1. technology and computing

4/30/15
Computerworld Singapore - MDeC wants to have 1,500 Malaysian data scientists by 2020
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MDeC wants to have 1,500 Malaysian data scientists by 2020
AvantiKumar | April 23, 2015
During this year's Big Data Week, MDeC CEO Dato' Yasmin Mahmood said local universities will support the plan
to increase the number of data scientists from 80 to 1,500 to bridge the data analytics talent gap.
Photo - (From left) Dr. Izzatdin Abdul Aziz, Universiti Tek nologi Petronas (UTP); Prof. Dr. Ho Chin Kuan,
Multimedia University (MMU); Assoc. Prof. Dr. Abd. Rahman Ahlan, International Islamic University Malaysia
(IIUM); Prof Lim Tong Ming, Sunway University; YBhg Dato' Yasmin Mahmood, Chief Executive Officer of
Multimedia Development Corporation (MDeC); Tan Sri Abdul Halim Ali, Chairman of Multimedia Development
Corporation (MDeC); Cik Siri Yaten Binti Md. Ali, Monash University Malaysia; Dr. Siti Zaleha Binti Zainal Abidin,
Universiti Tek nologi MARA (UiTM); and Gurpardeep Singh, Asia Pacific University of Technology & Innovation
(APU).
During this year's Big Data Week initiative in Kuala Lumpur, national ICT agency Multimedia Development
Corporation (MDeC) has unveiled a plan, supported by seven public and private institutes of higher learning (IHLs),
to increase the number of local data scientists from the current 80 to 1,500 by the year 2020.
MDeC chief executive officer Dato' Yasmin Mahmood said the national Big Data Analytics (BDA)
initiative (/resource/management-and-careers/exclusive-coffee-with-dato-yasmin-mahmood-ceo-of-mdec/) will be
supported by specialised data science programmes to address talent gap and rising demand for data
professionals in Malaysia.
From July 2015 onwards, the universities that will offer undergraduate and post-graduate data science and
computer science courses with data and business analytics specialisations are Asia Pacific University (APU),
Malaysia Multimedia University (MMU), International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM), Sunway University,
Monash University, University Institute Technology Mara (UiTM) and University Teknologi Petronas (UTP).
"There are currently 80 data scientists in our local data analytics industry," said Yasmin. "To meet our target of
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Computerworld Singapore - MDeC wants to have 1,500 Malaysian data scientists by 2020
1,500 data scientists by 2020, we need more support from IHLs in Malaysia to offer courses that will encourage
young people in the country to explore a highly demanded career as this. We need to ensure consistent and
sustainable supply of skilled workforce to drive the adoption of BDA technologies, cultivate a culture of innovation
and essentially, build a BDA ecosystem that will impact all sectors of the Malaysian economy."
She said MDeC has also introduced a Data Science specialisation using Massive Online Blended Learning
Approach (MOOC), an online course using content from Johns Hopkins University, in collaboration with Coursera,
leader in providing universal access to education. "This data analytics course is an extension to MDeC's existing
MyProcert, a government-subsidised professional certification."
Big Data Week (BDW) highlights
Jenna Yang Wan Jun, a local data scientist and Harvard University graduate, and one of the participants in Big
Data Week (BDW) events this year, said, "Data science is a highly sought-after profession in the world. I'm glad
to see that universities here are stepping up to provide relevant courses for our students to pursue them locally.
This is a golden opportunity for young Malaysians, especially for those in the science, technology, engineering
and mathematics fields to explore a career in the Data Science field."
MDeC's Yasmin also announced the award of product development and commercialisation funds (PCF) to five
local businesses to encourage development and commercialisation of BDA solutions: Fusionex, Datamicron, MDT
Innovations, Verve and N2N Connect that have recently seen successes in the development of their BDA
solutions.
"Big Data is one of those technologies whose contribution is more than the sum of its parts. Whilst companies
often associate Big Data with the amount of data they acquire, the different sources of data and speed at which
data is coming at you, the true business value is from the insight that you can derive from the analysis of the
data, and the competitive advantage it brings through differentiation," said Ivan Teh, managing director of
Fusionex.
"More companies are now excited about big data but would still require support and motivation," added MDeC's
Yasmin. "This year, we have around 40 BDA and related solutions from universities, local businesses and
international tech companies showcased at Big Data Week. This excitement leads us to draw upon our
competencies in the national BDA thought-leadership to enable entrepreneurs and businesses to start exploring
the power of their data without having to invest in expensive consultancy or training."
Big Data Week 2015 @ Kuala Lumpur is an initiative that brings together a global community of big data
practitioners, in line with the country's journey of becoming a data hub in the ASEAN region
(/resource/applications/the-bg-data-ace-in-malaysias-digital-strategy-mdec/). Malaysia is the sole big data week
city partner in ASEAN. It is part of the largest global big data festival participated by 25 cities across regions that
interconnects community events for expert knowledge-sharing on how businesses can use BDA insights and
trends to explore commercial opportunities.
The BDW included global data scientists from organisations and companies such as Experfy, Lazada, Open Data
Institute, Gartner, Accenture and World Bank.
The event also hosted a closed-door panel session between the BDA Advisory panel and MDeC to share
knowledge on best practices and expertise on BDA in further developing the National Big Data Analytics
framework and blueprint. The advisory panel, made of BDA professional and experts joined MDeC to discuss four
key areas: talent development, Chief Data Scientist, BDA ecosystem development, Open Data and open
innovation.
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