MDEC's #SayaDigital movement aims to benefit 10,000 Malaysians

The Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) has launched the #SayaDigital Movement on a national level. This year's #SayaDigital Movement is said to focus on four components, namely training young people to become “Geng #SayaDigital” volunteers, creating awareness through digital literacy activities, conducting digital readiness assessments, and providing basic digital skills training to the community. The campaign as a whole aims to benefit 10,000 Malaysians in socio-economically vulnerable rungs across the country. To date, MDEC said 25 “Geng #SayaDigital” have already been formed, including those in Sabah and Sarawak to further enhance the programme nationwide.

To kickstart the momentum of #SayaDigital, three pilot programmes were held to raise the digital literacy awareness involving 301 participants, with the latest being held at Kampung Desa Temuan in Bukit Lanjan last month. The participants attended a series of interactive workshops that exposed them to the digital skills needed to face challenges in the new normal. Concurrently, participants who have registered online have been connected to major MDEC programmes such as eUsahawan, PeDAS, eRezeki, MyDigitalMaker, GLOW and eBerkat. These programmes look to benefit Malaysians through digital skills enhancement, digitally-driven business, involvement in the eCommerce sector, and workforce participation on global digital platforms. In addition, there are eight #SayaDigital online programmes that have been streamed via Facebook Live and have already gained more than 16,000 views to date.

As part of the movement, MDEC has also designed 12 adaptation and digital literacy programmes with 2,000 participants who are expected to participate in a basic digital literacy training course. They will be working closely with 100 “Geng #SayaDigital” ambassadors, and participants will answer the Digital Readiness Assessment to measure their level of digital literacy. The test results will then determine the module that they will be assigned to. There are three main modules: digital communication, internet banking and e-wallet, and digital service applications that are used in other countries.

MDEC's #SayaDigital movement comes as the organisation found, through its latest study, that there are currently 47,000 digital job opportunities advertised on major job search portals in Malaysia. According to Surina Shukri, chief executive officer of MDEC, this shows that the country's digital-skilled labor market remains competitive amid these challenging times, and also signals the country's digital economic growth.

“Individuals with efficient digital skills such as coding, animation, big data analysis, machine learning, and cloud computing are greatly needed in driving forward the digital economy during this pandemic. MDEC's #SayaDigital is a timely effort that will get more people to learn digital skills. Initiatives to empower Malaysians are crucial for their digital journey as we move closer to achieve the goal of making Malaysia the digital heart of ASEAN,” Surina added. 

The #SayaDigital Movement is designed to get the B40 (bottom 40% income) group, youths, senior citizens, and socio-economically vulnerable groups involved with the digital economy. It kickstarted last year as MDEC's efforts to support Malaysians and local businesses to step up digitalisation measures that will help to reduce socio-economic impact of the pandemic. Through the campaign, MDEC introduced several initiatives, such as SME Digital Summit, #YoungCreators Movement, #MYDigitalWorkforce week, and Gig and Freelance Expo as high-impact engagements for those who want to improve their skills as well as for young individuals just entering the workforce. 

The #SayaDigital movement initiative was originally introduced with the aim of improving the digital skills of Malaysians, enabling them to seize opportunities in the digital economy. It is also aligned with the country's ongoing economic recovery plan. This initiative will also provide strong support to the Malaysian Digital Economy Blueprint (MyDIGITAL) announced in February 2021. 

Saifuddin Abdullah, minister of communications and multimedia, said: "#SayaDigital supports MyDIGITAL's comprehensive strategy that sets out a roadmap to achieve the vision of making Malaysia a regional leader in the digital economy by 2030. Through this, the government aims to create 500,000 jobs, implement digitalisation initiatives to benefit 875,000 small and medium-sized enterprises and micro entrepreneurs, as well as become the catalyst for 5,000 start-ups. In this regard, #SayaDigital's launch showcases the government's clear commitment to involve people from various groups to benefit from a thriving digital economy.

Last October, MDEC called for a pitch for media planning and buying services for its #SayaDigital ad campaign. The agency appointed is responsible for in-depth analysis of the media landscape for both offline and online media channels, strategic media recommendation based on the campaign objectives and target audience, as well as performance analysis and optimisation. MARKETING-INTERACTIVE has reached out for an update about the selections.

(Photo courtesy: 123RF)

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