Digital workers wanted

Discover the knowledge and skills needed for today’s top jobs.

Cyber security officer (CSO)

Dr Lau: A CSO needs to use suitable tools to investigate, analyse and troubleshoot security incidents detected in a company. Imagine the good guys in the TV series CSI Cyber - they use different software and problem-solving skills to analyse an attack or an incident.

Tan: Any organisation that has a computer network or uses the Internet has a potential security risk. A CSO is someone who is trained to identify risks and vulnerabilities in software and hardware; and to put security measures in place within systems, networks and data centres that are used. They also monitor networks and systems for possible attacks and intrusions as well as securing an organisations’ IT infrastructure.

Chief Innovation Officer (CIO)

Dr Lau: A CIO is responsible for developing and managing innovation and change management. A CIO must understand the business needs of that organisation and decide how innovation and its implementation can significantly improve productivity and profit.

Tan: CIOs are corporate executives in charge of IT strategy and implementation. They must encourage an innovative culture within the organisation, keep abreast of new technologies, and strategise how these can provide value while addressing the risks associated with digital information. A CIO has to identify new market spaces, business opportunities, and new technologies.

Chief Automation Officer (CAO)

Dr Lau: A CAO’s tasks are similar to a CIO’s, but with more focus on processes and technologies that allow automation and optimisation of workflow and processes through IT. Both roles help companies become more efficient and sustainable.

Tan: In an era where technology evolves so rapidly, businesses must adapt or risk being left behind. Many organisations are rushing to adopt digital business strategies, respond quickly, and make the necessary adaptations before their competitors. A CAO ensures the automation of new systems, and decides where automation has the largest effect in terms of employee productivity. They advise on new ways to increase workforce productivity, rather than use technology to replace the workforce. They bridge the gap between business and IT processes while leveraging on automation and propose solutions to improve operations in terms of cost and time reduction.

Software Developer

Dr Lau: Software developers are like magicians - they turn codes into software solutions that solve real-life problems. Many of the apps and software we use today are their hard work. There are also specialists among developers who focus on creating user-friendly interfaces and software that enhances user experience. This is important because even the best software will be abandoned if users find it cumbersome and hard to use.

Tan: Software developers are the ones responsible for inventing all the new technologies from mobile apps, to your online schedule system and virtual diary. They’re the creative and technical minds that allow consumers to perform specific tasks on various devices. They’re the ones responsible for the development, testing, and maintenance process, of software programmes. Being employed in industries ranging from computer systems design, and manufacturing, to entertainment and finance, software developers are always in high demand.

Data Protection Officer (DPO)

Dr Lau: A DPO is responsible for leading enterprise security, and ensuring that the organisation applies the appropriate data protection strategy and implementation, as well as compliance to a country’s data protection law.

Tan: Data protection is the process safeguarding important corporate or private information from any criminal activity, compromise or loss. A DPO has first knowledge of data protection and privacy laws. They also have to ensure that all data is up to date at all times, and destroy data in a timely and secure manner. There is an increasing need for a specialist who can manage the legal and ethical issues related to handling customer data, and ensuring that data can be restored quickly after any corruption or loss. Protecting data from compromise and ensuring data privacy are other key roles of a DPO. By the end of this year, 90% of organisations will have implemented some form of integrated data loss prevention.

Data Scientist, Data Analyst, Data Artists and Data Visualiser

Dr Lau: A data scientist and a data analyst analyses datasets and attempt to discover trends or patterns found to draw conclusions that help an organisation make better decisions. A data visualiser is responsible for visualising important information found in vast amounts of data. This helps their clients to understand the message and insights found by a data scientist or analyst.

Tan: Data science is an interdisciplinary field of scientific methods, processes, and systems to extract knowledge or insights from data in various forms. Data has grown so voluminous and complex that traditional data processing application software programmes are inadequate to deal with them. Organisations are increasingly using and collecting larger amounts of data in their everyday operations. Data science was rated one of 2017’s best jobs in the United States, and the hottest fields in tech today. This makes data scientist one of the world’s most in-demand jobs with an average monthly salary of between RM5,000 and RM8,000. Malaysia needs an estimated 15,000 data scientists in the next five years. Data scientists are skilled programmers who extract information from large sets of data to build analytical systems with decision making and prediction capabilities. They apply statistical calculations to turn data into information using algorithms and machine learning, and present their results in a clear and engaging manner, through data visualisation.

Dr Soo: Data scientist is a term that has become popular recently, especially in Malaysia, to describe what in the past would have been referred to as a statistician, but with greater emphasis on computer technology. Data science as a subject can be divided into data analysis, and data mining or machine learning. Data analysis involves probability and statistics, while data mining is a combination of statistics and computer science. A data scientist turns data into information that can be used in decision-making, and to solve challenging problems. Applications range from economics and medicine, to social and environmental sciences. To succeed in data science, you should either have a strong interest in it and an understanding of probability and statistics, or a strong competency in programming. The combination of both would be ideal. Data science is aimed at solving problems so having good problem-solving skills would also be useful.

Project/ Change Management Professional

Tan: They oversee projects for software development, hardware installations, network upgrades, cloud computing, virtualisation rollouts, business analytics, data management and the implementation of IT services. They’re responsible for planning, organising and delineating responsibility for the completion of an organisation’ specific information technology goals. Project managers have to study existing systems and processes to identify strengths and weaknesses before developing ways it can be optimised. They’re also responsible for conducting meetings on high risk changes; and communicating awareness, and acceptance of change management processes, and monitoring its execution.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) Developer

Dr Lau: This role is required to understand how AI can assist automation of tasks to make software more intelligent and friendly. AI developers build models that allow software to think like a human, such as AI-bots that communicate with customers to help solve queries or find the best route for a ride-sharing app to get you to your destination in the shortest time.

Tan: AI is gaining prominence due to its complex, data-driven applications such as voice and image recognition. AI is already present in plenty of apps, from search algorithms to tools that are being used daily. It’s a technology that emulates human performance by learning, coming to its own conclusions, understanding complex content, communicating with people, and eventually replacing humans in the execution of non-routine tasks. The world is seeing a rapid adoption of AI in various industries such as manufacturing, retail, healthcare and entertainment. AI developers have to learn to exploit advances in natural language processing, computer vision, and machine learning, and study ways to innovate solutions and apps in diverse domains.