Myanmar’s Central Bank Heads for the Cloud

Myanmar’s central bank is headed for the cloud.

After decades of performing the bulk of the Central Bank of Myanmar’s work longhand, a trio of Japanese companies are pushing the institution to the technological cutting edge. The three companies — Daiwa Institute of Research Ltd Fujitsu 6702.TO +1.11% Limited and KDDI Corp. 9433.TO +0.82% — collaborated to build the Southeast Asian country its first Internet-linked computing platform in an attempt to help the central bank’s antiquated systems keep pace with Myanmar’s rapid change.


Myanmar has ushered in a raft of reforms over the last 18 months in a move to breathe new economic life into the country left impoverished and stuck in time after decades of military rule ended two years ago. One of the key challenges is to modernize Myanmar’s aging systems. The wide-ranging and extensive menu includes its power grid and sewage system as well as a need to bolster its financial institutions.

The central bank’s painstaking method of performing most of its complex operations by hand was a headache in the making. In stepped Japan Inc.

“This new computing environment paves the way to build an ICT (information and communication technology) infrastructure that is indispensable for the modernization of Myanmar’s financial system and represents an important milestone toward the establishment of a stock exchange,” said Takashi Fukai, President of Daiwa Institute of Research, in a statement released Tuesday. The Tokyo Stock Exchange and the research arm of Daiwa Securities Group Inc. 8601.TO -0.63% signed an agreement with Myanmar in May to help it establish a securities exchange.

Eager to grab a slice of what could be Asia’s last frontier, Japanese companies have charged into Myanmar, pushing its technological expertise to edge out a growing field of global competitors. Japanese technology firms see the country as a clean slate, offering tremendous potential for the type of growth missing in the domestic market.

The central bank’s new private cloud computing system, essentially computers running applications such as word processing and spreadsheets over the Internet, will raise the institution’s efficiency and strengthen its information security. Each of the companies provided a different part of the system. Daiwa designed and built the platform, Fujitsu provided the servers and personal computers, and KDDI crafted and constructed the bank’s communications infrastructure, the companies said in a joint statement. The bank is currently outfitted with 150 terminals. The system also includes capabilities to deal with the country’s patchy power problems.

source: The Wall Street Journal | JAPAN
http://blogs.wsj.com/japanrealtime/2012/12/26/myanmars-central-bank-heads-for-the-cloud/