MDEC aims to produce 20,000 data professionals by 2020

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) aims to have 20,000 data professionals by 2020, said its Head of Strategic Partnership, N. Somasundaram.

He said there are currently 6,000 data professionals involved in various MDEC- related programmes.

“We are working with professional training providers and local universities in ensuring a sufficient supply of data professionals,” he told a press conference on the upcoming Big Data Week 2017 yesterday.

Somasundaram said this would help Malaysia to achieve its target of becoming ASEAN’s Big Data and Analytics (BDA) hub by 2020.

Meanwhile, some 3,000 visitors are expected to attend the Big Data Week event, to be held from Oct 2-8 at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre.

Event highlights include the Next Big Tech Asia conference and hackathons, as well as a number of other activities which aims to increase public awareness on BDA.

Organised by Knowledge Group of Companies, Human Resources Development Fund (HRDF) and MDEC, the event will feature 60 global experts and chief data scientists from leading organisations like Google, Facebook, Fusionex and iFlix sharing their experience in transforming data into valuable insights.

Knowledge Group Managing Director, N. Selva said the close collaboration between Malaysia’s key players like HRDF, MDEC and Fusionex was very encouraging for the development of data economy.

“MDEC’s continued support as a co-organiser is a testament to their commitment to their role as the custodian of the data economy initiative,” he added. — Bernama