by AZALEA AZUAR / pic source: Zahidi Zainul Abidin FB

THE Ministry of Multimedia and Communications (K-KOMM) is expecting to roll out 5G in 3,518 locations by the end of this year.

According to Deputy Minister of Communications and Multimedia Datuk Zahidi Zainul Abidin, a total of 500 5G locations have been completed under Phase 1A which covers areas in Cyberjaya, Selangor; Putrajaya; and Kuala Lumpur as of December 2021.

“In this era of accelerated digital innovation, K-KOMM via the telecommunication industry is in the midst of cultivating the 5G network to draw vast long-term economic benefits.

“As Malaysia moves towards becoming a digital nation, capacity and capability building is essential to future-proof the nation’s digital talent.

“To ensure a robust digital infrastructure, the Jalinan Digital Negara initiative was developed by the government to build a digital-based society equipped with a comprehensive and high-quality broadband service coverage,” Zahidi said in his speech during the “Micro-Credentials Education Summit (MCES) Malaysia 2022” event today.

The event was organised by Acestar Sdn Bhd in collaboration with Certiport in conjunction with the Adobe Certified Professional (ACP) Championship 2022 Grand Finale.

MCES Malaysia 2022 aims to raise awareness on the importance of micro-credentials to the country’s education system, not only at tertiary level but also at primary and secondary levels, as well in order to place Malaysia’s position up to par with other developed countries.

Moreover, micro-credentials also increase Malaysia’s marketability as each of the criteria outlined by the industry in the standard operating procedures is met by each qualified candidate. This would attract graduates in career opportunities at the national level and abroad.

“This initiative is in line with the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission’s (MCMC) role in realising the national aspirations of the digital economy as depicted in the MyDigital Economy Blueprint, the National IR4.0 Policy, as well as the 12th Malaysia Plan and the National Budget 2022, with the aim of establishing digital infrastructure as a public utility, thus enhancing connectivity; building agile and competent digital talents and workforce; accelerating technology adoption and innovation; and creating an inclusive digital society,” Zahidi added.

Currently, MCMC is working with institutions such as Multimedia University, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Universiti Kuala Lumpur and UCSI University to develop micro-credential programmes.

As the country moves to 5G, the minister is hoping that they can get an allocation of approximately RM3,000 to upskill workers in the ICT field.

“There are many university students taking ICT and we want to upskill them because there are so many areas in that field such as cloud computing and artificial intelligence. If Malaysia needs to move forward, we need these skills,” he added.

In order for the country to avoid facing brain drain issues, the ministry wants to provide training in these fields and he hopes that the prime minister can allocate a special budget for these upskilling programmes.

Meanwhile, winners of the ACP Championship Malaysia 2022 will be fully sponsored by Acestar Malaysia to represent the country to the ACP World Championship in the US.

The competition has been held since 2016 and Acestar has been the sole distributor of Certiport which is well known for distributing micro-credentials ACP and Microsoft Office Specialist as well as being the sole representative of Adobe Platinum Partner in Malaysia.

According to Acestar Group CEO Natalie Sit, students should embrace early learning of micro-credentials so that it can count as a professional skill in order to raise the standard of that particular industry.

“We treat this as our national project for the purpose of upscaling and driving better employability.

“And most importantly, we want to promote digital citizenship as a micro-credential plays an important role in helping people to get more Internet positions,” she explained.