The future of work is now fully upon us. In this new normal, critical thinking and problem solving are key requirements for any career in the digital age. With the pervasive use of computers in all realms of our lives, there is global consensus that these essential skills should be coupled with computer science concepts. This combination of skills is referred to as Computational Thinking.
MDEC has been working closely with MoE to integrate computational thinking (CT) into the national school curriculum and teacher training since 2017. From 2017 to 2020, 88,000 teachers have been trained in CT in partnership with MoE and selected public universities nationwide. Out of these, MDEC has unearthed 56 teachers who have outstanding computational thinking and digital skills, and who are also passionate about sharing their knowledge with other teachers.
These teachers have been given the title of “Cikgu Juara Digital” (#CJD) and by 2025 MDEC intends to identify 250 CJDs, or 2 CJDs per education district. #CJD will play the role of inspiring and guiding teachers in their respective districts, in CT and digital skills. #CJDs will continue to upgrade their skills via continuous professional development courses provided by MDEC and its industry partners. In this way, the #CJDs play a key role in cascading essential digital skills to teachers at the grassroots level.
In order to support the #CJDs in sharing their knowledge with other teachers, MDEC has facilitated the establishment of Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) in various regions of the country. These PLCs bring #CJDs together with other teachers to share expertise and work collaboratively, in order to guide teachers on integrating CT and other digital skills into their teaching and learning approaches. Under the auspices of these PLCs, MDEC and 56 #CikguJuaraDigital (#CJD) kicked off live webinars focusing on CT, in October 2021. These highly interactive sessions covered the six concepts of CT – Abstraction, Decomposition, Patterning, Algorithm, Logical Reasoning and Evaluation, and how CT skills are applied in teaching and learning.
Five webinars were conducted in various regional zones – Northern, Central, Eastern, East Coast and West Malaysia, where the #CJD community in each zone took part as the organising committee and led the sharing sessions.
In total, the 5 webinars garnered more than 6,000 educators. Participants included teachers from national schools, the Institute of Teacher Education (IPGM) lecturers and pre-service teachers, as well as private school teachers. The webinars extremely well received by participants who hailed from urban as well as rural areas. For example, Puan Mary Ann Serdina, an officer from Subis District Education Office (PPD) in Sarawak, thanked MDEC and #CJD for organising the webinars which have helped her to understand more about CT. Puan Mary welcomed more PLC sessions which would be beneficial to rural teachers such as those in the Subis area.
The #CJDs who led the sharing sessions were also highly encouraged by the response by teachers, for example, #CJD champion for 2020, Cikgu Abdul Rahman Ali Bashah from SMK Jenjarom, Selangor was delighted that his session received 2,300 views via YouTube.
In order to strengthen the learning outcome of the webinars, MDEC also organised a Computational Thinking Educator Champion (CTeC) competition which ends on Dec 5, 2021. The format of the competition requires teachers from the same zones to form a group of five members and each group has to create a daily lesson plan with an activity that supports any of the six CT concepts. The champion team will win Tello drones worth RM700 each, a trophy and certificate of participation. In the coming year, MDEC and its group of #CJDs aim to guide 6,000 teachers.
*Dr Sumitra was previously the Chief Digital Skills and Jobs Officer at MDEC and has taken the role of Head and Senior Vice President of Strategy & Policy
Guru Saling Membantu Kearah Adaptasi Digital
Landskap pekerjaan masa hadapan kini terletak sepenuhnya pada kita. Dalam norma baharu, pemikiran kritis dan kemahiran menyelesaikan masalah adalah keperluan utama untuk mana-mana kerjaya dalam era digital.
Berikutan penggunaan komputer yang meluas dalam semua bidang dan kehidupan seharian kita, konsensus global menunjukkan bahawa kemahiran penting ini harus digabungkan dengan konsep sains komputer. Gabungan kemahiran ini dikenali sebagai Computational Thinking (CT).
MDEC telah bekerjasama dengan Kementerian Pendidikan Malaysia (KPM) untuk mengintegrasikan kemahiran CT ke dalam kurikulum sekolah dan latihan perguruan sejak 2017. Dari tahun 2017 hingga 2020, seramai 88,000 guru telah dilatih dalam bidang CT melalui kerjasama antara KPM dan universiti awam terpilih di seluruh negara.
Daripada jumlah ini, MDEC telah mengenal pasti 56 guru yang mempunyai potensi dalam kemahiran CT dan digital, dan yang juga bersemangat untuk berkongsi pengetahuan mereka dengan guru-guru lain.
Guru-guru ini telah diberi gelaran “Cikgu Juara Digital”, atau #CJD, dan menjelang 2025, MDEC, bercadang untuk mengenal pasti 250 CJD, atau 2 CJD bagi setiap daerah pendidikan. #CJD akan memainkan peranan mereka sebagai sumber inspirasi dalam kemahiran CT dan digital serta membimbing guru-guru di daerah masing-masing.
#CJD juga akan terus meningkatkan kemahiran mereka melalui kursus pembangunan profesional berterusan yang disediakan oleh MDEC dan rakan kongsi industrinya. Dengan cara ini, #CJD akan memainkan peranan penting dalam perkongsian kemahiran digital kepada guru di peringkat akar umbi.
Bagi menyokong #CJD dalam perkongsian pengetahuan mereka dengan guru lain, MDEC telah membantu penubuhan Komuniti Pembelajaran Profesional (PLC) yang menjadi platform #CJD serta guru-guru lain untuk berkongsi kepakaran dan berkolaborasi dalam membimbing guru mengintegrasikan kemahiran CT dan digital ke dalam pengajaran dan pembelajaran mereka.
Menerusi PLC ini juga, MDEC dan 56 #CikguJuaraDigital (#CJD) telah mengadakan webinar yang memberi fokus kepada kemahiran CT pada Oktober 2021. Sesi interaktif ini merangkumi enam konsep CT – Abstraksi, Penguraian, Pencorakan, Algoritma, Penaakulan Logik (Logical Reasoning) dan Penilaian, dan bagaimana kemahiran CT boleh diterapkan dalam pengajaran dan pembelajaran.
Lima siri webinar telah dijalankan mengikut Kawasan – Utara, Tengah, Sabah dan Sarawak, Pantai Timur dan keseluruhan Semenanjung, di mana komuniti #CJD di setiap zon mengambil bahagian sebagai jawatankuasa penganjur dan mengetuai sesi perkongsian.
Secara keseluruhan, lima webinar ini telah disertai lebih daripada 6,000 pendidik yang terdiri daripada guru-guru sekolah kebangsaan, pensyarah Institut Pendidikan Guru Malaysia (IPGM), guru-guru pra-perkhidmatan serta guru sekolah swasta.
Guru-guru dari kawasan luar bandar juga mengalu-alukan webinar ini. Sebagai contoh, Puan Mary Ann Serdina, pegawai di Pejabat Pendidikan Daerah (PPD) Subis di Sarawak, mengucapkan terima kasih kepada MDEC dan #CJD kerana menganjurkan webinar yang telah membantunya memahami tentang kemahiran CT.
Puan Mary mengalu-alukan lebih banyak sesi PLC yang akan memberi manfaat kepada guru-guru luar bandar seperti di kawasan Subis.
#CJD yang mengetuai sesi perkongsian itu juga disambut baik oleh juara #CJD tahun 2020, Cikgu Abdul Rahman Ali Bashah dari SMK Jenjarom, Selangor. Katanya, beliau berasa gembira kerana sesinya mendapat 2,300 tontonan menerusi YouTube.
Bagi memantapkan lagi hasil pembelajaran webinar tersebut, MDEC turut menganjurkan pertandingan Computational Thinking Educator Champion (CTeC) yang berakhir pada 5 Disember 2021. Format pertandingan ini memerlukan guru dari zon yang sama membentuk kumpulan terdiri daripada lima orang ahli dan setiap kumpulan perlu membuat rancangan pengajaran harian dengan aktiviti yang menyokong mana-mana daripada enam konsep CT.
Juara kumpulan akan memenangi dron Tello bernilai RM700 setiap satu, trofi dan sijil penyertaan. Untuk tahun hadapan, MDEC dan #CJD menyasarkan untuk membimbing 6,000 guru.
*Dr Sumitra merupakan bekas Ketua Pegawai Kemahiran Digital dan Kerjaya di MDEC dan kini memegang jawatan sebagai Ketua dan Naib Presiden Kanan Strategi & Dasar
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Tracked from June 2020 to April 2021, more than 75 percent of the vacancies are for experienced talents
Sharp rise indicates a thriving digital economy amid the pandemic
Opinion Editorial by Dr. Sumitra Nair, Vice President & Head of Digital Skills and Jobs at the Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC)
As Malaysia and the world is experiencing extended impact from the COVID-19 pandemic, the role of digital is ever more important for the survival of businesses. It is therefore not entirely surprising that digital job vacancies in Malaysia have almost tripled from June 2020 to April 2021. This finding was made based on Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC)’s tracking of digital vacancies on five popular recruitment platforms in Malaysia since June 2020. MDEC found that the number of digital job vacancies increased from around 19,000 in June last year to more than 56,000 vacancies as at April 2021, with the largest share of vacancies posted on Linkedin. The most popular jobs posted were in Software Development, Data Science, IT Services and eCommerce. 76 percent of the vacancies were for experienced hires, versus only about 20 percent of vacancies open to fresh graduates and rest being for internships.
Based on data extracted from the LinkedIn Talent Insights (LTI) platform, skills which are high in demand in Malaysia as well as the South East Asian region include analytical skills, software development, various programming languages and cloud computing.
As more non-tech industries embrace digitalisation, companies in market research, cosmetics, music and tobacco have been actively hiring digital talents over the past year. At the same time, the information communications technology and financial services sectors are struggling to meet the strong demand for digital talents in their respective sectors.
MDEC’s Digital Skills and Jobs Division made these findings based on its analysis of data derived from the LTI platform in April 2021. MDEC’s research involved more than 960 digital roles across all industries in Malaysia and the South East Asian region.
