A study conducted by the International Data Corporation (IDC) revealed that the Big Data and analytics software market in Malaysia is forecasted to reach RM595 million by 2021. According to IDC, software vendors and the channel ecosystem will play an important role in driving adoption of big data technology. Therefore, the need for customisation, deployment options, and the incorporation of cognitive computing capabilities to guide enterprises will increase as they adopt big data technologies.
According to Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC), Malaysia aims to produce 2,000 Data Scientists and 16,000 Data Professionals by 2020 to spur Malaysia’s data driven economy. In addition, new technologies have interpreted huge amounts of data through a variety of big data tools. Therefore, industries have realised the potential of this source as competitive advantages and are looking forward to utilise this technology effectively.
Prof. Dr. Shamsul Sahibuddin, Pro Vice Chancellor of UTM Kuala Lumpur said, “In order to develop more industry ready talent, a total of 35 Bachelor of Computer Science (Data Engineering) programme students from the School of Computing, Faculty of Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia recently experienced their one year internship in various GLC and MNC industries.”
At MoU Signing Ceremony between UTM and Industry Partners on 20 December 2019 in Kuala Lumpur, Prof. Dr. Shamsul Sahibuddin announced collaboration between Universiti Teknologi Malaysia with several industry partners in a data technology research and development. The objective of this collaboration is to assist the adoption of data technology such as data analytics and artificial intelligence among industry partners in making decisions in order to improve business outcomes and growth.
Besides, Prof. Dr. Shamsul Sahibuddin also acknowledged MDEC for facilitating the ecosystem that supports the data technology adoption journey, providing access to data technology solutions, Industrial Advisory Panel (IAP), staff and talent development, and real case study sharing through Premier Digital Tech Institutions (PDTI) initiative.
“With the global demand, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia realises the potential and opportunities to offer data technology ecosystem. Therefore, it is a must to establish theoretical and practical strategy to boost our capability by working closely with industry partners together developing infrastructure and talent that activates a trusted ecosystem” commented Prof. Dr. Shamsul Sahibuddin during the ceremony.
To date, seven 2u2i partners and five research partners have agreed to join this collaboration. The seven 2u2i partners are Datamicron Systems Sdn Bhd, DHL Asia Pacific Shared Services Sdn Bhd, IJM Corporation Bhd, Petronas, PPG, TM Berhad, and Top Glove. The five research partners included Alegion (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd, Billion Prima Sdn Bhd, Gates IT Solution Sdn Bhd, Human Life Advancement Foundation and Quandatics (M) Sdn Bhd. More industries are expected to join this collaboration including Air Asia and DHL Asia Pacific Innovation Center.