KUCHING: Digital and data driven masterclass workshops would hopefully benefit the participants in the implementation of data strategies and innovation in their agencies as the state is in the midst of implementing the Sarawak Digital Economy (2018-2020) initiatives.
This was said by State Secretary Tan Sri Datuk Amar Mohd Morshidi Abdul Ghani when officiating at a two-day masterclass event for business executives and heads of government departments here yesterday.
The masterclass, which was led by Prof Dennis W Campbell from Harvard Business School, focused on how organisations in Sarawak can turn big data to their competitive advantage.
“Therefore, it becomes critical for all of us here to have a good understanding of big data and how to apply complex analytical methods to achieve our goals.
“As we live in the digital era, all organisations, be they public or private, will be operating and utilising data platforms. The question is, what will be our model of value creation and service to our clients and people.
“Data is everywhere, I am sure you all agree. In this two-day training, Prof Dennis will be discussing case studies on how to identify and implement data strategies and opportunities using Google Car as an example,” said Morshidi in his keynote address.
According to him, strategic initiatives whether targeting internal staff or procedures or in handling external communications and project management require a solid understanding of current or similar situation and improving impactful areas.
“For instance, gathering data on customer satisfaction does not begin with doing surveys, but studying the right survey questions, which requires an understanding of what ‘customer satisfaction” means to your agencies.
“Once the right question is asked, we have the quality response that can be quantified and translated into actionable improvements through the use of big data analytics techniques.
“As directors and heads of departments in our own agencies, we should be able to transfer this skill to various areas – human resource, finance, operation, project management and many more. This is important in building and sustaining a competitive advantage by implementing analytics capabilities,” he said.
Morshidi further elaborated that in order to improve products or service delivery, one must embrace the use of data analytics and build capable teams to turn big data into a competitive advantage.
“I also understand that there is a team-based strategic exercise and group coaching session during this masterclass … from Prof Dennis. It is our responsibility as leaders to continuously improve our products and services to stakeholders,” he said.
The state secretary also stressed that as directors and heads of departments, they need to not only know the bird’s eye view situation of their own agencies, but must also be able to break it down into smaller details and understand the whole chain process.
Initially held in Kuala Lumpur, the masterclass has made its way to Sarawak for the first time to kick-start the state’s digital transformation journey as among the events under the Sarawak Talent Development initiatives.
The event was delivered in collaboration between Sarawak Centre of Performance Excellence (Scope), Sarawak Multimedia Authority (SMA), and The Centre of Applied Data Science (CADS).
