Pembangunan pekerja pengetahuan di teknopol Cyberjaya, Malaysia dan Bengaluru International Tech Park (BITP), India – Satu perbandingan (The development of K - workers in the t echnopoles of Malaysia’s Cyberjaya and India’s Bengaluru International Tech Park (BITP) – A comparison)

Abstract

Dalam era globalisasi pembangunan kawasan teknopol (technopole) biasanya bertujuan untuk menjana peluang pekerjaan, dan pemindahan teknologi dan ilmu pengetahuan kepada kepakaran tempatan di negara bangsa. Justeru, agak ganjil sekiranya terdapat pembangunan kawasan technopoledirancang tanpa memberi faedah kepada penduduk di sesebuah negara khususnya untuk pemindahan teknologi dan ilmu pengetahuan. Kertas ini mengutarakan persoalan sejauhmanakah pembangunan Bangalore Sofware City (BSC) di India, seperti projek Bengluru International Tech Park (BITP), dan pembangunan Koridor Raya Multimedia (MSC) di Malaysia, khususnya di Cyberjaya, benar-benar merupakan pembangunan sebuah Silicon Valley atau sekadar Coolie Valley. Analisis perbandingan mendapati bahawa meskipun kegiatan pemindahan teknologi oleh syarikat asing adalah sangat menggalakkan di kedua-dua BITP dan Cyberjaya,namun kedudukan kemajuan K-workers di Cyberjaya berada pada tahap `sederhana’, sedangkan di BITP pada tahap `tinggi’ sama ada pada peringkat input,throughput (proses), output, outcome dan impak. Ini menunjukkan syarikat-syarikat asing yang melabur di BITP adalah lebih bersedia dan terbuka bagi memajukan K-workers tempatan berbanding dengan syarikat-syarikat asing yang melabur di Cyberjaya.Dalam pada itu, K-workers di Cyberjaya pula perlulah mempunyai motivasi untuk memajukan diri seperti mana K-workers di BITP. In kerana secara relatif, penghasilan rekacipta teknologi baru oleh K-workers di Cyberjaya masih lagi terhad kerana kurang mendapat peluang, pendedahan dan kepercayaan daripada syarikat asing tempat mereka bekerja.  Katakunci: globalisasi, lembah silikon, pekerja pengetahuan, pemindahan teknologi, rekacipta teknologibaru, teknopol

In this globalisation era, the development of a technopole is invariably prompted by its potential to generate occupational opportunities as well as to effect technology and knowledge transfers from  the foreign companies investing in the technopole to local workforce. It is rather strange if there are tecnopoles which are planned not to achieve these two main objectives. This paper brings into focus the question as to what extent the development of the Bangalore Sofware City (BSC) in India, in particular, the Bengluru International Tech Park (BITP), and  that of the Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC) in Malaysia, in particular, the Cyberjaya, really do bring about the development of a Silicon Valley and not just a Coolie Valley. The comparative analysis indicates that although the technology transfer activities by foreign companies have been most  encouraging in both technopoles the situation in terms of K-workers development in Cyberjaya may be described as only ‘moderate ’ while that in BITP rather ‘high’ at all levels of input, throughput (process), output, outcome and impact examined. This manifests the fact that foreign companies investing in the BITP were more open and willing to develop local K-workers as compared to those in Cyberjaya. By the same token, Cyberjaya K-workers would do well to better motivate themselves to equal the progress of their BITP counterparts as their creativity and productivity in the new technologies are still relatively limited due to lesser opportunities, exposure and trust granted them by their foreign employers.

Keywords: globalisation, K-workers, new technology creativity, silicon valley, technology  transfer, technopoles