Page 9 - Berita Sunway - Issue 68

Decoding digital TALENTS

What is the future of digital talents in the country?

The World Economic Forum believes that the ASEAN digital economy will contribute an estimated
US$1 trillion to the regional GDP over the next 10 years. Berita Sunway speaks to Sunway Group Chief
Innovation Officer Matt van Leeuwen, director of the non-profit start-up incubator and accelerator,
Sunway iLabs, on the future of digital talents in the country.

ood digital talent is hard to come by in Malaysia — one of the 10 cities in Asia facing FEATURES
acute digital talent shortage, according to the Asian Digital Transformation Index
G2018 study released by The Economist Intelligence Unit.
This is worrying, considering that the nation risks losing out on opportunities in the
booming ASEAN digital economy.
But the apparent dismal sentiment from employers towards the hiring of good digital talents
from our talent pool in Malaysia is echoed across different industries, said van Leeuwen.
In the tech industry, it all boils down to potential candidates demonstrating real world
competency and skills. For instance, most companies prefer to hire talents with three to
five years of experience, as firms lack the time to train new hires to ‘unlearn’ what they
know and ‘relearn’, van Leeuwen said.

REAL SOLUTIONS TO REAL PROBLEMS start-ups that will come out of the Start-up Foundry will also
be granted a chance to participate in the iLabs Accelerator
During Sunway iLabs’ ‘Make It Challenge’ event last September, Programme that prepare the student start-ups to scale. The
a total of 20 students from Sunway University, Sunway College course is only open to Sunway University students.
and Lancaster University went on a field trip to Kuala Sepetang Through the Start-up Foundry, the ultimate aim is to inculcate three
fishing village, a charcoal factory, paddy fields and Free the Seed main skillsets among students — problem-solving using a “growth
— a Malaysian biotech company that converts rice straw into mindset”, collaboration and communication. “People often talk
compostable food packaging — in Taiping, Perak, as well as in about these as ‘soft skills’ but I would argue that these are ‘critical
Pendang and Gurun in Kedah. skills’ we need in every sector. It’s not about being a specialist
when it comes to digital talent, but it’s how you are able to use
technology as a tool in your toolbox to solve problems,” he said. BERITA SUNWAY | APR—JUN 2020
Sunway iLabs will also be collaborating with Sunway Education
Group, who has partnered with French-based École 42 — a 24/7
teacher-less coding school — to open the first École 42 campus in
Malaysia, to be named 42 KL. Established in Paris in 2013, École 42
now has 23 partner schools globally and is the first digital training
centre that is tuition-free and open to any student with or without
Organised by Sunway University and Sunway iLabs in collaboration academic qualifications. The 42 KL campus is set to launch
with Lancaster University in the UK and in partnership with in Sunway in September, with the first assessment slated for
United Nations Technology Innovation Labs (UNTIL), the Make it December this year.
Challenge 2019 called on students from different fields of study to “Interestingly, companies we have spoken to say they might
build solutions to tackle responsible consumption and production, want their existing staff to enrol in 42 to upskill, which is another
by focusing on re-imagining the food supply chain. big need from the industry side to be prepared for the digital
“When you talk about Industry 4.0 to paddy farmers, they’re like, economy,” he said.
‘It’s interesting, but we actually need better irrigation systems. Van Leeuwen, who was in Paris last year to observe how École
This is a classic example of how any entrepreneur needs to go 42 was being run, said École 42 education was a departure from
about getting towards so-called problem-solution fit, which traditional learning.
always starts by understanding the problem in detail before
pitching a solution” said van Leeuwen. “Project-based learning allows students to work on real-life
problem statements. Teacher-less or peer-to-peer learning
First place winner in the ‘Make It Challenge’ was ‘Meal in a box’, means that students have to sort themselves out and learn
a systematic meal service that uses artificial intelligence (AI) from each other, rather than being spoon-fed the answers by a
and data to create meals for families and reduce food wastage. teacher. The 42 education system is also gamified (incorporating
Meanwhile, first runner-up was ‘Optimeal’, an online platform game-like elements) where students need to solve increasingly
that connects hotels and F&B outlets with customers, to sell more difficult challenges to progress to the next level.”
excess edible food and prevent food wastage. The curriculum at École 42, unlike traditional educational
UNCONVENTIONAL EDUCATION institutions, are constantly updated. Another outstanding feature
FOR A DIGITAL ECONOMY of École 42’s brand of education is its 100% employability rate
among graduates around the world — 70% who are hired by
To foster better industry engagement, Sunway iLabs will also companies during their internships as the graduates are in that
launch the Start-up Foundry, a free elective course in Sunway much demand by industry.
University, in August this year. It is a structural programme We all want a better talent pool and this is how we make it
that aims to help students manoeuvre through the challenges sustainable — turning around the business model of education. 9 9
of getting people to understand the value of their product In other words, we believe this will be a real game changer for
or services, and to avoid the early pitfalls of a company. The tech education and recruitment” he said.

05/05/2020 2:58 PM
GBMC-JL-082-20 Berita Sunway Issue 68-FA_2.indd 9
GBMC-JL-082-20 Berita Sunway Issue 68-FA_2.indd 9 05/05/2020 2:58 PM