From Left to Right: Microsoft Malaysia’s General Manager, Sheikh Manzoor; Cosmopoint Group of Companies’ Chief Executive Officer, & KLMUC’s Acting Vice-Chancellor, Mohammad Najmie Noordin; Creative Cloud Community’s Founder & AceStar CEO, Natalie Sit; FINAS Chairman, Kamil Othman; Human Resource Development Corporation (HRD Corp)’s Chief Program Officer, Soffian Mohammed Amin; Adobe’s Education Account Manager, Esther Ong, and Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC)’s Head of Divisional Program Management Office, Hazwan Hussein

KUALA LUMPUR, 9 JANUARY 2024 - Creative Cloud Community and Acestar proudly launched the 9th Annual Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Event - Malaysia National Championship 2024, offering two categories, the CCC’s Adobe Certified Professional (ACP) Malaysia National Championship 2024 & Microsoft Office Specialist (MOS) Malaysia National Championship 2024. The ceremony, officiated by Dato’ Kamil Othman, Chairman of the National Film Development Corporation (FINAS), held at Nexus @ CCEC, Bangsar South today, is poised to ignite a new era of creativity and education, talent development, and social awareness across the country.

The championship is open to youths aged 13 to 22 years old in both categories through official registration by educational institutions at the secondary and tertiary levels. Schools and universities may enroll their students from 9 January 2024 until application closes on 16 February 2024.

The CCC's Adobe Certified Professional Malaysia National Championship category, currently in its 9th series, tests the participants' skills in creating creative content using Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, and Adobe InDesign based on themes set by the organizer in collaboration with NGO Program Strategic Partners in February 2024. They will go through four qualifying stages to reach the CCC’s Adobe Certified Professional Malaysia National Championship 2024 Grand Finale where the Grand Champion will be chosen. The Grand Champion of this category will be exclusively sponsored by Acestar to represent the country in the Certiport’s Adobe Certified Professional World Championship 2024 in the United States (US).

Meanwhile, the Microsoft Office Specialist Malaysia National Championship 2024, the fourth time it is held in Malaysia, will assess participants' abilities in using Microsoft Office Word, PowerPoint, and Excel, with each software having its own criteria and evaluation. Participants will undergo three qualifying stages before the Grand Finale, where the winners will be announced to represent Malaysia in the world final, also in the US. Both competitions will begin on 23 February 2024 and end with the Grand Finales on 21 May 2024.

Adjunct Professor Natalie Sit, Group CEO of Acestar and Founder of the Creative Cloud Community, unveiled an ambitious vision during the event - to upskill 10% of Malaysia’s population through Micro-Credentials Certifications Program. This groundbreaking initiative marks a pivotal step towards nurturing a skilled workforce and fortifying the growth of a certified talent pool in Malaysia.

“I’ve set an ambitious mission—to elevate this passion project to a national project, to certify and upskill 3 millions youth. I know it may seem impossible to achieve, but consider this: if we can upskill 10% of our population, there's hope for the future. We are preparing our youth to take over the world in the next 10 years.” explained Sit in her opening address.

Meanwhile, Kamil expressed his hope in his officiating remark, “(Our GDP) figures are projected to continue rising in the next 10 or 20 years if young digital talents are continuously encouraged and supported by educational institutions, whether secondary or tertiary, to participate in talent development opportunities like these (the championship).”

Keynote speeches by representatives from Department of Education Resources and Technology from Ministry of Education Malaysia, Malaysian Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC), Human Resource Development Corporation (HRD Corp), Adobe and Microsoft (Malaysia) illuminated diverse perspectives on youth empowerment in the digital age, the profound influence on digital economics, human resources, and the transformative impact of micro-credentials certifications in higher education. These compelling discussions fostered dialogues that are intended to spur innovation in the educational sector, fostering an environment ripe for change.

Moreover, engaging panel sessions featured insights from 2023 champions and representative from higher educational institutions such as Universiti Kuala Lumpur (UniKL), Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia (UTHM) Campus Pagoh and KLMUC, delving into the exceptional achievements attained through Micro-Credentials, offering valuable perspectives from the champions’ past experiences in the competition as well as in representing Malaysia on the world stage. Additionally, the panelists from educational institutions will unveil and articulate the best practices of the micro-credentials program at the national level. This initiative goes beyond simply upskilling talents; it aims to empower digital skills, enhancing international marketability.

Furthermore, the event paved the way for Malaysian youth talents to embark on an international journey in showcasing their digital creative talents. As a prelude to this global endeavor, the competition will see the top three winners in each category participate in the Certiport’s Adobe Certified Professional World Championship 2024 and Microsoft Office Specialist World Championship 2024 in Anaheim, California, United States of America (USA), expected to be held on July 28-31, 2024.

Having seen participations from over 6,000 youths since 2016, the 9th Annual Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Event, Malaysia National Championship 2024, stands as a testament to the dedication and commitment of Acestar and the Creative Cloud Community, as well as the digital creative and digital economy stakeholders, spearheaded by FINAS and MDEC respectively, to foster a conducive environment for digital creative talent development, social advocacy, and educational transformation. Educational institutions are encouraged to enroll and get their students to register for the championship before it kicks off in February 2024.

To date, Malaysian youths have brought honor to the country by clinching the World Champion title in 2021, World Runner-Up (2016), 5th Place in the World (2021), and 7th Place in the World (2023) for the Adobe Certified Professional World Championship category in the US.

For more information on the Malaysia National Championship 2024, please visit https://www.championshipmy.com/.

About Acestar

Acestar Sdn. Bhd. is a leading holistic IT solutions provider in the region since its inception in 2008. The company specializes in Creative Softwares, High Performance Computers and Digital Workflow Management. Acestar is the Only Adobe Platinum Partner & Education Elite Partner in Malaysia as well as Maxon Distributor for Malaysia and Singapore and prominent partner to other multinational brands such as HP (Hewlett Packard), Lenovo, ASUS, Apple and Microsoft to name a few. Acestar served more than 4,600 organizations across the education, enterprise, SME and public sector markets, having covered more than 70% of higher educational institutions in Malaysia. There have been more than 50,000 Adobe Creative Cloud Licenses deployed to date. Being the early first few to advocate cloud licensing, the company provides the best-in-class Adobe Creative Cloud implementation and workshops as value added service to its clients.

About Creative Cloud Community (CCC)

Creative Cloud Community (CCC) stands as a dynamic social enterprise, envisioned and founded by Natalie Sit in 2019. Our primary mission is to foster connections among Creative Users and Businesses worldwide who share a common passion for creativity. With an impressive membership exceeding 5,000 individuals, CCC has attracted diverse groups, including professionals, businesses, educators, and enthusiastic youths. Since its inception, CCC has engaged in impactful collaborations with numerous strategic partners spanning government entities, commercial enterprises, educational institutions, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs). CCC has consistently demonstrated its commitment to building a thriving ecosystem by facilitating connections between education, talent, and industry. Through our innovative initiatives, CCC has successfully bridged gaps, creating a vibrant space where creativity flourishes, and the exchange of ideas thrives.

This content is provided by GCMA

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