Where are these digital talents? As of April 2021, there are more than 240,000 digital talents in Malaysia that have LinkedIn profiles and more than half of them are located in Selangor or Kuala Lumpur. Outside the usual hotspots, a surplus of digital talents can also be found in Johor, Penang and Malacca, most likely due to the presence of universities like Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, University Sains Malaysia and Multimedia University in those states. Employers who are in dire need for digital talents may want to run their recruitment drives in those states.
The most popular job titles amongst digital talents in Malaysia include Digital Marketing Executive/Specialist/Manager, Data Scientist, Full Stack or Software Engineer, Head of Digital and interestingly, YouTuber. Data from LTI also suggest that over the last one year, there has been a 20 to 30 percent growth in the number of talents that are either self-employed, working as freelancers or YouTubers. This trend of growing number of self-employed or freelancers bodes well with the government’s growing focus on the gig economy and workers. This includes MDEC’s GLOW Penjana programme which trained more than 10,000 unemployed Malaysians on how to secure freelance jobs via online platforms.
What skillsets do these talents have? In Malaysia, fast growing digital skills includes Computer Science, Information Technology, Python and Adobe Premier Pro which consistently showed a growth of more than 30 percent in the past year. Phyton is one of the foundational skills for data science careers which may explain the spike in this skill. Fast-growing skills in Malaysia are somewhat different from the South East Asian region. For example, there’s been much steeper growth in data analytics, back-end web development and React.js skills in the region compared to the types of popular skills in Malaysia. Since the skills that are in demand in Malaysia include Cloud Computing and a variety of programming languages, digital talents who wish to enhance their marketability would do well to pick up skills that are fast growing in our neighbouring countries.
What do these trends mean for Malaysian talents? While the number of digital job vacancies is high, the majority of the vacancies are for experienced talent. This poses a challenge to fresh graduates. In the short term, fresh graduates could close their experience gap by taking up digital jobs on freelance basis via platforms like Upwork, Freelancer.com or Fiverr. At the same time, junior level talents should also start to pick up some of the in-demand digital skills like analytical skills, software development, various programming languages and cloud computing. To help talents identify the right training courses, MDEC has established the Digital Skills Training Directory which lists courses that have been reviewed and endorsed by expert tech practitioners. Job seekers would do well to refer to this directory, while those who are employed can also enhance their careers by taking up courses to acquire some of the in-demand skills mentioned in this article.
As for secondary school leavers or pre-university students who are wondering what courses to pursue in university, these trends suggest promising career opportunities in digital technology-related disciplines. In this regard, MDEC works with 11 universities and five Polytechnics as part of our Premier Digital Tech Institutions initiative. Thanks to the strong collaboration between these institutions and industry players, more than 90 percent of their digital tech graduates get employed within six months of graduation.
Malaysia Catat Peningkatan 3 Kali Ganda Jawatan Kosong Digital
Kajian bermula Jun 2020 hingga April 2021 mendapati sebanyak 75 peratus kekosongan jawatan adalah untuk tenaga kerja berpengalaman
Kenaikan mendadak ini menunjukkan ekonomi digital terus berkembang ketika pandemik
Oleh Dr Sumitra Nair, Naib Presiden dan Ketua Bahagian Kemahiran dan Kerjaya Digital MDEC.
Oleh kerana Malaysia dan dunia mengalami kesan yang berpanjangan akibat pandemik COVID-19, peranan digital semakin penting untuk kelangsungan perniagaan. Oleh itu, tidaklah menghairankan bahawa Malaysia telah menyaksikan peningkatan hampir tiga kali ganda jawatan kosong digital bermula Jun 2020 hingga April 2021. Data ini diperolehi berdasarkan kajian kekosongan pekerjaan digital oleh Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) di lima platform pengambilan popular di Malaysia sejak Jun 2020. MDEC mendapati pada Jun tahun lalu, jumlah kekosongan jawatan digital ialah sebanyak 19,000 dan meningkat kepada lebih 56, 000 kekosongan pada Mac 2021. LinkedIn menawarkan kekosongan jawatan paling banyak berbanding empat platform lain. Pekerjaan paling popular meliputi bidang Pembangunan Perisian, Sains Data, Perkhidmatan IT dan e-dagang. Sebanyak 76 peratus kekosongan adalah untuk pekerja berpengalaman berbanding hanya 20 peratus yang ingin graduan baharu manakala selebihnya untuk pelajar menjalankan latihan industri.
Berdasarkan data daripada platform LinkedIn Talent Insights (LTI), kemahiran yang sangat diminati di Malaysia dan Asia Tenggara merangkumi bidang analitik, pengembangan perisian serta pengaturcaraan dan pengkomputeran awan. Pada masa sama, semakin banyak industri bukan teknologi seperti syarikat pasaran, kosmetik, muzik dan tembakau telah meningkatkan pengambilan bakat digital sejak setahun lalu. Selain itu didapati sektor teknologi maklumat , komunikasi dan perkhidmatan kewangan juga turut berusaha untuk memenuhi permintaan yang tinggi untuk bakat digital di sektor masing-masing. Bahagian Kemahiran dan Pekerjaan Digital MDEC mendedahkan perkara ini berdasarkan analisis data yang diperoleh dari platform LTI pada April 2021. Penyelidikan MDEC melibatkan lebih daripada 960 peranan digital di semua industri di Malaysia dan Asia Tenggara.
Di manakah bakat digital ini? Sehingga April 2021, didapati lebih 240,000 bakat digital di Malaysia mempunyai profil LinkedIn dan lebih separuh menetap di Selangor dan Kuala Lumpur. Selain itu, taburan bakat digital juga didapati di Johor, Pulau Pinang dan Melaka .Ini berkemungkinan besar disebabkan oleh kewujudan beberapa universiti seperti Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Universiti Sains Malaysia dan Universiti Multimedia di negeri-negeri tersebut. Majikan yang sangat memerlukan bakat digital mungkin akan melaksanakan pengambilan pekerja mereka di negeri-negeri tersebut.
Jawatan paling popular di kalangan bakat digital di Malaysia merangkumi eksekutif, pakar, pengurus pemasaran digital, saintis data, jurutera perisian, ketua bahagian digital dan yang paling menarik ialah YouTuber. Data daripada LTI juga menunjukkan bahawa sejak setahun lalu, terdapat peningkatan antara 20 hingga 30 peratus dalam jumlah bakat yang bekerja sendiri sebagai freelancer atau YouTuber. Kecenderungan peningkatan bilangan pekerja bebas ini sesuai dengan fokus kerajaan terhadap ekonomi gig. Ini termasuk program Global Online Workforce (GLOW) Penjana MDEC yang melatih lebih daripada 10,000 rakyat Malaysia yang menganggur mengenai cara mendapatkan pekerjaan bebas melalui platform dalam talian.
Apa kemahiran yang dimiliki bakat ini? Di Malaysia, kemahiran digital yang berkembang pesat merangkumi Sains Komputer, Teknologi Maklumat, Python dan Adobe Premier Pro yang secara konsisten menunjukkan pertumbuhan lebih dari 30 peratus pada tahun lalu. Phyton adalah salah satu kemahiran asas untuk kerjaya sains data yang dapat menjelaskan lonjakan kemahiran ini. Kemahiran yang berkembang pesat di Malaysia agak berbeza di negara -negara Asia Tenggara yang lain. Sebagai contoh terdapat peningkatan ketara membabitkan data analitik, dalam analitik data dan kemahiran pengembangan laman web dan kemahiran React di negara – negara berkenaan. Memandangkan kemahiran digital yang sangat diminati di Malaysia termasuk pengkomputeran awan dan pelbagai program pengaturcaraan, bakat digital tempayan yang ingin meningkatkan kebolehpasaran mereka boleh mendalami kemahiran yang sedang berkembang di negara -jiran.
Apakah maksud trend ini untuk bakat Malaysia? Walaupun jumlah kekosongan jawatan digital adalah tinggi namun kebanyakan adalah untuk pekerja berpengalaman. Ini memberi cabaran kepada graduan baharu. Dalam jangka masa pendek, graduan baharu boleh merapatkan jurang pengalaman dengan menyertai pekerjaan bebas digital melalui platform seperti Upwork, Freelancer.com atau Fiverr. Pada masa yang sama, bakat digital junior ini juga harus mempelajari beberapa kemahiran digital yang sangat diperlukan seperti analitik, pengembangan perisian, pengaturcaraan dan pengkomputeran awan. Dalam usaha membantu bakat memilih kursus latihan yang tepat, MDEC telah mewujudkan Direktori Latihan Kemahiran Digital yang menyenaraikan kursus yang telah disemak dan disahkan oleh pengamal teknologi pakar. Pencari kerja dinasihatkan supaya merujuk ke direktori ini manakala pekerja sedia ada juga dapat meningkatkan kemahiran dengan mengikuti kursus -kursus yang ditawarkan.
Bagi lepasan sekolah menengah atau pelajar pra-universiti yang masih keliru mengenai kursus yang harus dipohon di universiti, trend ini menunjukkan peluang kerjaya dalam bidang berkaitan teknologi digital. Dalam hal ini, MDEC bekerjasama dengan 11 universiti dan lima politeknik menerusi inisiatif Institusi Teknologi Digital Premier (PDTI). Hasil kerjasama erat ini yang turut membabitkan pemain industri, lebih daripada 90 peratus graduan teknologi digital mereka mendapat pekerjaan dalam tempoh enam bulan selepas graduasi.
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As digital technologies have notably begun to play an even more critical role in the economy, it is increasingly clear that there is a real need to prepare talents – newly graduated or now in the workforce – for digital jobs. More companies are becoming digital by default, with 91% of organisations having to adopt or have plans to become a ‘digital-first’ business strategy.
In Malaysia, eight of the top ten emerging jobs will require digital tech skills. This includes jobs in Data Analysts and Scientists; Internet of Things (IoT) Specialists; Digital Transformation Specialists; and Cybersecurity Specialists, says the World Economic Forum (WEF)’s “The Future of Jobs Report 2020” Report. The same study also forecasted that 50 percent of all employees will need re-skilling by 2025.
