Empowering our digital talents

ALIBABA Cloud, the data intelligence backbone of the Alibaba Group, has signed a memorandum of understanding with Xiamen University Malaysia to enhance the education and skills of the cloud computing staff and students through the Alibaba Cloud Academic Empowerment Programme.

“Xiamen University Malaysia’s cloud computing curriculum will provide students and staff with access to resources put together by our experts, while allowing them to host collaborative workshops and training activities,” said Alibaba Cloud Intelligence Malaysia general manager Jordy Cao.

The varsity’s students and staff can also join the Alibaba Cloud’s Student Education Programme, where upon completion, they will receive a certification from Alibaba Cloud.

And, the team from Asia’s biggest public cloud service provider will play an advisory role to ensure the varsity’s course content remains relevant and focused on the future needs of the industry.

Students will also be invited to Alibaba Cloud’s computing conference at Alibaba’s headquarters in China.

“As more businesses embark on digital transformation, the demand for IT and cloud professionals is expected to rise exponentially.

“The collaboration between Alibaba Cloud and Xiamen University Malaysia will empower more students to stay ahead so they can boost their career prospects in the digital economy,” Cao said, adding that work will continue with the local community for the sustainable development of the IT and cloud market.

The collaboration presents a perfect opportunity for its students and staff to advance their cloud computing career and gain professional certification, said the university’s president Prof Wang Ruifang.

“We look forward to introducing Alibaba Cloud programme and Elastic Compute Service (ECS) to help them navigate the complexities of the cloud environment and learn more about the underlying infrastructure,” he added.

Prof Wang said the university currently has 11 dedicated ICT labs with state-of-the-art equipment and industry-leading software.

“Among the 5,600 students now studying with us, 1,011 are enrolled in our three ICT-related bachelor’s degree programmes, namely, Computer Science and Technology, Software Engineering, and Digital Media Technology,” he said.

They will begin their Bachelor of Engineering in Artificial Intelligence later this year, he added, while a new programme in Data Science will be offered in 2021.

This year, apart from the collaboration with Xiamen University Malaysia, Alibaba Cloud Academy also built a virtual learning community on DingTalk.

To-date, a dozen universities have joined the community, and around 800 students have benefited from the online training and certification.