As Malaysia transforms itself into a vibrant digital economy, it has become essential for its next generation of workforce to develop competence in cybersecurity and help drive the Fourth Industrial Revolution (IR4).
The ‘Elevating IT Education’ Program (or ELITE, in short), designed by Tecforte Sdn Bhd, is set to better equip tertiary students with updated cybersecurity technology, where they can gain first-hand experience on cybersecurity operation and industry grade technologies in a “live” on-campus environment of a Security Operations Center (SOC).
According to its Director of Business Development, Aziz Hussein (pic), ELITE is a proven program that primarily focuses on offering practical, hands-on training that can effectively increase career readiness among its students before they even join the cybersecurity industry.
This, he added, is in line with Malaysia’s aspirations to become a cyber-resilient nation. “The industry is finding it increasingly challenging to hire candidates with the matching skills and these gaps are widening rapidly,” he said.
“To address shortages of cybersecurity personnel, Tecforte offers its expertise through ELITE to equip the Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) with the capabilities to have its students undergo hands-on training in a “Live” Security Operation Centre environment. We build an environment where the cybersecurity facility and technology resemble the typical industry setup.”
Locally, ELITE has been adopted by Universities and Polytechnics. They include Asia Pacific University (APU), Swinburne Malaysia, Politeknik Mersing, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia and Universiti Teknologi Mara.
“This year from these institutions, we expect to award about 1,500 certificates,” he said, adding that by year end, ELITE would have trained more than 100 lecturers. “With more HEIs to come onboard, we target to produce more than 10,000 ELITE alumni within the next few years.”
Aziz said, in line with ELITE’s objective, students who are certified will improve their chances of securing job opportunities upon graduation. “As ELITE is relevant not only for Malaysia but also regional countries, our next target is to add to the number of HEI and TVET centres adopting the ELITE programme to further enhance the employability of the students.”
