A NEW initiative, known as Penang Young Digital Talent, was launched today following the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between Penang Youth Development Corporation (PYDC) and Big Domain Sdn Bhd at Komtar.
Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow, who was present at the signing ceremony, said the new initiative was to produce 1,000 youths with digital talent within two years.
The MoU was signed by PYDC general manager Dr Gwee Sai Ling and Big Domain co-founder and chief executive officer Henry Tye with state Youth and Sports Committee chairman Soon Lip Chee as the witness.
Chow said among the objectives was to develop Penang into a digital talent hub, in line with state’s Penang2030 vision, part of which is to raise household income.
He added that it was also to create 1,000 job opportunities for youths in the state and to support the medium and small-scale industries during the digital transformation process.
Under the MoU, Big Domain has agreed to fully sponsor the digital platform through the PYDC website while PYDC will implement the digital talent training and development programmes.
Among the programmes that have been planned are key opinion leader (KOL) & influencer, IR4.0, e-commerce, designers, press releases, copy writing and video editing.
To qualify for the programme, the youth must be between 18 and 30 years old, a Malaysian and was born in Penang, and has lived in Penang for at least three years consecutively from the date of registration for the programme.
Chow said the platform would also serve as a medium to match the digital talents unearthed with the digital services needed by entrepreneurs.
“The state government thinks this platform is important in line with the development of global trends that are increasingly heading towards online and digital commerce with a wide range of job opportunities,” Chow said.
The MoU will see PYDC and Big Domain exchange of knowledge and experience in related fields and hold joint workshops, training and development programmes.
Big Domain, as the project manager, will recruit partners like Moden Academy, EVO Marketing, Digital Marketing Network and KK eCommerce to provide a series of training and development programmes.
Chow said a LiveNow KOL Training programme would be held by Alibaba Group and Moden Academy on Sept 12 and 13 as part of their corporate social responsibility (CSR) for those who like to become online spokespersons.
More details can be obtained from PYDC’s official website (http://pydc.com.my).
Also present at the MoU signing ceremony were state executive councillors Jagdeep Singh Deo and Yeoh Soon Hin, Digital Marketing Network chief executive officer Bob Lay and Moden Academy co-founder and production lead Chuah Thian Hiang.
Story by K.H. Ong
Pix by Alvie Cheng
Video by Law Suun Ting