MIA has established that it is important for members to not only be part of their respective organisations’ digital transformation initiatives but must also take steps to enhance their personal digital competency, in line with both the Malaysia Digital Economy Blueprint and the MIA Digital Technology Blueprint. As such, the need for a self-assessment digital competency tool for members has been included as one of the initiatives under the MIA Digital Technology Blueprint Operational Plan.

The Institute has carried out research in this area and has identified the Digital Fitness App by PwC as a suitable tool to meet such a need. The PwC Digital Fitness App allows members to perform a digital fitness self-assessment. The app will then tally a score, based on four different traits assessed during the questionnaire – behaviour, mindset, relationship and skills.

The app provides advice and suggestions on what needs to be done to improve the user’s individual score. To help achieve this, the app also contains an extensive curated library of resources to assist users to improve their digital fitness, whether professionally or personally.

The app is currently free for download and is available on both iOS and Android devices by downloading from the App Store or Google Play respectively, use the invite code “LRNALL” to get started. It is user-friendly and easy to navigate.

The Institute encourages all members to make use of the app to assess and enhance their personal digital competency.

MIA has established that it is crucial for small and medium practices (SMPs) to be able to assess its digital competency as well as to identify areas for improvement, in line with both the Malaysia Digital Economy Blueprint and the MIA Digital Technology Blueprint. As such, the need for a self-assessment digital competency tool has been included as one of the initiatives under the MIA Digital Technology Blueprint Operational Plan.

The Institute has carried out research in this area and has identified the Digital Competency Maturity Model – DCMMTM issued by the European Federation of Accountants and Auditors for SMEs (EFAA) as a suitable tool to meet such a need.

The DCMMTM consists of a questionnaire for SMPs to complete which will help SMPs to:

• Rate their respective current level of maturity on digital competency;
• Identify areas where competencies are strong or lacking; and
• Develop a roadmap for achieving a higher level of maturity.

The Institute is of the view that that the tool will be highly beneficial for SMPs to understand their digital competency level and provide a high-level guidance on how SMPs can improve and/or move to the next level. The tool is also free and is easily accessible through an internet browser. It will take approximately 10-20 minutes to complete the questionnaire.

As such, the Institute encourages all SMPs to utilise the DCMMTM tool as part of their digital transformation journey. In the meanwhile, the Institute is also identifying other initiatives in assisting SMPs to increase their digital competency.

The DCMMTM can be accessed at https://efaa.com/projects/dcmm-supporting-digitalisation/.

As part of its implementation of the MIA Digital Technology Blueprint, the Institute is working together with the Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC), a government agency under the purview of the Ministry of Communications and Multimedia Malaysia. MDEC’s primary mandate is to nurture, enable, and empower digital businesses. Its continued efforts to drive the digitalisation agenda includes amplifying and upscaling the use of data analytics.

MDEC has launched a Data Analytics and AI Readiness Assessment Tool in partnership with global market intelligence firm, International Data Corporation (IDC). The tool is an online self-assessment targeted for senior leaders and C-suite executives in business, operations and information technology to capture a comprehensive analysis of the readiness of their organisations as they invest on data analytics initiatives, ready themselves to harness artificial intelligence and stay prepared for the future of intelligence.

This complimentary online assessment tool assists organisations to identify their data analytics and AI readiness, using six dimensions for assessment: Organisation, People, Process, Technology, Data and Use Case.

Within 10 minutes, organisations will:

• Learn about their data, analytics and AI strategies and gain insights into the common challenges that they face.
• Receive a personalised report as each dimension is completed and unveil how organisations can bring it to the next level.

While there are only three compulsory dimensions – Organisation, People and Process Dimensions, completing the remaining dimensions –Technology, Data and Use Case will help give organisations an all-rounded, clear understanding of its readiness level.

The Institute encourages members who are senior leaders and C-suite executives in business (including public practice), operations and IT to make use of the tool.

To access the tool, go to https://readyfordataai.com/mdec/#/ to sign up. At the registration page section “How did you come to know about this assessment?”, please enter the code MIA.