INNOVATION DAY AT THE MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS,

30 NOVEMBER 2016

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, or Wisma Putra, culminated its celebration of innovation with an Innovation Day exhibition today, 30 November 2016. Though held on a small scale at the Ministry’s lobby, the event nonetheless managed to attract about 500 visitors, including some of the members of the public who had gone to the Ministry to attend to their consular services.

Earlier that morning, the Ministry’s Secretary General, Tan Sri Othman Hashim officiated the exhibition to a packed auditorium before making the rounds of the various booths participating at the exhibition. In his speech, Tan Sri Othman said, “Today’s event is important in our quest to realise the culture of innovation in the workplace, which in turn will enable us to implement the public sector’s transformation agenda”.

The launch also saw Ms. Nabila Lukman from the South Asia division of the Ministry bag first place in the logo and tagline contest. Her winning entry, “Growing Innovation without Boundaries” earned her a cash reward and a certificate of appreciation, and will be used in the Ministry’s innovation promotions in the coming year.

In order to ensure that innovation is an inculcated culture rather than a one-off event, a number of programmes were held throughout most of 2016. These included poster competitions, logo and tagline contests as well as the introduction of an innovation board. The board is meant to provide a platform for all innovative ideas to be publicly displayed and discussed. The Board was in full display, taking centre stage at the exhibition.

Exhibition guest Marzita Marzuki lauded the Innovation Day exhibition, saying that it “shows the evolution of the Ministry especially in terms of its delivery system.” Another guest, Wan Mohd Azmi Wan Awang, a netizen of the Ministry, said that “it is wonderful to see such good support for this exhibition from both inside and outside the Ministry”.

The Innovation Day celebration, organised by the Department of Policy Planning and Coordination under its Director General, Dato’ V. Sudha Devi, was a three month project from the planning stage to its execution.

In addition to the booths by 1GovUC, PR1MA, PPA1M, there wwas also a bean bag area and an interactive kiosk featuring questions related to international relations. Guests to the exhibition were treated to free ice cream and popcorn, as well as Malaysian favourites Teh Tarik and kacang kuda.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Innovation Day was the latest in a series of programmes which began on 18 April this year with the establishment of the Ministry’s Genovasi Alumni – the first of its kind in the government sector. The alumni, part of an elite group of young diplomats who have made design thinking their cornerstone, are expected to lead diplomacy into the next century and beyond.

This is the seventh Innovation Day for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, but the first time that an exhibition is held. This year’s Innovation Day runs on the theme “Fostering Innovation Ecosystem”.

MFA News

Innovation Day at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 30 November 2016

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