#mydigitalworkforce Initiative to Support Digital Upskilling for the Workforce

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.

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/.

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