Denmarks’ Demant opens first technology hub outside of Europe in KL
30 Aug 2023
Denmark’s Demant, a hearing healthcare and audio technology group listed on Nasdaq Copenhagen, has opened its first technology hub outside of Europe in Kuala Lumpur to serve the US$22 billion global market.
The company stated that this move is part of its growth strategy and aims to capture a larger share of the hearing healthcare market.
Demant’s chief information officer Christian Pedersen said the opening of Demant’s technology hub in KL solidifies our commitment to create life-changing hearing health.
“We are pleased to leverage Kuala Lumpur’s outstanding pool of talent, strategic location, diversity, the forward-thinking government support, and commitment to accelerate the digital economy, to develop Demant’s innovative solutions.
“Kuala Lumpur will be our biggest diagnostics hub outside Europe, housing 65 per cent of our global team of engineers and specialists who will take the lead in developing software solutions incorporating the latest technologies including artificial technology (AI),” he said in a statement today.
Demant has two other research and development (R&D) centres in Europe, one in Copenhagen and another in Warsaw, Poland.
In 2022, the company invested 1.3 billion DKK (RM880 million) in R&D. The Kuala Lumpur technology hub will serve markets worldwide with a focus on Asia, especially North Asia.
In the first half of 2023, Demant’s Asia business, driven by significant growth in China, outperformed all other markets with a 34 per cent growth.
Demand for hearing healthcare across Asia is expected to remain robust with the increase of the elderly population Pedersen said according to the World Health Organisation (WHO), hearing loss has the biggest impact on elders, with one in four people over 60 years old affected. “Untreated hearing loss can lead to mental fatigue, social isolation, and withdrawal. That may lead to depression and cognitive decline, which can precede dementia.
“Kuala Lumpur enables us to develop and deploy cutting-edge hearing technologies to assist those who need our services the most,” he said. He added concurrently, the company will develop Kuala Lumpur into Demant’s IT hub to serve its offices across 30 countries.
“Our IT specialists will provide support in the areas of critical infrastructure, application support, cybersecurity, and cloud technology,” he noted.
Demant plans to recruit 200 engineers and specialists by 2024 and increase the number of highly skilled employees by 50 per cent by 2026.
The Kuala Lumpur hub would be headed by its general manager Christian Daugbjerg.
Source: NST
