Kota Kinabalu: Innovators outside Kota Kinabalu can work through the Sabah Creative Economy and Innovation Centre (Scenic) to reach Federal funding and testing support, said MRANTI National Technology and Innovation Sandbox (NTIS) Senior Associate Afiq Naqiuddin.
“If you are outside Kota Kinabalu and find it hard to reach Kuala Lumpur, talk to Scenic or the State Education, Science, Technology and Innovation Ministry,” he said.
“If you, as an innovator, need the Malaysian Research Accelerator for Technology and Innovation (MRANTI) to support your commercialisation journey, Scenic will funnel to us.
“We can also provide funding support or capacity-building support at Federal level,” he said at the recent Sabah Innovation Showcase 2026 Plenary 1 held at the Sabah International Convention Centre, organised by the State Education, Science, Technology and Innovation Ministry and Scenic.
The session, moderated by UMS Innovation and Commercialisation Management Centre Director Assoc Prof Dr Fatimah Ahmedy, looked at whether policies are reaching the ground.
NTIS is a Federal Government initiative designed to accelerate the development, testing and commercialisation of advanced technologies, while MRANTI serve as the lead secretariat.
This means MRANTI acts as the primary operator, processing applications, managing the sandbox sites, providing prototyping labs (like the MakersLab) and connecting tech developers with government regulators and funding bodies.
Afiq said Scenic and the State Ministry are local partners of MRANTI with a mandate to speed up technology commercialisation in Sabah.
He said MRANTI is a Federal agency under the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation.
“We need a huge amount of funding and investment to minimise the Valley of Death,” Afiq said.
In technology and business development, ‘Death Valley’ or the ‘Valley of Death’ refers to the critical phase between a startup’s initial research and development phase and its ability to generate commercial revenue.
“We started this programme in 2020 when Covid happened around the world.
“Our government found out that we can no longer depend so much on foreign technology,” he said.
He said the National Technology and Innovation Sandbox programme, also called Sandbox Malaysia, gives innovators testing, validation, funding and regulatory support.
He said the programme was introduced to reduce reliance on foreign technology.
He cited an example where a foreign technology product has to be tested in a hospital before it can be sold to hospitals.
“For them to test in a hospital, they need approval in terms of regulation and policy.
“This is our role, to talk to the Health Ministry so such companies can test in a live environment,” he said.
He said doctors or hospitals then validate the product before it moves to commercialisation.
Additionally, he said before coming out with a new solution, innovators must make sure there is a demand.
“Always trust your science, technology and innovation agency in Sabah and make sure you put yourself on Scenic’s radar,” he said.
He said innovators should also check national problem statements in government roadmaps or ask ministries and agencies instead of waiting around to be found.
“I think Scenic is a really good initiative because you go around Sabah to identify innovators and technology,” he said.
“It is really good for Sabah’s ecosystem as a whole,” he said.
