by AZALEA AZUAR / pic credit: mdec.my

THE Malaysia Digital Economy Corp (MDEC) has introduced the Digital Innovator Programme (DIP) to develop young innovating talents.

In collaboration with the Education Ministry (MoE) and Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), the programme will be carried out through a project-based learning (PBL) curriculum that ensures a consistent development of tech talents to fuel the digital economy.

The programme was built on MDEC’s Digital Ninja programme which was participated by secondary school students during school holidays and has produced 515 high-potential young digital innovators over the last five years.

DIP’s virtual launch yesterday was officiated by Education Minister Datuk Dr Mohd Radzi Md Jidin.

MDEC CEO Mahadzir Aziz (picture) said the programme is an important initiative to produce digital creators and innovators to realise the goals set forth in the Malaysia Digital Economy Blueprint (MyDigital).

“Having a focused secondary gifted programme which replicates the key success factors of the Digital Ninja Programme, in addition to the sustained engagement between students, teachers and industry mentors will help to nurture more innovators in the country,” he said in a statement.

The programme is considered MDEC’s milestone in its efforts to uplift digital literacy, skills and knowledge among Malaysians.

It is also in line with the agency’s #SayaDigital Movement which aims to improve Malaysians’ skills to succeed in the digital economy through awareness in smart lifestyles, equal opportunities and digital technology to the urban and rural communities.

Recently, the World Bank revealed its latest report “Aiming High: Navigating Next Stage of Malaysia’s Development” which shows that Malaysian companies that invested in technical innovations enjoyed higher productivity rates compared to others.

Therefore, MDEC said DIP is important to nurture Malaysia’s future technology innovators and it is equipped with an advanced Digital Maker Space to enable students to harness their creativity to solve problems through digital technologies.

At the same time, the programme would also provide PBL opportunities and mentorships to cultivate their entrepreneurial skills as well as learning advanced programming and other related skills that touch on Data Science, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity and mobile app development.

These programmes would be conducted in UKM’s Pusat GENIUS@Pintar Negara, which is an education institution for gifted and talented local youth from the ages of 12 to 17.

Previously, the institution provided a full fundamental Sciences Track for all gifted students.

According to UKM Vice-Chancellor Prof Datuk Dr Mohd Ekhwan Toriman, the programme is a collaboration between UKM and the industry to improve the digital culture based on the university’s five core values.

“It emphasises on an educational ecosystem which is equipped with robot and drone creation technology, augmented and virtual reality, and wearables that have propelled UKM to the forefront of global higher education.

“I hope that this collaboration will contribute to the transformation of national education. UKM will support this aspiration by honing quality talents to provide information and communications technology expertise for the country’s economic development in the future,” Mahadzir said.

Moreover, MoE has been playing an active role in providing challenging and holistic education systems to nurture the gifted and talented students to achieve their optimum potential, consequently making them valuable national assets.

“We genuinely believe that the strong collaboration between MoE, UKM and MDEC will further boost the ministry’s goal of developing a highly knowledgeable, skilful and prominent young generation, especially in digital technology,” the ministry said in the statement.