Alibaba Cloud, the digital technology and intelligence arm of Alibaba Group, announced several new initiatives today, including expanded talent training for startups and rural communities, an upgraded AI-focused partnership program, and a new AI platform to enhance AI adoption and drive Malaysia’s digital transformation and innovation roadmap.
This move reinforces Alibaba Cloud’s commitment to deepening its localization efforts, following its May announcement to build a third data center in Malaysia within the next three years. The event was facilitated by Yang Berhormat Tuan Gobind Singh Deo, Minister of Digital Malaysia to grow local AI and tech literacy through the Digital Accelerator Program with funding, training, and technical support within an inclusive ecosystem.
The program outlines several future commitments and initiatives across three key pillars: Startup Catalysts, Future Talents Training, and Independent Software Vendors (ISV) Growth, with the following highlights:
Dedicated to upskilling Malaysian citizens, Alibaba Cloud has trained over 20,000 people in cloud skills since 2017. The Digital Accelerator Program outlines future commitments and initiatives across three key pillars: Startup Catalysts, Future Talents Training, and Independent Software Vendors (ISV) Growth, with the following highlights:
- Train and certify more than 500 startups in Malaysia by the end of 2025. Eligible startups will receive up to $120,000 in funding and resources to support their digital growth and success.
- Building on a successful collaboration with Universiti Malaya, the initiative plans to establish Alibaba Cloud Academy Skills Centers in at least five universities in Malaysia by 2025, offering free digital resources to students and educators in fields such as Generative AI, Cybersecurity, and Data Analytics, with a goal of certifying 10,000 students by the end of 2025
- Alibaba Cloud is also committed to expanding digital training for rural communities in Selangor, Johor, Penang, Sarawak, and Sabah, aiming to train 10,000 community students.
- The program will focus on grooming 50 independent software vendors (ISVs) by providing essential cloud knowledge, particularly in Generative AI. Alibaba Cloud, along with ISVs, aims to assist and onboard 1,000 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) on their digitalization journey this year.
Additionally, to meet the growing AI adoption trends in Malaysia, Alibaba Cloud has announced the availability of its generative AI development platform, Model Studio, for international customers via its availability zones in Singapore. Through Model Studio, Malaysian customers can access Alibaba Cloud’s large language model Qwen family, including both closed-source and open-source models with multimodal capabilities, facilitating the development of custom generative AI applications across various industries in Malaysia.
As one of the world’s leading cloud service providers, Alibaba Cloud has a network of 89 availability zones in 30 regions worldwide, offering secure, scalable, and robust cloud infrastructure to support global customers embracing digital innovation with sustainability in mind. Alibaba Cloud was the first global cloud provider to establish twin local data centers in Malaysia in 2017 and launched its first cloud-based Anti-DDoS Scrubbing Center in the region in 2018.
Here is a quick statement made by the General Manager of South APAC, Alibaba Cloud Intelligence, Mr Kun Huang:
“As a leading cloud service provider, Alibaba Cloud is actively fostering a digital transformation ecosystem that will pave the way for the nation’s digital roadmap, by empowering startups, partners, and rural communities with AI-driven digital training and cutting-edge technology, we are committed to advancing cloud and AI technology and nurturing homegrown digital talent. This is the core of our strategy to ignite innovation and drive a smarter, more efficient Malaysia through digital technology.”
