Shaking Up the Conventional Education Space for IR4.0

Education and training play a key role in equipping the current and future workforce with the right skills for the digital economy and ensuring that everyone enjoys the benefits of digital transformation. In order to achieve its mission to empower its very own workforce with the fundamentals to survive in this digital-centric industry, AirAsia Academy started reskilling and cross-training AirAsia Allstars (employees) to ensure that their knowledge and skills are up to date and competitive for the Fourth Industrial Revolution (IR4.0).

Since it was set up in 2020, there are now more than 1,700 Allstars who are proud graduates of the AirAsia Academy. Among them are many inspirational exemplary stories such as an Assistant Security Officer reskilled to become a cybersecurity expert, an Associate Product Manager reskilled to be a Software Engineer, and an Aircraft Support Engineer reskilled to be a UX Designer for self-development to stay relevant and keep up with the booming digitisation.

Following the success of upskilling and reskilling AirAsia Allstars, AirAsia Academy opened its doors to the public in October 2020 to provide an opportunity for the current and future labour pool within the region to prepare themselves for careers that are shaped by digital technology.

President (Ventures) Capital A and Chief Executive Officer Aireen Omar explained that AirAsia Academy is on a mission to democratise education by making it more accessible, affordable and inclusive.

“As a one-stop technology, leadership and innovation academy aimed at supercharging the digital economy within the region, our ultimate goal is to promote lifelong learning. We hope to achieve this with AirAsia Academy’s on-demand learning (ODL) platform where people of all ages can access a wide range of topics with a minimal subscription fee,” said Aireen.

As an edutech arm under Capital A Berhad (formerly AirAsia Group), AirAsia Academy is considered one of the fastest growing online education platforms in the ASEAN region with over 470,000 platform sign-ups and has already conducted more than 7,500 courses to over 8,000 learners within two short years.

The platform’s specialised learning track provides a complete journey from novice to professional in a single programme, endorsed by the Malaysia Board of Technologists (MBOT) and certified by Google Cloud.

Essentially, the academy offers an end-to-end, one-stop edutech platform; from building relevant in-demand skills with professional Instructor Led Training (ILT) courses to subscription-based On Demand Learning (ODL) featuring more than 16,000 technology, education and lifestyle content as well as a Learning Management System (LMS) to help learners and educators monitor the learning progress and Job Placement opportunities for its graduates.

The AirAsia Academy offers scholarships for eligible recipients under the  Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE), Malaysian Industry-Government Group for High Technology (MiGHT), Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MOSTI) and an exclusive sponsorship programme, #RatuTech for underprivileged women from the B40 group. Sponsors for the scholarship programme include Airbus, Sarawak Digital Economy Corporation (SDEC), Centre of Technical Excellence Sarawak (CENTEXS), Sabah Creative Economy and Innovation Centre (SCENIC), Kementerian Sains Teknologi Inovasi Sabah (KSTI), Google Cloud, Carsome and Yayasan Peneraju.

As the principal investment promotion and development agency, MIDA continues to elevate digital tech development in a broad range of industries. MIDA has been aggressively promoting the digital tech sector, such as data centres, cybersecurity, artificial intelligence (AI), creative and digital content like gaming and animation, as well as system integrators and solution providers to fortify Malaysia as the tech launchpad in the region. The initiatives by AirAsia Academy to reskill and cross-train the local workforce will surely benefit the employees’ readiness for the new opportunities in the digital economy – making Malaysia a more compelling destination to attract long-term quality digital investments, building a future-proof workforce and elevate local digital companies’ capabilities to become global leaders in this digital age. For more information on digital investment, please contact MIDA Business Services and Regional Operations Division.