KUALA LUMPUR: The Education Ministry, the Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) and Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) today announced a strategic collaboration to establish Digital Innovator Programme (DIP), Malaysia’s maiden secondary educational programme for talented young innovators.
Senior Education Minister Datuk Dr Radzi Jidin said those involved will be a part of UKM’s Pusat GENIUS@Pintar Negara and will focus on digital technology, entrepreneurship and project-based learning curriculum.
“This will ensure consistent development of top digital talents to sustain and grow our digital economy. DIP is a special digital technology track to nurture the country’s next generation of digital innovators.
“With this new track, students who have strong aptitude for digital innovation and creativity will be able to pursue their interest in a focused secondary education path at Pusat GENIUS@Pintar Negara and strengthen their studies in the same field at tertiary level,” he said at the virtual launch of DIP today.
Radzi said the implementation of DIP will accelerate the process of producing more innovators who are ready to leverage the ABCD of digital technology for Malaysia, namely artificial intelligence, blockchain, cloud computing and data science.
DIP was built on MDEC’s successful Digital Ninja programme, an extra-curricular initiative organised for Form One to Form Five students during the school holidays, and has successfully produced 515 high potential young digital innovators over the past five years.
MDEC chief executive officer Mahadhir Aziz said the programme serves the purpose of producing digital creators and innovators to realise the goals set forth in the Malaysia Digital Economy Blueprint (MyDigital).
“Having a focused secondary gifted programme, which replicates the key success factors of the Digital Ninja Programme, in addition to the sustained engagement between students, teachers and industry mentors will help to nurture more innovators in the country,” he said. — Bernama
