George Town, Penang, 25 February 2022 – The Chief Minister of Penang YAB Chow Kon Yeow today launched the Creative Digital District @ George Town (CD2 @ George Town) at a closed-door event in Think City, UAB Building. The launch was streamed LIVE by the organiser, Digital Penang, on its Facebook page at www.facebook.com/DigitalPenangMY to commemorate the momentous unveil of the district and the official logo of CD2 for the very first time. Located in George Town, the Creative Digital District, in short CD2 or pronounced as CD Square, spans approximately 114 acres along Pengkalan Weld – Lebuh Light – Jalan Masjid Kapitan Keling – Lebuh Acheh.
“Over the years, Penang has progressed to be one of the most developed and urbanised states and is a key driver of Malaysia’s economic growth in manufacturing and tourism, bringing inflows of foreign investment and trade. Penang being a hub to many regional and international companies and investors, bodes well in our CD2 @ George Town ambition to further attract investments in the digital and software services to spur the state’s digital ecosystem. In line with our Penang2030 vision, CD2 @ George Town aims to revive the urban core through the fusion of heritage and digital.”, said YAB Chow who is also the Chairman of Digital Penang.
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About the Creative Digital District @ George Town
At the launch, the Penang Excos and Board of Directors of Digital Penang YB Jagdeep Singh Deo, YB Zairil bin Khir Johari and YB Dato’ Haji Abdul Halim bin Haji Hussain unveiled the initiatives that will be carried out in the coming months to drive the digital ecosystem of Penang. In line with the Digital Transformation Master Plan of Penang, infrastructure such as 5G network is in the pipeline; a centre of excellence at Wisma Yeap Chor Ee coined as CD2 Sandbox launched its 5,000 sq ft co-working space; and the RM1 million Founders’ Grit Seed Fund by the state has been matched by investors.
To cope with the rising demand for access and speed in driving digitalisation, the CD2 @ George Town will be the first location outside of the Klang Valley to be installed with 5G network, enabling businesses and communities in the vicinity to benefit from high-speed internet.
Located within Wisma Yeap Chor Ee of Digital Penang, the CD2 Sandbox is set to house start-ups, accelerators, and incubators in its unique heritage-modern environment. The co-working space is equipped with amenities and facilities such as meeting rooms, mail services, Wi-Fi, pantry to common areas. Digital Penang will continue to organise and host events and programmes to connect and empower entrepreneurs whilst providing support for their tech journey; and will also provide event sponsorship of up to RM500 per event and venue sponsorships.
The RM1 million Founders’ Grit Seed Programme (FGSP) raised from the state, investors and tech companies will fund programmes, events and pitches for Penang start-ups, accelerators, incubators in its effort to inspire innovative ideas by entrepreneurs to ideation. The programme, which is in collaboration with the federal agency Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC), will see a series of events held quarterly.
“I look forward to seeing the fusion of heritage and digital in the Creative Digital District here at George Town in the coming years. I believe that with our talents from academia such as Wawasan Open University, Universiti Sains Malaysia, The One Academy, and other universities in the vicinity – they will birth great minds and prepare them for careers in the creative and digital industry. We also invite digital investors in Malaysia and abroad, to establish a hub in CD Square in Georgetown.”, added YAB Tuan Chow.
Digital Penang secured eight ecosystem partners to drive the digital ecosystem of Penang.
To mark this epoch in the digital ecosystem of Penang, the Chief Minister presented plaques to the first eight ecosystem partners of the district that have expressed commitment and intent to set up a hub in CD2 @ George Town. The pioneer ecosystem partners are Angkasa-X, BlueSkies.AI, Censof, CTAPPS, Finexus, Karuna Sarawak, Securemetric and TriAset. Over the next 3 years, Digital Penang is targeting to attract 50 digital investors into CD2 @ George Town with an investment commitment of 2,000 high-income jobs.
At the launch, YAB Tuan Chow Kon Yeow also presented a certificate of appreciation to Digital Penang’s intern, a graduate from INTI International College Penang, Adrian Kuan, for the development of the CD2 @ George Town logo.
The Chief Minister also minted an NFT by Penang artist and founder of ArtJam.com Alvin Koay featuring a series of generative art collaboration. Digital Penang, the custodian of the NFT, will be hosting a series of exciting sessions for creative digital artists to inspire budding artist in the digital scene.
In culmination of the event, a series of exhibitions were held for guests and investors featuring tech start-ups, creative artists, federal agencies MDEC and MRANTI, and local education institution Wawasan Open University. The exclusive Creative Showcase featured films, jewellery, live music, art pieces and fashion designs by our local creative talents. The exhibitions aimed at providing a glimpse of an interconnected network of creative and tech clusters in the district.
More info at www.CD2Penang.com
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