The Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) launched the Digital Skills Training Directory on 24 August 2020 to serve as a one-stop guide to digital reskilling and upskilling for companies to reskill their workers to solve real industry problems in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting shift in socio-economic norms .
“There has never been a more urgent need for companies to reskill and upskill their employees. This doesn’t just concern large companies – a 2019 SME report from Huawei Malaysia revealed that 48% of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) recognise they lack digital skills,” said Dr Sumitra Nair, Vice President and Head of Digital Skills and Jobs, MDEC, Malaysia’s lead agency in digital transformation.
“While there are increasingly large numbers of training and reskilling resources that companies can tap into, finding the right course or online training provider can prove challenging. The Digital Skills Training Directory, launched by MDEC, helps companies to more easily discover training courses that meet their reskilling and upskilling needs,” Dr Sumitra continued.
In 2020, the Directory had two categories of types of courses: Work and Learn and Career Upgrade. Now, in 2021, the catalogue of courses and online training providers have been reviewed and endorsed by MDEC’s Talent Expert Network. This newly updated and enhanced Directory now includes a third and new Learning on Demand category.
This latest addition to the Digital Skills Talent Directory comes with a list of 9 massive open online courses (MOOCs) platform partners. They are Centre for Finance, Technology and Entrepreneurship (CFTE), OpenLearning Global (M) Sdn. Bhd, LinkedIn Learning, EC-Council CodeRed, Leaderonomics Digital Sdn Bhd, 360DigiTMG (AiSPRY), Akademi GA Sdn Bhd, SAS Institute Sdn Bhd and LTT Global Communications Sdn Bhd.
The updated and enhanced Digital Skills Training Directory has recently been expanded to offer 250 courses, covering the following focus areas:
- Data science (56 courses)
- Cybersecurity (44 courses)
- Animation (19 courses)
- Game Development (5 courses)
- Software Development (56 courses)
Digital Global Business Services is the latest focus area with 77 courses introduced.
The Directory has been recognised by the Social Security Organisation (SOCSO), and will fund up to RM4,000 per person for selected courses pursued by Employment Insurance Scheme (EIS) members who are receiving unemployment benefits. Courses offered by HRDC-approved Training Providers have also been highlighted to help employers identify courses that can be funded via HRDF levies.
Additionally, selected courses offering certification are also eligible for funding of up to RM7,000 under the PENJANA 2.0 Hiring Incentive (RM4,000 max for the apprentice category).
Training courses listed on MDEC’s Digital Skills Training Directory can be funded under the MyDigitalWorkforce Work in Tech (MYWiT) initiative, a training and hiring incentive programme aimed at developing quality tech talents as well as boosting the digital business services sector.
An extension of the #MyDigitalWorkforce Movement launched by MDEC last year, the initiative aims to upskill and subsidise talents and businesses with RM100 million in training and salary incentives. Under this initiative, there are 2 programmes: Digital Business Services (DBS) and Digital Tech Apprenticeship (DTA). Besides salary subsidies, companies participating in DBS can choose courses listed in “Work and Learn” or “Learning on Demand” and claim training incentives up to RM5,000 per pax while DTA companies can choose courses listed in “Career Upgrade” and claim training incentives of up to RM8,000 per pax. Companies can apply for MYWiT at https://mdec.my/mywit/.
“Through initiatives like the Digital Skills Training Directory and MYWiT, MDEC continues to pursue our mandate in support of the Malaysia Digital Economy Blueprint (MyDIGITAL), as well as MDEC’s own vision of a Malaysia 5.0 – a nation deeply integrated with technology that empowers sustainability, inclusivity and shared prosperity,” concludes Dr Sumitra.
