UTAR Centre for Entrepreneurial Sustainability (CENTS) organised a public webinar titled “Future-Proofing our Graduates/Programs for 10-10 STIE 2030” via Zoom on 20 May 2021. The webinar was delivered by Fellow of Academy of Science Malaysia (ASM) Dr Zainal Arrifin Ahmad and moderated by CENTS Chairperson Dr Mohammad Falahat Nejadmahani. More than 80 participants were present and most of them were academics and researchers.

In his talk, Dr Zainal first introduced the 10-10 Malaysian Science, Technology, Innovation and Economic (MySTIE) Framework, where he mentioned that it was developed by the Academy of Science Malaysia in collaboration with more than 300 stakeholders from all around the world. It was launched by YB Minister Khairy Jamaluddin, Minister of Science, Technology, and Innovation (MOSTI). He explained how the framework could create a vibrant STIE ecosystem and said, “We are looking at different platforms, different people from different backgrounds working together to help with the creation of a socio-economic solution for the country.”

He continued, “The 10-10 MySTIE Framework is to improve Malaysia’s innovative and creative capability. The idea is to enhance economic competitiveness and quality of life. From now and till 2030, most of the initiatives would be based on what you are doing in terms of addressing socio-economic transformation issues for the country. The idea is also to enable key sectors of the economy to become more knowledge-intensive and innovation-driven.” He added that the idea was also about how to work together to build a strong national STIE ecosystem for the robust development of the sectors which could enable shared prosperity for all citizens of Malaysia. He hoped that participants could find themselves in any of the 30 National STIE Niche Areas after the webinar. “These 30 National STIE Niche Areas will change from time to time. It will be reviewed every two years,” he said. 

He also said, “You need to be aware of the different technology drivers that the government is focusing on. More importantly, all the different technologies and experts from different technology backgrounds work together because a lot of socio-economic problems and the solutions we are looking for have to be dealt with by the combination of the different technologies.”

He also talked about the application of the 10-10 STIE Framework, and further explained the 30 National STIE Niche Areas for 10 socio-economic drivers. “The challenge is how to map the 10 UTAR disciplines with 74 undergraduate Programmes to the 10-10 MySTIE and 30 Niche Areas. It may not be a perfect match, but at least you are aware of where you can make the most contribution in terms of future-proofing and prepare your students for particular niche areas or socio-economic sectors,” he said. 

He advised the participants to review the 10-10 MySTIE Framework in mapping the courses and academic programmes, as well as to conduct a thorough programme review based on Outcome Based Education (OBE) and MQA guidelines, especially focusing on the synopsis, course learning outcomes, and programme learning outcomes. 

When talking about the implications of 10-10 MySTIE to grants, research and postgraduate studies, he shared the foreword highlighted by the ASM President Prof Datuk Dr Asma Ismail. “First, build collaborative networks and platforms towards establishing vibrant innovation ecosystems across Malaysia. Second, the government, academics or researchers, innovators, industries and communities must work collaboratively. Third, government grants such as MOSTI, MOHE and any other grants, research, postgraduate studies, training and consultancies will be driven by the 10-10 MySTIE Framework from now until 2030,” he said. The webinar then ended with a Q&A session and a group photography session.