CYBERJAYA: Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) will conclude with #MyDigitalMaker Fair 2021 in Sabah, Sarawak and Labuan.
With theme "Raising Digital Heroes", the East Malaysia series will run until Nov 21 via #MyDigitalMaker's official Facebook page, offering more than 40 hours of interactive and informative materials provided for participants.
"Technological evolution now presents fresh challenges for our future generation, and no one should be left behind from having the right skills to survive and thrive in the new normal.
"As the country's lead digital economy agency, we must deliver on our mandate in equipping Malaysians across the nation with digital skills and knowledge. The #MyDigitalMaker Fair will deliver the promise by providing a fun and hands-on experience to the participants, inculcating a love for all things digital in our children.
"In doing so, we hope they will form the backbone of our digital economy for the future, ensuring the success of MyDigital and nation-building agendas," said MDEC's chief digital skills and jobs officer, Dr Sumitra Nair in a statement.
To ensure more localised content, MDEC is partnering with Petrosains Sdn Bhd, who will serve as a partner host and bring industry-based webinars and workshops with topics including the use of drones at offshore drilling rigs, marine technology as well as the use of engineering and prototyping.
Petrosains has been engaging with the local communities through its satellite centres, Petrosains PlaySmart and Petrosains Maker Studio, which feature interactive and engaging exhibitions as well as impactful STEM-based activities to inspire and improve STEM literacy in the community.
With one of the facilities located in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Petrosains PlaySmart emulates the live science demonstrations and activities organised at the main centre in Petrosains Kuala Lumpur on a smaller scale.
Petrosains will also bring more academic-oriented sessions brought by Petronas, Universiti Teknologi Petronas, Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka Sabah, Sabah Creative Economy and Innovation Centre (Scenic), Centre of Technical Excellence Sarawak (Centexs), Kinabalu Coders, Tabung Gagasan Ekonomi Anak Sarawak (Tegas) and Teach for Malaysia.
Petrosains is also collaborating with Sabah Science, Technology and Innovation Ministry and Pustaka Negeri Sarawak to provide rural students with access to five e-Desa centres in Sabah and ten Digital Community Centres in Sarawak.
The collaboration will ease the digital and connectivity challenges faced by students in the rural areas and provide them with the opportunity to utilise the centres as well as participate in the #MyDigitalMaker activities and workshops.
Throughout the five-week event, the virtual fair has managed to gather more than 16,000 teachers, students and parents to be part of the #MyDigitalMaker movement which aims to spur digital knowledge among Malaysian children through collaboration among stakeholders.
The fair is part of the #MyDigitalMaker movement, a joint public-private-academia initiative launched in August 2016 to create a nation of digital makers by transforming Malaysian youth from digital users to digital producers, a mission established to address the need of future-proofing the next generation.
To date, more than 2.2 million children have benefited from the initiative through the integration of computational thinking and coding into the national school curriculum, co-curricular activities conducted in schools as well as extra-curricular activities conducted in more than 60 Digital Maker Hubs and by the #MyDigitalMaker ecosystem partners.
To provide more localised content, this year's virtual fair was jointly hosted by four strategic partners--Petrosains, iTrain Kids, Perak's State Education Department, Jazari Robot Resources and Kedah State government via Kedah Digital Centre.
Since its inception in 2017, the e #MyDigitalMaker movement has brought awareness about digital innovation and creativity to more than 82,000 participants.
The movement also supports the Keluarga Malaysia concept and the national goal to create an inclusive digital society through the Malaysia Digital Economy Blueprint (MyDigital) and the Shared Prosperity Vision 2030.
For more information on the #mydigitalmaker movement visit https://mdec.my/mydigitalmaker