PETALING JAYA: BlackBerry Ltd believes Malaysia can transfer past manufacturing {hardware} to constructing clever machines and platforms because it bets on growing the nation’s embedded software program expertise.
The Canadian software program firm mentioned the speedy adoption of synthetic intelligence (AI) in automobiles, factories, medical gadgets, and industrial automation is shifting worth creation past {hardware} to the software program that permits machines to function safely, securely, and in actual time.
“As we transfer ahead, it’s now not {hardware} and software program.
“It’s {hardware} and software program coming collectively, and that is the place techniques integration turns into crucial,” BlackBerry vice-president of QNX Engineering and head of analysis and growth for Asia-Pacific Rajkumar Jain instructed StarBiz.
He mentioned Malaysia’s robust manufacturing, semiconductor, and electronics ecosystem gives a strong basis to maneuver into techniques engineering and system structure by combining {hardware} experience with embedded software program capabilities.
“My analogy is that current {hardware} manufacturing is the physique.
“By studying embedded software program, you’re bringing the brains. When you’ve got the mind and the physique each in Malaysia, you progress from making elements to creating clever machines and platforms,” he mentioned.
To assist construct that expertise pipeline, BlackBerry has partnered with Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), making it the primary college in Asean to affix the corporate’s QNX In all places programme.
Beneath the initiative, BlackBerry will prepare college lecturers, who will then educate college students utilizing the identical commercial-grade QNX Software program Improvement Platform (SDP) 8.0 utilized by prospects throughout the automotive, medical, industrial and different safety-critical sectors.
Jain mentioned the corporate expects to coach a whole bunch of Malaysian college students within the programme’s first 12 months, with UKM doubtlessly turning into a regional coaching hub for different universities throughout Asean.
“We’re actually trying to create the subsequent technology of proficient embedded techniques engineers,” he mentioned.
The QNX In all places programme was launched globally in 2024 after BlackBerry made its QNX working system (OS) accessible free for non-commercial use.
Beforehand, organisations needed to buy licences to entry the software program.
Jain mentioned college students and universities now obtain the identical software program platform, coaching supplies and growth instruments utilized by industrial prospects.
“The entire objective of the QNX In all places programme is to offer everybody entry to an industry-grade foundational working system to construct the subsequent technology of software-defined embedded techniques,” he mentioned.
The initiative has already been launched at greater than 125 universities in India over the previous 15 months, with about 400 lecturers licensed and hundreds of scholars skilled.
QNX is BlackBerry’s real-time OS designed for safety-critical functions the place reliability and predictable response instances are important.
The software program serves because the foundational layer between {hardware} and functions, enabling techniques to course of information, execute duties and make selections inside milliseconds.
Jain mentioned this functionality is turning into more and more essential as AI strikes past cloud-based functions into bodily techniques.
“Right now you’ve got sensors and actuators producing monumental quantities of knowledge.
“AI processes that information and makes selections, however these selections usually should occur in milliseconds and even microseconds. That’s the place the QNX OS brings real-time efficiency, security and safety.”
“The OS is pre-certified to satisfy main practical security and cybersecurity requirements throughout industries, permitting corporations to concentrate on growing functions with out having to construct compliance from scratch.
This provides organisations the boldness that they’re adopting expertise with safety inbuilt from the start and licensed on the highest stage,” he mentioned.
Functions embody superior driver help techniques, autonomous driving options, industrial robots and surgical gear, the place even a quick delay might have critical penalties.
“In a medical surgical robotic, even a 10-millisecond or -microsecond delay may very well be catastrophic. Reliability is now not non-compulsory. The margin for error is actually zero.”