On the supply side, according to a 2018 Randstad survey, close to 90 percent of the workforce in Malaysia believe they do not have skills for a digital workplace, while graduate unemployment had also seen an increase due to the lack of digital skills. The Ministry of Education Malaysia (MOE) Graduate Tracer Study 2018 states that 1 out of 5 graduates are unemployed and acquiring digital skills have been clearly acknowledged as part of the solution.
The question now arises whether “Do Malaysians have the right skills to survive and thrive in the digital economy ?”
A Holistic Talent Pipeline to Face a K-shaped Economic Recovery The Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) was quick to recognise the need for a holistic talent pipeline that serves to digitally up-skill Malaysians as the nation accelerates towards becoming a digital society. A holistic approach is required, simply because digital literacy and skills is now a necessity at all strata and segments of society as the nation becomes increasingly digital by default.
From the future and emerging talent pipeline to underserved – rural communities, differently-abled and the lower B40 populace, to those looking for opportunities on an intricately landscaped suite of careers, all of them can only be filled via those who have specialised digital talents. With these features, Malaysia’s particularly diverse workforce calls for opportunities being offered through a movement with spokes and hubs that reach out to each category of society that now constantly seeks digital upskilling through specific pipelines.
As is, the digital economy is expected to make significant contributions to the country as the projection is based on the forecasted economic growth rate of 6.7 percent next year, according to a World Bank Report and the significant contribution of 20 percent to the National GDP based on the Department of Statistics Malaysia report.
In this regard, MDEC, with the strong support of KKMM, will continue to drive forward the digital economy initiatives centred towards ensuring shared prosperity for the many and, eventually, envisioning Malaysia’s role as the heart of digital ASEAN.
All this will be guided mainly via its focus on three main strategic thrusts – empowering Malaysians with Digital Jobs and Skills; enabling Digitally-Powered Businesses; and attracting Digital Investments. Various initiatives will follow through with the details outlined in the 2021 Budget as it ensures nation thrives in the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) era and can make the concept of Malaysia 5.0 a success.
Building Talent Pipelines for Emerging Jobs At one end of the talent spectrum that serves the future talent pipeline, movements such as MDEC’s #mydigitalmaker are aimed at cultivating digital innovation, creativity and problem-solving skills amongst Malaysian students. In partnership with the MOE, the EdTech and Maker ecosystems, this movement had impacted more than 1.6 million school students nationwide.
Similarly, MDEC is also working with the Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE) and Premier Digital Tech Institutions (PDTIs) to ensure that industry-relevant content is integrated into the curricula of the 11 universities and 5 polytechnics that are in this programme. More institutions of higher learning are joining this programme in 2021. The value of building a talent pipeline that cuts across the entire spectrum, starting with the next generation, is key in creating a resilient future workforce.
At the other end of the spectrum are those seeking employment through upskilling and reskilling digitally, for future jobs. MDEC’s COVID-19 Impact Survey 2020 revealed how 70% of Malaysian businesses will have retraining needs in a post-pandemic era. A further 83% shared how the focuses would be in the areas of digital marketing and digital productivity tools, with the latter including remote working skills.
MDEC’s Role The need for digital up-skilling and re-skilling Malaysians had been evident throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. MDEC’s ongoing efforts include the most pronounced initiative under the still running #MyDigitalWorkforce Movement. It launched in November 2020 during Malaysia Tech Month and brought Malaysians to a focal point that was populated with webinars, satellite events and a job expo that MDEC launched in August 2020 in response to COVID-19. The Movement itself had been dubbed the catalyst for talent to get on the K-shaped economic recovery.
Not merely fizzling out after the event ended, and with COVID-19 infection spiking over the last few months, MDEC also developed and introduced two new initiatives under the overall #MyDigitalWorkforce Movement. Catered specifically to digital jobs- and skills-needs, both – MyDigitalWorkforce Jobs Platform and Digital Skills Training Directory – were launched simultaneously. These were the key enablers within the country’s efforts to help mitigate jobs impacted by the pandemic. The digital jobs portal, an ongoing collaboration with recruitment firms – WOBB and Hays Malaysia, now offers more than 2,000 vacancies and career growth opportunities in jobs related to digital technology.
As for the Digital Skills Training Directory, MDEC introduced it in collaboration with SOCSO, with the latter providing an incentive subsidy under the SOCSO Employment Insurance Scheme. This is part of the PENJANA Hiring Incentive that offers up to RM4,000 per pax for unemployed Malaysians seeking to beef-up with new digital skills.
The directory is a catalogue of courses that address in-demand digital skills. These learning modules and trainers have been reviewed and endorsed by a panel of digital industry experts to ensure proper guidance is available to Malaysians who are selecting courses that meet the requirements for digital jobs. Featuring 173 courses to-date, it comprises in-depth training and certification at beginner, intermediate and advanced levels in data sciences (50), cybersecurity (44), software development (55), animation (19) and game development (5).
Closing the Skills-Gap in the Digital Era “As Malaysia, and the world, continue to contend with the disruptions that this pandemic had wrought, it’s now more critical than ever for the workforce to raise their game. This includes learning new skills and abilities that can meet the demands of the digital era. The #MyDigitalWorkforce Jobs Platform and Digital Skills Training Directory is part our ongoing efforts to address the gap between talent fulfilment and workforce demands. They are the necessary building blocks for Malaysia to kick-start and develop a digitally ready workforce. Only then can we truly accelerate ongoing efforts to grow the digital economy,” shared Surina Shukri, CEO, MDEC.
As of end-2020, the digital careers platform had received over 23,000 applications with almost 700 being shortlisted for interviews. Similarly, the directory is now experiencing a surge in interest from youths, fresh graduates and the workforce. In fact, the number of applications and jobs continue to climb on a daily basis.
Today, the tech sector contributes 18.5 percent to Malaysia’s GDP – the highest in the region, and 30 percent to ASEAN’s Internet economy, making it truly the Heart of Digital ASEAN. Talent is a crucial component in the nation’s digital ecosystem as digital competencies among these talents are catalysts for digitalisation across SMEs, industries and among the rakyat at large.
MDEC’s various digital economy initiatives are centred towards Digitally-Skilled Malaysians, Digitally-Powered Businesses and Digital Investments – the three pillars under the agency’s strategic framework. Among those parked under the Digitally-Skilled Malaysians are the #MyDigitalWorkforce Jobs Platform and Digital Skills Training Directory that aspires to address gaps between talent fulfilment and workforce demands via provisioning of strong digital competencies. MDEC’s initiatives under the pillar of Digitally-Skilled Malaysians have impacted more than 2 million Malaysians from the year 2016 to Q3 2020 as they help Malaysia accelerate its socio-economy towards becoming a digitally-skilled society and enable the nation to embrace the 4IR era as it steer towards achieving shared prosperity for all.
Ketika ini teknologi digital memainkan peranan yang sangat penting dalam ekonomi.Oleh itu, wujud keperluan mendesak untuk menyediakan graduan baharu atau tenaga kerja sedia ada untuk sektor berkenaan. Pada masa sama, kajian mendapati lebih banyak syarikat ‘menjadi’ digital apabila sebanyak 91 peratus organisasi telah mengadaptasi digital dalam operasi masing -masing atau sekurang -kurangnya mempunyai perancangan untuk berbuat demikian.
Mengikut kajian IDG Business Survey 2019, secara purata sebanyak RM15.3 juta akan dilaburkan untuk inisiatif digital. Sektor Perusahaan Kecil dan Sederhana (PKS) merangkumi sekitar 48.4 peratus pekerjaan di negara ini namun 48 peratus menyedari pekerja mereka kekurangan kemahiran digital.
Dalam konteks di Malaysia, lapan daripada sepuluh pekerjaan baharu akan memerlukan kemahiran teknologi digital termasuklah penganalisis data dan saintis, pakar Internet Kebendaan (IoT), pakar transformasi digital dan pakar keselamatan siber seperti Laporan Masa Depan Pekerjaan 2020 oleh Forum Ekonomi Dunia (WEF). Laporan sama juga meramalkan bahawa 50 peratus daripada semua pekerja akan memerlukan penambahan semula kemahiran baharu menjelang 2025.
Melihat aspek penawaran pula, menurut tinjauan Randstad 2018, hampir 90 peratus tenaga kerja di Malaysia percaya mereka tidak mempunyai kemahiran untuk tempat kerja digital sementara pengangguran siswazah juga meningkat disebabkan faktor ini. Kajian yang dilaksanakan oleh Kementerian Pendidikan Malaysia pada 2018 pula mendapati bahawa satu daripada lima siswazah menganggur mengakui kemahiran digital merupakan penyelesaian kepada masalah yang dihadapi mereka.
Persoalannya ialah “ Adakah rakyat Malaysia mempunyai kemahiran yang tepat untuk bertahan dan berkembang dalam ekonomi digital?”
Saluran Bakat Holistik untuk Menghadapi Pemulihan Ekonomi berbentuk K Dalam soal ini, Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) pantas menyedari perlunya saluran bakat holistik untuk meningkatkan kemampuan digital rakyat Malaysia pada ketika negara kita semakin laju meluncur ke arah menjadi masyarakat digital. Pendekatan ini sangat penting memandangkan kemahiran dan literas digital diperlukan oleh semua lapisan masyarakat termasuklah di luar bandar, golongan B40 serta pencari peluang dalam kerjaya yang memerlukan kemahiran tertentu.
Menerusi ciri-ciri ini, tenaga kerja tempatan menjadi sangat berkebolehan untuk mengisi peluang digital yang ditawarkan sekaligus menjadi hab yang menjangkau setiap kategori masyarakat yang sedang mencari peningkatan digital melalui saluran tertentu.
“Ekonomi digital dijangka akan terus memberi sumbangan penting kepada negara berdasarkan ramalan pertumbuhan ekonomi pada kadar 6.7 peratus tahun hadapan seperti laporan Bank Dunia dan 20 peratus kepada KDNK mengikut laporon Jabatan Perangkaan Malaysia.
Sehubungan dengan itu, MDEC dengan sokongan padu KKMM akan meneruskan inisiatif berpaksikan kemakmuran bersama untuk rakyat dan seterusnya mencapai cita-cita Malaysia sebagai Nadi Digital ASEAN berpandukan tiga teras utama iaitu menyediakan rakyat Malaysia berkemahiran digital, perniagaan diperkasa secara digital dan menarik pelaburan digital. Pelbagai inisiatif akan dilaksanakan selaras dengan perincian Belanjawan 2021 dan seterusnya mengharungi era Revolusi Perindustrian 4.0 (IR 4.0) dan menjayakan Malaysia 5.0.”
