Forging a sustainable development model: The Malaysian way

Raslan Ahmad argues that a national ’knowledge economy’ can be achieved only if the population is transformed into a ’knowledge society’. But the problem of the digital divide stands in the features of the ’knowledge society’. He discusses policy imperatives put in place in Malaysia to reduce the gap through various national initiatives aimed to promote an equitable growth. He describes the implementation of the Demonstrator Application (DA) Programme as a strategy in the creation of a knowledge society and k-economy in Malaysia and shares the lessons learned through these initiatives. © 2002 The Society for International Development.