- Malaysia training Bootcamp series ends.
- PETRONAS, Tata and Microsoft herald BeDigital Bootcamp’s success.
- Graduates given unique opportunities.
The tenth BeDigital Bootcamp has drawn the series to a close for 2024, with the passing out graduation of the camp’s 10th cohort in the Northern Region of Malaysia.
Twenty-seven local universities and 90 hiring employers have contributed to the PETRONAS-led events. A total of 860 students have taken part, and nearly 280 of them have been offered jobs since the Bootcamps began in 2022.
This final event was held at Universiti Teknologi MARA’s campus at Permatung Pauh in Penang, with 98 final-year students attending from five local universities.
The PETRONAS events were designed to improve students’ digital literacy, encourage entrepreneurship and connect attendees with potential employers or training organisations affiliated with commercial companies.
The curriculum for each Bootcamp has evolved alongside technological innovations, so the latest events have included skill development and workshops in subjects like artificial intelligence and cybersecurity. There’s also a strong commercial aspect to activities, with some students giving what the organisers called a ‘shark tank pitch’ of their ideas and work.
PETRONAS’s Vice President of Group Project Delivery, Project Delivery and Technology, Ir. Shah Rizal Dahlan said, “It is an immense honour to bring the BeDigital Bootcamp to the Northern Region for the first time. This milestone underscores our dedication to expanding opportunities for growth and learning for communities across the nation.”
Malaysia training backed by government
The proactive involvement of the Malaysian government in efforts to digitalise the nation and its workforce was apparent by the Governor of Penang, Ahmad Fuzi Abdul Razak, attending the closing ceremony of this, the final Malaysia training Bootcamp of the series. Also in attendance was PETRONAS’s Senior Vice President of Malaysia Petroleum Management, Ir. Bacho Pilong.
The BeDigital Bootcamp series was started in 2022 with the aim of strengthening local graduates’ levels of digital literacy and supporting human capital development towards achieving the nation’s digital economy aspirations.
At the launch of the first Bootcamp, PETRONAS’s Chief Digital Officer Aadrin Azly said, “We aim to decode ‘How can we enhance the employability of Malaysians?’ and digital is one of the obvious options. The BeDigital Bootcamp was designed with the objective of enhancing local talent’s employability before they join the workforce. Once equipped with this bolstered leadership and innovative mindset, they can explore the realm of digital entrepreneurship, become digital technical specialists or venture into other digital roles within the job market.”
Private enterprises involved in the series include Tata Consultancy Service (TCS) and Microsoft, with some graduates from the BeDigital Bootcamp series graduating to places in TCS’s Initial Learning Program, which involves a further intensive, 60-day course of technical training.
Microsoft’s Digital Entrepreneurship placements have also been on offer, as have similar schemes from CADS, the Center of Applied Data Science.
Even those not directly invited to join companies stood a good chance of being invited to interview with Bootcamp’s commercial partners for work placements or industrial training opportunities.