Membangun Talian Bakat untuk Pekerjaan yang Muncul Matlamat akhir spektrum yang membantu saluran bakat masa depan ini dapat dilihat menerusi gerakan #mydigitalmaker yang dilancarkan oleh MDEC dengan tujuan memupuk inovasi digital, kreativiti dan kemahiran menyelesaikan masalah di kalangan pelajar Malaysia. Bekerjasama dengan Kementerian Pendidikan Malaysia, usaha memantapkan ekosistem teknologi pendidikan dan pembuatan, gerakan ini telah memanfaatkan lebih 1.6 juta pelajar sekolah di seluruh negara.
Selanjutnya, MDEC juga bekerjasama dengan Kementerian Pengajian Tinggi dan Institusi Teknologi Digital Premier (PDTI) untuk memastikan bahawa kandungan berkaitan industri ‘dimasukkan’ ke dalam kurikulum 11 buah universiti dan 5 politeknik yang terlibat dengan program ini. Usaha untuk membina saluran bakat yang merangkumi keseluruhan spektrum harus membabitkan penglibatan generasi pelapis kerana ia merupakan kunci untuk mewujudkan tenaga kerja masa depan yang berdaya tahan.
Matlamat akhir program ini ialah untuk membantu golongan yang mencari pekerjaan meningkatkan kemahiran secara digital untuk pekerjaan di masa depan. Tinjauan Impak COVID-19 yang dilaksanakan MDEC menunjukkan bahawa 70 peratus syarikat akan mempunyai keperluan untuk latihan semula selepas COVID manakala 83 peratus syarikat akan melaksanakan latihan semula membabitkan bidang pemasaran digital dan peralatan untuk produktiviti digital serta akhir sekali merangkumi kemampuan bekerja secara tidak di pejabat.
Peranan MDEC Keperluan untuk rakyat Malaysia yang mahir dan berkemahiran tinggi telah terbukti sepanjang wabak COVID-19. Usaha berterusan MDEC termasuk inisiatif di bawah Gerakan #MyDigitalWorkforce Ia dilancarkan pada November 2020 semasa Bulan Teknologi membawa Malaysia (MTM2020) yang memberi peluang kepada rakyat menyertai pelbagai siri webinar, acara satelit dan pameran pekerjaan yang dilancarkan MDEC pada Ogos 2020 sebagai tindak balas kepada COVID-19. Gerakan ini merupakan pemangkin kepada bakat untuk terlibat dalam proses pemulihan ekonomi berbentuk K.
Tidak berhenti setakat itu, MDEC baru – baru ini melancarkan dua inisiatif baharu di bawah gerakan #MyDigitalWorkforce iaitu Platform Pekerjaan MyDigitalWorkforce dan Direktori Latihan Kemahiran Digital untuk memenuhi keperluan pekerjaan digital dan kemahiran. Usaha ini dilaksanakan bagi membantu golongan yang hilang pekerjaan akibat penularan wabak berkenaan. Portal pekerjaan digital iaitu WOBB dan Hays Malaysia kini menawarkan lebih daripada 2,000 kekosongan pekerjaan berkaitan dengan teknologi digital.x
Bagi Direktori Latihan Kemahiran Digital pula, MDEC melancarkannya dengan kerjasama PERKESO. Ianya antara lain memberikan subsidi di bawah Skim Insurans Pekerjaan PERKESO dan Insentif Pengambilan PENJANA sehingga RM4,000 untuk individu yang hilang pekerjaan mempelajari kursus-kursus baharu dan menambah kemahiran digital. x
Direktori ini merupakan katalog kursus untuk menangani permintaan kemahiran digital yang diperlukan. Kursus ini telah mendapat pengesahan pakar industri digital untuk membimbing rakyat Malaysia memilih modul yang memenuhi syarat untuk pekerjaan berkaitan teknologi digital. Mengandungi 173 kursus , ia merangkumi latihan dan pensijilan untuk peringkat pemulaan, menengah dan lanjutan membabitkan sains data (50), keselamatan siber (44), pengembangan perisian (55), animasi (19) dan pengembangan permainan (5) . x
Mengecilkan Jurang Kemahiran dalam Era Digital “Ketika Malaysia dan dunia terus menghadapi gangguan disebabkan oleh wabak ini, keperluan tenaga kerja menjadi lebih kritikal berbanding sebelumnya. Keperluan yang dimaksudkan termasuklah mempelajari kemahiran dan kebolehan baharu yang dapat memenuhi tuntutan era digital. Platform #MyDigitalWorkforce Jobs dan Direktori Latihan Kemahiran Digital merupakan usaha MDEC untuk mengatasi jurang yang wujud membabitkan penawaran bakat dan permintaan tenaga kerja. Ini merupakan asas yang perlu bagi Malaysia untuk memulakan dan mengembangkan tenaga kerja yang bersedia secara digital. Hanya dengan itu kita dapat mempercepatkan usaha berterusan untuk mengembangkan ekonomi digital,” kata Ketua Pegawai Eksekutif MDEC, Pn. Surina Shukri.
Pada masa ini, platform kerjaya digital telah menerima sekitar 23,000 permohonan dengan hampir 700 telah disenaraikan untuk temuduga. Direktori ini terus menerima peningkatan kunjungan membabitkan golongan belia, graduan baharu dan tenaga kerja sedia ada. Jumlah permohonan dan pekerjaan terus meningkat setiap hari. Hari ini sektor teknologi menyumbang sebanyak 18.5 peratus kepada KDNK Malaysia (tertinggi di rantau ini) dan 30 peratus kepada ekonomi digital ASEAN sekaligus menjadikannya sebagai Nadi Dgital ASEAN. Bakat merupakan komponen penting dalam ekosistem digital negara dan kecekapan digital yang dimiliki merupakan pemangkin digitalisasi di seluruh PKS, industri dan di kalangan rakyat secara amnya.
Pelbagai inisiatif ekonomi digital oleh MDEC yang membabitkan rakyat Malaysia yang berkemahiran digital, perniagaan dipacu secara digital dan pelaburan digital merupakan tiga teras strategiknya. Menerusi teras rakyat Malaysia berkemahiran digital, usaha dapat dilihat menerusi Platform Pekerjaan #MyDigitalWorkforce dan Direktori Latihan Kemahiran Digital bagi mengatasi jurang yang wujud membabitkan lambakan bakat dan tuntutan tenaga kerja dengan kecekapan digital. Teras MDEC membabitkan rakyat Malaysia yang berkemahiran digital telah memberi kesan kepada lebih daripada dua juta rakyat Malaysia sejak 2016 hingga suku ketiga tahun ini. Inisiatif MDEC bertujuan untuk membantu Malaysia menghadapi Revolusi Industri 4.0 (IR 4.0) dan menuju ke Malaysia 5.0 untuk mencapai hasrat kemakmuran bersama untuk semua.
By Dr. Sumitra Nair, Vice President of Digital Talent Development, Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC
Scroll down for Malay version/Skrol ke bawah untuk versi Bahasa Melayu
As digital technologies have notably begun playing an even more critical role in the economy, it is increasingly clear that there is a real need to prepare talents – newly graduated or now in the workforce – for digital jobs. More companies are becoming digital by default with 91% of organisations having to adopt or have plans to adopt a ‘digital-first’ business strategy. In fact, an average of $15.3 million over the next 12 months will be spent on digital initiatives, says IDG Digital Business Survey 2019. SMEs’ employment comprises 48.4% of Malaysia’s employment and 48% of SMEs recognise the lack of digital skills.
In Malaysia, eight of the top ten emerging jobs will require digital tech skills; This includes jobs in Data Analysts and Scientists; Internet of Things (IoT) Specialists; Digital Transformation Specialists; and Cybersecurity Specialists, says the World Economic Forum (WEF)’s “The Future of Jobs Report 2020”. The same report forecasts that 50 percent of all employees will need reskilling by 2025.
On the supply side, according to a 2018 Randstad survey, close to 90 percent of the workforce in Malaysia believe they do not have skills for a digital workplace, while graduate unemployment has also seen an increase for reasons including the lack of digital skills. The Ministry of Education Malaysia (MOE) Graduate Tracer Study 2018 states that 1 out of 5 graduates are unemployed and acquiring digital skills have been clearly acknowledged as part of the solution.
The question now arises whether “Do Malaysians have the right skills to survive and thrive in the digital economy ?”
A Holistic Talent Pipeline to Face a K-shaped Economic Recovery
Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) thus has been quick to recognise the need for a holistic talent pipeline that serves to digitally upskill Malaysians as the nation accelerates towards becoming a digital society. A holistic approach is required, simply because digital literacy and skills will be required by all strata and segments of society as the nation becomes increasingly digital by default; from the future and emerging talent pipeline to underserved – rural communities, differently-abled and the lower B40 populace, to those looking for opportunities on an intricately landscaped suite of careers that can only be filled by the most specialized digital talents.
Bearing these features, our particularly diverse workforce calls for opportunities which are offered through nothing short of a movement with spokes and hubs that reach out to each category of society seeking digital upskilling, through specific pipelines.
Building Talent Pipelines for Emerging Jobs
At the end of the spectrum that serves the future talent pipeline, movements such as MDEC’s #mydigitalmaker are aimed at cultivating digital innovation, creativity and problem-solving skills amongst Malaysian students. In partnership with the MOE, the edtech and maker ecosystem, the movement has impacted more than 1.6 million school students nationwide. Similarly, MDEC also works with the Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE) and the Premier Digital Tech Institutions (PDTIs) to ensure that industry-relevant content is integrated into the curricula of the 11 universities and 5 polytechnics that are in this programme. The value of building a talent pipeline that cuts across the entire spectrum starting with the next generation is key in creating a resilient future workforce.
