Menteri Besar Selangor, Dato Seri Amirudin Shari announced that the soon to be launched Selangor Digital School (SDS)will address the lack of skilled talent in the digital economic sector, especially in the state.
The main objective for the school is to offer relevant digitalisation courses that meet the requirement of the digital work market which will be then offered at affordable prices. The courses will also be accredited by institutions of higher learning.
SDS, which will be implemented under the Selangor Information Technology and Digital Economy Corporation (Sidec) with the assistance of The Hive SEA and Universiti Selangor (Unisel), is expected to be launched in the third quarter of this year.
“It is hoped that with SDS, more talent and skilled workers in the digital field can be created to reduce meet the demand of the work market in the digital economy field,” he said.
He said that the country’s digital economy sector needs at least 1.5 million digital talents, but for now, the market has only 50 per cent of the required skill and talent.
Based on data from the Malaysian Statistics Department, e-commerce revenue was recorded at RM1.09 trillion last year compared to RM675.4 billion in 2019, a 61.6 per cent rise, proving the importance of the digital economy in the National Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
“Digital or smart economy is based on digitalisation of economic activity to drive productivity growth and to optimise economic structures,” Amirudin said.
Also, he said he hoped programmes like the Selangor Digital Entrepreneur Roadshow are able to attract more small and medium industry players, students, graduates and local communities to learn more about the advantages of e-commerce and digitisation.
Meanwhile, Sidec chief executive officer Yong Kai Ping said the programme, that began in 2020, aimed to provide awareness to Selangor citizens about the digital world.
The Selangor government, through Sidec, is also implementing various initiatives, including e-commerce classes, e-Bazaar campaigns, and the Selangor Accelerator Programme.
