Kuala Lumpur – A successful university-industry-government forum was held during the Malaysia-Japan Industrial and Innovation Expo (MJIIX) along with the MJIIT Career Fair 2024. The event took place on May 28, 2024, at Residensi UTM, Kuala Lumpur.
The forum brought together three esteemed panelists representing academia, industry, and government. They shared their viewpoints on “Collaborative Strategies for Government, Industry, and Academia: Technological Synergies for Sustainable Development in Malaysia Madani.”
Moderated by the Director of the Centre of Artificial Intelligence and Robotics (CAIRO), Assoc. Prof. Ts. Dr. Mohd Ibrahim Shapiai, the panelists were prompted with two rounds of questions on two themes: (i) Leveraging Technology for Sustainable Development and (ii) Collaborative Frameworks for Education and Technology.
Prof. Dr. Azlinda Azman, the Director General of Higher Education at the Department of Higher Education from the Ministry of Higher Education (MoHE), has mentioned some important strategies. She emphasized that higher education is now focused on flexible and tech-enabled learning under the Malaysia Madani initiative. The previous Malaysia Higher Education Framework blueprint for 2015-2025 included digital learning, and the next blueprint for 2026-2035 will further integrate technology into teaching and learning to advance education.
The Higher Education Digitalization Policy and Action Plan for 2024-2030 is in progress and reflects MoHE’s strong support for technological changes. Additionally, Prof. Dr. Azlinda Azman applauded the recent launch of the AI Nexus, who believes that AI should be embraced by all universities with specific focus and domains.
Meanwhile, Tn. Hj. Sharul A. Rashid, the PETRONAS Head of Technical Excellence and Custodian Engineer Instrument and Control, Group Technical Solutions, shared his thoughts on the challenges of preparing the next generation of talent for the industry. He highly recommended implementing a mentorship program for graduates, with mentors from multinational corporations (MNCs), to help prepare them for the industry. He believes IT-related subjects such as programming or IT business management should be supplementary courses for core engineering disciplines like electrical, mechanical, or civil engineering. Graduates should also develop their leadership skills by participating in societal activities and taking on organizational roles.
PETRONAS has initiated the Collaboration with Higher Education Strategic Initiatives (CHESS) program to foster collaboration between academia and industry, promote talent and technology development, and drive innovation for a sustainable future. As a part of this initiative, a symposium involving 22 local universities has been organized to advance talent and technology development for sustainable energy innovation.
Prof. Dr. Kanao Fukuda, the Deputy Dean (Liaison and Internationalisation) from the Malaysia-Japan International Institute of Technology (MJIIT), highlighted the importance of uniqueness in fostering collaboration between different bodies, emphasizing that diversity brings different strengths to the table. He used MJIIT as an example, explaining that it offers a blend of Malaysian and Japanese influences, making it unique and attractive to many. He stressed that for sustainable development to thrive, students at universities must focus on the ‘big why’ to answer the unknown, while industries should focus on the ‘how’. Dr. Fukuda also mentioned that MJIIT has produced over 1,000 graduates, most of whom are working in Japan, and these individuals are expected to play a crucial role in sustainable development in the future by bridging the gap between academia and industry.
The forum concluded with some key points. It was proposed to continue programs like MJIIX to enable students to communicate with industrial partners directly. Additionally, events would be organized to showcase research outputs or products to the community and industries. Collaborative efforts are expected to create synergies to drive sustainable development in Malaysia Madani.
Prepared by: Assoc. Prof. Ts. Dr. Masitah Ghazali, senior lecturer at MJIIT.