At the other end of the spectrum are those seeking employment through upskilling and reskilling digitally, for future jobs. MDEC’s COVID-19 Impact Survey 2020 yielded that 70% of companies will have retraining needs post-COVID; a further 83% mentioned retraining would be in the areas of Digital Marketing and Digital Productivity Tools, the latter of which includes remote working skills.
MDEC’s Role
MDEC’s role in digitally upskilling and reskilling Malaysians has been evident throughout the COVID-19 pandemic with some of its earliest efforts surrounding the Let’s Learn Digital platform which had been rolled out in partnership with Coursera. Providing free online courses for the unemployed, more than 21,000 successful applications have been received to-date. Let’s Learn Digital offered 3,800 courses for free until the end of September 2020 and has been instrumental in upskilling many knowledge-hungry Malaysians, vying for digital upskilling opportunities to access better job prospects.
Tan Jia Er who successfully completed a course on Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) on Coursera learnt about the upskilling opportunity during the MDEC’s #MyDigitalWorkforce Week, and shared her experience that she had pursued the course to raise her profile for a job in the field of public relations.
Like Tan, mother of two, Devi (not her real name) set out to skill herself digitally. She was gearing herself to re-enter the working world after a five-year hiatus and stumbled upon an MDEC advertisement offering digital courses a few months ago. She started with the course on Tableau and progressed to a few other courses along the way. This month, she will assume the role of a human resource at a multinational consulting services company.
The most pronounced event of late under the #MyDigitalWorkforce movement was the #MyDigitalWorkforce Week that brought Malaysians to a focal point that was populated with webinars, satellite events and a job expo which MDEC launched in August this year in response to COVID-19. The event was an offshoot under the #MyDigitalWorkforce movement, the latter of which has been dubbed the catalyst for talent to get on the K-shaped economic recovery (by Digital News Asia).
Not merely fizzling out after the week’s event that ended on September 4th, and with COVID-19 infection spiking over the last few weeks, two initiatives MDEC recently introduced under the overall #MyDigitalWorkforce movement catering to digital jobs- and skills-needs, were the MyDigitalWorkforce Jobs Platform and Digital Skills Training Directory. These are key enablers in the country’s efforts to help mitigate jobs impacted by the pandemic.
The digital jobs portal, an ongoing collaboration with recruitment firms, WOBB and Hays Malaysia now offers more than 2,000 vacancies in jobs related to digital technology.
As for the Digital Skills Training Directory, MDEC introduced it in collaboration with SOCSO, with the latter providing an incentive subsidy, under the SOCSO Employment Insurance Scheme and PENJANA Hiring Incentive of up to RM4,000 per pax for unemployed Malaysians seeking to beef-up with new digital skills.
The directory is a catalogue of courses that address in-demand digital skills. These courses and trainers have been reviewed and endorsed by a panel of digital industry experts to guide Malaysians in selecting courses that meet the requirements for jobs related to digital technology. Featuring 173 courses to-date, it comprises in-depth training and certification at beginner, intermediate and advanced levels in data sciences (50), cybersecurity (44), software development (55), animation (19) and game development (5).
Closing the Skills-Gap in the Digital Era
“As Malaysia, and the world, continue to contend with the disruptions that this pandemic has wrought, it’s now more critical than ever for the workforce to raise their game. This includes learning new skills and abilities that can meet the demands of the digital era. The #MyDigitalWorkforce Jobs Platform and Digital Skills Training Directory is our effort to address the gap between talent fulfilment and workforce demands. They are necessary building blocks for Malaysia to kick-start and develop a digitally ready workforce. Only then can we truly accelerate ongoing efforts to grow the digital economy,” shared Pn. Surina Shukri, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of MDEC.
Currently, the digital careers platform has received close to 23,000 applications with almost 700 being shortlisted for interviews. Similarly, the directory is now experiencing a surge in interest from youths, fresh graduates and the workforce. The number of applications and jobs continue to climb on a daily basis. Today the tech sector contributes 18.5 percent to Malaysia’s GDP (highest in the region) and 30 percent to ASEAN’s Internet economy, making it truly the heart of digital ASEAN- and talent is a crucial component in the nation’s digital ecosystem and the digital competency among these talents are catalysts for digitalization across SMEs, industries and among the rakyat at large.
MDEC’s various digital economy initiatives are centered towards Digitally-Skilled Malaysians, Digitally-Powered Businesses and Digital Investments – the three pillars under the agency’s strategic framework. Among those parked under the Digitally-Skilled Malaysians are the #MyDigitalWorkforce Jobs Platform and Digital Skills Training Directory that aspires to address gaps between talent fulfillment and workforce demands with strong digital competencies. MDEC’s initiatives under the pillar of Digitally-Skilled Malaysians have impacted more than 2 million Malaysians from the year 2016 to Q3 of 2020. MDEC’s initiatives are aimed to help Malaysia accelerate the digital economy towards becoming a digitally-skilled society as the nation embraces the Fourth Industrial Revolution and steers itself to Malaysia 5.0 to achieve shared prosperity for all.
Screenshot of the Digital Skills Training Directory siteDigital Skills Training Directory lists 5 digital technology focus areas MDEC’s initiative on digital skills has impacted more than 2 million Malaysians from 2016 to Q3 2020
RAKYAT MALAYSIA YANG BERKEMAHIRAN DIGITAL
Oleh Dr Sumitra Nair, Naib President Bahagian Pembangunan Bakat Digital , Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC
Ketika ini teknologi digital memainkan peranan yang sangat penting dalam ekonomi.Oleh itu, wujud keperluan mendesak untuk menyediakan graduan baharu atau tenaga kerja sedia ada untuk sektor berkenaan. Pada masa sama, kajian mendapati lebih banyak syarikat ‘menjadi’ digital apabila sebanyak 91 peratus organisasi telah mengadaptasi digital dalam operasi masing -masing atau sekurang -kurangnya mempunyai perancangan untuk berbuat demikian. Mengikut kajian IDG Business Survey 2019, secara purata sebanyak RM15.3 juta akan dilaburkan untuk inisiatif digital. Sektor Perusahaan Kecil dan Sederhana (PKS) merangkumi sekitar 48.4 peratus pekerjaan di negara ini namun 48 peratus menyedari pekerja mereka kekurangan kemahiran digital.
Dalam konteks di Malaysia, lapan daripada sepuluh pekerjaan baharu akan memerlukan kemahiran teknologi digital termasuklah penganalisis data dan saintis, pakar Internet Kebendaan (IoT), pakar transformasi digital dan pakar keselamatan siber seperti Laporan Masa Depan Pekerjaan 2020 oleh Forum Ekonomi Dunia (WEF). Laporan sama juga meramalkan bahawa 50 peratus daripada semua pekerja akan memerlukan penambahan semula kemahiran baharu menjelang 2025.
Melihat aspek penawaran pula, menurut tinjauan Randstad 2018, hampir 90 peratus tenaga kerja di Malaysia percaya mereka tidak mempunyai kemahiran untuk tempat kerja digital sementara pengangguran siswazah juga meningkat disebabkan faktor ini. Kajian yang dilaksanakan oleh Kementerian Pendidikan Malaysia pada 2018 pula mendapati bahawa satu daripada lima siswazah menganggur mengakui kemahiran digital merupakan penyelesaian kepada masalah yang dihadapi mereka.
Persoalannya ialah “ Adakah rakyat Malaysia mempunyai kemahiran yang tepat untuk bertahan dan berkembang dalam ekonomi digital?”
Saluran Bakat Holistik untuk Menghadapi Pemulihan Ekonomi berbentuk K
Dalam soal ini, Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) pantas menyedari perlunya saluran bakat holistik untuk meningkatkan kemampuan digital rakyat Malaysia pada ketika negara kita semakin laju meluncur ke arah menjadi masyarakat digital. Pendekatan ini sangat penting memandangkan kemahiran dan literas digital diperlukan oleh semua lapisan masyarakat termasuklah di luar bandar, golongan B40 serta pencari peluang dalam kerjaya yang memerlukan kemahiran tertentu.
Menerusi ciri-ciri ini, tenaga kerja tempatan menjadi sangat berkebolehan untuk mengisi peluang digital yang ditawarkan sekaligus menjadi hab yang menjangkau setiap kategori masyarakat yang sedang mencari peningkatan digital melalui saluran tertentu.
Membangun Talian Bakat untuk Pekerjaan yang Muncul
Matlamat akhir spektrum yang membantu saluran bakat masa depan ini dapat dilihat menerusi gerakan #mydigitalmaker yang dilancarkan oleh MDEC dengan tujuan memupuk inovasi digital, kreativiti dan kemahiran menyelesaikan masalah di kalangan pelajar Malaysia. Bekerjasama dengan Kementerian Pendidikan Malaysia, usaha memantapkan ekosistem teknologi pendidikan dan pembuatan, gerakan ini telah memanfaatkan lebih 1.6 juta pelajar sekolah di seluruh negara. Selanjutnya, MDEC juga bekerjasama dengan Kementerian Pengajian Tinggi dan Institusi Teknologi Digital Premier (PDTI) untuk memastikan bahawa kandungan berkaitan industri ‘dimasukkan’ ke dalam kurikulum 11 buah universiti dan 5 politeknik yang terlibat dengan program ini. Usaha untuk membina saluran bakat yang merangkumi keseluruhan spektrum harus membabitkan penglibatan generasi pelapis kerana ia merupakan kunci untuk mewujudkan tenaga kerja masa depan yang berdaya tahan.
Matlamat akhir program ini ialah untuk membantu golongan yang mencari pekerjaan meningkatkan kemahiran secara digital untuk pekerjaan di masa depan. Tinjauan Impak COVID-19 yang dilaksanakan MDEC menunjukkan bahawa 70 peratus syarikat akan mempunyai keperluan untuk latihan semula selepas COVID manakala 83 peratus syarikat akan melaksanakan latihan semula membabitkan bidang pemasaran digital dan peralatan untuk produktiviti digital serta akhir sekali merangkumi kemampuan bekerja secara tidak di pejabat.
