The government is embarking on an innovative digital economy framework that will culminate in the development of a Digital Malaysia Masterplan, Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak said here on Wednesday.

He said this was a centralised approach the country was adopting to harvest key opportunities arising from the global shift from analogue to digital.

"With the rapid growth of broadband penetration to cover 100 per cent of all households by 2020, the Malaysian digital population is playing an increasingly significant role in the socio-economic development of the country," he said at the opening of the Global Science and Innovation Advisory Council (GSIAC) inaugural meeting at the New York Academy of Sciences.

The meeting was attended by 35 members, comprising well known scientists and experts in various fields, including Ellis Rubinstein President and Chief Executive Officer of the academy and a Pulitzer prize winner in science journalism.

Najib, who earlier launched the "Invest Malaysia New York 2011" forum at the New York Stock Exchange, said Digital Malaysia would accelerate growth across all sectors of the economy and create a climate conducive to innovation, investment and talent.

"We will build an ecosystem that promotes the pervasive use of ICT in all aspects of the economy to create communities connected globally and interacting in real-time," he added.

The GSIAC is expected to provide valuable input and a fresh perspective to uplift Malaysia's economy by hastening innovation, leverage on the nation's strength in information and communications technology and improve science and engineering education and skills.

Najib said the government knows that innovation was critical in ensuring prosperity and promoting both environmental and societal well-being, adding that it was committed to advancing Science, Technology and Innovation and making it the driver for economic development and sustainability.

"This requires bold steps to build and leverage science and technology and harness the existing strengths of our nation," he added.

Najib also said Malaysia has successfully transformed itself from an agriculture-based economy to one that was straddled on manufacturing and services.

"And now we are committed in working towards realizing the goal of Vision 2020 - a high-income economy that is based on innovation and knowledge generation - through our Economic Transformation Plan or ETP," he added.