.

Meanwhile, MDEC chief executive officer, Mahadhir Aziz said when Malaysia last hosted the event in 2008, the country recorded RM8.3 billion in tech investments, creating 20,000 related jobs.

"WCIT 2022 will be the perfect platform to showcase and springboard our Malaysian tech industry, establishing Malaysia as the digital hub of Asean,” he said.

Penang Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow was also quoted in the statement as saying that WCIT 2022 would put a spotlight on how countries, societies and businesses could succeed in a post-pandemic world, evidently by embracing technology and digital transformation. — Bernama