Of the future, the one consistent advantage that Malaysia has is that it has the lowest cost of doing business in the region, says New Zealand-born Loving who migrated to Malaysia eight years ago from Melbourne, where he ran an IT consulting firm.
Benedict Lee, managing director of the Microsoft Knowledge Capital Centre Sdn Bhd, equates the current status of the homegrown software industry to that of a crawling baby that has yet to discover the ability to walk or run.
"We are still in the early stages of the game. Software requires talent and creativity. But there are visible signs of a nascent software community beginning in Malaysia. There have been instances of Malaysian companies creating world-class software. I am also seeing more technopreneurs who are no longer satisfied with a salaried environment and who have a dream. Malaysia is on the right track," he reckons.
Malaysia has thrown its hat into the ring, and wants to make the IT industry an economic growth engine with global software big boys providing the fuel, and local talent the creative lubricant.
Promisingly, a legion of digital-hungry teenagers have already begun to burn holes in their parents' pockets for computing access and all-things Internet. Perhaps in the near future, one in their ranks may come up with an idea that will have global impact and it won't matter whether the Made-In-Malaysia label outside credits Looi or Louis.
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Homegrown software