Knowledge Gaps in the Digital Triad: Digital Health, AI and Cybersecurity in India and Malaysia

The convergence of digital health, artificial intelligence (AI) and cybersecurity forms a digital triad that is increasingly regarded as a backbone for achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in middle-income economies. India and Malaysia, despite markedly different demographic and institutional contexts, have each launched ambitious national programmes that knit these three pillars together Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission and INDIAai in India; MyDigital and the National Cyber Security Strategy in Malaysia. Yet progress remains uneven, and a consolidated understanding of where knowledge gaps persist is lacking. This article addresses that gap by mapping the principal knowledge deficits across the digital triad in the two countries through a systematic review of peer-reviewed literature and policy documents published between 2018 and 2024. The review identifies twelve distinct gaps, organised under three pillars and four cross-pillar dependencies. Significant findings include persistent weaknesses in interoperability standards, algorithmic-bias auditing, incident-reporting frameworks and SME readiness. This synthesis informs national policy, capacity-building curricula, and the design of cross-country comparative research. The work offers a baseline against which future progress on SDG 3, SDG 9 and SDG 16 can be measured.