Collaboration the way forward

DIGITAL TALENT HUBS: Universities need to partner with giant tech companies to tap their expertise for projects, internships and exchange student programmes

TECHNOLOGY is the backbone of a digital economy. To thrive in such an environment, we need a constant supply of workforce that is creative and innovative, with the knowledge and skills to use new technologies efficiently. We need a new generation of workers who can help transform the country into a producer of technology, and not merely a user.

At the recent 9th convocation of Universiti Sultan Azlan Shah, Sultan of Perak Sultan Nazrin Muizzuddin Shah rightly brought up the subject of how universities have a big challenge ahead to produce graduates for jobs of the future.

“Universities must produce students who are resilient to cope with changes in technology that will create new jobs, which may do away with existing ones,” he said.

The sultan reasserted the need for employers and universities to collaborate and identify the necessary skills and requirements to develop technology-oriented programmes to fuel the rise of the “digital workforce”.

Universities, indeed, have a crucial role to play in the move towards the digital economy. The country will need a sufficient pool of bright, young people who are well-prepared to innovate and thrive in the competitive digital world. Transformation into the digital economy will be driven by a workforce that is competent in such areas as Internet of Things, big data analysis and cloud computing. These are among the areas that have been identified as the next frontier for innovation and productivity. The onus is on universities to ensure that such talents are continually nurtured and managed.

The importance of a digital workforce was never more emphasised at the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development Ministerial Meeting on Digital Economy in Cancun, Mexico, in June, which cited that jobs and skills, along with Internet openness and innovation, trust