PerananMDEC
Peranan MDEC dalam meningkatkan kemampuan dan mendidik rakyat Malaysia telah terbukti ketika pandemik COVID-19 masih berlarutan. Antara usaha awal ialah menerusi platform Let’s Learn Digital atau Mari Belajar Digital yang telah dilancarkan dengan kerjasama Coursera. Inisiatif ini antaranya menyediakan kursus dalam talian secara percuma untuk penganggur dan telah menunjukkan hasil yang cukup memberangsangkan apabila menerima lebih 21,000 permohonan. Mari Belajar Digital menawarkan 3,800 kursus secara percuma hingga akhir September 2020 .Ia juga berperanan membantu rakyat tempatan yang ingin menambah pengetahuan bagi membolehkan mereka bersaing untuk mendapatkan peluang pekerjaan digital serta prospek kerjaya lain yang lebih baik.
Antara yang berjaya menamatkan kursus berkenaan ialah Tan Jia Er yang mempelajari latihan Pengoptimum Enjin Carian (SEO) di Coursera. Pada masa sama, Jia Er juga mendapat pengetahuan mengenai peluang peningkatan kerjaya ketika berlangsungnya Minggu #MyDigitalWorkforce anjuran MDEC. Jelasnya, dia mengikuti kursus untuk meningkatkan profilnya bagi mendapatkan pekerjaan di bidang Perhubungan Awam.
Sementara itu, Devi (bukan nama sebenar) yang merupakan ibu kepada dua cahaya mata berupaya melatih dirinya secara digital. Devi berkata, dia telah berusaha untuk memasuki semula dunia pekerjaan setelah lima tahun bercuti . Iklan oleh MDEC mengenai kursus Coursera telah menarik minatnya dan seterusnya dia mendaftar untuk mengikuti kursus di Tableau selain turut berpeluang mempelajari beberapa modul lain sepanjang tempoh berkenaan. Bulan ini, Devi akan memulakan kariernya dalam bidang pengurusan sumber manusia di sebuah syarikat multinasional.
Acara yang paling menonjol menerusi gerakan #MyDigitalWorkforce ialah Minggu #MyDigitalWorkforce yang memberi peluang kepada rakyat Malaysia menyertai pelbagai acara maya seperti siri -siri webinar, acara satelit dan ekspo kerjaya pada Ogos tahun ini. Ini juga merupakan tindak balas MDEC dalam membantu rakyat yang terkesan akibat COVID-19. Acara ini yang merupakan salah satu cabang gerakan #MyDigitalWorkforce dianggap sebagai pemangkin kepada bakat digital supaya proses pemulihan ekonomi berbentuk K dapat dilaksanakan (oleh Digital News Asia).
Tidak berhenti setakat itu, MDEC baru – baru ini melancarkan dua inisiatif baharu di bawah gerakan #MyDigitalWorkforce iaitu Platform Pekerjaan MyDigitalWorkforce dan Direktori Latihan Kemahiran Digital untuk memenuhi keperluan pekerjaan digital dan kemahiran. Usaha ini dilaksanakan bagi membantu golongan yang hilang pekerjaan akibat penularan wabak berkenaan. Portal pekerjaan digital iaitu WOBB dan Hays Malaysia kini menawarkan lebih daripada 2,000 kekosongan pekerjaan berkaitan dengan teknologi digital.
Bagi Direktori Latihan Kemahiran Digital pula, MDEC melancarkannya dengan kerjasama PERKESO. Ianya antara lain memberikan subsidi di bawah Skim Insurans Pekerjaan PERKESO dan Insentif Pengambilan PENJANA sehingga RM4,000 untuk individu yang hilang pekerjaan mempelajari kursus-kursus baharu dan menambah kemahiran digital.
Direktori ini merupakan katalog kursus untuk menangani permintaan kemahiran digital yang diperlukan. Kursus ini telah mendapat pengesahan pakar industri digital untuk membimbing rakyat Malaysia memilih modul yang memenuhi syarat untuk pekerjaan berkaitan teknologi digital. Mengandungi 173 kursus , ia merangkumi latihan dan pensijilan untuk peringkat pemulaan, menengah dan lanjutan membabitkan sains data (50), keselamatan siber (44), pengembangan perisian (55), animasi (19) dan pengembangan permainan (5) .
Mengecilkan Jurang Kemahiran dalam Era Digital
” Ketika Malaysia dan dunia terus menghadapi gangguan disebabkan oleh wabak ini, keperluan tenaga kerja menjadi lebih kritikal berbanding sebelumnya. Keperluan yang dimaksudkan termasuklah mempelajari kemahiran dan kebolehan baharu yang dapat memenuhi tuntutan era digital. Platform #MyDigitalWorkforce Jobs dan Direktori Latihan Kemahiran Digital merupakan usaha MDEC untuk mengatasi jurang yang wujud membabitkan penawaran bakat dan permintaan tenaga kerja. Ini merupakan asas yang perlu bagi Malaysia untuk memulakan dan mengembangkan tenaga kerja yang bersedia secara digital. Hanya dengan itu kita dapat mempercepatkan usaha berterusan untuk mengembangkan ekonomi digital, ”kata Ketua Pegawai Eksekutif MDEC, Pn. Surina Shukri.
Pada masa ini, platform kerjaya digital telah menerima sekitar 23,000 permohonan dengan hampir 700 telah disenaraikan untuk temuduga. Direktori ini terus menerima peningkatan kunjungan membabitkan golongan belia, graduan baharu dan tenaga kerja sedia ada. Jumlah permohonan dan pekerjaan terus meningkat setiap hari. Hari ini sektor teknologi menyumbang sebanyak 18.5 peratus kepada KDNK Malaysia (tertinggi di rantau ini) dan 30 peratus kepada ekonomi digital ASEAN sekaligus menjadikannya sebagai Nadi Dgital ASEAN. Bakat merupakan komponen penting dalam ekosistem digital negara dan kecekapan digital yang dimiliki merupakan pemangkin digitalisasi di seluruh PKS, industri dan di kalangan rakyat secara amnya.
Pelbagai inisiatif ekonomi digital oleh MDEC yang membabitkan rakyat Malaysia yang berkemahiran digital, perniagaan dipacu secara digital dan pelaburan digital merupakan tiga teras strategiknya. Menerusi teras rakyat Malaysia berkemahiran digital, usaha dapat dilihat menerusi Platform Pekerjaan #MyDigitalWorkforce dan Direktori Latihan Kemahiran Digital bagi mengatasi jurang yang wujud membabitkan lambakan bakat dan tuntutan tenaga kerja dengan kecekapan digital. Teras MDEC membabitkan rakyat Malaysia yang berkemahiran digital telah memberi kesan kepada lebih daripada dua juta rakyat Malaysia sejak 2016 hingga suku ketiga tahun ini. Inisiatif MDEC bertujuan untuk membantu Malaysia menghadapi Revolusi Industri 4.0 (IR 4.0) dan menuju ke Malaysia 5.0 untuk mencapai hasrat kemakmuran bersama untuk semua.
Maklumat lanjut boleh didapati di:
https://mdec.my/mydigitalworkforcejobs/ untuk Platform Pekerjaan #MyDigitalWorkforce
https://mdec.my/digitalskillstrainingdirectory/ untuk Direktori Latihan Kemahiran Digital
Teachers are a critical part of any
child’s education journey. With the COVID-19 situation, teachers have had to
swiftly switch to online education. In this new normal, teachers not just have
to deliver lessons online, but more importantly, they must ensure that lessons
are conveyed in ways that keep students engaged and excited about learning.
In line with MDEC’s commitment to develop
digitally skilled Malaysians and in conjunction with Teachers Day, we went in
search of teachers who set a benchmark when it comes to educational technology
(edtech in short). Criteria for selection included a proven track record in
innovating the delivery of STEM education, being a STEM or digital tech
advocate amongst fellow teachers beyond their immediate circle, self-starters,
life-long learners, actively engaging with industry to improve their teaching
and learning methods, and are active participants in national and global edtech
forums. We call these teachers Cikgu Juara Digital (Champion
Digital Teachers), and they are indeed champions in their own right.
For a start, 25 Cikgu Juara Digital
have been identified and will be given rigorous training on advanced problem
solving and critical thinking skills, Artificial Intelligence, IoT, Social
Media engagement, content creation, etc. These teachers will go on to inspire and teach
teachers in their respective communities, and over time, we hope to have a
thriving movement of Cikgu Juara Digital around the country. Here
are 5 of these Cikgu Juara Digital, who have significant
following on their blogs, YouTubeChannels and social media platforms.
Cikgu Abdul Rahman bin Ali Bashah, SMK Jenjarom, Selangor
Cikgu Abdul Rahman, fondly known as Cikgu Aman has been a teacher for 10 years and is passionate about cultivating the love for STEM amongst the students of this semi-rural school. With the support from sponsors and his own savings, Cikgu Aman managed to secure a classroom and turned it into a maker space, where students get to work on digital projects like coding, robotics and 3D printing. Over and above his day job as Teacher at SMK Jenjarom, Cikgu Aman is also the founder of a Telegram group comprising 52,000 teachers to provide peer-to-peer support on digital education. He also has a blog which is called cikguaman.com, and more recently his own YouTube Channel. To-date, Cikgu Aman has attended more that more than 150 training sessions by Microsoft and his blog boasts a long list of awards and achievements.
Cikgu Norhailmi Abdul Mutalib,
SMK Jerlun, Kedah
Cikgu Hailmi
is a Science teacher who is another avid edtech blogger and YouTuber. His
digital content creation journey started when his students shared with him
their struggle to find Malaysian educational content online. That was back in
2012. Since then, the blog has gained an impressive 35 million views, and has
been recognised as the Best Educational Blog by the Malaysia Social Media
Awards in 2014 and 2016. His YouTube channel has more than 13,000 subscribers
and his most popular video entitled “Kasut Kelopak Jantung”, a
short film based on a novel written by Ghazali Lateh, has gained an impressive 618,000
views. He is now committed to equipping all his students with content creation
skills which he says are vital for the future. When asked when he finds the
time for his blog and YouTube videos, Cikgu Hailmi shared “I do it on my free
time, and maybe because I’ve done it for almost 10 years, so I don’t need to
spend more time on it. Just write, and post”.
