The Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) has launched the #SayaDigital Movement on a national level at the People’s Housing Project (PPR), Hiliran Ampang to improve the digital skills of Malaysians, enabling them to seize opportunities in the digital economy.
It also includes being fully aligned with the country’s ongoing economic recovery plan. This initiative will provide strong support to the Malaysian Digital Economy Blueprint (MyDIGITAL) that the YAB Prime Minister, Tan Sri Dato’ Hj. Muhyiddin bin Hj. Mohd Yassin, announced in February 2021.
The programme is designed to get the B40 group, youths and senior citizens involved with the digital economy. To kickstart the momentum of #SayaDigital, three pilot programmes were held to raise the digital literacy awareness involving 301 participants, with the latest being held at Kampung Desa Temuan in Bukit Lanjan last month. The participants attended a series of interactive workshops that exposed them to the digital skills needed to face challenges in the new normal.
This year’s #SayaDigital Movement focuses on four components, namely, training young people to become “Geng #SayaDigital” volunteers; creating awareness through digital literacy activities; conducting digital readiness assessments; and providing basic digital skills training to the community. To date, 25 “Geng #SayaDigital” have already been formed including those in Sabah and Sarawak to further enhance the programme nationwide. The campaign as a whole aims to benefit 10,000 Malaysians in socio-economically vulnerable rungs across the country.
Concurrently, participants who have registered online have been connected to major MDEC programmes such as eUsahawan, PeDAS, eRezeki, MyDigitalMaker, GLOW and eBerkat. Presently, these programmes have benefited Malaysians through digital skills enhancement, digitally-driven business, involvement in the e-commerce sector, and workforce participation on global digital platforms. In addition, there are eight #SayaDigital online programmes that have been streamed via Facebook Live and have already gained more than 16,000 views to date.
“We should not be complacent as continuous efforts and initiatives need to be implemented as the digital technology sector in Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) era rapidly changes on a daily basis. In this regard, MDEC’s move to launch #SayaDigital to enhance digital skills among the B40 group, youths, senior citizens, and socio-economically vulnerable groups is timely as our country strives to achieve its ambition of becoming a major regional digital economy market. This is in line with the Shared Prosperity Vision 2030 (SPV 2030), an initiative that will not marginalise any groups of people,” YAB Prime Minister of Malaysia, Tan Sri Dato’ Hj. Muhyiddin bin Hj. Mohd Yassin said.
“#SayaDigital supports MyDIGITAL’s comprehensive strategy that sets out a roadmap to achieve the vision of making Malaysia a regional leader in the digital economy by 2030. Through this, the Government aims to create 500,000 jobs; implement digitalisation initiatives to benefit 875,000 small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and micro entrepreneurs; and become the catalyst for 5,000 startups. In this regard, #SayaDigital official launch today showcases the Government’s clear commitment to involve people from various groups to benefit from a thriving digital economy, in line with SPV 2030,” added YB Dato’ Saifuddin Abdullah, Minister of Communications and Multimedia.
MDEC had designed 12 adaptation and digital literacy programmes with 2,000 participants who are expected to participate in a basic digital literacy training course. They will be working closely with 100 volunteers who are also known as “Geng #SayaDigital” ambassadors. Participants will answer the Digital Readiness Assessment to measure their level of digital literacy.
The test results will then determine the Basic Digital Literacy Learning Module that they will be assigned to. The programme also includes three main modules – digital communication; internet banking and e-wallet; and digital service applications that are used in other countries.
“Individuals with efficient digital skills such as coding, animation, Big Data analysis, machine learning and Cloud Computing are greatly needed in driving forward the digital economy during this pandemic. According to the latest MDEC study, there are currently 47,000 digital job opportunities advertised on major job search portals in Malaysia. This shows that the country’s digital-skilled labor market remains competitive amid these challenging times. It also provides a sign of the country’s digital economic growth. In this regard, MDEC’s #SayaDigital is a timely effort that will get more people to learn digital skills. Initiatives to empower Malaysians are crucial for their digital journey as we move closer to achieve the goal of making Malaysia the Digital Heart of ASEAN,” Surina Shukri, Chief Executive Officer of MDEC said.
