The CEO who restructured Malaysia’s digital economy agency in 2 years
Oleh Jasmine Gan
Anuar Fariz Fadzil steps down as Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC)’s CEO after two years, in which he secured close to RM 180 billion in digital investments for the country.
-1790905793383-1790931377126-w1024.webp)
The CEO
This story is part of GovInsider's Digital Trust & Cybersecurity Champions 2026 Special Report
When Ghana’s data protection commission began pushing for data protection compliance, much of the country’s digital public infrastructure (DPI) was already built.
DPI refers to common digital foundations that allow citizens and businesses to transact securely in the digital economy.
In Ghana, a patchwork of digital IDs has been replaced with one Ghana Card, while fintech startups kept scaling digital payment solutions.
Data protection wasn’t a requirement in these early government agreements, says Ghana’s data protection commissioner, Dr Arnold Kavaarpuo.
The commissioner’s answer? Make compliance a condition of access.
For example, the National Identification Authority (NIA) will not let an organisation integrate with the national ID system without meeting data protection requirements.