Cikgu Mohd Razif Abdul Razak,
The Malay College Kuala Kangsar
Cikgu Razif
who famously known as Cikgu Siber is no alien to the world of digital learning
and teaching. He is the founder of the cikgusiber.com blog, which
is very well known by STEM teachers across the nation. The platform which has 15,000
followers, shares best practices and resources in edtech for teachers. In his role as MCKK’s IT Coordinator, Computer
Science and Design and Technology Teacher, he has won numerous awards such as
Apple Distinguished Educator (ADE) in 2019, International Invention &
Innovation Tech Exhibition (ITEX) Gold Award in 2017, and a string of other
awards. When asked how he juggles his time between his role as teacher with his
activities to support other teachers and participate in competitions, he
responded that he works closely with a team of fellow teachers who are equally
passionate to drive the digital education agenda.
Cikgu Julie, SMK Kuala Perlis , Kuala Perlis, Perlis
Cikgu Julie has had always had a deep desire to bring digital
transformation to her school which is in a fishing village. Hence her decision
to pursue a degree in Education Technology in university. Cikgu Julie was
recognised as the State ICT Teacher Icon in Perlis
last year, owing to her active contribution to her school and teaching
community. She is also one of the founding members and
administrators of the Digital Classroom community of teachers. This virtual community of
teachers was formed late last year to mobilise teachers nationwide to embrace
digital education and currently has more than 52,000 teachers as members.
Cikgu Goh Kok Ming, SKJC Chi
Seng 2, Rantau Panjang, Perak
Cikgu
Goh, who is a Mathematics graduate of the Institut Perguruan Malaysia
(Malaysian Teachers’ Training Institute) in Jitra, Kedah and also a Master’s degree
holder is an avid user of EdTech to expose his students to the world outside
the classroom. He uses Virtual Reality to expose them to attractions globally
and Skype Classroom to meet children from other countries. At the same time, he
is a firm believer in preparing his young students for the future of work by
introducing 4th IR technologies such as robots to the classroom, teaching
them how to surf the net safely and creating digital content. When asked how he
funds these tools, he shared that he tries to secure sponsors or sometimes forks
out his own money. Beyond that, he is also an active guest writer in various
edtech blogs. To spice up the learning process, Cikgu Goh uses app smashing, a method
of using multiple apps at the same time to complete a task or project. In his
case, he combines Minecraft Education Edition and Kahoot! Cikgu Goh is also one
of three #Teach Sustainable Development Goals (#TeachSDGs) Ambassadors in
Malaysia. There are only 60 such Ambassadors worldwide in this movement of
global-minded teachers. Given his deep awareness of global issues, he often
encourages his students to come up with solutions using digital technologies to
address the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
Many of us may have a stereotypical view of Malaysian teachers as
being left behind and struggling to keep up with latest educational trends.
Hence it is comforting to know there are teachers who are trailblazing and
leading the way for other teachers to adopt and embrace digital education.
Their stories are highly inspiring and I would urge everyone to follow and
share their stories with teachers in our respective communities. Hopefully in
time to come, we can inspire more teachers to overcome their fear of technology
and embrace this new normal of education.
MDEC is working closely with the Ministry of Education and
teachers nationwide to support their digital upskilling, be it to deliver
online education as well as to cultivate digital innovation and creativity
skills amongst the nation’s future talent pipeline. More information about our
efforts can be found in www.mydigitalmaker.com .
MDEC has also compiled a list of e-learning resources for school
children on www.mdec.my
as part our DigitalVsCovid19 campaign.
About the #mydigitalmaker movement
#mydigitalmaker movement is a joint
public-private-academic initiative launched in 2016 to cultivate digital
innovation and creativity amongst Malaysian school children. To-date, close to
1.3 million Malaysian children have learnt some form of “digital making”, such
as coding, robotics and 3-D printing via this movement and its member
organisations.
At a time of unprecedented change and intense
concern caused by recent events, perhaps the most useful job skill is the
ability to learn and relearn.
We
are 4 weeks into the MCO and people working from home have started wondering
about realigning themselves to the requirements of a new normal. Reskilling and
upskilling have become considerations among employers at the highest levels in
organisations – and employees are reading the signs. So at home, as Malaysians put
their feet up at the end of a WFH week, many are online, seeking information on
job roles and skills demanded by an increasingly digital-dependent economy.
As
part of efforts under the #DigitalVsCovid movement during the running MCO
period, MDEC’s Digital Talent Development team is ramping up its
recently-minted initiative called #mydigitalworkforce,” shares Surina
Shukri, CEO of Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC).
This
initiative will encompass a series of activities that kicked off early this
year and is being expanded in view the current MCO.
Post-graduate Scholarships in Artificial Intelligence
MDEC is partnering with 4 universities and 7 corporates to offer 35 scholarships to qualified Malaysians to pursue their Masters (by research) in Artificial Intelligence. Partnering universities include University Teknologi Malaysia, University Malaya, Multimedia University and Monash University Malaysia. With MCO and COVID-19, this may be good time to head back to school to level-up qualifications. More information about this scholarship can be found here.
MDEC file photo: In the middle – Surina Shukri, CEO (L) & Dr. Sumitra Nair, VP of Digital Talent Development (R)
Opportunity
to be Industry-Ready, Open to All
MDEC
is partnering with a wide range of partners to offer online learning courses
that are being offered free or at a much discounted prices. This initiative
offers both those with technical as well as non-technical backgrounds, an
opportunity to upskill on online platforms, so that they can meet the demands
of job roles in data, cybersecurity, creative content and software development.
For example, training in cybersecurity is offered by CompTIA IT Fundamentals, ISACA Certified Information Systems Auditor® (CISA®)
and EC-Council, while Unity Learn, Epic Games, Khan Academy and School of
Motion are offering training online in creative content. Courses offered in
software development are by General Assembly, Forward School and Next Academy.
Guidance
on Industry-validated Digital Training Programmes
In
addition to courses currently offered in cybersecurity, content creation and
software development, courses in data are also available. To help Malaysians
select training programmes that best suit their needs and interests, MDEC is
setting up the NDSR (National Digital Skills Register). The NDSR
will work with a Digital Expert Panel comprised of industry practitioners to
review and validate training programmes on the areas mentioned above, and these
will be catalogued on MDEC’s website by middle of the year. MDEC will be
announcing this and other #mydigitalworkforce initiatives as they become
available.
Based
on the global demand for digital content, the Linkedin Emerging Jobs in
Malaysia Report 2020, as well as the spike in the demand for a digital-ready
workforce in the COVID-19 era, the NDSR will provide much-needed guidance to
the Malaysian current and emerging workforce.
Digital World
With the workforce requiring to continue their learning despite
Work-From-Home (WFH) arrangements, MDEC sees the need for those seeking to
upskill, to leverage e learning opportunities and make the best of their time
in preparation for the new normal. Essentially, the #mydigitalworkforce
initiative serves to equip the workforce through and beyond the Movement Control
Order (MCO) period, skilling the workforce in tandem with MDEC’s role to lead
the digital economy forward through digitally upskilling Malaysians.
COVID-19 has in a way, upended the world’s view on how imminent
the dependence on the digital economy is. With e-learning becoming the new norm
in our quest to self-learn, we have to consistently upskill ourselves to
transition step by step, into a post-COVID-19 digital world.
All e-learning content MDEC has compiled for the benefit of all in
Malaysia as part of its #DigitalVsCovid movement, can be accessed at https://mdec.my/digitalvscovid/.
The current Covid-19 situation has taken all of us by surprise. Many of us did not expect it to have the wide-reaching impact we are seeing across all dimensions of our lives.
This is
evident when one just takes a look at the 1st round of stimulus
package which focused primarily on supporting the tourism and related
industries. In just slightly over 1 month since that 1st
announcement, the contagion has served as a huge reset button for all sectors,
including education.
My team and
our stakeholders have also been impacted by the current situation. Credit to
our CEO Surina Shukri, MDEC who wasted no time in mobilizing our
#DigitalVsCovid19 efforts. She reiterated our position as Heart of Digital
ASEAN and that we must continue to contribute to the digital economy, under
three pillars – digitally skilling Malaysians, digitally powering businesses
and attracting digital investments. Surina encouraged the entire leadership
team to re-look and take our immediate plans online, and also to extend our
support in any way possible to our respective communities. She led by example
by hosting MDEC’s 1st webinar session.
Training
Teachers to Deliver Online Education
Taking
Surina’s lead, the Digital Talent Development division at MDEC has also kicked
our online plan into 5th gear. For a start, our K-12 team which
leads the #mydigitalmaker movement, quickly reached out to
Google-certified expert teachers and the Teacher Training College (Institut
Perguruan Malaysia – IPGM) to mobilize
online training sessions on how to deliver online learning via Google Classroom
for 30 IPGM lecturers. These classes are presently taking place thrice a week.
Upon completion of this training on April 14th, the trained
lecturers will start offering online training for teachers nationwide.
Google Classroom online training for IPGM lecturers
Getting
Kids to Learn Coding
At the same
time, we also worked with our partners from the Future Skills for All
initiative to run webinars on coding Micro:bit micro-controllers. Parents can
access video tutorials here.
We were
pleasantly surprised that 500 teachers joined the inaugural online session on
March 25 conducted by Alina Amir from Arus Academy.
This encouraged the team to organize more sessions, this time for
district-level Master Teachers who will in turn train teachers in their
respective districts. By the end of this month, 300 Master Teachers will be
trained in various regions across the country.
Youtube Webinar on coding Micro:bit micro controllers
This week,
the team has activated the Hour of Code #dudukdirumah (Stay at home edition)
campaign which runs from April 1-14, 2020. This campaign is jointly organized
with the Ministry of Education and Ministry of Science, Technology and
Innovation. It will be a great opportunity to get children (and families) at
home to start learning how to code, through drag-and-drop coding lessons
provided by Code.org. More information about this campaign can be
obtained here.
Not only
that, many of the #mydigitalmaker movement members have mobilized
quickly to support Malaysian teachers and students with online educational
content on a wide range of school subjects. Our team has compiled these and
other online learning content which can be accessed via MDEC’s website.
