A MALAYSIAN software developer has stepped forward with an offer to replicate the MySejahtera for the Health Ministry (MOH) – with an absolutely improved version – at a one-off cost in the region of RM6 mil.
This software can also be enhanced with geographical information system (GIS) which can gather data for visualisation and analysis for pandemic crisis management, according to S. Santhira who is also the chief technology officer of app based on-demand delivery service provider Gaja Move Sdn Bhd.
“I’ve personally been a software developer for over 30 years with considerable exposure to working with GLCs (government-linked companies) to know what is expected from us should the Government decide to engage us,” he told FocusM.
“In a nutshell, our team will develop MySejahtera from scratch by leveraging the AI (artificial intelligence) technology without the presence of third parties for a one-off RM6 mil which we deem to be a fair price as the Government will end up being the sole proprietor of the app.”
In a media statement, Santhira, 62, said Gaja Move has the expertise to develop an upgraded version of the MySejahtera app for MOH with the Government being its sole custodian of the intellectual property (IP) and application data.
“In this time of crisis, Gaja Move is willing to invest its resources to assist MOH out of the current difficulty and predicament on ownership rights and data protection. It is crucial for MOH to have sole control over an app that holds data of the Malaysian population.”
Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin has said the Government will opt for another vendor for the COVID-19 contact tracing app if it cannot get a fair deal with MySejahtera licence holder MySJ Sdn Bhd as the data collected by the application is still owned by the Government.
“I can tell you for the fact that the amount that we are negotiating with MySJ is much, much lower than RM300 mil … far lower,” he was quoted as saying by Bernama.
Khairy was referring to the alleged RM338.6 mil deal reported by healthcare news portal CodeBlue which reported that there was an October 2020 licence agreement between Entomo Malaysia Sdn Bhd (formerly known as KPISoft Malaysia) and MySJ which saw the former transfer MySejahtera intellectual property and grant the app’s software licence to MySJ for RM338.6 mil.
The contract was said to be a five-year, three-month deal until end-2025.
Santhira also assured MOH upon finalisation and “go-live” that Gaja Move would hand over the IP rights and the sole operation to MOH.
“It is a customer-friendly app developed on an open platform which the Government can choose to maintain themselves,” he explained in a letter to Khairy and Health Director-General Tan Sri Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah.
In its letter to Khairy Jamaluddin, Gaja Move assured that its app “is safe to be used for various public health purposes from check-ins, vaccination certifications and travellers’ information”.
“Gaja Move is willing to collaborate with MOH as a new provider in a fair agreement so that the MySejahtera app is solely owned by the Government. For this reason, we are ready to make a presentation with our partners who have developed extended and sophisticated capabilities in data collection and GIS visualisation,” added Santhira. – March 30, 2021
