Above photo (L-R): ISACA Board chair Theresa Grafenstine; ISACA Board director Leonard Ong; MDEC Enabling Ecosystem director Ir. Wan Murdani Wan Mohamad, Director; and MDEC Board of Directors Dr. Parmjit Singh/ Credit: MDEC
As Malaysia moves towards its target of 20% contribution from the digital economy (under the Eleventh Malaysia Plan, 2016 – 2020, Economic Planning Unit, Prime Minister’s Department) to gross domestic product (GDP) by the year 2020, cybersecurity has become a top priority for Malaysian business, governmental and academic leaders.
Last week, the Malaysia Digital Economic Corporation (MDEC) and ISACA announced a collaboration and partnership focused on improving leadership competencies and workforce skills in technology governance, information and cyber security.
MDEC is the lead agency for driving the digital economy in Malaysia, while ISACA is a leading body for information governance, control, security and audit professionals, with members in 188 countries. Its IS (Information Systems) auditing and IS control standards are followed by practitioners worldwide.
The two organisations are finalising the details of the partnership terms. The objective is to help MDEC fuel Malaysia’s digital transformation drive, by leveraging ISACA training and professional development, certification, content, and conference capabilities.
The organisations have agreed to sharing of knowledge and best practices, and to cooperate for developing awareness in the areas of technology governance, risk, information and cyber security, in the context of products and services aimed for business technology professionals and enterprise organisations in the region.
Ir Wan Murdani Wan Mohamad, Director, Enabling Ecosystem, MDEC said,“This collaboration with ISACA is another opportunity for MDEC to further extend our relationship within the private sector as we work towards accelerating the digital economy for Malaysia. This, of course, includes improving best security practices and governance compliances for businesses. Part of this MoU will ramp up the development of skilled talents in the cyber-security sector, generate more awareness for data protection, and scale up partner programs like the recently launched Premier Digital Tech IHLs programme.”
“ISACA actively works to advance knowledge, training, and credentials in information technology, governance, security, risk, audit and assurance. Our partnership with MDEC conveys our shared commitment to build a business technology professional community well-equipped to drive digital economy growth and success in Malaysia, and internationally,” said Theresa Grafenstine, CISA, CGEIT, CRISC, CPA, CISSP, CIA, CGMA, CGAP, ISACA Board Chair, and Inspector General of the U.S. House of Representatives, USA.
Leonard Ong, CISA, CISM, CRISC, CGEIT, CPP, CFE, PMP, CIPM, CIPT, CISSP ISSMP-ISSAP, CSSLP, CITBCM, GCIA, GCIH, GSNA, GCFA, ISACA Board Director and Associate Director at Merck & Co., Inc., Singapore said, “Cyber-attack sophistication is rapidly evolving, as are concerns about information security and enterprise vulnerability. ISACA is at the forefront of professional development, upskilling and certification for the information and cyber security workforce of today, and across the technology spectrum in our future. We value this partnership, connecting Malaysia to ISACA’s global community, as an important step to advance cyber security regulation and adoption in Malaysia and the region.”
On September 19, ISACA signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Cyber Security Agency of Singapore (CSA) to facilitate collaboration on cybersecurity capability and workforce development.