Beyond the
education space, we are extremely proud of #mydigitalmaker movement
partners, Me.Reka, Penang Science Cluster, Conceptual Robotics and Kaki.diy who
are supporting the fight against COVID-19 by 3D printing and producing PPE for
the healthcare front-liners.
Suffice to
say, since the Movement Control Order started, the MDEC team and partners of
the #mydigitalmaker movement have been hard at work to support
our communities in whatever way possible.
A big
shout-out to MDEC’s K-12 team, passionate teachers and volunteers who have
stepped up their game during this #DigitalvsCovid period.
Stay home
and stay safe everyone.
——————————————————————————————————————–
About
#mydigitalmaker movement
#mydigitalmaker
movement is a joint public-private-academic initiative launched in 2016 to
cultivate digital innovation and creativity amongst Malaysian school children.
To-date, close to 1.3 million Malaysian children have learnt some form of
“digital making”, such as coding, robotics and 3-D printing via this movement
and its member organisations.
——————————————————————————————————————–
Dr.Sumitra
is Vice President – Digital Talent Development at Malaysia Digital Economy
Corporation
In my previous article Outsmarting
Smart Robots, I said that there is an increasing consensus that jobs
are changing in drastic ways and getting our current and future workforce ready
for such changes is critical.
More of the same will no longer be enough. This message has been recently affirmed by LinkedIn, the global professionals platform, with the release of its 2019 Emerging Jobs in Malaysia Report. The study, which analysed millions of unique, user-input job titles from the last five years, noted that the top five emerging jobs were linked to technology. And just as important, the report highlighted the demand for ‘hybrid’ skills.
Developing a rounded skill set, which rests on digital
competency, needs to be balanced with other core soft skills such as problem
solving, communication, creativity, and a measure of what has been called EQ
(emotional quotient).
Our strategy to become a stand out nation in the global
digital world is powered by five building blocks. Implementing much of this
strategy lies within the remit of Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC),
a government-owned agency under the Ministry of Communications & Multimedia
(KKMM). The KKMM Minister, YB Gobind Singh Deo, first outlined these building
blocks towards the end of last year.
These building blocks, which are important drivers of a
strong online ecosystem, are: high-quality infrastructure at affordable prices;
tech talent development; increased cybersecurity vigilance; development of
platforms and enablers such as Digital ID, open data and so on; and the
legislation, policies and industry structures to support the growth of the
digital economy.
While the building blocks are intended to produce two key
outcomes – widespread digital adoption, and the enhanced growth of digital
entrepreneurship throughout the nation – building the right talent is the fuel
to power our trajectory into the our future.
When we look at the top five emerging roles highlighted
in the LinkedIn report (data scientist; full stack engineer; drive test
Engineer; user experience designer; and content writer), we note that the
easiest to teach at scale are the technical skills. While advanced digital
skills are usually top of mind – such as coding, data analytics, and so forth –
the basics are just as important for all of us to adapt to the workplace of the
future.
A vital aspect of our nationwide initiatives is
inclusivity. Everyone has an opportunity in Malaysia’s digital future. The
basic digital skills required to perform daily tasks online need to be shared
across underserved communities, the disabled and the elderly.
Our digital future will increasingly come into the hands
of the next generation. MDEC has been actively complementing the Ministry of
Education’s initiatives to integrate and embed computational thinking, computer
science including coding into the national school syllabus. We are also work
closely with a premier group of local universities to strengthen tertiary-level
Computer Science curricula and teaching.
Meanwhile, the collaborative approach amplifies another public-private-academia movement, MyDigitalMaker, to transform Malaysian youth from digital users to producers in the digital economy. Digital skills both feed and complement the hybrid skill portfolio by developing problem solving and creativity among our young generation. More than half million students are actively participating in digital making activities such as coding, robotics, data analytics and more.
Transformative support to help teachers includes learning
tools and further training through an Educator network. Essentially, short
courses and certification programmes on programming/coding, embedded systems,
digital making and more offered by #mydigitalmaker partners and
university-based teacher-training hubs during weekends and school holidays to
support educator readiness. To-date more than 30,000 teachers have become part
of this network.
MDEC’s efforts to prepare our future workforce includes working with 12 universities to act as local training hubs for teachers who need to get trained in various digital tools. MDEC provides a computational thinking specialist to train the universities and accredit them to be training centres for the teachers. Some of them are also acting as Digital Maker Hubs, which gives students another option outside of their schools to go and explore and learn about various digital tools. There are currently 48 Digital Maker Hubs around the country, some are hosted by private companies and non-governmental organisations.
MDEC and industry partners further develop students with
especial digital innovation and creative potential to help them into tertiary
studies with Premier Digital Tech Universities and Preferred Digital Tech
Polytechnics. The Premier Digital Tech Institutions comprise local universities
and polytechnics with high graduate employability in the digital technology
sectors and which have the potential to becoming top regional institutions. To
date. MDEC and the Ministry of Education have jointly endorsed 8 Premier
Digital Tech Universities and 5 Preferred Digital Tech Polytechnics.
Before I sign off, I would like to again stress the
importance of remaining relevant in the world we have entered. We must together
address the 4th Industrial Revolution as an opportunity to enrich our lives
through evolving ourselves and our skills by constantly learning.
One of the results of rapidly evolving digital age is that
most of us will have different jobs through our lives. Very few will remain in
the job for which they were formally trained. I believe that every day is a day
for learning something new: An essential sign that we are producing the right
talent for a standout digital future in the world will be a mindset that
includes adaptability and one that is tuned always to learning.
Sumitra Nair is the
Vice President for Talent & Digital Entrepreneurship in MDEC
How can humans outsmart robots equipped with artificial intelligence (AI)? This is the million-dollar question that one group of experts the world over is scrambling to answer, while another group races to build machines with near-human capabilities.
One among many predictions is by McKinsey Global Institute, which sees millions of jobs being be wiped out. Others take on a more optimistic view: humans will survive the 4th industrial revolution. Accenture suggests – that if we pick the best from each – humans and machines will work together in harmony, A recent Harvard University study shows that doctors are able to diagnose cancer with greater accuracy when working with AI.
Nevertheless, there is a consensus that jobs are changing in drastic ways and getting our current and future workforce ready for such changes is critical. More of the same will no longer be enough.
Skills to complement AI
As machines become more intelligent, three types of complementary skills are expected to become more important for people to develop.
The easiest to teach at scale are technical skills: Both basic and advanced technical skills are equally important. While advanced digital skills have received much attention – such as coding, data analytics, etc. – basic digital skills will be just as critical for the current workforce to survive the changing workplace.
Learning how to use digital productivity tools, doing online research and transacting are a few of the basic skills many still struggle with, especially in underserved communities like urban poor, rural, disabled and elderly communities. Earlier this year, Sundar Pichai, Google CEO affirmed this when talking about Google’s move to train people with basic digital skills.
Coming back to advanced technical skills, these will be most critical for the next generation of workforce. Digital natives will need to know how to harness and complement their intelligent-robotic counterparts. A McKinsey survey of 3000 business leaders suggests that demand for technical skills is expected to grow the most compared to the 3 types of skills mentioned in this article, hence the emphasis on STEM, computational thinking, computer science and coding in educational institutions must continue, be it in schools or universities.
Aligned to this, MDEC is supporting the Ministry of Education’s efforts to integrate computational thinking, computer science including coding into the national school syllabus. We are also work closely with a premier group of local universities to strengthen tertiary-level Computer Science curricula and teaching.
The second set of essential skills for the future workforce are higher cognitive skills, or higher order thinking skills. These include creativity, critical thinking, decision making, complex information processing. Basic cognitive skills such as, literacy and numeracy which have been a strong focus point for industrial era education systems, are increasingly becoming hygiene factors, i.e. important for basic survival, but do not give us any edge over AI machines. Higher cognitive skills require deep learning experiences, for example, guiding a student to be aware and understand his/her own thought process. This kind of deep learning is challenging to deploy at scale, and will require significant changes across the education delivery system.
The third set of skills are unique to human beings, i.e. social and emotional skills. These are expected to be the hardest for AI to replace. Inherent but less emphasised skills like adaptability, interpersonal communication, negotiation, empathy, leadership, managing people and relationships, entrepreneurship and innovation, teaching and training people are critical if we are to remain relevant in the future workplace. These skills are often neglected in most conventional education systems which tend to focus more on academic excellence.
Never stop learning
As technology and roles in the workplace evolve, forecasts suggest that most people will have 4-5 careers (not jobs) in their lifetime, hence re-skilling will become extremely important. Formal education may prepare us for our first careers. Thereafter, life-long learning via self-directed, informal learning, and on-the-job training will be key to facing rapidly evolving jobs of the future. Employers can no longer expect graduates or for that matter, any new employee to come fully-equipped for the role. Instead, they must be prepared to invest in training and re-training staff. From a policy perspective, we must find ways to encourage the culture of life-long learning; and support employers, especially SMEs to provide on-the-job training. In Singapore, for example, all citizens aged 25 and above receive periodic credits of SGD500 to pursue training courses for in-demand skills. Here in Malaysia, similar efforts could be prioritised for those at risk of being displaced by AI.
Education is for life, not just to make a living
Given rapid changes and uncertainty in the type of skills/jobs that will be in demand, experts suggest that universities should prepare students for life, emphasising cross-curricular learning instead of over-specialisation for specific jobs. There is also consensus that real-world experiences will be highly valued compared to pure classroom learning, hence, tertiary institutions and employers must work together to structure robust internship or apprenticeship programmes. Given these scenarios, universities need to re-think and re-focus on the fundamentals of education, while regulatory and policy measures are needed to encourage employers to offer internships or apprenticeships. With regards to the latter, the UK government’s apprenticeship funding model is interesting to study.
There’s obviously a lot that needs to be done to prepare our current and next generation for a future with AI. Tremendous political will and excellent coordination between the powers-that-be will be required to move this massive mountain in the right direction. But we must play our part: Simple acts like taking an online course, and encouraging life-long learning among our employees, colleagues, and loved ones. As the saying goes, “Be the change that you wish to see in the world.” So, go ahead and secure your seat in the AI world.
Sumitra Nair is the Vice President for Talent & Digital Entrepreneurship in MDEC.
